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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Hell.
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 | Medulla Poetarum Romanorum |  |
Hell.
See Elysian-Fields.
Just in the Gate, and in the Jaws of Hell,
Revengeful Cares and sullen Sorrows dwell:
And pale Diseases, and repining Age:
Want, Fear, and Famine's unresisted Rage.
Here Toils, and Death, and Death's Half-Brother, Sleep,
Forms terrible to View, their Centry keep:
The anxious Pleasures of a guilty Mind,
And just against them deathful War they find,
The Furies Iron Beds, and Strife that shakes
Her hissing Tresses, and unfolds her Snakes.
Revengeful Cares and sullen Sorrows dwell:
And pale Diseases, and repining Age:
Want, Fear, and Famine's unresisted Rage.
Here Toils, and Death, and Death's Half-Brother, Sleep,
Forms terrible to View, their Centry keep:
The anxious Pleasures of a guilty Mind,
And just against them deathful War they find,
The Furies Iron Beds, and Strife that shakes
Her hissing Tresses, and unfolds her Snakes.
Full in the midst of this infernal Road,
An Elm displays her dusky Arms abroad:
The God of Sleep there hides his heavy Head,
And empty Dreams on ev'ry Leaf are spread.
An Elm displays her dusky Arms abroad:
The God of Sleep there hides his heavy Head,
And empty Dreams on ev'ry Leaf are spread.
477
Of various Forms, unnumber'd Spectres more,
Centaurs, and double Shapes, besiege the Door.
Before the Passage horrid Hydra stands,
And fierce Briareus with his hundred Hands:
Gorgons, Geryon with his triple Frame:
And vain Chimæra vomits empty Flame.
Centaurs, and double Shapes, besiege the Door.
Before the Passage horrid Hydra stands,
And fierce Briareus with his hundred Hands:
Gorgons, Geryon with his triple Frame:
And vain Chimæra vomits empty Flame.
Hence to deep Acheron
they take their Way,
Whose troubled Eddies, thick with Ooze and Clay,
Are whirl'd aloft, and in Cocytus lost:
Whose troubled Eddies, thick with Ooze and Clay,
Are whirl'd aloft, and in Cocytus lost:
There Charon stands, who rules the dreary Coast:
A sordid God: down from his hoary Chin
A Length of Beard descends, uncomb'd, unclean:
His Eyes like hollow Furnaces on Fire:
A Girdle, foul with Grease, binds his obscene Attire.
He spreads his Canvas: with his Pole he steers
And Freights of flitting Ghosts in his thin Bottom bears.
He look'd in Years: yet in his Years were seen
A youthful Vigour, and autumnal Green.
A sordid God: down from his hoary Chin
A Length of Beard descends, uncomb'd, unclean:
His Eyes like hollow Furnaces on Fire:
A Girdle, foul with Grease, binds his obscene Attire.
He spreads his Canvas: with his Pole he steers
And Freights of flitting Ghosts in his thin Bottom bears.
He look'd in Years: yet in his Years were seen
A youthful Vigour, and autumnal Green.
An airy Crowd came rushing where he stood,
And fill'd the Margin of the fatal Flood:
Husbands, and Wives, Boys, and unmarry'd Maids,
And mighty Heroes more majestic Shades,
And Youths, intomb'd before their Father's Eyes;
With hollow Groans, and Shrieks, and feeble Cries.
Thick as the Leaves in Autumn strow the Woods,
Or Fowls, by Winter forc'd, forsake the Floods,
And wing their hasty Flight to happier Lands:
Such, and so thick, the shiv'ring Army stands,
And press for Passage with extended Hands.
And fill'd the Margin of the fatal Flood:
Husbands, and Wives, Boys, and unmarry'd Maids,
And mighty Heroes more majestic Shades,
And Youths, intomb'd before their Father's Eyes;
With hollow Groans, and Shrieks, and feeble Cries.
Thick as the Leaves in Autumn strow the Woods,
Or Fowls, by Winter forc'd, forsake the Floods,
And wing their hasty Flight to happier Lands:
Such, and so thick, the shiv'ring Army stands,
And press for Passage with extended Hands.
Now these, now those, the surly Boatman bore:
The rest he drove to Distance from the Shore.
