Works of the Hon. and Very Rev. William Herbert :: :: University of Virginia Library

Water is best, but like to fire,
That flashes in the night, is gold,
Excelling amid wealth,
That makes man great and bold.
If to tell of noble prizes,
Heart, thou dost desire,
Other star of day more genial
Look not to espy,
Than the glorious sun resplendent
In the desert sky!
Nor shall we a prouder struggle

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Than Olympia's trial sing,
(Whence the hymn of many voices
By the counsel of the brave
Swells to resound of Saturn's son,)
Arrived at the sumptuous heaven-blest hearth
Of Hiero munificent;

Antistrophe 1.

The sceptre of just law who sways
In Sicily far-famed for sheep,
The prime of every good
Rejoicing there to reap;
And the pleasant flower of music
Crowns his blissful days,
Gladsome as around his table
Oft our harpings swell.
From the nail on high suspended
Take the Dorian shell,
If the thought of holy Pisa,
Bend the mind to sweetest cares,
And the gallant Pherenicus
Earn'd our praises, when he sprang
Over the course with glorious speed,
Unlash'd by the margin of Alpheus, and bore
His master to the victory;

Epode 1.

The Syracusian king
In matchless steeds abounding.
His glory shines beside
The sturdy-peopled seat

208

Of Lydian Pelops, who was loved
By mighty Neptune earth-surrounding;
When Clotho from the cauldron bright
Him raised again to life and light,
With ivory shoulder graced.
Things wonderful have been whilere;
But oft the mind of man
To fable leans a willing ear,
And varied with fallacious tales,
Falsehood o'er sober truth prevails.

Strophe 2.

Pleasing and lovely to mankind,
Are all things made by witching grace;
Faith to the false it lends,
And honor to the base.
But, though fable now surround us,
Future days will bring
Unto truth a surer witness.
It beseems us here
Well to speak of Gods above us;
So less cause of fear.
Son of Tantalus, as others
Tell, I sing not touching thee.
With their food of bright ambrosia
When thy father in return
Call'd to loved Sipylus the Gods,
And gave them a righteous regale, he who sways
The trident seized thee forcibly;

209

Antistrophe 2.

And, swiftly with his golden mares,
Smit by the mighty power of love
He wafted thee aloft
Unto the house of Jove.
Whither for like service carried
To the Thunderer's hall
Ganymedes came thereafter.
But when rumour none
Those, who sought thee, brought thy mother
Of her vanish'd son,
Grudging neighbors spoke invidious
Secret words of evil fame,
That o'er water fiercely boiling
By the fervent strength of flame,
Piecemeal they hew'd thee with the sword,
Dissever'd thy joints, and the flesh of thy limbs
Devouring feasted daintily.

Epode 2.

Be it not mine to call
The blessed Gods voracious!
I stand aloof; ill words
Are oft by ill repaid.
But, if who hold Olympus high
Were ever to a mortal gracious,
That man was Tantalus: yet, great
Howe'er, he kept not his estate;
But, satiated thro' pride,
He earn'd a punishment so dread,
As man ne'er rued before.
A huge stone Jove hung o'er his head,

210

Which ever to throw down and shun
He strives, and happiness hath none.

Strophe 3.

Helpless he wears this load of life
In labors, whence he cannot flee,
And a fourth toil endures
Thus added unto three.
For that nectar and ambrosia,
Food which maketh Gods
Deathless, he for earthly messmates
Stole. If man infers
Sinning secretly the Gods
To deceive, he errs.
Thereupon the Everlasting
Angry, from their blest abode,
To the short-lived race of mortals
Sent again his youthful son.
When in the opening bloom of life
The black down of manhood had cover'd his chin,
He thought to wed him gallantly;

Antistrophe 3.

From Pisa's lord his maid renown'd
Hippodamia to obtain.
Alone at dead of night
Beside the hoary main
The deep-sounding trident-holder
He invoked; straitway
At his feet the God appearing
Stood; he him address'd.

211

“If the gifts of Venus merit
“Favor from thy breast,
“Neptune, thou the brazen falchion
“Of Œnomaus o'erthrow!
“And forthwith to Elis waft me
“On the swiftest wheels that be!
“Quickly approach me to renown,
“For ten men and three he has slain, and delays
“To yield his child's virginity!

Epode 3.

“Weak minds in danger find
“No way to be victorious;
“But, to whom death is sure,
“In darkness why should man
“Sit nursing unrenown'd old age,
“Shareless of all things great and glorious!
“To me at least this peril lies
“At hand, a joyful hope and prize;
“Thou grant an issue fair!”
He spoke, and not in vain the spring
Of words by him was touch'd;
The God array'd him; on the wing
Steeds indefatigable bear
His golden chariot thro' the air.

Strophe 4.

Quelling the prowess of the sire
He took the bride to his embrace,
And chieftains six begat
A brave and gallant race.
Now, with honor sacrificial
Placed beside the bank
Of bright Alpheus gliding by him,

212

Tenant of the grave
He hath here an altar, worshipp'd
By the great and brave.
Far and wide the glory glitters
Of the famed Olympic games,
On the course where Pelops conquer'd,
Where the swift of foot are tried,
And the hard toil of vigorous strength.
The conqueror joys thro' the rest of his days
The prize in sweet serenity,

Antistrophe 4.

A blest reward of honors won.
The good, which every day is nigh,
Is the best gift that man
Inherits from on high.
Me behoves with strain Æolian
Thee revered to crown,
By equestrian laws abiding;
And I deem no guest
Or more skill'd in valiant labors,
Or of power possest,
(Now at least of men surviving)
Can by music be adorn'd,
In the various folds enveloped
Of heart-stirring minstrelsy.
Over thy cares God favoring thee
Presides, and, unless he forsake thee, I hope
A strain still sweeter, Hiero,

213

Epode 4.

To find, the way of words
Exploring near steep Cronius,
Hereafter praising thee
On fleetest chariot borne.
The muse for me with vigor frames
Her strongest dart symphonious;
To others other gifts are given,
But kings are lifted nearest heaven,
Therefore no further spy!
The lofty path of life be thine
With port sublime to tread!
And, mix'd with conquerors, be mine,
For science most renown'd, to stand
Conspicuous on all Grecian land!

Pisa, where the Olympic games were held, was sacred to Jupiter.

The Horse of Hiere.

When his limbs were taken out of the cauldron and put together again, the real shoulder was missing, which the Gods were supposed to have eaten. The ivory was a substitute.

Pelops.

Cup-bearer to Jupiter.

Standing, hungering, and thirsting: or the three toils of Tityus, Sisyphus, and Ixion. The first interpretation is preferable.

Where he conquered Œnomaus.

Hiero.