The Works of Horace In English Verse By several hands. Collected and Published By Mr. Duncombe. With Notes Historical and Critical |
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| II. | EPISTLE II. To Lollius.
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 | The Works of Horace In English Verse |  |
322
EPISTLE II. To Lollius.
By I. P. SHARD, Esq;
Horace having read over in the Country the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, while Lollius was employed in pleading at Rome, takes Occasion from thence to point out in this Epistle the moral Instruction to be drawn from that noble Author; and shows the pernicious Effects of Civil Discord, Envy, Avarice, Lust and Anger.
Whilst with Applause, at Rome, you, Lollius, plead,
Homer again I at Præneste read;
Whose moral Song instructs us how to live,
Better than all the Rules the Stoics give.
When, free from Business, you an Hour can spare,
These Lines will tell you what my Reasons are.
Homer again I at Præneste read;
Whose moral Song instructs us how to live,
Better than all the Rules the Stoics give.
When, free from Business, you an Hour can spare,
These Lines will tell you what my Reasons are.
The Lust of Paris, as the Poet shows,
Arm'd against Troy a Host of Grecian Foes.
In that long War we learn what Mischief springs
From the mad Rage of Nations, and their Kings.
The Seeds of War Antenor would destroy;
Paris compulsive Bliss can ne'er enjoy,
And ere he Helen quit, will ruin Troy.
Nestor, with cool Advice, would fain asswage
Achilles' and Atrides' fatal Rage:
Atrides burns with Love; both burn with Ire:
The Subjects for their Princes Guilt expire.
Alike Sedition, Anger, Lust, Deceit
Reign in the Trojan Walls, and Grecian Fleet.
Arm'd against Troy a Host of Grecian Foes.
In that long War we learn what Mischief springs
From the mad Rage of Nations, and their Kings.
323
Paris compulsive Bliss can ne'er enjoy,
And ere he Helen quit, will ruin Troy.
Nestor, with cool Advice, would fain asswage
Achilles' and Atrides' fatal Rage:
Atrides burns with Love; both burn with Ire:
The Subjects for their Princes Guilt expire.
Alike Sedition, Anger, Lust, Deceit
Reign in the Trojan Walls, and Grecian Fleet.
The Fruits that Virtue yields, to Wisdom join'd,
We in th'Example of Ulysses find:
When his wise Counsels Ilium had subdu'd,
He various Men, and various Cities view'd;
Midst countless Perils sought his native Shore,
But always rose above them Conqueror!
The tuneful Sirens sung, but sung in vain;
He clos'd his Ears against the pleasing Strain:
Had he, when Circe brew'd the tempting Draught,
Without an Antidote the Poison quaff'd,
He, with his Friends, transform'd into a Brute,
Ingloriously had serv'd the Prostitute.
As were the Suitors of Penelopé,
Born but to eat and drink, just such are we;
Like the young Nobles of Alcinoüs' Train,
Luxurious, gay, effeminate and vain,
Who glory'd in their sleeping half the Day,
And sung and danc'd, to banish Cares away.
We in th'Example of Ulysses find:
When his wise Counsels Ilium had subdu'd,
He various Men, and various Cities view'd;
Midst countless Perils sought his native Shore,
But always rose above them Conqueror!
The tuneful Sirens sung, but sung in vain;
He clos'd his Ears against the pleasing Strain:
Had he, when Circe brew'd the tempting Draught,
Without an Antidote the Poison quaff'd,
He, with his Friends, transform'd into a Brute,
Ingloriously had serv'd the Prostitute.
As were the Suitors of Penelopé,
Born but to eat and drink, just such are we;
324
Luxurious, gay, effeminate and vain,
Who glory'd in their sleeping half the Day,
And sung and danc'd, to banish Cares away.
Assassins early rise, your Life to take;
And to preserve it, will not you awake?
When blest with Health, if Exercise you shun,
Swell'd by the Dropsy, you'll be forc'd to run.
Call for your Book and Lamp before 'tis light,
And study both to know and do what's right:
Envy or Lust will else torment your Breast,
And you will seek your Couch in vain for Rest.
Strange! what but hurts the Eye we haste to cure,
Yet what corrodes the Mind, whole Years endure.
