- His sire detested his Theana’s House!—
- Thus duty, reverence, gratitude, conspir’d
- To check their happy union. He resolv’d [460]
- (And many a sigh that resolution cost)
- To pass the time, till death his sire remov’d,
- In visiting old Europe’s letter’d climes:1
- While she (and many a tear that parting drew)
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Embark’d, reluctant, for her native isle. [465]
- THO’ learned, curious, and tho’ nobly bent,
- With each rare talent to adorn his mind,
- His native land to serve; no joys he found.—
- Yet sprightly Gaul;2 yet Belgium, Saturn’s reign;3
- Yet Greece, of old the seat of every Muse, [470]
- Of freedom, courage; yet Ausonia’s clime,4
- His steps explor’d; where painting, music’s strains,
- Where arts, where laws, (philosophy’s best child),
- With rival beauties, his attention claim’d.
- To his just-judging, his instructed eye, [475]
- The all-perfect Medicean Venus5 seem’d
- A perfect semblance of his Indian fair:
- But, when she spoke of love, her voice surpass’d
- The harmonious warblings of Italian song.
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Educated or learned climes. In addition to describing the practice of Caribbean planters sending their children to Britain for their education, this line refers to the “grand tour,” during which individuals would complete their education by visiting mainland Europe’s (and especially Italy’s) cultural capitals. ↩︎
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France. ↩︎
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A golden age in classical mythology. ↩︎
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Southern Italy. ↩︎
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Also known as the Venus de’ Medici, a first-century BCE marble sculpture of Venus. It was housed in the Villa Medici in Rome before being transferred to Florence in the late seventeenth century. The sculpture was widely admired across Western Europe. ↩︎