I.—Lib. I., Ode XXVIII.
A sailor finds the body of Archytas on the seashore.
I
Still must thou haunt the Apulian strand
O ghost of the mind that ranged so far!
That measured the sea and the numberless sand,
That roamed the world over and soared to the star;
II
Little thy profit—since here it lies
Thy corpse, for the lack of a sprinkling of dust—
In thought to have traversed the world and the skies;
Death was awaiting thee; Die we must.
III
He who of yore with the gods fared well;
And he who could wed an immortal bride;
And that ancient king who is ruling in Hell
Minos the lawgiver—all have died.
IV
Even he who once on the Trojan field
Was slain in the battle of centuries past,
Yet returned to the earth and remembered his shield;
He is lost in the blackness of death at last.
V
His body he left to the grave's decay,
No more—that spirit of wisdom and light;
But we all once travel that same dark way,
And the end that awaits us beyond is Night.
VI
The War god joys to see warriors slain;
The wild wave rolls o'er the mariner's head;
Old and young, in the funeral train,
Throng to the throne of the Queen of the dead.
Archytas.
VII
Yes—I too sank in Illyrian waves
When the south wind raged, and Orion was low;
But, mariner, spare not the rite that saves,
Scatter a handful, ere hence you go,
VIII
O'er my bones unburied and skull that's bare—
And so, when a storm in the western seas
Shall lash the billows, thou safe mayest fare;
Venusian forests may lose their trees,
IX
Fear not; for the God, who is just, rewards;
So may thy freights ride safely home
To the sacred harbour that Neptune loves
Where Tarentum lies by the white seafoam.
X
But if thou disdainfully pass me by,
With thee and thy sons may the curse abide
That follows to punish impiety
For laws that are broken, the doom of pride.
XI
If my prayers be in vain they shall work thee woe,
No penitent vows shall thy soul release;
Tarry a moment, thou soon mayest go,
Three times cast earth, and depart in peace.
