I have reared a monument more durable than brass,
In height the regal pile of pyramids to surpass,
Which nor corroding rain, nor wind's ungoverned might,
Nor years innumerable, nor seasons in their flight.
Have power to wear away. I shall not wholly die,
A goodly part of me shall 'scape mortality;
Still ever fresh my praise shall grow in after time,
So long as Priest with Virgin mute Rome's hill shall climb.
They'll tell, where Aufidus impetuous rolls along,
And where king Daunus, scant of water, ruled among
A rustic people, how, from low grown powerful, I
First set Æolian verse to' Italian minstrelsy.
Assume, Melpomene, the pride by merit thine,
And fain engird with Delphian bay this head of mine.
Divis orte bonis, optime Romulae Custos gentis, abes iam nimium diu : Maturum reditum pollicitus patrum Sancto concilio, redi.
Lucem redde tuae, dux bone, patriae : Instar veris enim vultus ubi tuus Adfulsit populo, gratior it dies
Et soles melius nitent.
Ut mater iuvenem, quem notus invido Flatu Carpathii trans maris aequora Cunctantem spatio longius annuo Dulci distinet a domo,
Offspring of kindly Gods, best guard of Rome
And all Rome's race, too long thou art away;
As thou didst promise thou would'st quickly come
Back to thy sacred Council, come, we pray.
Light to thy country, O blest chief, restore;
For, like the spring, soon as thy face hath shone
Upon the people, gladsomer the hour,
And fairer is the shining of the sun.
As yearns a mother for her son, who far
Across the plains of the Carpathian seas
Tarries beyond the cycle of a year,
Kept from sweet home by the South's envious breeze;
Votis ominibusque et precibus vocat,
Curvo nec faciem litore dimovet :
Sic desideriis icta fidelibus
Quaerit patria Caesarem.
Tutus bos etenim rura perambulat,
Nutrit rura Ceres almaque Faustitas,
Pacatum volitant per mare navitae,
Culpari metuit fides,
Nullis polluitur casta domus stupris,
Mos et lex maculosum edomuit nefas,
Laudantur simili prole puerperae,
Culpam poena premit comes.
Quis Parthum paveat, quis gelidum Scythen,
Quis, Germania quos horrida parturit
Fetus, incolumi Caesare? quis ferae
Bellum curet Hiberiae ?
Condit quisque diem collibus in suis,
Et vitem viduas ducit ad arbores;
Hinc ad vina redit laetus et alteris
Te mensis adhibet deum;
With vows, with sighs, with prayers she calls on high,
Nor from the winding shore her face she turns ;
So, smit with longings of true loyalty,
For Cæsar's coming back his country yearns.
For safe the oxen wander o'er the lea;
Ceres the country nurtures, Plenty cheers;
The mariners fit across the peaceful sea;
Good Faith the very sound of censure fears.
Chaste homes are not befouled by deeds of shame,
Custom and law have leprous sin subdued;
The child's resemblance speaks the mother's fame,
And guilt by punishment is close pursued.
Who would the Parthian fear, or Scythian frore,
Or Germany teeming with her savage brood?
Or who would care for the fierce Spaniard's war,
So long as Cæsar nought betides but good?
Each lingers on his hills till evening's close,
And trains the vine-shoot to the widowed tree;
Then joyful homeward to his cups he goes,
And in due course toasts thy divinity.
|