—In his Den they found
The triple Porter of the Stygian Sound,
Grim Cerberus; who soon began to rear
His crested Snakes, and arm'd his bristled Hair.
The prudent Sybil had before prepar'd
A Sop, in Honey steep'd, to charm the Guard:
Which, mix'd with pow'rful Drugs, she cast before
His greedy grinning Jaws, just op'd to roar:
With three enormous Mouths he gapes: and straight,
With hunger press'd, devours the pleasing Bait.
Long Draughts of Sleep his monstrous Limbs enslave:
He reels, and falling, fills the spacious Cave.
The rest he drove to Distance from the Shore.
—In his Den they found
The triple Porter of the Stygian Sound,
Grim Cerberus; who soon began to rear
His crested Snakes, and arm'd his bristled Hair.
The prudent Sybil had before prepar'd
A Sop, in Honey steep'd, to charm the Guard:
479
His greedy grinning Jaws, just op'd to roar:
With three enormous Mouths he gapes: and straight,
With hunger press'd, devours the pleasing Bait.
Long Draughts of Sleep his monstrous Limbs enslave:
He reels, and falling, fills the spacious Cave.
The Keeper charm'd, the Chief without Delay,
Pass'd on, and took th' irremeable Way.
Pass'd on, and took th' irremeable Way.
Before the Gates the Cries of Babes new-born,
Whom Fate had from their tender Mothers torn,
Assault his Ears: then those whom Form of Laws
Condemn'd to die, when Traytors judg'd their Cause.
Nor want they Lots, nor Judges to review
The wrongful Sentence, and award a new.
Whom Fate had from their tender Mothers torn,
Assault his Ears: then those whom Form of Laws
Condemn'd to die, when Traytors judg'd their Cause.
Nor want they Lots, nor Judges to review
The wrongful Sentence, and award a new.
Minos
, the strict Inquisitor, appears:
And Lives, and Crimes, with his Assessors, hears.
Round, in his Urn, the blended Balls he rolls:
Absolves the Just, and dooms the guilty Souls.
And Lives, and Crimes, with his Assessors, hears.
Round, in his Urn, the blended Balls he rolls:
Absolves the Just, and dooms the guilty Souls.
The next in Place and Punishment are they
Who prodigally throw their Souls away.
Fools, who repining at their wretched State,
And loathing anxious Life, suborn'd their Fate.
With late Repentance, now they would retrieve
The Bodies they forsook, and wish to live;
Their Pains and Poverty desire to bear,
To view the Light of Heav'n, and breath the vital Air.
But Fate forbids: the Stygian Floods oppose:
And, with nine circling Streams, the captive Souls inclose.
Who prodigally throw their Souls away.
Fools, who repining at their wretched State,
And loathing anxious Life, suborn'd their Fate.
With late Repentance, now they would retrieve
The Bodies they forsook, and wish to live;
Their Pains and Poverty desire to bear,
To view the Light of Heav'n, and breath the vital Air.
But Fate forbids: the Stygian Floods oppose:
And, with nine circling Streams, the captive Souls inclose.
Not far from thence the mournful Fields appear:
So call'd from Lovers that inhabit there.
The Souls, whom that unhappy Flame invades,
In secret solitude, and Myrtle Shades,
Make endless Moan, still pining with Desire:
The Pains of Love not e'en with Life expire.
So call'd from Lovers that inhabit there.
The Souls, whom that unhappy Flame invades,
In secret solitude, and Myrtle Shades,
Make endless Moan, still pining with Desire:
The Pains of Love not e'en with Life expire.
Æneas, looking on the left, espy'd
A lofty Tow'r, and strong on ev'ry Side
With treble Walls; which Phlegethon surrounds,
Whose fiery Flood the burning Empire bounds;
And, press'd between the Rocks, the bellowing Noise resounds.
Wide is the fronting Gate, and rais'd on high,
With adamantine Columns threats the Sky:
Vain is the Force of Man, and Heav'n's as vain,
To crush the Pillars which this Pile sustain.
Sublime, on these, a Tow'r of Steel is rear'd,
And dire Tisiphone there keeps the Guard,
Girt in her sanguine Robe, by Night and Day
Observant of the Souls that pass the downward Way.
From hence are heard the Groans of Ghosts, the Pains
Of sounding Lashes, and of dragging Chains.
