The Works of Horace In English Verse :: :: University of Virginia Library

The Man resolv'd, and firmly just,
Adheres, unshaken, to his Trust,
Tho' loudly rage his factious Foes,
And tho' a Tyrant's Threats oppose;
Tho', Mountain-high, the Billows roll,
And Lightnings flash from Pole to Pole;
Nor would the Wreck his Mind appall,
Should the whole World to swift Destruction fall.
To Heaven, by Virtues great as these,
Fam'd Pollux rose, and Hercules;
Amidst whose Feasts, with rosy Lips,
The nectar'd Bowl Augustus sips.
Thus too rose Bacchus, in his Car
By Tygers drawn, untaught to bear
The Yoke; and thus, on Mars's Steeds,
Our Romulus escap'd the Stygian Meads:
Then, in Olympus' high Abodes,
Thus Juno spoke, and pleas'd the Gods:

243

A foreign Bride, and an unjust
Adulterous Umpire, laid in Dust
The Trojan Towers, condemn'd by Me,
And Wisdom's injur'd Deity,
What time their impious Monarch dar'd
Deny two Gods their promis'd due Reward.
No longer, deck'd with every Grace,
Shines Helen's shameless Guest; the Race
Of Priam now no more in Fight
O'erpower the Greeks, by Hector's Might:
By us protracted, with the Wars,
My Hatred ends; I yield to Mars
That Son, whom, on the Latian Shore,
Of Trojan Race, a Royal Priestess bore.
These shining Mansions let him gain,
Nectareous Goblets let him drain,
And, in the Realms of endless Rest,
Share all the Pleasures of the Blest.
O'er any Region, uncontroul'd,
These Exiles may Dominion hold,
While Ocean severs Troy from Rome:
While Herds shall browze on perjur'd Paris' Tomb,
Or, there, wild Beasts their Young shall hide,
So long the Capitolian Pride

244

Shall last; and warlike Rome impose
Laws on her conquer'd Parthian Foes.
Her Name, to Earth's Extremity,
Dreadful shall sound; both where the Sea
Europe from Africa divides,
And where the Nile o'erflows with fruitful Tides.
With Truth, and untaught Virtue bold;
Upright to scorn the Charms of Gold,
And let it innocently shine,
And sleep, unransack'd, in the Mine.
Let ev'n the World's remotest Bound
Re-echo with their Trumpets' Sound,
Where endless Summers parch the Plain,
Or where the Clouds o'erflow with endless Rain.
But on these Terms alone, their Claim
I grant to universal Fame;
That never, with too pious Care,
Troy's ancient Ruins they repair:
For Troy, rebuilt with Omens dire,
Again shall be involv'd in Fire,
While I, Jove's Wife and Sister, lead
The conquering Bands, and urge the glorious Deed.
Tho' thrice should rise the brazen Wall,
By Phœbus built, it thrice should fall

245

By Grecian Force; and thrice a Son
Or Husband slain, the Wives bemoan—
This Strain ill suits my lighter String;
Cease, daring Muse! forbear to sing
The Words of Gods; nor dare to wrong
This lofty Theme by thy unequal Song!

J. D.