PERSIUS.
I.
SUFFERINGS OF CONSCIENCE.
“Great Sire of Gods, when thou wouldst vengeance take
“On cruel tyrants, which with murders slake
“Their lust of blood,—there is no punishment
“More dire than this which justice can invent,
“The virtue they have lost, that Good Divine,
“Let them behold, and in beholding pine.
“In bronze Sicilian bulls the dying moan
“Of torture, or the terror-stricken groan
“Of him who, clad in purple, o'er his head
“Saw the suspended sword, are not so dread
“As is his fear who to himself doth own,
“‘We go, are headlong going, hurried down;’
“And inwardly turns pale at miseries
“Hid from the wife which on his bosom lies.”
II.
THE FAITHFUL INSTRUCTOR.
“It is not mine with baubles to inflate
“A pompous page, to smoke imparting weight.
“Secret we speak. With thee my muse makes bold,
“To thee my inmost bosom would unfold.
“To thee, Cornutus, would I fain impart
“How much, sweet friend, thou art of mine own heart.
“Sound me, an unflaw'd vessel thou canst tell,
“Varnish of tongue and paint none know so well.
“For this the hundred voices I would seek,
“Could I, with tongue sincere, but fitly speak
“How thou art would within me, and unseal
“What hidden in the reins no words reveal.
“When ceas'd my guardian purple, and still young
“Childhood's gilt dress I to the Lares hung,
“Flattering companions throng'd, manhood's white gown
“Suffer'd mine eyes to wander through the town;—
“Doubtful the course, when unskill'd in life's way
“Error in branching by-paths leads astray;—
“'Neath thee I placed me then, thou with pure truth
“Hast on Socratic bosom rear'd my youth;
“To crooked ways applied stern Wisdom's rule;
“Reason my temper master'd; in her school
“Thine was the Artist's thumb deftly to mould
“The character to form which it must hold.
“Long days have we together spent erewhile,
“Together early nights did we beguile,
“One work, one rest we had in sweet accord,
“And cheer'd our studies at one frugal board.”.....
“The lives of men are of a thousand hues,
“Each hath his bent, his pleasure each pursues.”....
“Then days in mud and darkness spent deplore,
“And groan when all too late that life is o'er.
“But pale at nightly studies grows thy brow
“The young to train, in cleansèd ears to sow
“Wisdom's pure fruits, such as Cleanthes own'd.
“Come, young and old, here shall your wants be crown'd
“By their true end, provision for old age,
“For sad grey hairs and life's last pilgrimage.
“‘To-morrow;—yea, to-morrow it shall be!
“What, is it much one day to ask?’ But see
“When this another day hath now arriv'd,
“We yesterday's to-morrow have out-liv'd.
“And soon another morrow will fulfil
“These years, yet be a little distant still.
“For though so near, bound by one carriage pole,
“In vain wilt thou pursue it, though it roll
“So close before thee, with thee intertwined,
“Thou roll'st, the second wheel, on axle-tree behind.”.....
“Live mindful thou of death; the hour flies fast,
“E'en while I speak is part of it—and past.
“What dost thou? hooks in twain thy bosom rend,
“Still doubtful to which master thou wilt bend:
“Then unto each according to thy mood
“Alternate yield'st a doubtful servitude.
“Think not when once a stand is made by thee
“Thou hast thy fetters broken and art free;
“A dog may struggling rend its knot in twain,
“Yet on its neck still drag a length of chain.”
