 | The odes, epodes and Carmen Seculare of Horace (1719) |  |
ODE XXIII. To Phidyle.
If once a Month to Heav'n you pray
With lifted Hands, and on the Shrine
Your this Year's Fruits and Incense lay,
And sacrifice a greedy Swine;
With lifted Hands, and on the Shrine
Your this Year's Fruits and Incense lay,
And sacrifice a greedy Swine;
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The Gods from Storms shall save your Vines,
Nor shall your blighted Harvest fail;
And as the sickly Year declines,
Your Children shall be strong and hail.
Nor shall your blighted Harvest fail;
And as the sickly Year declines,
Your Children shall be strong and hail.
Let the devoted Herds, that feed
On Algidum o'er-grown with Wood,
Or those from rich Albania, bleed,
And paint the Pontiff's Axe with Blood:
On Algidum o'er-grown with Wood,
Or those from rich Albania, bleed,
And paint the Pontiff's Axe with Blood:
The Gods require no Herds from you,
No rich Oblations, not your own;
Give 'em, what from a Swain is due,
A Rosemary or Myrtle Crown.
No rich Oblations, not your own;
Give 'em, what from a Swain is due,
A Rosemary or Myrtle Crown.
Bring but a little homely Cake,
With Hands that know no guilty Stain,
The Gods that humble Gift will take,
When Hecatombs are kill'd in vain.
With Hands that know no guilty Stain,
The Gods that humble Gift will take,
When Hecatombs are kill'd in vain.
| The odes, epodes and Carmen Seculare of Horace (1719) | |