Medulla Poetarum Romanorum Or, the Most Beautiful and Instructive Passages of the Roman Poets. Being a Collection, (Disposed under proper Heads,) Of such Descriptions, Allusions, Comparisons, Characters, and Sentiments, as may best serve to shew the Religion, Learning, Politicks, Arts, Customs, Opinions, Manners, and Circumstances of the Antients. With Translations of the same in English Verse. By Mr. Henry Baker |
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Tempest.
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 | Medulla Poetarum Romanorum |  |
Tempest.
See Storm at Land.
At once the rushing Winds with roaring Sound
Burst from th' Æolian Caves, and rend the Ground,
With equal Rage their airy Quarrel try,
And win by turns the Kingdom of the Sky:
But with a thicker Night black Auster shrouds
The Heav'ns, and drives on heaps the rolling Clouds:
From whose dark Womb a rattling Tempest pours,
Which the cold North congeals to haily Show'rs.
From Pole to Pole the Thunder roars aloud,
And broken Lightnings flash from ev'ry Cloud.
Now smoaks with Show'rs the misty Mountain-Ground,
And floated Fields lie undistinguish'd round:
Th' Inachian Streams with headlong Fury run,
And Erasinus rolls a Deluge on.
Where late was Dust, now rapid Torrents play,
Rush thro' the Mounds, and bear the Dams away:
Old Limbs of Trees from crackling Forests torn,
Are whirl'd in Air, and on the Winds are born.
Frighted, he hears the bursting of the Sky,
Sees yawning Rocks in massy Fragments fly,
And views astonish'd from the Hill afar,
The Floods descending and the watry War,
That driv'n by Storms, and pouring o'er the Plain,
Swept Herds, and Hinds, and Houses to the Main.—
Burst from th' Æolian Caves, and rend the Ground,
With equal Rage their airy Quarrel try,
And win by turns the Kingdom of the Sky:
But with a thicker Night black Auster shrouds
The Heav'ns, and drives on heaps the rolling Clouds:
From whose dark Womb a rattling Tempest pours,
Which the cold North congeals to haily Show'rs.
427
And broken Lightnings flash from ev'ry Cloud.
Now smoaks with Show'rs the misty Mountain-Ground,
And floated Fields lie undistinguish'd round:
Th' Inachian Streams with headlong Fury run,
And Erasinus rolls a Deluge on.
Where late was Dust, now rapid Torrents play,
Rush thro' the Mounds, and bear the Dams away:
Old Limbs of Trees from crackling Forests torn,
Are whirl'd in Air, and on the Winds are born.
Frighted, he hears the bursting of the Sky,
Sees yawning Rocks in massy Fragments fly,
And views astonish'd from the Hill afar,
The Floods descending and the watry War,
That driv'n by Storms, and pouring o'er the Plain,
Swept Herds, and Hinds, and Houses to the Main.—
—As when a Storm to Land,
By some tempestuous Constellation rais'd,
Thro' the mid Ocean rolls: With sad Presage
The Peasants shudder at the distant Noise,
Foreboding Corn laid flat, and Trees o'erturn'd,
And universal Ruin spread around:
The Winds before it fly, and to the Shore
Waft the hoarse Murmur.—
By some tempestuous Constellation rais'd,
Thro' the mid Ocean rolls: With sad Presage
The Peasants shudder at the distant Noise,
Foreboding Corn laid flat, and Trees o'erturn'd,
And universal Ruin spread around:
The Winds before it fly, and to the Shore
Waft the hoarse Murmur.—
| Medulla Poetarum Romanorum | |