Begin, and half is done; make no Delay;
Who a good Life defers from Day to Day,
Waits, like the Bumpkin on the River's Side,
'Till the Stream passes, which will ever glide.
And to preserve it, will not you awake?
When blest with Health, if Exercise you shun,
Swell'd by the Dropsy, you'll be forc'd to run.
Call for your Book and Lamp before 'tis light,
And study both to know and do what's right:
Envy or Lust will else torment your Breast,
And you will seek your Couch in vain for Rest.
Strange! what but hurts the Eye we haste to cure,
Yet what corrodes the Mind, whole Years endure.
Begin, and half is done; make no Delay;
Who a good Life defers from Day to Day,
Waits, like the Bumpkin on the River's Side,
'Till the Stream passes, which will ever glide.
To seek for Riches, and a fruitful Wife,
Are the two grand Sollicitudes of Life:
Forests we fell and plow, t'increase our Store;
Let him that has enough not thirst for more.
Nor House, nor Lands, nor Heaps of Gold can ease
Either the Body's or the Mind's Disease.
Both must at once with perfect Health be blest,
Rightly to use those Riches, when possest:
Riches no more the anxious Mind delight,
Than glaring Pictures the disorder'd Sight;
The Gouty Fomentations cannot bear;
Music wants Charms for an imposthum'd Ear.
He tastes no Joy whose Bosom Vice defiles;
An unclean Vessel the best Liquor spoils.
Let Pleasure all her Charms display in vain;
Nor purchase transient Joy with lasting Pain.
The Miser always wants; your Views confine:
The Envious at another's Welfare pine:
The brazen Bull, Procrustes' Bed of Steel,
Ne'er gave such Torture as the Envious feel.
Anger to desperate Actions spurs us on;
Curb it, or you'll repent the Deed, when done;
Whilst Hate and Vengeance animate the Blow;
And make you rush with Fury on your Foe.
Rage is short Madness; bind it fast in Chains;
It serves a Slave, or else a Tyrant reigns.
The docile Colt, form'd by the Jockey's Hand,
Is taught at length to know his Lord's Command:
The Whelp, that bay'd the Deer-skin in the Hall,
Now in the Woods obeys the Huntsman's Call.
To good Advice give Ear: 'Tis now the Time,
Now, while your youthful Mind is free from Crime.
When new the Cask, it should be tinctur'd well;
Once season'd, it will long retain its Smell.
Whatever Speed you run in Virtue's Race,
I neither will retard nor mend my Pace.
Are the two grand Sollicitudes of Life:
Forests we fell and plow, t'increase our Store;
Let him that has enough not thirst for more.
Nor House, nor Lands, nor Heaps of Gold can ease
Either the Body's or the Mind's Disease.
325
Rightly to use those Riches, when possest:
Riches no more the anxious Mind delight,
Than glaring Pictures the disorder'd Sight;
The Gouty Fomentations cannot bear;
Music wants Charms for an imposthum'd Ear.
He tastes no Joy whose Bosom Vice defiles;
An unclean Vessel the best Liquor spoils.
Let Pleasure all her Charms display in vain;
Nor purchase transient Joy with lasting Pain.
The Miser always wants; your Views confine:
The Envious at another's Welfare pine:
The brazen Bull, Procrustes' Bed of Steel,
Ne'er gave such Torture as the Envious feel.
Anger to desperate Actions spurs us on;
Curb it, or you'll repent the Deed, when done;
Whilst Hate and Vengeance animate the Blow;
And make you rush with Fury on your Foe.
Rage is short Madness; bind it fast in Chains;
It serves a Slave, or else a Tyrant reigns.
The docile Colt, form'd by the Jockey's Hand,
Is taught at length to know his Lord's Command:
The Whelp, that bay'd the Deer-skin in the Hall,
Now in the Woods obeys the Huntsman's Call.
326
Now, while your youthful Mind is free from Crime.
When new the Cask, it should be tinctur'd well;
Once season'd, it will long retain its Smell.
Whatever Speed you run in Virtue's Race,
I neither will retard nor mend my Pace.
| The Works of Horace In English Verse | |