 | The odes, epodes and Carmen Seculare of Horace (1719) |  |
ODE II.
Let the gay Youth be train'd to bear
The Hardships and Fatigues of War;
To dart the Lance, and rein the Steed,
And make the haughty Parthian bleed.
The Hardships and Fatigues of War;
To dart the Lance, and rein the Steed,
And make the haughty Parthian bleed.
Let him, inur'd to Camps and Arms,
Rouse at the Trumpet's shrill Alarms;
When from the hostile Turret seen
By some fair Princess or young Queen,
Rouse at the Trumpet's shrill Alarms;
When from the hostile Turret seen
By some fair Princess or young Queen,
She sighing cries; Alas! my Spouse!
Do not too rashly charge such Foes:
Grant Heav'n! you shun yon dreadful Man,
Who, Lyon-like, lays waste the Plain!
Do not too rashly charge such Foes:
Grant Heav'n! you shun yon dreadful Man,
Who, Lyon-like, lays waste the Plain!
Who would not for his Countrey die,
When 'tis as vain as base to fly?
What Coward can out-run his Fate?
For Death comes on as we retreat.
When 'tis as vain as base to fly?
What Coward can out-run his Fate?
For Death comes on as we retreat.
Virtue with Native Lustre shines,
And still pursues her just Designs:
'Tis not to please the giddy Town,
She takes, or lays her Honours down.
And still pursues her just Designs:
'Tis not to please the giddy Town,
She takes, or lays her Honours down.
Virtue still finds new Ways to rise,
And free Admission to the Skies:
She scorns the Crowd, and homeward bound
Takes Wing, and spurns the misty Ground.
And free Admission to the Skies:
She scorns the Crowd, and homeward bound
Takes Wing, and spurns the misty Ground.
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Next Virtue, Silence claims a Place:
He who his God or Friend betrays,
Should never hoist a Sail to Sea,
Or ever live at Land with me.
He who his God or Friend betrays,
Should never hoist a Sail to Sea,
Or ever live at Land with me.
Jove sometimes in an angry Mood,
Mingles the Wicked with the Good;
But Vengeance moves with Leaden Feet,
Yet will, though slow, the Guilty meet.
Mingles the Wicked with the Good;
But Vengeance moves with Leaden Feet,
Yet will, though slow, the Guilty meet.
| The odes, epodes and Carmen Seculare of Horace (1719) | |