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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 | A Poetical Translation of the works of Horace |  |
Sat. V. Ulysses. Tiresias.
Ulyss.Besides the Precepts which you gave before,
Resolve this Question, and I ask no more:
Say by what Arts and Methods I may straight
Repair the Ruins of a lost Estate.
How now, Tiresias? whence those leering Smiles?
Tires.
Already vers'd in double-dealing Wiles,
Are you not satisfied to reach again
Your native Land, and view your dear Demaine?
Ulyss.
How poor and naked I return, behold,
Unerring Prophet, as you first foretold.
The wooing Tribe, in Revellings employ'd,
My Stores have lavish'd, and my Herds destroy'd;
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Unblest with Wealth, are viler than Sea-Weeds.
Tires.
Since, to be brief, you shudder at the Thought
Of Want, attend, how Riches may be caught.
Suppose a Thrush, or any dainty Thing
Be sent to you, dispatch it on the Wing
To some rich Dotard. What your Garden yields,
The choicest Honours of your cultur'd Fields,
To him be sacrific'd, and let him taste,
Before your Gods, the vegetable Feast.
Though he be perjur'd, and ignobly born,
Stain'd with fraternal Blood, the public Scorn,
A Runagate; yet if requir'd, abide
The Test, and dance Attendance by his Side
With low Submission.
Ulyss.
What! obey the Call
Of such a Wretch, and give a Slave the Wall?
Not thus at Troy I prov'd my lofty Mind,
Contending ever with the nobler Kind.
Tires.
Then Poverty shall be your Fate.
Ulyss.
If so,
Let me with Soul undaunted undergo
This loathsom Evil, since my valiant Heart
In greater Perils bore a manly Part.
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Returning Wealth, and pile the splendid Heap.
Tires.
I told, and tell you: you may safely catch
The Wills of Dotards, if you wisely watch;
And though one Hunks or two perceive the Cheat,
Avoid the Hook, or nibble of the Bait,
Lay not aside your golden Hope of Prey,
Or drop your Art, though baffled in your Play.
The Wills of Dotards, if you wisely watch;
And though one Hunks or two perceive the Cheat,
Avoid the Hook, or nibble of the Bait,
Lay not aside your golden Hope of Prey,
Or drop your Art, though baffled in your Play.
Should either great, or less important Suit
In Court become the Matter of Dispute,
Espouse the Man of prosperous Affairs,
Pregnant with Wealth, if indigent in Heirs;
Though he should hamper with a wicked Cause
The juster Party, and insult the Laws.
Despise the Citizen of better Life,
If clog'd with Children, or a fruitful Wife.
Accost him thus (for he with Rapture hears
A Title tingling in his tender Ears)
Quintus, or Publius, on my Faith depend,
Your own Deserts have render'd me your Friend:
I know the mazy Doubles of the Laws,
Unty their Knots, and plead with vast Applause.
Had you a Nut, the Villain might as well
Pluck out my Eyes, as rob you of the Shell.
This is the Business of my Life profest,
That you lose nothing, nor become a Jest.
Bid him go home, of his sweet Self take Care;
Conduct his Cause, proceed, and persevere,
Should the red Dog-star infant Statues split,
Or fat-paunch'd Furius in poetic Fit
Bombastic howl, and, while the Tempest blows,
Befoam the Winter Alpes with hoary Snows.
In Court become the Matter of Dispute,
Espouse the Man of prosperous Affairs,
Pregnant with Wealth, if indigent in Heirs;
Though he should hamper with a wicked Cause
The juster Party, and insult the Laws.
Despise the Citizen of better Life,
If clog'd with Children, or a fruitful Wife.
Accost him thus (for he with Rapture hears
A Title tingling in his tender Ears)
Quintus, or Publius, on my Faith depend,
Your own Deserts have render'd me your Friend:
I know the mazy Doubles of the Laws,
Unty their Knots, and plead with vast Applause.
Had you a Nut, the Villain might as well
Pluck out my Eyes, as rob you of the Shell.
This is the Business of my Life profest,
That you lose nothing, nor become a Jest.
Bid him go home, of his sweet Self take Care;
Conduct his Cause, proceed, and persevere,
Should the red Dog-star infant Statues split,
Or fat-paunch'd Furius in poetic Fit
Bombastic howl, and, while the Tempest blows,
Befoam the Winter Alpes with hoary Snows.
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Some Person then, who chances to be nigh,
Shall pull your Client by the Sleeve, and cry,
“See with what Patience he pursues your Ends!
“Was ever Man so active for his Friends?”
