 | Household Verses |  |
130
TO THE PENATES.
Penates! in my partial eyes,
Might I to idols bow,
You, of all heathen deities,
Should claim my grateful vow.
Might I to idols bow,
You, of all heathen deities,
Should claim my grateful vow.
The Naiades of the dark blue sea,
The Dryades of the grove,
However lovely these might be,
Could never win my love.
The Dryades of the grove,
However lovely these might be,
Could never win my love.
But you, beside the household
hearth,
Domestic worship shared;
And thoughts which owed to home their birth,
Your social rites prepared.
Domestic worship shared;
And thoughts which owed to home their birth,
Your social rites prepared.
131
I may not, as in days of old,
To you an altar rear;
But not less fondly do I hold
Your living essence dear!
To you an altar rear;
But not less fondly do I hold
Your living essence dear!
This still, in friendship and in
love,
Survives to glad the heart;
every gift from Heaven above
On earth should joy impart.
Survives to glad the heart;
every gift from Heaven above
On earth should joy impart.
these, till death my heart shall chill,
Its incense shall arise;
in these names I hail you still
My household deities!
Its incense shall arise;
in these names I hail you still
My household deities!
| Household Verses | |