University of Virginia Library

THE GOLDEN AGE.

TRANSLATED FROM OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.

When Faith and Honesty with willing hand,
Swayed the blest sceptre of the smiling hand,
Then bloomed the Golden Age; then all mankind
Beneath the bowers of sweet content reclined,
No brazen records kept the crowd in awe,
For innocence supplied the want of law;
No conscious guilt disturbed each peaceful bower,
No fierce tribunal grasped despotick power,
Nor pale Revenge pursued with endless wrath;
But peace with flowers bestrewed life's rugged path.
The lofty pine, which crowned the mountain's brow,
Where clouds of green around the horizon flow,
Had not yet sought the distant world t'explore;
Nor heard the ocean's wild tumultuous roar.
Ambition had not yet inflamed mankind,
Within their cots by sweet content confined.
War's ruthless hand had not the rampart raised,
No hostile standards o'er the meadows blazed,
No threatening clarions taught the field to bleed,
Nor brazen horns aroused the martial steed,
No savage sword cut short the vital breath,
Nor glittering helmets braved the approach of death.
In soft delight, far from the din of arms,
The world reposed, secure from all alarms;
No shining share the fertile vallies tore,
Spontaneous earth her rich luxuriance bore;
Divine Content, whose charms ne'er fail to please,
Fed on the fruits, which bent the labouring trees.
The smiling berries, which on mountains glowed,
Or blush beneath the brambles on the road,
The sacred acorn, shaken by the wind,
Supplied the daily wants of all mankind.
Unceasing spring breathed fragrance round their bowers,
And soft Zephyrus fanned spontaneous flowers.
The earth untilled, with smiling fruitage glowed,
And round the fields the yellow harvest flowed.
The heavenly nectar from the skies was showered;
And streams of milk along the meadows poured;
The verdant oak with honey bathed the plain,
And blest Content prolonged the golden reign.