He to the Gods must sure be dear,

Whose daring vessels scatheless brave,
Or thrice or more, within the year,

The perils of th' Atlantic wave.
For me be still with olives stor'd,

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And cooling herbs, my frugal board.

Though small it be, my share of wealth

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Grant me to enjoy; and, that I may,

O Phœbus, add the boon of health;
A mind uninjur❜d by decay,

A green old age, with honour bless'd,

And of my lyre not dispossess'd.

Od. ii. 8.

BARINE, did not perj'ries fail

To leave on thee one angry trace;

If one discolour'd tooth, one nail

Less perfect, marr'd thy wondrous grace,

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Crederem: sed tu, simul obligasti

Perfidum votis caput, enitescis

Pulchrior multo, juvenumque prodis

Publica cura.

Expedit matris cineres opertos

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Fallere, et toto taciturna noctis

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Signa cum cœlo, gelidaque divos

Morte carentes.

Ridet hoc, inquam, Venus ipsa, rident

Simplices Nymphæ, ferus et Cupido

Semper ardentes acuens sagittas

Cote cruenta.

Adde quod pubes tibi crescit omnis;
Servitus crescit nova; nec priores

Impiæ tectum dominæ relinquunt,
Sæpe minati.

Te suis matres metuunt juvencis,
Te senes parci, miseræque nuper
Virgines nuptæ, tua ne retardet

Aura maritos.

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I might believe; but with each vow
Thou heap'st on thy perfidious head,
More radiant beams thy glorious brow,
And wider still thy conquests spread.
'Tis gainful, o'er a mother's urn

T'invoke, with false and perjur'd breath,
The silent stars that nightly burn,

The Gods above who know not death.

Laughs at such fraud the Cyprian Queen;
Laugh the kind Nymphs in gamesome mood;
And Cupid, who his arrows keen

Sharpens on whetstone stain'd with blood.

The rising race thy fetters wear;

Fresh bands of slaves embrace their chain;

And, though their bonds they oft forswear,
Thy former lovers still remain.

Thee for their sons grave matrons shun,
And cautious sires; and brides, new-made,
Fear, lest by thine enchantments won,
Their husbands' homeward steps be stay'd.

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10

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Od. ii. 10.

RECTIUS Vives, Licini, neque altum

Semper urguendo; neque, dum procellas
Cautus horrescis, nimium premendo

Littus iniquum.

Auream quisquis mediocritatem

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Diligit, tutus caret obsoleti

Sordibus tecti, caret invidenda
Sobrius aula.

Sæpius ventis agitatur ingens

Pinus; et celsæ graviore casu

Decidunt turres; feriuntque summos

Fulgura montes.

Sperat infestis, metuit secundis

Alteram sortem bene præparatum

Pectus.

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Informes hiemes reducit
Jupiter, idem

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Od. ii. 10.

WOULDST thou, Licinius, safely steer,
Tempt not too far th' uncertain deep :
Nor, while the storm you wisely fear,
The treach'rous shore too closely keep.

Who loves of life the golden mean,
Escapes alike the squalid cell,

And turmoils, that too oft are seen
In greatness' envied halls to dwell.

The giant pine-trees most invite

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The stormy winds; with heaviest crash

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Fall proudest tow'rs; the mountain height

The first attracts the lightning's flash.

The balanc'd mind, in weal or woe

Alike for fortune's change prepares;

And he, who sends the winter's snow,
Himself that winter's loss repairs.

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