These are the Realms of unrelenting Fate,
And aweful Rhadamanthus rules the State.
He hears and judges each committed Crime,
Enquires into the Manner, Place, and Time:
The conscious Wretch must all his Acts reveal,
Loth to confess, unable to conceal,
From the first Moment of his vital Breath,
To his last Hour of unrepenting Death.
A lofty Tow'r, and strong on ev'ry Side
481
Whose fiery Flood the burning Empire bounds;
And, press'd between the Rocks, the bellowing Noise resounds.
Wide is the fronting Gate, and rais'd on high,
With adamantine Columns threats the Sky:
Vain is the Force of Man, and Heav'n's as vain,
To crush the Pillars which this Pile sustain.
Sublime, on these, a Tow'r of Steel is rear'd,
And dire Tisiphone there keeps the Guard,
Girt in her sanguine Robe, by Night and Day
Observant of the Souls that pass the downward Way.
From hence are heard the Groans of Ghosts, the Pains
Of sounding Lashes, and of dragging Chains.
These are the Realms of unrelenting Fate,
And aweful Rhadamanthus rules the State.
He hears and judges each committed Crime,
Enquires into the Manner, Place, and Time:
The conscious Wretch must all his Acts reveal,
Loth to confess, unable to conceal,
From the first Moment of his vital Breath,
To his last Hour of unrepenting Death.
Straight, o'er the guilty Ghost, the Fury shakes
The sounding Whip, and brandishes her Snakes:
And, the pale Sinner, with her Sisters takes.
Then of itself, unfolds th' eternal Door:
With dreadful Sounds the brazen Hinges roar.
You see before the Gate, what stalking Ghost
Commands the Guard, what Sentries keep the Post.
More formidable Hydra stands within,
Whose fifty gaping Mouths, horrific, grin.
Here Tartarus, low to the Center lies,
And twice as deep as Earth is distant from the Skies.
The sounding Whip, and brandishes her Snakes:
And, the pale Sinner, with her Sisters takes.
Then of itself, unfolds th' eternal Door:
With dreadful Sounds the brazen Hinges roar.
You see before the Gate, what stalking Ghost
Commands the Guard, what Sentries keep the Post.
More formidable Hydra stands within,
Whose fifty gaping Mouths, horrific, grin.
Here Tartarus, low to the Center lies,
And twice as deep as Earth is distant from the Skies.
The Rivals of the Gods, the Titan Race,
Here, struck with Light'ning, roll within th' unfathom'd Space:
Here lie th' Alæan Twins, (I saw them both,)
Enormous Bodies of gigantic Growth;
Who dar'd in Fight the Thunderer to defy,
Affect his Heav'n, and force him from the Sky
Salmoneus, suff'ring cruel Pains, I found,
For emulating Jove, the rattling Sound
Of mimic Thunder, and the glitt'ring Blaze
Of pointed Lightning, and it's forky Rays.
Thro' Elis and the Grecian Towns he flew,
Th' audacious Wretch four fiery Coursers drew:
He wav'd a Torch aloft, and, madly vain,
Sought Godlike Worship from a servile Train.
Ambitious Fool! with horny Hoofs to pass
O'er hollow Arches of resounding Brass,
To rival Thunder in it's rapid Course,
And imitate inimitable Force.
But he, Heav'n's King, amidst thick Clouds on high,
Bar'd his red Arm, and lanching from the Sky
His writhen Bolt, not shaking empty Smoke,
Down to the deep Abyss the flaming Felon struck.
There Tityus one might see, who took his Birth
From Heav'n, his nursing from the foodful Earth.
Here, his gigantic Limbs, with large embrace,
Stretch o'er nine Acres of infernal Space.
A rav'nous Vulture in his open'd Side,
Her crooked Beak, and cruel Talons try'd:
Still for the growing Liver dig'd his Breast,
The growing Liver still supply'd the Feast:
Still are his Entrails fruitful to their Pains,
Th' immortal Hunger lasts, th' immortal Food remains.
Here, struck with Light'ning, roll within th' unfathom'd Space:
Here lie th' Alæan Twins, (I saw them both,)
Enormous Bodies of gigantic Growth;
Who dar'd in Fight the Thunderer to defy,
Affect his Heav'n, and force him from the Sky
483
For emulating Jove, the rattling Sound
Of mimic Thunder, and the glitt'ring Blaze
Of pointed Lightning, and it's forky Rays.
