Se a quien los leones vence
Vence una muger hermosa,
O el de flaco avergonze,
O ella di ser mas furiosa.
If the man who turnips cries,
Cry not when his father dies,
'Tis a proof, that he had rather
Have a turnip than his father.
TRANSLATION OF THE FOLLOWING LINES AT THE END OF BARETTI'S EASY PHRASEOLOGY.
AN IMPROMPTU.
Viva, viva la padrona!
Tutta bella, e tutta buona,
La padrona è un' angiolella
Tutta buona e tutta bella;
Tutta bella e tutta buona;
Viva! viva la padrona!
Long may live my lovely Hetty!
Always young, and always pretty;
Always pretty, always young,
Live, my lovely Hetty, long!
Always young, and always pretty,
Long may live my lovely Hetty!
IMPROVISO TRANSLATION OF THE FOLLOWING DISTICH ON THE DUKE OF MODENA'S RUNNING AWAY FROM THE COMET IN 1742 OR 1743.
Se al venir vostro i principi sen' vanno
Deh venga ogni di—durate un' anno.
If at your coming princes disappear,
Comets! come every day—and stay a year.
IMPROVISO TRANSLATION OF THE FOLLOWING LINES OF M. BENSERADE A SON LIT.
Theatre des ris, et des pleurs,
Lit! où je nais, et où je meurs,
Tu nous fais voir comment voisins
Sont nos plaisirs, et nos chagrins.
In bed we laugh, in bed we cry,
And, born in bed, in bed we die;
The near approach a bed may show
Of human bliss to human woe.
EPITAPH FOR MR. HOGARTH.
The hand of him here torpid lies,
That drew th' essential form of grace;
Here clos'd in death th' attentive eyes,
That saw the manners in the face.
TRANSLATION OF THE FOLLOWING LINES, WRITTEN UNDER A PRINT REPRESENTING PERSONS SKATING.
Sur un mince cristal l'hiver conduit leurs pas,
Le précipice est sous la glace:
Telle est de nos plaisirs la légère surface:
Glissez, mortels; n'appuyez pas.
O'er ice the rapid skater flies,
With sport above, and death below;
Where mischief lurks in gay disguise,
Thus lightly touch and quickly go.
IMPROMPTU TRANSLATION OF THE SAME.
O'er crackling ice, o'er gulfs profound,
With nimble glide the skaters play;
O'er treach'rous pleasure's flow'ry ground
Thus lightly skim, and haste away.
TO MRS. THRALE, ON HER COMPLETING HER THIRTY-FIFTH YEAR. AN IMPROMPTU.
Oft in danger, yet alive,
We are come to thirty-five;
Long may better years arrive,
Better years than thirty-five!
Could philosophers contrive
Life to stop at thirty-five,
Time his hours should never drive
O'er the bounds of thirty-five.
High to soar, and deep to dive,
Nature gives at thirty-five.
Ladies, stock and tend your hive,
Trifle not at thirty-five;
For, howe'er we boast and strive.
Life declines from thirty-five.
He that ever hopes to thrive
Must begin by thirty-five;
And all, who wisely wish to wive,
Must look on Thrale at thirty-five.
IMPROMPTU TRANSLATION OF AN AIR IN THE CLEMENZA DI TITO OF METASTASIO, BEGINNING "DEH SE PIACERMI VUOI."
Would you hope to gain my heart,
Bid your teasing doubts depart;
He, who blindly trusts, will find
Faith from ev'ry gen'rous mind:
He, who still expects deceit,
Only teaches how to cheat.
TRANSLATION
OF A SPEECH OF AQUILEIO, IN THE ADRIANO OF METASTASIO,
BEGINNING "TU CHE IN CORTE INVECCHIASTI[a]."
Grown old in courts, thou surely art not one
Who keeps the rigid rules of ancient honour;
Well skill'd to sooth a foe with looks of kindness,
To sink the fatal precipice before him,
And then lament his fall, with seeming friendship:
Open to all, true only to thyself,
Thou know'st those arts, which blast with envious praise,
Which aggravate a fault, with feign'd excuses,
And drive discountenanc'd virtue from the throne;
That leave the blame of rigour to the prince,
And of his ev'ry gift usurp the merit;
That hide, in seeming zeal, a wicked purpose,
And only build upon another's ruin.
[a] The character of Cali, in Irene, is a masterly sketch of the old and
practised dissembler of a despotic court,—ED.
BURLESQUE OF THE MODERN VERSIFICATIONS OF ANCIENT LEGENDARY TALES. AN IMPROMPTU.
The tender infant, meek and mild,
Fell down upon the stone:
The nurse took up the squealing child,
But still the child squeal'd on.
