 | The Autumn Garden |  |
103
The Prologue of Arcturus
Imitated from the “Rudens” of Plautus
Behold me, of the race that rules the sky!
Not Jupiter a verier God than I;
A sparkling star, compact of dew and flame,
I roll, and from the Bear I take my name.
High overhead, a god, I blaze all night—
But spend with mortal men the hours of light.
In this I emulate an endless line
Of deities, immortal and divine;
Since Jove himself paternally decrees
That Gods should wander over lands and seas,
Should put Man's worship to a private test,
And each investigate what each knows best.
Not Jupiter a verier God than I;
A sparkling star, compact of dew and flame,
I roll, and from the Bear I take my name.
High overhead, a god, I blaze all night—
But spend with mortal men the hours of light.
In this I emulate an endless line
Of deities, immortal and divine;
Since Jove himself paternally decrees
That Gods should wander over lands and seas,
Should put Man's worship to a private test,
And each investigate what each knows best.
Some rogues, litigious without right or cause,
Suborn false witnesses, defy the laws,
Declare themselves in court, devoid of shame,
Brazen; but back to Heaven we bear each name.
From us the Father learns who weeps for rage,
Powerless to grasp the ravished heritage;
Who, crushed and shattered by a lying oath,
Curses the lawyer, or the law, or both.
Suborn false witnesses, defy the laws,
Declare themselves in court, devoid of shame,
Brazen; but back to Heaven we bear each name.
From us the Father learns who weeps for rage,
Powerless to grasp the ravished heritage;
Who, crushed and shattered by a lying oath,
Curses the lawyer, or the law, or both.
Back to his house he creeps, and little dreams
Of Jove's deep knowledge of these desperate schemes.
But still the guilty wonders, twice or thrice
Earning no boon from costly sacrifice;
With clamorous hymns and fat of many a bull,
Men call Jove just and wise and bountiful,
With no suspicion that from me he wins
An open knowledge of their secret sins;
For, taught by us, the Father from the sky
Lets drop no blessing upon perjury.
Of Jove's deep knowledge of these desperate schemes.
104
Earning no boon from costly sacrifice;
With clamorous hymns and fat of many a bull,
Men call Jove just and wise and bountiful,
With no suspicion that from me he wins
An open knowledge of their secret sins;
For, taught by us, the Father from the sky
Lets drop no blessing upon perjury.
If ye are humble, poor and weak, but true,
Honour and happiness shall rain on you,
But lies and shameful greed, though loud in prayer,
Shall find no echo in the empty air.
We watch you still; unseen, in street and mart,
We watch you, and we know you, pure in heart.
Stars all night long, at dawn we fade away,
And put on manhood, and are yours all day;
But of these god-stars gliding from the sky,
Most wild and most tempestuous star am I;
Wild am I when I rise, but when I set
More turbulent and more tempestuous yet.
Honour and happiness shall rain on you,
But lies and shameful greed, though loud in prayer,
Shall find no echo in the empty air.
We watch you still; unseen, in street and mart,
We watch you, and we know you, pure in heart.
Stars all night long, at dawn we fade away,
And put on manhood, and are yours all day;
But of these god-stars gliding from the sky,
Most wild and most tempestuous star am I;
Wild am I when I rise, but when I set
More turbulent and more tempestuous yet.
Now listen, for of elfin storms we sing,
Of waves that on the rocks their burdens fling,
Of homes unroofed, of ships that strike and sink,
Of maidens maddening on death's icy brink,
A father to his child restored at last,
And, on the shores of Love, a lover cast.
Of waves that on the rocks their burdens fling,
Of homes unroofed, of ships that strike and sink,
Of maidens maddening on death's icy brink,
A father to his child restored at last,
And, on the shores of Love, a lover cast.
These things regard; and with your hands applaud
Invincible Arcturus, foe to fraud.
Invincible Arcturus, foe to fraud.
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