Thro' Elis and the Grecian Towns he flew,
Th' audacious Wretch four fiery Coursers drew:
He wav'd a Torch aloft, and, madly vain,
Sought Godlike Worship from a servile Train.
Ambitious Fool! with horny Hoofs to pass
O'er hollow Arches of resounding Brass,
To rival Thunder in it's rapid Course,
And imitate inimitable Force.
But he, Heav'n's King, amidst thick Clouds on high,
Bar'd his red Arm, and lanching from the Sky
His writhen Bolt, not shaking empty Smoke,
Down to the deep Abyss the flaming Felon struck.
There Tityus one might see, who took his Birth
From Heav'n, his nursing from the foodful Earth.
Here, his gigantic Limbs, with large embrace,
Stretch o'er nine Acres of infernal Space.
A rav'nous Vulture in his open'd Side,
Her crooked Beak, and cruel Talons try'd:
Still for the growing Liver dig'd his Breast,
The growing Liver still supply'd the Feast:
Still are his Entrails fruitful to their Pains,
Th' immortal Hunger lasts, th' immortal Food remains.
Ixion and Pirithous need I name?—
High o'er their Heads a mould'ring Rock is plac'd,
That promises a Fall, and shakes at ev'ry Blast.
They lie below, on golden Beds display'd,
And genial Feasts, with regal Pomp are made.
The Queen of Furies by their Side is set,
And snatches from their Mouths th' untasted Meat:
Which, if they touch, her hissing Snakes she rears,
Tossing her Torch, and thund'ring in their Ears.
High o'er their Heads a mould'ring Rock is plac'd,
That promises a Fall, and shakes at ev'ry Blast.
They lie below, on golden Beds display'd,
And genial Feasts, with regal Pomp are made.
The Queen of Furies by their Side is set,
And snatches from their Mouths th' untasted Meat:
Which, if they touch, her hissing Snakes she rears,
Tossing her Torch, and thund'ring in their Ears.
Then they, who Brother's juster Claim disown,
Expel their Parents, and usurp the Throne,
Defraud their Clients, and to Lucre sold,
Sit brooding on unprofitable Gold:
Who dare not give, and ev'n refuse to lend
To their poor Kindred, or a wanting Friend.
Vast is the Throng of these: nor less the Train
Of lustful Youths, for foul Adult'ry slain.
Hosts of Deserters, who their Honour sold,
And basely broke their Faith for Bribes of Gold.
Expel their Parents, and usurp the Throne,
Defraud their Clients, and to Lucre sold,
Sit brooding on unprofitable Gold:
485
To their poor Kindred, or a wanting Friend.
Vast is the Throng of these: nor less the Train
Of lustful Youths, for foul Adult'ry slain.
Hosts of Deserters, who their Honour sold,
And basely broke their Faith for Bribes of Gold.
All these within the Dungeon's Depth remain,
Despairing Pardon, and expecting Pain.
Some roll a weighty Stone, some laid along
And bound with burning Wires, on Spokes of Wheels are hung.
Despairing Pardon, and expecting Pain.
Some roll a weighty Stone, some laid along
And bound with burning Wires, on Spokes of Wheels are hung.
To Tyrants others have their Country sold,
Imposing foreign Lords, for foreign Gold:
Some have old Laws repeal'd, new Statutes made:
Not as the People pleas'd, but as they paid.
With Incest some their Daughters Beds prophan'd.
All dar'd the worst of Ills, and what they dar'd attain'd.
Imposing foreign Lords, for foreign Gold:
Some have old Laws repeal'd, new Statutes made:
Not as the People pleas'd, but as they paid.
With Incest some their Daughters Beds prophan'd.
All dar'd the worst of Ills, and what they dar'd attain'd.
Had I an hundred Mouths, an hundred Tongues,
And Throats of Brass, inspir'd with Iron Lungs,
I could not half those horrid Crimes repeat,
Nor half the dreadful Punishments they meet.—
And Throats of Brass, inspir'd with Iron Lungs,
I could not half those horrid Crimes repeat,
Nor half the dreadful Punishments they meet.—
The Gates of Hell are open Night and Day;
Smooth the Descent, and easy is the Way:
But to return and view the chearful Skies,
In this the Task, the mighty Labour lies.
