All things are open to gold; but Horace is content with his lot, by which he remains in a state of happiness. A TOW'R of brafs, whofe doors were barr'd

With oak, while, howling, upon guard,

Stood dogs, prepar'd to bite, Had been fufficient, to be fure, Imprison'd Danae to secure

From rakes that prowl by night:
If Jove, and she of ocean born,
Had not Acrifius laugh'd to fcorn,
With all his anxious tribe;

A way they found was fair and free,
When once the god fhould make his plea,
Transform'd into a bribe.

Gold through the centinels can pass,

And break through rocks and tow'rs of brass,
Than thunder-bolts more ftrong:
That* Argive prophet loft his life,
And was undone, because his wife
Was bought to do him wrong.
The Macedon of fuch renown,
With gifts the city-gates broke down,

And foil'd his rival kings:

Gifts ev'n can naval chiefs enfnare,

Though rough and honest, they would care

For more fuperior things.

* Amphiaraus, a Grecian prophet, foreseeing he should die at the fiege of Troy, kept himself concealed; but was betrayed by his wife, for the Jake of a golden necklace.

B 4

Crefcentem fequitur cura pecuniam,
Majorumque fames. Jure perhorrui
Late confpicuum tollere verticem,
Mæcenas, equitum decus.

Quanto quifque fibi plura negaverit,
A diis plura feret, nil cupientium
Nudus caftra peto, & transfuga divitum
Partes linquere geftio,
Contemptæ dominus fplendidior rei,

Quam fi, quicquid arat non piger Appulus
Occultare meis dicerer horreis,

Magnas inter opes inops.
Puræ rivus aquæ, filvaque jugerum
Paucorum, & fegetis certa fides meæ,
Fulgentem imperio fertilis Africa

Fallit forte beatior.

Quanquam nec Calabræ mella ferunt apes,
Nec Læftrygoniâ Bacchus in amphorâ
Languefcit mihi, nec pinguia Gallicis
Crefcunt vellera pafcuis:

PROSE INTERPRETATION.

in funder, and fubverted rival kings by gifts. Gifts enfnare the rough captains of fhips; folicitude, and an appetite for more, follow increafing money. With reafon, therefore, Q Mæcenas! glory of the knights, I have fhuddered to lift up my creft widely confpicuous. The more every one fhall refufe himself, the more he fhall gain from the gods. Bare as I am, I feek the camps of those that crave nothing, and, as a deferter, am glad to renounce the party of the opulent; the nobler lord of a difpifed fortune, that if I could be faid to hide in my ftore-houfes whatfoever the Appulian, by no means an indolent husbandman, tills, a beggar in the midft of exorbitant wealth. A river of clear water, and a grove of a few acres, and a confident hope of my harveft-home, are happier things, unknown to him who is refplendent in

the

Anxiety pursues increase,

And craving never like to cease-
I have myself deny'd

With cause to lift my creft on high,
And with fuch men as thee to vie,
O knighthood's peerless pride,
The more a man himself refrains,
The more from hea'vn his virtue gains;
I pitch my tent with those

Who their defires, like me, divest,

And, as an enemy profeft,

The flaves of wealth oppose,

More noble in my lowly lot,

Than if together I had got

Whate'er th' Appulian ploughs;
And poor amongst great riches ftill,
The fruit of no mean toil and skill,
Could in my garners house.

A wood of moderate extent,
And ftream of pureft element,

And harveft-home fecure,

Make me more happy than the weight

Of Africa's precarious state

Of empire could enfure.

What tho' nor fweet Calabrian bee
Makes his nectarious comb for me,
Nor Formian wine grows old

Within my cellars many a year,
Though from rich Gallic meads I fhear

No fleeces of the fold:

Importuna tamen pauperies abeft:

Nec, fi plura velim, tu dare deneges.
Contracto melius parva cupidine
Vestigalia porrigam,

Quam fi Mygdoniis regnum Halyattici
Campis continuem. Multa petentibus,
Defunt multa. Bene eft, cui deus obtulit
Parcâ, quod fatis eft, manu,

PROSE INTERPRETATION,

the administration of fertile Africa. Though neither Calabrian bees make honey, nor wine ripens to age for me in a Formian jar, nor rich fleeces grow in Gallic paftures; yet importunate poverty is far away; nor, if I chose more, would you deny to give it. I fhall better enlarge my fmall finances by contracting my defires, than if I could annex the realm

of

Yet want's remote, that wretched fate,
That makes a man importunate

If more I fhould require,

I should not be refus'd by you-
But I must raise my revenue
By curbing my defire.

And better fo, than fhould I add
The Lydian realm to what I had,
And all the Phrygian land;

They that crave moft, poffefs the leaft-
'Tis well where'er enough's the feast;
Heav'n gives with frugal hand.

PROSE INTERPRETATION.

of Halyatticus to the Phrygian plains. To thofe that seek after much, much is wanting. It is well with him to whom Providence has given what is fufficient with a frugal hand.

ODE