William Sotheby (1757–1833)

ARTIST unseen! that, dipt in frozen dew,

Hast on the glittering glass thy pencil laid,

Ere from yon sun the transient visions fade,

Swift let me trace the forms thy fancy drew!

Thy towers and palaces of diamond hue,

Rivers and lakes of lucid crystal made,

And hung in air hoar trees of branching shade,

That liquid pearl distil: thy scenes renew,

Whate’er old bards or later fictions feign,

Of secret grottos underneath the wave,

Where Nereids roof with spar the amber cave;

Or bowers of bliss, where sport the fairy train,

Who, frequent by the moonlight wanderer seen,

Circle with radiant gems the dewy green.