To few great Jupiter imparts this Grace;
And those of shining Worth, and heav'nly Race.
Smooth the Descent, and easy is the Way:
But to return and view the chearful Skies,
In this the Task, the mighty Labour lies.
To few great Jupiter imparts this Grace;
And those of shining Worth, and heav'nly Race.
Betwixt those Regions and our upper Light,
Deep Forests, and impenetrable Night,
Possess the middle Space: th' infernal Bounds,
Cocytus, with it's sable Waves surrounds.—
Wide, in the Void, extends a standing Lake,
Deep Forests, and impenetrable Night,
Possess the middle Space: th' infernal Bounds,
Cocytus, with it's sable Waves surrounds.—
Whose miry Banks the Waters of fierce Phlegethon
Far-over-flowing burn: with dreadful Roar,
Between the glowing Rocks, it's fiery Stream
Winds out a Way, Flames bursting out by Fits
Thro' Clouds of Smoke. Raging on t'other Side
Cocytus rapid Stream, a Stream of Gore!
In whirling Eddies, frothing foams away.
487
Vouchsafes to swear, the Styx it's horrid Tide
Smoaking with Pitch, and Mud, and Sulphur, rolls.
Sad Acheron's most melancholy Stream,
Putrid Corruption and rank Poison mixt,
Ferments, and from the Bottom, with great Noise,
Works up the Icy Sand, whilst to the Lake
It sluggishly descends. This Filthiness
Three-headed Cerberus delights to drink:
Here quaffs Tisiphone, and dire Megæra
Here drinks, and thirsts, and drinks, and thirsts again,
Nor can the largest Draughts her Rage allay.—
A Band of dreadful Monsters keep around
Continual Watch, and ev'ry Passage guard:
Wild Lamentation here with horrid Din,
Mixt Shrieks and Groans, the Ghosts affrighted scares:
Leanness Companion haggard of Disease;
Grief fed with Tears; and Paleness void of Blood;
Treasons, and Cares, and querulous old Age;
Malice, with both Her Hands grasp'd round her Neck,
Throttling herself; and Wickedness deform'd;
And Want to Evil prone; and Error blind,
Stumbling along; and Discord, Earth and Heav'n
Delighting to embroil.—Before Hell Gates,
Tremendous Guard! his hundred Arms out-stretch'd,
Briareus stands, and Sphynx, her Virgin Chaps
Besmear'd with Gore, and Scylla, Monster foul!
And the fierce Centaurs, and the Giant's Ghosts.—
When Cerberus gets loose, and scours away
Thro' Hell's dark Regions, rattling at his Heels
A thousand broken Chains, and roars along,
His Viper's Tail lashing his working Sides:
Not ev'n Alecto, nor the grim Megæra,
All Fury as she is, dares the fell Monster face.—
—High seated on his Throne,
Th' infernal Monarch tries the Ghosts of Kings.
Before his dread Tribunal, bound they stand,
Repentant, now too late, of all their Crimes.
489
Of every Kind and Form.—Oh! how they wish
They ne'er had known the Pride of regal Sway!
The Ghosts of such as have unjustly suffer'd
Upbraid their cruel Reign, and what alive
They durst not utter, freely now complain of.
Here, one, in Chains, is fasten'd to a Rock:
Another up a steepy Mountain heaves
A heavy Stone: a third the fierce Megæra
Lashes, incessant, with her Viper-Scourge.
Such Punishments must cruel Tyrants feel.—
But impious Souls shall lie in Night profound,
Where muddy Waters flow with solemn Sound:
Snake-hair'd Tisiphone patroles about,
And lashes, here and there, the impious Rout.
There Hydra horrid at the Portal waits,
And barking Cerb'rus guards the brazen Gates:
There Ixion's whirl'd around th' incessant Wheel,
For tempting Juno, and intending Ill:
There Tityus lies over nine Acres spread,
While his black Entrails hungry Vultures feed:
There Tantalus remains, for ever dry,
His eager Lips surrounding Waters fly:
There Danaus' Daughter, impious to profane
Great Venus' Rites, are doom'd a fruitless Pain,
To fill with Lethe's Streams a Tun in vain.—
| Medulla Poetarum Romanorum | |