Thus Gudgeons daily shall swim in a-pace,
And stock your Fish-Ponds with a fresh Increase.
Shall pull your Client by the Sleeve, and cry,
“See with what Patience he pursues your Ends!
“Was ever Man so active for his Friends?”
Thus Gudgeons daily shall swim in a-pace,
And stock your Fish-Ponds with a fresh Increase.
This Lesson also well deserves your Care,
If any Man should have a sickly Heir,
And large Estate, lest you yourself betray
By making none but Batchelors your Prey,
With weening Ease the pleasing Bane instil,
In hopes to stand the second in his Will;
And if the Boy by some Disaster hurl'd,
Should take his Journey to the nether World,
Your Name in full Reversion may supply
The Void; for seldom fails this lucky Die.
If any Man should have a sickly Heir,
And large Estate, lest you yourself betray
By making none but Batchelors your Prey,
With weening Ease the pleasing Bane instil,
In hopes to stand the second in his Will;
And if the Boy by some Disaster hurl'd,
Should take his Journey to the nether World,
Your Name in full Reversion may supply
The Void; for seldom fails this lucky Die.
Should any Miser bid you to peruse
His Will, be sure you modestly refuse,
And push it from you; but obliquely read
The second Clause, and quick run o'er the Deed,
Collecting, whether, to reward your Toil,
You claim the whole, or must divide the Spoil.
His Will, be sure you modestly refuse,
And push it from you; but obliquely read
The second Clause, and quick run o'er the Deed,
Collecting, whether, to reward your Toil,
You claim the whole, or must divide the Spoil.
A season'd Scrivener, bred in Office low,
Full often dupes, and mocks the gaping Crow.
Thus foil'd Nasica shall become the Sport
Of old Coranus, while he pays his Court.
Full often dupes, and mocks the gaping Crow.
Thus foil'd Nasica shall become the Sport
Of old Coranus, while he pays his Court.
Ulyss.
What! are you mad, or purpos'd to propose
Obscure Predictions, to deride my Woes?
Tires.
O Son of great Laertes, every Thing
Shall come to pass, or never, as I sing;
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Informs my Soul, and gives me to divine.
Ulyss.
But, good Tiresias, if you please, reveal
What means the Sequel of that mystic Tale.
Tires.
What Time a Youth, who shall sublimely trace
From fam'd Æneas his Heroic Race,
The Parthian's Dread, triumphant shall maintain
His boundless Empire over Land and Main:
Nasica, loth to re-imburse his Coin,
His blooming Daughter shall discreetly join
To brave Coranus, who shall slily smoke
The Harpy's Aim, and turn it to a Joke.
The Son-in-Law shall gravely give the Sire
His witness'd Will, and presently desire
That he would read it: coyly he complies,
And silent cons it with attentive Eyes,
But finds, alas! to him and his forlorn
No Legacy bequeath'd—except to mourn.
From fam'd Æneas his Heroic Race,
The Parthian's Dread, triumphant shall maintain
His boundless Empire over Land and Main:
Nasica, loth to re-imburse his Coin,
His blooming Daughter shall discreetly join
To brave Coranus, who shall slily smoke
The Harpy's Aim, and turn it to a Joke.
The Son-in-Law shall gravely give the Sire
His witness'd Will, and presently desire
That he would read it: coyly he complies,
And silent cons it with attentive Eyes,
But finds, alas! to him and his forlorn
No Legacy bequeath'd—except to mourn.
Add to these Precepts, if a crafty Lass,
Or Free-man manage a delirious Ass,
Be their Ally; their Faith applaud, that you,
When absent, may receive as much in lieu;
'Tis good to take these Out-works to his Pelf,
But best to storm the Citadel itself.
Or Free-man manage a delirious Ass,
Be their Ally; their Faith applaud, that you,
When absent, may receive as much in lieu;
'Tis good to take these Out-works to his Pelf,
But best to storm the Citadel itself.
Writes he vile Verses in a frantic Vein?
Augment his Madness, and approve the Strain:
Prevent his asking, if he loves a Wench,
And let your Wife his nobler Passion quench.
Augment his Madness, and approve the Strain:
Prevent his asking, if he loves a Wench,
And let your Wife his nobler Passion quench.
Ulyss.
Can you suppose, a Dame so chaste, so pure,
Could e'er be tempted to the guilty Lure,
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In vain to stagger in her plighted Love?
Tires.
The Youth too sparing of their Presents came;
They lov'd the Banquet, rather than the Dame;
And thus your prudent honourable Spouse,
It seems, was faithful to her nuptial Vows.
