King Alfred's Poems Now first turned into English Metres; By Martin F. Tupper |
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| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. | XV. Nero's Baseness. |
| XVI. |
| XVII. |
| XVIII. |
| XIX. |
| XX. |
| XXI. |
| XXII. |
| XXIII. |
| XXIV. |
| XXV. |
| XXVI. |
| XXVII. |
| XXVIII. |
| XXIX. |
| XXX. |
| XXXI. |
 | King Alfred's Poems |  |
62
XV. Nero's Baseness.
Quamvis se Tyrio superbus ostro
Comeret, et niveis lapillis,
Invisus tamen omnibus vigebat
Luxuriæ Nero sævientis.
Comeret, et niveis lapillis,
Invisus tamen omnibus vigebat
Luxuriæ Nero sævientis.
Theah hine nu
Se yfela unrihtwisa
Neron cynincg, &c.
Se yfela unrihtwisa
Neron cynincg, &c.
Though Nero now himself, that evil king
Unrighteous, in his new and glittering robe
Deck'd wonderfully for apparelling
With gold and gems and many a brightsome thing,
Seem'd to be greatest of this earthly globe,
Yet to the wise man was he full of crime
Loathly and worthless in his life's daytime:
Unrighteous, in his new and glittering robe
Deck'd wonderfully for apparelling
With gold and gems and many a brightsome thing,
Seem'd to be greatest of this earthly globe,
Yet to the wise man was he full of crime
Loathly and worthless in his life's daytime:
And though this fiend his darlings would reward
With gifts of rank, my mind I cannot bring
To see why he to such should grace afford:
Yet if some whiles a foolish king or lord
Will choose the simple all the wise above,
A fool himself to be by fools ador'd,
How should a wise man reckon on his love?
With gifts of rank, my mind I cannot bring
To see why he to such should grace afford:
Yet if some whiles a foolish king or lord
Will choose the simple all the wise above,
A fool himself to be by fools ador'd,
How should a wise man reckon on his love?
| King Alfred's Poems | |