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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Panic Fear.
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 | Medulla Poetarum Romanorum |  |
Panic Fear.
See Fear.
Meanwhile the busy Messenger of Ill,
Officious Fame, supplies new Terror still:
A thousand Slaughters, and ten thousand Fears
She whispers in the trembling Vulgar's Ears:
But when approaching Cæsar they would paint,
The stronger Image makes Description faint.
No Tongue can speak, with what amazing Dread,
Wild Thought presents him at his Army's Head:
Unlike the Man familiar to their Eyes,
Horrid he seems, and of gigantic Size:
Unnumber'd Eagles rise amidst his Train,
And Millions seem to hide the crowded Plain.
Thus Fear does half the Work of lying Fame,
And Cowards thus their own Misfortunes frame:
By their own feigning Fancies are betray'd,
And groan beneath those Ills themselves have made.
Officious Fame, supplies new Terror still:
A thousand Slaughters, and ten thousand Fears
She whispers in the trembling Vulgar's Ears:
But when approaching Cæsar they would paint,
The stronger Image makes Description faint.
No Tongue can speak, with what amazing Dread,
Wild Thought presents him at his Army's Head:
Unlike the Man familiar to their Eyes,
Horrid he seems, and of gigantic Size:
Unnumber'd Eagles rise amidst his Train,
And Millions seem to hide the crowded Plain.
Thus Fear does half the Work of lying Fame,
And Cowards thus their own Misfortunes frame:
By their own feigning Fancies are betray'd,
And groan beneath those Ills themselves have made.
187
Nor these Alarms the Crowd alone infest,
But ran alike thro' ev'ry beating Breast:
With equal Dread the grave Patrician's shook,
Their Seats abandon'd, and the Court forsook.
Resolv'd on Flight, yet still unknowing where
To fly from Danger, or for Aid repair,
Hasty, and headlong, diff'rent Paths they tread,
As blind Impulse and wild Distraction lead:
The Crowd, a hurrying, heartless Train, succeed.
Who that the lamentable Sight beheld,
The wretched Fugitives that hid the Field,
Would not have thought the Flames, with rapid haste
Destroying wide, had laid their City waste:
Or groaning Earth had shook beneath their Feet,
While threatning Buildings nodded o'er the Street.
Then Sons forsook their Sires unnerv'd and old,
Nor weeping Wives their Husbands could with-hold:
Each left his Houshold Lares unador'd,
Nor with one parting Pray'r their Aid implor'd:
None stopp'd, or sighing turn'd for one last View,
Or bid the City of his Birth adieu.
The headlong Crowd, regardless, urge their Way,
Tho' e'en their Gods and Country ask their Stay,
And pleading Nature begs 'em to delay.—
—The City then he enter'd:
But ran alike thro' ev'ry beating Breast:
With equal Dread the grave Patrician's shook,
Their Seats abandon'd, and the Court forsook.
Resolv'd on Flight, yet still unknowing where
To fly from Danger, or for Aid repair,
Hasty, and headlong, diff'rent Paths they tread,
As blind Impulse and wild Distraction lead:
The Crowd, a hurrying, heartless Train, succeed.
Who that the lamentable Sight beheld,
The wretched Fugitives that hid the Field,
Would not have thought the Flames, with rapid haste
Destroying wide, had laid their City waste:
Or groaning Earth had shook beneath their Feet,
While threatning Buildings nodded o'er the Street.
Then Sons forsook their Sires unnerv'd and old,
Nor weeping Wives their Husbands could with-hold:
Each left his Houshold Lares unador'd,
Nor with one parting Pray'r their Aid implor'd:
None stopp'd, or sighing turn'd for one last View,
Or bid the City of his Birth adieu.
The headlong Crowd, regardless, urge their Way,
Tho' e'en their Gods and Country ask their Stay,
And pleading Nature begs 'em to delay.—
The City with Confusion wild was fraught,
And trembling shook with ev'ry dreadful Thought.
They think he comes to ravage, sack, and burn:
Religion, Gods, and Temples to o'erturn.
Their Fears suggest him willing to pursue,
Whatever Ills unbounded Pow'r can do.—
| Medulla Poetarum Romanorum | |