But had she touch'd a wealthy Dotard's Fee,
Her Cully smack'd, and shar'd the Gains with thee,
She never after could be terrified,
Sagacious Beagle, from the reeking Hide.
They lov'd the Banquet, rather than the Dame;
And thus your prudent honourable Spouse,
It seems, was faithful to her nuptial Vows.
But had she touch'd a wealthy Dotard's Fee,
Her Cully smack'd, and shar'd the Gains with thee,
She never after could be terrified,
Sagacious Beagle, from the reeking Hide.
I'll tell a Tale, well worthy to be told,
A Fact that happen'd, and I then was old:
An Hag at Thebes, a wicked one, no doubt,
Was thus, according to her Will, lugg'd out,
Stiff to the Pile. Upon his naked Back
Her Heir sustain'd the well-anointed Pack.
She likely took this Crotchet in her Head,
That she might slip, if possible, when dead,
From him, who trudging through a filthy Road,
Had stuck too closely to the living Load.
A Fact that happen'd, and I then was old:
An Hag at Thebes, a wicked one, no doubt,
Was thus, according to her Will, lugg'd out,
Stiff to the Pile. Upon his naked Back
Her Heir sustain'd the well-anointed Pack.
She likely took this Crotchet in her Head,
That she might slip, if possible, when dead,
From him, who trudging through a filthy Road,
Had stuck too closely to the living Load.
Be cautious therefore, and advance with Art,
Nor sink beneath, nor over-act your Part.
A noisy Fellow must of course offend
The surly Temper of a sullen Friend:
Yet be not mute—like Davus in the Play
With Head inclin'd his awful Nod obey;
Creep into Favour: if a ruder Gale
Assault his Face, admonish him to veil
His precious Pate. Oppose your Shoulders, proud
To disengage him from the bustling Croud.
If he loved Prating, hang an Ear: should Lust
Of empty Glory be the Blockhead's Gust,
Indulge his eager Appetite, and puff
The growing Bladder with inspiring Stuff,
Till he with Hands uplifted to the Skies,
Enough! enough! in glutted Rapture cries.
Nor sink beneath, nor over-act your Part.
A noisy Fellow must of course offend
The surly Temper of a sullen Friend:
Yet be not mute—like Davus in the Play
With Head inclin'd his awful Nod obey;
Creep into Favour: if a ruder Gale
Assault his Face, admonish him to veil
His precious Pate. Oppose your Shoulders, proud
To disengage him from the bustling Croud.
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Of empty Glory be the Blockhead's Gust,
Indulge his eager Appetite, and puff
The growing Bladder with inspiring Stuff,
Till he with Hands uplifted to the Skies,
Enough! enough! in glutted Rapture cries.
When he shall free you from your servile Fear,
And tedious Toil; when broad awake, you hear:
“To good Ulysses, my right trusty Slave,
“A fourth Division of my Lands I leave.”
Is then (as void of Consolation roar)
My dearest Friend, my Dama now no more?
Where shall I find another Man so just,
Firm in his Love, and faithful to his Trust?
Squeeze out some Tears: 'tis fit in such a Case
To cloak your Joys beneath a mournful Face.
Though left to your discretionary Care,
Erect a Tomb magnificently fair,
And let your Neighbours, to proclaim abroad
Your Fame, the pompous Funeral applaud.
And tedious Toil; when broad awake, you hear:
“To good Ulysses, my right trusty Slave,
“A fourth Division of my Lands I leave.”
Is then (as void of Consolation roar)
My dearest Friend, my Dama now no more?
Where shall I find another Man so just,
Firm in his Love, and faithful to his Trust?
Squeeze out some Tears: 'tis fit in such a Case
To cloak your Joys beneath a mournful Face.
Though left to your discretionary Care,
Erect a Tomb magnificently fair,
And let your Neighbours, to proclaim abroad
Your Fame, the pompous Funeral applaud.
If any Vassal of the Will-Compeers,
With Asthma gasping, and advanc'd in Years,
Should be dispos'd to purchase House or Land,
Tell him, that he may readily command
Whatever may to your Proportion come,
And for the Value, let him name the Sum—
But I am summon'd by the Queen of Hell
Back to the Shades. Live artful, and farewell.
With Asthma gasping, and advanc'd in Years,
Should be dispos'd to purchase House or Land,
Tell him, that he may readily command
Whatever may to your Proportion come,
And for the Value, let him name the Sum—
But I am summon'd by the Queen of Hell
Back to the Shades. Live artful, and farewell.
| A Poetical Translation of the works of Horace | |