The sailor masters cunningly,

And poverty, a mighty mighty infamy,

Bids do and suffer anything,

The steep and arduous path of virtue abandoning?
Or let us to the Capitol,

Whither with acclamation throngs of favourers call,
Or let us to the nearest sea,

There fling our useless gold and gems and jewelry—
Material of extremest ill-

If we repent of wickedness with right good will.
Raze out we must with might and main
The very elements of the crooked lust for gain,
And the too softly fashioned mind

Fashioned must be with studies of a rougher kind.
The high-born boy, untrained to ride,

Knows not to sit the horse, nor can the chase abide,
Well schooled to play, whether you advise

The Grecian hoop, or-by the laws forbid—the dice :
Aye, for his sire forswears his troth;

His partner, of his guild-his friend-he cheats them both;
And for his heir, a worthless youth,

Hastes to make money. Well I wot, 'tis very sooth,
Inordinate riches grow, but yet

Something there's ever lacking which curtails the estate.

LIBER III. CARMEN XXIX.

Tyrrhena regum progenies, tibi
Non ante verso lene merum cado
Cum flore, Maecenas, rosarum et
Pressa tuis balanus capillis

Iamdudum apud me est. Eripe te morae,
Nec semper udum Tiber et Efulae
Declive contempleris arvum et

Telegoni juga parricidae.

Fastidiosam desere copiam et

Molem propinquam nubibus arduis ;

Omitte mirari beatae

Fumum et opes strepitumque Romae.

BOOK III. ODE XXIX.

Offspring of Tuscan kings, for thee
There long ago has been with me
An unbroached cask of mellow wine,
With bloom of roses fresh and fine,
And balsam for those locks of thine:

Then haste to tear thee from delay,
Nor always Tibur's damp survey,
Efula's slope, and the hill-side
Of Teleg'nus the parricide.

Leave scornful plenty and the pile,
Built to the lofty clouds, awhile;

Cease from admiring Rome's blest store-
Its smoke, its substance, and its roar.

Plerumque gratae divitibus vices
Mundaeque parvo sub lare pauperum
Cenae sine aulaeis et ostro

Sollicitam explicuere frontem.

Jam clarus occultum Andromedae pater
Ostendit ignem, jam procyon furit
Et stella vesani leonis,

Sole dies referente siccos;

Jam pastor umbras cum grege languido
Rivumque fessus quaerit et horridi
Dumeta Silvani, caretque

Ripa vagis taciturna ventis.

Tu civitatem quis deceat status

Curas et urbi sollicitus times

Quid Seres et regnata Cyro

Bactra parent Tanaisque discors.

Prudens futuri temporis exitum

Caliginosa nocte premit deus,

Ridetque si mortalis ultra

Fas trepidat. Quod adest memento

Most times the rich like change of lot, And clean repasts 'neath poor man's cot, Arras apart and purple glow,

Are wont to smooth the anxious brow

Already bright Andromed's sire

Shows to the front his hidden fire; Raves Leo's star, and Procyon burns, The Sun with days of drought returns;

The weary swain with languid sheep
Seeks shady brook and thickets deep
Of rough Silvanus ; far away

From the still bank the breezes stray.

Thy care-what suits the country best,
And for the city thou'rt distrest,
On what the Seres are intent,
What Bactra, Cyrus' government,
And Tanais with discord rent.

Wisely the event of time to come
God buries in a murky gloom,
And smiles if mortal man doth