ODE X. TO LICINIUS.
A mean is to be observed in either fortune.
A better plan of life you form,
Not wholly launching out from land,
Nor over-jealous of a storm,
Too much for shore to stand.
Whoever loves the golden mean,
From sordid want himself supports,
Nor safe and sober is he seen
In envy-moving courts.
Tall pines are shaken, and the tow'r
Comes heaviest from the highest wall,
And thunderbolts, with greater pow'r,
On topmost mountains fall.
Hearts, well prepar'd, will see a dawn
Of hope in woe—in wealth will pray
'Gainst change—heav'n brings the winter on,
And drives the hag away.
If times are evil, by and by
They shall be better—Phœbus plays
At times upon his minstrelsy,
Not always shoots his rays.
When times are hardest, then a face
Of constancy and spirit wear;
But wise contract your sails apace,
When once the wind's too fair.
