The Works of Horace In English Verse By several hands. Collected and Published By Mr. Duncombe. With Notes Historical and Critical |
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 | The Works of Horace In English Verse |  |
271
ODE VI. To the Roman People.
By Wentworth, Earl of Roscommon.
Those Ills your Ancestors have done,
Romans! are now become your own;
And they will cost you dear,
Unless you soon repair
The falling Temples, which the Gods provoke,
And Statues sully'd yet with sacrilegious Smoke.
Romans! are now become your own;
And they will cost you dear,
Unless you soon repair
The falling Temples, which the Gods provoke,
And Statues sully'd yet with sacrilegious Smoke.
272
Propitious Heaven, that rais'd your Fathers high,
For humble grateful Piety,
As it rewarded their Respect,
Hath sharply punish'd your Neglect.
All Empires on the Gods depend,
Begun by their Command, at their Command they end.
Let Crassus' Ghost, and Labienus, tell
How twice, by Jove's Revenge, our Legions fell;
And, with insulting Pride,
Shining in Roman Spoils, the Parthian Victors ride.
For humble grateful Piety,
As it rewarded their Respect,
Hath sharply punish'd your Neglect.
All Empires on the Gods depend,
Begun by their Command, at their Command they end.
Let Crassus' Ghost, and Labienus, tell
How twice, by Jove's Revenge, our Legions fell;
And, with insulting Pride,
Shining in Roman Spoils, the Parthian Victors ride.
The Dacian and Ægyptian Scum
Had almost ruin'd Rome;
While our Seditions took their Part,
Fill'd each Ægyptian Sail, and wing'd each Dacian Dart.
First, these flagitious Times,
Pregnant with unknown Crimes,
Conspire to violate the nuptial Bed:
From which polluted Head,
Infectious Streams of crowding Sins began,
And thro' the spurious Breed, and guilty Nation, ran.
Had almost ruin'd Rome;
While our Seditions took their Part,
Fill'd each Ægyptian Sail, and wing'd each Dacian Dart.
First, these flagitious Times,
Pregnant with unknown Crimes,
Conspire to violate the nuptial Bed:
From which polluted Head,
Infectious Streams of crowding Sins began,
And thro' the spurious Breed, and guilty Nation, ran.
273
Behold a ripe and melting Maid
Bound 'Prentice to the wanton Trade:
Iönian Artists, at a mighty Price,
Instruct her in the Mysteries of Vice;
What Nets to spread; where, subtle Baits to lay;
And, with an early Hand, they form the temper'd Clay.
Bound 'Prentice to the wanton Trade:
Iönian Artists, at a mighty Price,
Instruct her in the Mysteries of Vice;
What Nets to spread; where, subtle Baits to lay;
And, with an early Hand, they form the temper'd Clay.
Married, their Lessons she improves
By Practice of adulterous Loves;
And scorns the common mean Design,
To take Advantage of her Husband's Wine;
Or snatch, in some dark Place,
A hasty illegitimate Embrace.
No! the brib'd Husband knows of all,
And bids her rise, when Lovers call.
By Practice of adulterous Loves;
And scorns the common mean Design,
To take Advantage of her Husband's Wine;
Or snatch, in some dark Place,
A hasty illegitimate Embrace.
No! the brib'd Husband knows of all,
And bids her rise, when Lovers call.
Hither a Merchant, from the Streights,
Grown wealthy by forbidden Freights;
Or City Cannibal repairs,
Who feeds upon the Flesh of Heirs,
Deep sunk in Vice! whose tributary Flame
Pays the full Price of Lust, and gilds the slighted Shame.
Grown wealthy by forbidden Freights;
Or City Cannibal repairs,
Who feeds upon the Flesh of Heirs,
Deep sunk in Vice! whose tributary Flame
Pays the full Price of Lust, and gilds the slighted Shame.
274
'Twas not the Spawn of such as these,
That dy'd with Punic Blood the conquer'd Seas,
And quell'd the stern Æacides;
Made the proud Asian Monarch feel,
How weak his Gold against the Roman Steel;
Forc'd e'en dire Hannibal to yield,
And won the long-disputed World, at Zama's fatal Field.
That dy'd with Punic Blood the conquer'd Seas,
And quell'd the stern Æacides;
Made the proud Asian Monarch feel,
How weak his Gold against the Roman Steel;
Forc'd e'en dire Hannibal to yield,
And won the long-disputed World, at Zama's fatal Field.
But Soldiers of a rustic Mold,
Rough, hardy, season'd, manly, bold;
Either they dug the stubborn Ground,
Or thro' hewn Woods their weighty Strokes did sound;
And, after the declining Sun
Had chang'd the Shadows, and their Task was done,
Home with the weary Team they took their Way,
And drown'd, in friendly Bowls, the Labour of the Day.
Rough, hardy, season'd, manly, bold;
Either they dug the stubborn Ground,
Or thro' hewn Woods their weighty Strokes did sound;
And, after the declining Sun
Had chang'd the Shadows, and their Task was done,
Home with the weary Team they took their Way,
And drown'd, in friendly Bowls, the Labour of the Day.
Time sensibly all Things impairs;
Our Fathers have been worse than theirs;
And we than ours: Next Age will see
A Race more profligate, than we,
(With all the Pains we take) have Skill enough to be.
Our Fathers have been worse than theirs;
And we than ours: Next Age will see
A Race more profligate, than we,
(With all the Pains we take) have Skill enough to be.
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