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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Winds.
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 | Medulla Poetarum Romanorum |  |
Winds.
See Storm at Land. Storm at Sea. Tempest.
Nor the Creator left the Winds at large,
On Seas, and Shores, their Fury to discharge:
Bound as they are, and circumscrib'd in Place,
They rend the World, resistless, where they pass:
And mighty Marks of Mischief leave behind:
Such is the Rage of their tempestuous Kind.
First, Eurus to the rising Morn is sent,
(The Regions of the balmy Continent:)
And Eastern Realms where early Persians run,
To greet the blest Appearance of the Sun.
Westward, the wanton Zephyr wings his Flight,
Pleas'd with the Remnants of departing Light.
Fierce Boreas, with his Offspring, issues forth,
T'invade the frozen Waggon of the North:
Whilst frowning Auster seeks the Southern Sphere,
And rots, with endless Rain, th' unwholsome Year.—
On Seas, and Shores, their Fury to discharge:
Bound as they are, and circumscrib'd in Place,
They rend the World, resistless, where they pass:
And mighty Marks of Mischief leave behind:
Such is the Rage of their tempestuous Kind.
First, Eurus to the rising Morn is sent,
(The Regions of the balmy Continent:)
And Eastern Realms where early Persians run,
To greet the blest Appearance of the Sun.
Westward, the wanton Zephyr wings his Flight,
Pleas'd with the Remnants of departing Light.
Fierce Boreas, with his Offspring, issues forth,
T'invade the frozen Waggon of the North:
Whilst frowning Auster seeks the Southern Sphere,
And rots, with endless Rain, th' unwholsome Year.—
—In his capacious Cave,
Great Æolus, with absolute Command,
Controuls, imprisons, and confines in Chains
The noisy Tempests, and reluctant Winds.
They roar, and murmur round the Mountain's Sides,
Indignant: Æolus his Scepter shakes,
Majestic on his lofty Throne: o'er-rules
Their wild Desires, and moderates their Rage.
Which did he not, with rapid Force they'd hurl
Heav'n, Earth, and Seas, and sweep them thro' the Air.
But fearing This, the Sov'reign of the Gods
Pent them in gloomy Caves: and o'er them threw
Vast Piles of massy Rocks:—impos'd a King,
Who should, by certain Measures, know to curb,
Or, when commanded, to indulge their Rage.—
Great Æolus, with absolute Command,
Controuls, imprisons, and confines in Chains
The noisy Tempests, and reluctant Winds.
They roar, and murmur round the Mountain's Sides,
Indignant: Æolus his Scepter shakes,
Majestic on his lofty Throne: o'er-rules
Their wild Desires, and moderates their Rage.
Which did he not, with rapid Force they'd hurl
Heav'n, Earth, and Seas, and sweep them thro' the Air.
But fearing This, the Sov'reign of the Gods
Pent them in gloomy Caves: and o'er them threw
519
Who should, by certain Measures, know to curb,
Or, when commanded, to indulge their Rage.—
East, West, and North, and South, on either Side,
Oppos'd they lie, and thus the World divide:
As many Winds from these four Quarters fly,
And fight, and rattle, thro' the empty Sky.
Rough Boreas, from the North bears Frost and Snows:
And from the East the surly Eurus blows:
Wet Auster from the torrid South is thrown:
And pleasing Zephyrus loves the setting Sun.—
Oppos'd they lie, and thus the World divide:
As many Winds from these four Quarters fly,
And fight, and rattle, thro' the empty Sky.
Rough Boreas, from the North bears Frost and Snows:
And from the East the surly Eurus blows:
Wet Auster from the torrid South is thrown:
And pleasing Zephyrus loves the setting Sun.—
Like Boreas in his Race, when rushing forth,
He sweeps the Skies, and clears the cloudy North:
The waving Harvest bends beneath his Blast:
The Forest shakes, the Groves their Honours cast:
Aloft he flies, and with impetuous Roar,
Pursues the foaming Surges to the Shore.—
He sweeps the Skies, and clears the cloudy North:
The waving Harvest bends beneath his Blast:
The Forest shakes, the Groves their Honours cast:
Aloft he flies, and with impetuous Roar,
Pursues the foaming Surges to the Shore.—
Now rising all at once, and unconfin'd,
From ev'ry Quarter roars the rushing Wind.
First, from the wide Atlantic Ocean's Bed,
Tempestuous Corus rears his dreadful Head:
Th' obedient Deep his potent Breath controuls,
And, Mountain-high, the foamy Flood he rolls.
Him the North-East encount'ring fierce defy'd,
And back rebuffeted the yielding Tide.
The curling Surges loud conflicting meet,
Dash their proud Heads, and bellow as they beat:
While piercing Boreas from the Scythian Strand
Plows up the Waves, and scoops the lowest Sand.
Nor Eurus, then, I ween, was left to dwell,
Nor show'ry Notus, in th' Æolian Cell:
But each, from ev'ry Side, his Pow'r to boast,
Rang'd his proud Forces, to defend his Coast.
Equal in Might, alike they strive in vain,
While in the midst the Seas unmov'd remain.—
From ev'ry Quarter roars the rushing Wind.
First, from the wide Atlantic Ocean's Bed,
Tempestuous Corus rears his dreadful Head:
Th' obedient Deep his potent Breath controuls,
And, Mountain-high, the foamy Flood he rolls.
Him the North-East encount'ring fierce defy'd,
And back rebuffeted the yielding Tide.
The curling Surges loud conflicting meet,
Dash their proud Heads, and bellow as they beat:
While piercing Boreas from the Scythian Strand
Plows up the Waves, and scoops the lowest Sand.
Nor Eurus, then, I ween, was left to dwell,
Nor show'ry Notus, in th' Æolian Cell:
But each, from ev'ry Side, his Pow'r to boast,
Rang'd his proud Forces, to defend his Coast.
Equal in Might, alike they strive in vain,
While in the midst the Seas unmov'd remain.—
| Medulla Poetarum Romanorum | |