A Poetical Translation of the works of Horace With the Original Text, and Critical Notes collected from his best Latin and French Commentators. By the Revd Mr. Philip Francis...The third edition |
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Sat. VIII.
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 | A Poetical Translation of the works of Horace |  |
Sat. VIII.
[In Days of Yore our Godship stood]
In Days of Yore our Godship stood
A very worthless Log of Wood.
The Joiner doubting, or to shape Us
Into a Stool, or a Priapus,
At length resolv'd, for Reasons wise,
Into a God to bid me rise;
And now to Birds and Thieves I stand
A Terrour great. With ponderous Hand,
And something else as red as Scarlet,
I fright away each filching Varlet.
The Birds, that view with awful Dread
The Reeds, fast stuck into my Head,
Far from the Garden take their Flight,
Nor on the Trees presume to light.
A very worthless Log of Wood.
The Joiner doubting, or to shape Us
Into a Stool, or a Priapus,
At length resolv'd, for Reasons wise,
Into a God to bid me rise;
And now to Birds and Thieves I stand
A Terrour great. With ponderous Hand,
And something else as red as Scarlet,
I fright away each filching Varlet.
The Birds, that view with awful Dread
The Reeds, fast stuck into my Head,
Far from the Garden take their Flight,
Nor on the Trees presume to light.
95
In Coffins vile the Herd of Slaves
Were hither brought to croud their Graves;
And once in this detested Ground
A common Tomb the Vulgar found;
Buffoons and Spendthrifts, vile and base,
Together rotted here in Peace.
Were hither brought to croud their Graves;
And once in this detested Ground
A common Tomb the Vulgar found;
Buffoons and Spendthrifts, vile and base,
Together rotted here in Peace.
A thousand Feet the Front extends,
Three hundred deep in Rear it bends,
And yonder Column plainly shows
No more unto its Heirs it goes.
But now we breathe a purer Air
And walk the sunny Terrass fair,
Where once the Ground with Bones was white
With human Bones, a ghastly Sight!
Three hundred deep in Rear it bends,
And yonder Column plainly shows
No more unto its Heirs it goes.
But now we breathe a purer Air
And walk the sunny Terrass fair,
Where once the Ground with Bones was white
With human Bones, a ghastly Sight!
But, oh! nor Thief, nor savage Beast,
That us'd these Gardens to infest,
E'er gave me half such Care and Pains
As they, who turn poor People's Brains
With venom'd Drugs and magic Lay—
These I can never fright away;
For when the beauteous Queen of Night
Up-lifts her Head adorn'd with Light,
Hither they come, pernicious Crones!
To gather poisonous Herbs and Bones.
That us'd these Gardens to infest,
E'er gave me half such Care and Pains
As they, who turn poor People's Brains
With venom'd Drugs and magic Lay—
These I can never fright away;
For when the beauteous Queen of Night
Up-lifts her Head adorn'd with Light,
Hither they come, pernicious Crones!
To gather poisonous Herbs and Bones.
97
Canidia with dishevel'd Hair
(Black was her Robe, her Feet were bare)
With Sagana, infernal Dame!
Her elder Sister, hither came.
With Yellings dire they fill'd the Place,
And hideous pale was either's Face.
Soon with their Nails they scrap'd the Ground,
And fill'd a magic Trench profound
With a black Lamb's thick-streaming Gore,
Whose Members with their Teeth they tore,
That they may charm the Sprights to tell
Some curious Anecdotes from Hell.
(Black was her Robe, her Feet were bare)
With Sagana, infernal Dame!
Her elder Sister, hither came.
With Yellings dire they fill'd the Place,
And hideous pale was either's Face.
Soon with their Nails they scrap'd the Ground,
And fill'd a magic Trench profound
With a black Lamb's thick-streaming Gore,
Whose Members with their Teeth they tore,
That they may charm the Sprights to tell
Some curious Anecdotes from Hell.
The Beldams then two Figures brought;
Of Wool and Wax the Forms were wrought;
The Woollen was erect and tall,
And scourg'd the waxen Image small,
Which in a suppliant, servile Mood
With dying Air just gasping stood.
Of Wool and Wax the Forms were wrought;
The Woollen was erect and tall,
And scourg'd the waxen Image small,
Which in a suppliant, servile Mood
With dying Air just gasping stood.
On Hecate one Beldam calls;
The other to the Furies bawls,
While Serpents crawl along the Ground,
And Hell-born Bitches howl around.
The blushing Moon to shun the Sight
Behind a Tomb withdrew her Light.
The other to the Furies bawls,
While Serpents crawl along the Ground,
And Hell-born Bitches howl around.
The blushing Moon to shun the Sight
Behind a Tomb withdrew her Light.
Oh! if I lye, may Ravens shed
Their Ordure on my sacred Head;
May Thieves and Prostitutes and Rakes
Beneath my Nose erect a Jakes.
Their Ordure on my sacred Head;
May Thieves and Prostitutes and Rakes
Beneath my Nose erect a Jakes.
99
Not to be tedious, or repeat
How Flats and Sharps in Concert meet,
With which the Ghosts and Hags maintain
A Dialogue of passing Strain;
Or how, to hide the Tooth of Snake
And Beard of Wolf, the Ground they break;
Or how the Fire of Magic seiz'd
The waxen Form and how it blaz'd;
Mark! how my Vengeance I pursu'd
For all I heard, for all I view'd.
How Flats and Sharps in Concert meet,
With which the Ghosts and Hags maintain
A Dialogue of passing Strain;
Or how, to hide the Tooth of Snake
And Beard of Wolf, the Ground they break;
Or how the Fire of Magic seiz'd
The waxen Form and how it blaz'd;
Mark! how my Vengeance I pursu'd
For all I heard, for all I view'd.
Loud as a Bladder bursts its Wind
Dreadful I thunder'd from behind.
To Town they scamper'd struck with Fear,
This lost her Teeth and that her Hair.
They drop'd the Bracelets from their Arms,
Their Incantations, Herbs and Charms;
Who-e'er had seen them in their Flight
Had burst with laughing at the Sight.
Dreadful I thunder'd from behind.
To Town they scamper'd struck with Fear,
This lost her Teeth and that her Hair.
They drop'd the Bracelets from their Arms,
Their Incantations, Herbs and Charms;
Who-e'er had seen them in their Flight
Had burst with laughing at the Sight.
| A Poetical Translation of the works of Horace | |