 | Poems on Several Occasions |  |
The following Epigram was written upon a Pile of Building, erected in Paris by Louis XIVth after the Peace with Queen Anne.
Par domus hæc Urbi est, Urbs orbi: neutra triumphis
Et belli et pacis, par, Ludovice, tuis.
Et belli et pacis, par, Ludovice, tuis.
Answer'd.
Vates est Mendax, Versus mentitur uterque,
Nam minor urbs orbe est et minor urbe domus.
Verbera tot Verax habeat, quot præmia Mendax,
Sic quæ non meruit præmia uterque feret.
Utraque si injusta est Merces, erit utraque juri
Et belli et pacis, par, Ludovice, tuo.
Nam minor urbs orbe est et minor urbe domus.
99
Sic quæ non meruit præmia uterque feret.
Utraque si injusta est Merces, erit utraque juri
Et belli et pacis, par, Ludovice, tuo.
Translated.
This Palace like a City lifts its Heads,
And like a World the ample City spreads.
O Louis how thy Monuments increase?
Alike thy Trophies both of War and Peace!
And like a World the ample City spreads.
O Louis how thy Monuments increase?
Alike thy Trophies both of War and Peace!
The Answer.
How far from Truth the shameless Bard declines!
And like Him lie his ignominious Lines.
In the wide World the lesser City stands,
And less than That the boasted Pile ascends.
And like Him lie his ignominious Lines.
In the wide World the lesser City stands,
And less than That the boasted Pile ascends.
Now, for these Truths, had I as many Stripes,
As for his Lies the flatt'ring Poet bribes,
O Louis, 'twould to future Times declare
Alike thy Justice both of Peace and War.
As for his Lies the flatt'ring Poet bribes,
O Louis, 'twould to future Times declare
Alike thy Justice both of Peace and War.
| Poems on Several Occasions | |