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

Descend, thou sweetest of the tuneful Train,
Calliope! thou Queen of Song,
Descend, and gracefully prolong,
In solemn Notes, some enthusiastic Strain;
Whether the clear harmonious Voice,
Or animated Lyre, be thy propitious Choice.

253

Hark! hear ye not the Muse? or does a Dream
The lovely, frantic Scene display?
For now I listen to her Lay;
I catch, enraptur'd, her melodious Theme,
And, fann'd by balmy Zephyrs, rove
Where murmuring Waters roll, along the sacred Grove.

Me, yet a Boy, when from the Bounds I stray'd
Of my Apulia's fostering Soil,
This Omen crown'd: As, tir'd with Toil,
Careless I slumber'd in a Mountain's Shade,
The fabled Birds of Venus spread
A verdant leafy Wreath around my honour'd Head.

They that in Bantia dwell, for Woods renown'd,
Or Acherontia, plac'd on high,
Or where Ferentum's Valleys lie,
With Bays and Myrtle, wondering, saw me crown'd,
Safe from the Viper and the Bear,
Protected by the Gods, an Infant void of Fear!

Whether I climb the Sabine Mountain's Height,
Or over cold Præneste rove,
Or muse in Tibur's sloping Grove,
Or in the gentle Baïan Streams delight,

254

Yours, I am yours, ye tuneful Choir,
And still your sacred Bard You graciously inspire.

Fond of your Sports and Streams, unhurt I fled
From dire Philippi's fatal Plain;
Unhurt I pass'd the stormy Main
Of Sicily; and my endanger'd Head,
Unhurt, escap'd the dreadful Fall
Of that devoted Tree; by You secur'd from all!

By You protected, I could take my Way
Where Bosphorus's Billows foam,
Amidst th'Assyrian Desarts roam,
Or to inhospitable Britain stray;
View Scythia, or the Caspian Shore,
And, fearless, brave the Race, that quaff their Horses' Gore.

When Cæsar, from the Labours of the Field,
His weary'd Legions breathes; a while
Reposing from their martial Toil;
In the Pierian Cave your Counsels yield
New Transport to your Pupil's Heart;
You give, and share Yourselves the Pleasures you impart.

255

We know how all the bold Gigantic Train
To lowest Tartarus were driven
By mighty Jove, who, over Heaven,
And Earth, and Ocean, stretches his Domain:
All Nature owns his righteous Sway;
Him Gods, and mortal Men, and shadowy Ghosts, obey.

Confiding in their Strength, the horrid Crew
Struck Jove himself with unknown Fright,
When on Olympus woody Height
The daring Brethren lofty Pelion threw:
But what avail'd ev'n Typhon's Power,
Or Mimas, or Porphyrion, threatening, like a Tower?

What, Rhœtus' or Enceladus's Might,
Whose Arm across the warring Field
Up-rooted Trees could singly wield,
When fierce Minerva, burning for the Fight,
High o'er their Heads her Ægis rear'd,
And fiery Vulcan here, and Juno there appear'd?

He too, whose Shoulders ever shall sustain
The Quiver and the Bow, who laves
In pure Castalia's dewy Waves
His flowing Curls, and makes the Lycian Plain,

256

Or Delian Mountain, his Abode,
And thence the Delian styl'd and Patarëan God.

But Force, devoid of Prudence, to the Ground
Self-baffled falls; while, aiding Right,
The Gods increase well-temper'd Might;
But justly hate, and justly still confound
Those Powers, that with perverted Mind
All Mischief madly brood, to Villainy resign'd.

See! Gyas lifts his hundred Hands on high,
In Witness of this solemn Truth;
See too Orion, impious Youth!
Who dar'd with vile unlawful Love to try
Th'untainted Goddess of the Wood;
But soon her Virgin Dart drank deep his vital Flood.

They feel their Parent Earth's o'erwhelming Weight;
Their Parent Earth laments to see
Her huge rebellious Progeny
Driven down, by Lightning, to the Realms of Fate;
While endless Flames from Ætna rise,
On the fell Giant cast, who there tormented lies.

257

Nor, Tityus! will th'avenging Vulture spare
Thy growing Liver; in thy Breast
For ever plac'd by Jove's Behest;
But still thy Flesh his furious Talons tear;
Nor can Pirithöus remove
His thrice a hundred Chains, the Doom of lawless Love!

J. D.