Fragment of an Ode to Maia
MOTHER of Hermes! and still youthful Maia!
May I sing to thee
As thou wast hymnèd on the shores of Bai??
Or may I woo thee
In earlier Sicilian? or thy smiles 5
Seek as they once were sought in cian isles
By bards who died content on pleasant sward
Leaving at verse unto a little clan?
O give me their old vigour! and unheard
Save of the quiet primrose and the span 10
Of heaven and few ears
Rounded by thee my song should die away
Content as theirs
Rich in the simple worship of a day.
