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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 | Medulla Poetarum Romanorum |  |
Me may the Muses, whose vow'd Priest I am,
Smit with strong Passion for their sacred Song,
Dear above all to me, accept: and teach
The heav'nly Roads, the Motions of the Stars,
The Sun's Defects, the Labours of the Moon:
Whence Tremor to the Earth: by what Impulse
The Sea swells high, and ebbing back retires:
Why Suns in Winter haste so swift to tinge
Themselves in Ocean: and what Cause retards
The sluggish Nights.—But if the colder Blood
About my Heart forbid me to approach
So near to Nature: may the rural Fields,
And Streams, which murm'ring glide along the Vales,
Delight me: Groves, and Rivers may I love,
Obscure, inglorious.—
Smit with strong Passion for their sacred Song,
Dear above all to me, accept: and teach
The heav'nly Roads, the Motions of the Stars,
525
Whence Tremor to the Earth: by what Impulse
The Sea swells high, and ebbing back retires:
Why Suns in Winter haste so swift to tinge
Themselves in Ocean: and what Cause retards
The sluggish Nights.—But if the colder Blood
About my Heart forbid me to approach
So near to Nature: may the rural Fields,
And Streams, which murm'ring glide along the Vales,
Delight me: Groves, and Rivers may I love,
Obscure, inglorious.—
| Medulla Poetarum Romanorum | |