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The works of Horace, translated into verse

With a prose interpretation, for the help of students. And occasional notes. By Christopher Smart ... In four volumes

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EPISTLE X. To Fuscus Aristius.
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77

EPISTLE X. To Fuscus Aristius.

He extols a country life, with which he is captivated, to Fuscus, a lover of the town.

I, that the country best approve,
To Fuscus, recommend my love;
Who places in the town his bliss,
At wond'rous odds, alone in this,
We in all other things agree,
As loving-like, as twins can be.
With spirits of fraternal kind,
Each is, or pleas'd, or disinclin'd,
Each nods to each, in constant mood,
Like two old pidgeons of the wood—
You keep the nest—but Horace roves
To streams and moss-grown rocks and groves.
Do you ask why?—I live and reign,
Er'e since I treated with disdain
Those very scenes, which with such cries,
You're all extolling to the skies;
And like the slave, that flies the priest,
As sick of a perpetual feast;
I want the bread the country bakes
Much rather than your honey'd cakes.
Agreeably to nature's call
If we must live, then first of all,

79

You shou'd select a pleasant spot,
Where you may build your little cot;
And can you know a better place,
Than that which rural beauties grace?
Are warmer summers found elsewhere,
Or is there any milder air
To which a man may have recourse,
What time the Dog-star is in force,
Or when the Lion, in his turn,
Does by the Sun's intenseness burn?
Is there a place, where envious spleen,
Breaks less upon your sleep serene?
Say, do the Lybian stones excel
The grass in sightliness or smell;
Or does your water, while it strives
To burst the pipes e'er it arrives,
Run purer in the street, than those,
Whose rapid current murmuring flows?
Nay, wood is rais'd to please the eyes,
Where variegated pillars rise,
And for applause those buildings stand,
Which have a prospect of the land.
Expel dame nature, how you will,
She must herself recover still,
Breaking thro' fashion by degrees
And vain caprice with her decrees.
He that has not discerning sense,
To see how far in excellence,
The tinctures of Aquinum vie,
With purple of Sidonian die,

81

More loss can never undergo
Than those, who have not wit to know
The truth from that which is not so.
Whom wealth and power too joyful make
At a reverse of things will quake;
Of ought if you are over-fond,
On resignation you'll despond:
One in a cot, for bliss indeed,
Kings and their fav'rites may exceed:
The stag, more warlike than the steed,
Expell'd him from the common mead,
Till long time worsted in the end
He call'd on man to stand his friend,
And took the bit—but when he came
Stern conq'ror from the field of fame;
He cou'd not of the rider quit
His back, nor mouth from out the bit.
Thus he that fears he shall be poor,
Must loss of liberty endure,
More precious far than gold, must bear
A master, and such fetters wear
As shall eternally enthrall,
Because his income is too small.
A man's concerns that will not do,
May be resembled to a shoe,
Which made too large will soon subvert
Your feet, and if too small will hurt.
If you're contented with good cheer,
My Fuscus, then your wisdom's clear,

83

And me your old ally chastise,
Appearing busy in your eyes,
To gather more than shou'd suffice.
That money, which we scrape and crave,
To all's a tyrant, or a slave,
And yet 'tis easy to decide,
It shou'd be guided, and not guide.
These lines I wrote in idle vein,
Behind Vacuna's mould'ring fane,
Happy in every point of view,
Except the joy to be with you.