 | Poems upon several Occasions |  |
The Force of WINE:
A DITHYRAMBICK.
Dulce Periculum est
O Lenæe, sequi Deum
Cingentem viridi tempora pampino.
Ode 25. Lib. 3.
O Lenæe, sequi Deum
Cingentem viridi tempora pampino.
Ode 25. Lib. 3.
1.
Bacchus , Patron of the Vine,God of Mirth, and God of Wine,
44
And let me drink at ev'ry Pore.
As thy transporting Joys I sing,
With Genial Lays my Breast inspire:
Then bid Silenus strike the silent Lyre;
While with Thee in the Antick Sound,
The nimble Satyrs frisk, and bound,
And in loud Dithyrambick Strains rouse ev'ry silent String.
2.
Hark! hark! the sleeping Strings awake!With Fury Divine see! see! how they shake!
The jolly Notes, and drunken Words confus'dly roll along,
And dance, and leap into my Verse, and reel into my Song.
45
3.
Wine makes a Monarch of the Slave,The Beggar rich, the Coward brave,
The Pris'ner thus his Freedom gains,
It kindly bails him, and shakes off his Chains.
4.
Who ever did of Poverty complain,When gen'rous Burgundy had fir'd his Brain?
It gilds the Thought with Chymick Art,
And into Riches stamps, and coins the Heart;
The Language down like Tagus Flood is roll'd,
And glitters with imaginary Gold.
5.
When we rosy Chaplets wear,And fragrant Oyls perfume the Hair;
46
With ruddy Foam of sparkling Nectar crown'd;
The Merchant laughs at all his Toils,
Forgets his Danger, and his Sorrow smiles.
Now, now, he bids farewel to Care,
And Anguish of the Mind,
That hover round him in the Air,
And flutter in the Wind.
6.
How gloriously dreadful Heroes shine,Arm'd with Auxiliary Wine!
The Spirits mantle, and a Martial Heat
In the tumultuous Art'ries beat;
The pushing Blood a War maintains,
And sallies from the Heart, and charges thro' the Veins.
47
7.
So when th' embattl'd Gyants stroveTo scale their Heav'n, and storm the Gods above,
Thy Valour, Bacchus, high in Triumph rode;
The Lyon's Wrath supported by a God,
And thy own Grape, which taught thee to engage
With a superior Force, and double Rage.
Thus fortify'd, secure you chase
Thro' Azure Plains the bold rebellious Race;
Then drove the Monsters howling down,
Confirming by their Fall, thy Father's doubtful Throne.
| Poems upon several Occasions | |