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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Famine.
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 | Medulla Poetarum Romanorum |  |
Famine.
Where frozen Scythia's utmost Bound is plac'd,
A Desart lies, a melancholy Waste:
In yellow Crops there Nature never smil'd,
No fruitful Tree to shade the barren Wild.
There sluggish Cold its icy Station makes,
There Paleness, Frights, and aguish Trembling shakes,
Of pining Famine this the fated Seat.—
A Desart lies, a melancholy Waste:
In yellow Crops there Nature never smil'd,
No fruitful Tree to shade the barren Wild.
There sluggish Cold its icy Station makes,
There Paleness, Frights, and aguish Trembling shakes,
Of pining Famine this the fated Seat.—
There in a stony Field the Fiend she found,
Herbs knawing, and Roots scratching from the Ground.
Her Elfelock Hair in matted Tresses grew,
Sunk were her Eyes, and pale her ghastly Hue,
Wan were her Lips, and foul with clammy Glew:
Her Throat was furr'd: her Guts appear'd within
With snaky Curlings thro' her Parchment Skin.
Her jutting Hips seem'd starting from their Place,
And for a Belly was a Belly's Space.
Her Dugs hung dangling from her craggy Spine,
Loose to her Breast, and fasten'd to her Chine.
Her Joints protuberant by Leanness grown,
Consumption sunk the Flesh, and rais'd the Bone.
Her Knees large Orbits bunch'd to monstrous Size,
And Ankles to undue Proportion rise.—
Herbs knawing, and Roots scratching from the Ground.
Her Elfelock Hair in matted Tresses grew,
Sunk were her Eyes, and pale her ghastly Hue,
Wan were her Lips, and foul with clammy Glew:
Her Throat was furr'd: her Guts appear'd within
With snaky Curlings thro' her Parchment Skin.
Her jutting Hips seem'd starting from their Place,
And for a Belly was a Belly's Space.
Her Dugs hung dangling from her craggy Spine,
Loose to her Breast, and fasten'd to her Chine.
Her Joints protuberant by Leanness grown,
Consumption sunk the Flesh, and rais'd the Bone.
Her Knees large Orbits bunch'd to monstrous Size,
And Ankles to undue Proportion rise.—
339
In vain the fallow Fields the Peasant tills,
The Seed, corrupted e'er tis sown, she kills.
The fruitful Soil, that once such Harvests bore,
Now mocks the Farmer's Care, and teems no more.
All the rich Grain which fills the furrow'd Glade,
Rots in the Seed, or shrivels in the Blade:
Or too much Sun burns up, or too much Rain
Drowns, or black Blights destroy the blasted Plain:
Or greedy Birds the new-sown Seed devour,
Or Darnel, Thistles, and a Crop impure
Of knotted Grass, along the Acres stand,
And spread their thriving Roots thro' all the Land.—
The Seed, corrupted e'er tis sown, she kills.
The fruitful Soil, that once such Harvests bore,
Now mocks the Farmer's Care, and teems no more.
All the rich Grain which fills the furrow'd Glade,
Rots in the Seed, or shrivels in the Blade:
Or too much Sun burns up, or too much Rain
Drowns, or black Blights destroy the blasted Plain:
Or greedy Birds the new-sown Seed devour,
Or Darnel, Thistles, and a Crop impure
Of knotted Grass, along the Acres stand,
And spread their thriving Roots thro' all the Land.—
—And now,
Her baleful Visage meager Famine rears:
Seldom alone, she troops among the Fiends,
And still on War and Pestilence attends.—
Unpress'd, unstraiten'd by besieging Foes,
All Miseries of Want the Soldier knows:
Gladly he gives his little Wealth, to eat,
And buys a Morsel with his whole Estate.
Curst Merchandize! where Life it self is sold,
And Avarice consents to starve for Gold.—
Her baleful Visage meager Famine rears:
Seldom alone, she troops among the Fiends,
And still on War and Pestilence attends.—
Unpress'd, unstraiten'd by besieging Foes,
All Miseries of Want the Soldier knows:
Gladly he gives his little Wealth, to eat,
And buys a Morsel with his whole Estate.
Curst Merchandize! where Life it self is sold,
And Avarice consents to starve for Gold.—
But while the distant War no more he fears,
Famine, a worse, resistless Foe appears.
No more the Fields their grassy Pasture yield,
Nor waving Harvests crown the yellow Field.
On ev'ry verdant Leaf the hungry feed,
And snatch the Forage from the fainting Steed:
Then rav'nous on their Camp's Defence they fall,
And grind with greedy Jaws the turfy Wall.—
Famine, a worse, resistless Foe appears.
No more the Fields their grassy Pasture yield,
Nor waving Harvests crown the yellow Field.
On ev'ry verdant Leaf the hungry feed,
And snatch the Forage from the fainting Steed:
Then rav'nous on their Camp's Defence they fall,
And grind with greedy Jaws the turfy Wall.—
| Medulla Poetarum Romanorum | |