Medulla Poetarum Romanorum Or, the Most Beautiful and Instructive Passages of the Roman Poets. Being a Collection, (Disposed under proper Heads,) Of such Descriptions, Allusions, Comparisons, Characters, and Sentiments, as may best serve to shew the Religion, Learning, Politicks, Arts, Customs, Opinions, Manners, and Circumstances of the Antients. With Translations of the same in English Verse. By Mr. Henry Baker |
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Palace.
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 | Medulla Poetarum Romanorum |  |
Palace.
See Banquet.
A spacious Structure in the City's Height,
Sublime upon an hundred Pillars stood,
With gloomy Groves religiously obscure,
Laurentian Picus' Palace: Where the Kings
The first Inauguration of their Sway,
The Scepters, and the regal Fasces took:
This Court their Temple: Here the sacred Feasts:
And here the Fathers, by th' accustom'd Rite,
Killing a Victim Ram, in order sate
Along the Forms. Before the stately Doors
Th' Effigies of their Ancestors stood rang'd
In Rows of antique Cedar: Italus,
Father Sabinus, Planter of the Vine,
Holding in Imag'ry his crooked Scythe,
And aged Saturn, and the double Front
Of Janus: and the other antient Kings,
Who for their Country suffer'd Wounds in War.
Besides: thick Arms upon the sacred Posts,
Curve Scymiters, and captive Chariots hung;
And Crests of Helmets: massy Bars of Gates:
And Darts, and Shields, and Beaks from Vessels torn.—
Sublime upon an hundred Pillars stood,
With gloomy Groves religiously obscure,
Laurentian Picus' Palace: Where the Kings
The first Inauguration of their Sway,
The Scepters, and the regal Fasces took:
This Court their Temple: Here the sacred Feasts:
And here the Fathers, by th' accustom'd Rite,
Killing a Victim Ram, in order sate
Along the Forms. Before the stately Doors
Th' Effigies of their Ancestors stood rang'd
In Rows of antique Cedar: Italus,
Father Sabinus, Planter of the Vine,
Holding in Imag'ry his crooked Scythe,
And aged Saturn, and the double Front
Of Janus: and the other antient Kings,
Who for their Country suffer'd Wounds in War.
Besides: thick Arms upon the sacred Posts,
Curve Scymiters, and captive Chariots hung;
And Crests of Helmets: massy Bars of Gates:
And Darts, and Shields, and Beaks from Vessels torn.—
Here Ceres' Palace, by the Cyclops rear'd,
A stately Pile! in glitt'ring Pomp appear'd.
Ir'n were the Posts and Walls: the spacious Door,
With Sheets of stubborn Steel was plated o'er.
The drudging Brethren, ne'er with equal Toil,
Labour'd so vast a Work, or rais'd so firm a Pile:
Nor the huge Bellows with their hollow Frame,
Swell'd with such gather'd Blasts to urge the Flame:
Nor ever such a rolling Flood before,
Of molten Metal the hot Furnace bore.
The Hall with Ivory was cover'd round,
And Beams of Brass the lofty Summit bound:
Amber in tow'ring Columns rose on high,
And with it's golden Splendor charm'd the Eye.—
A stately Pile! in glitt'ring Pomp appear'd.
Ir'n were the Posts and Walls: the spacious Door,
With Sheets of stubborn Steel was plated o'er.
The drudging Brethren, ne'er with equal Toil,
Labour'd so vast a Work, or rais'd so firm a Pile:
Nor the huge Bellows with their hollow Frame,
Swell'd with such gather'd Blasts to urge the Flame:
185
Of molten Metal the hot Furnace bore.
The Hall with Ivory was cover'd round,
And Beams of Brass the lofty Summit bound:
Amber in tow'ring Columns rose on high,
And with it's golden Splendor charm'd the Eye.—
The Palatine, proud Rome's imperial Seat,
(An awful Pile!) stands venerably Great:
Thither the Kingdoms and the Nations come,
In supplicating Crouds to learn their Doom:
To Delphi less th' enquiring Worlds repair,
Nor does a greater God inhabit there.
This sure the pompous Mansion was design'd
To please the mighty Rulers of Mankind:
Inferior Temples rise on either Hand,
And on the Borders of the Palace stand,
While o'er the rest her Head she proudly rears,
And lodg'd amidst her Guardian Gods appears.—
(An awful Pile!) stands venerably Great:
Thither the Kingdoms and the Nations come,
In supplicating Crouds to learn their Doom:
To Delphi less th' enquiring Worlds repair,
Nor does a greater God inhabit there.
This sure the pompous Mansion was design'd
To please the mighty Rulers of Mankind:
Inferior Temples rise on either Hand,
And on the Borders of the Palace stand,
While o'er the rest her Head she proudly rears,
And lodg'd amidst her Guardian Gods appears.—
| Medulla Poetarum Romanorum | |