FRIENDSHIP;
AN ODE[a].
Friendship, peculiar boon of heaven,
The noble mind's delight and pride,
To men and angels only given,
To all the lower world deny'd.
While love, unknown among the blest,
Parent of thousand wild desires[b],
The savage and the human breast
Torments alike with raging fires[c];
With bright, but oft destructive, gleam,
Alike, o'er all his lightnings fly;
Thy lambent glories only beam
Around the fav'rites of the sky.
Thy gentle flows of guiltless joys
On fools and villains ne'er descend;
In vain for thee the tyrant sighs[d],
And hugs a flatt'rer for a friend.
Directress of the brave and just[e],
O! guide us through life's darksome way!
And let the tortures of mistrust
On selfish bosoms only prey.
Nor shall thine ardours cease to glow[f],
When souls to blissful climes remove:
What rais'd our virtue here below,
Shall aid our happiness above.
[a] This ode originally appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1743.
See Boswell's Life of Johnson, under that year. It was afterwards
printed in Mrs. Williams's Miscellanies, in 1766, with several
variations, which are pointed out, below.—J.B.
[b] Parent of rage and hot desires.—Mrs. W.
[c] Inflames alike with equal fires.
[d] In vain for thee the monarch sighs.
[e] This stanza is omitted in Mrs. William's Miscellanies, and instead
of it, we have the following, which may be suspected, from internal
evidence, not to have been Johnson's:
When virtues, kindred virtues meet,
And sister-souls together join,
Thy pleasures permanent, as great,
Are all transporting—all divine.
[f] O! shall thy flames then cease to glow.
ON SEEING A BUST OF MRS. MONTAGUE.
Had this fair figure, which this frame displays,
Adorn'd in Roman time the brightest days,
In every dome, in every sacred place,
Her statue would have breath'd an added grace,
And on its basis would have been enroll'd,
"This is Minerva, cast in virtue's mould."
IMPROVISO ON A YOUNG HEIR'S COMING OF AGE
Long expected one-and-twenty,
Ling'ring year, at length is flown;
Pride and pleasure, pomp and plenty,
Great——, are now your own.
Loosen'd from the minor's tether,
Free to mortgage or to sell;
Wild as wind, and light as feather,
Bid the sons of thrift farewell.
Call the Betseys, Kates, and Jennies,
All the names that banish care;
Lavish of your grandsire's guineas,
Show the spirit of an heir.
All that prey on vice or folly
Joy to see their quarry fly:
There the gamester light and jolly,
There the lender grave and sly.
Wealth, my lad, was made to wander,
Let it wander as it will;
Call the jockey, call the pander,
Bid them come, and take their fill.
When the bonny blade carouses,
Pockets full, and spirits high—
What are acres? what are houses?
Only dirt, or wet or dry.
Should the guardian friend, or mother
Tell the woes of wilful waste;
Scorn their counsel, scorn their pother,
You can hang or drown at last.
EPITAPHS.
AT LICHFIELD. H. S. E. MICHAEL JOHNSON,
VIR impavidus, constans, animosus, periculorum immemor, laborum patientissimus; fiducia christiana fortis, fervidusque; paterfamilias apprime strenuus; bibliopola admodum peritus; mente et libris et negotiis exculta; animo ita firmo, ut, rebus adversis diu conflictatus, nec sibi nec suis defuerit; lingua sic temperata, ut ei nihil quod aures vel pias vel castas laesisset, aut dolor vel voluptas unquam expresserit.
Natus Cubleiae, in agro Derbiensi, anno MDCLVI; obijt
MDCCXXXI.
Apposita est SARA, conjux,
Antiqua FORDORUM gente oriunda; quam domi sedulam, foris paucis notam; nulli molestam, mentis acumine et judicii subtilitate praecellentem; aliis multum, sibi parum indulgentem: aeternitati semper attentam, omne fere virtutis nomen commendavit.
Nata Nortoniae Regis, in agro Varvicensi, anno
MDCLXIX; obijt MDCCLIX.
Cum NATHANAELE, illorum filio, qui natus MDCCXII. cum vires et animi et corporis multa pollicerentur, anno MDCCXXXVII. vitam brevem pia morte finivit.
IN BROMLEY CHURCH.
HIC conduntur reliquae
ELIZABETHAE
Antiqua JARVISIORUM gente
Peatlingae, apud Leicestrenses, ortae;
Formosae, cultae, ingeniosae, piae;
Uxoris, primis nuptiis, HENRICI PORTER,
secundis, SAMUELIS JOHNSON,
Qui multum amatam, diuque defletam,
Hoc lapide contexit.
Obijt Londini, mense Mart.
A. D. MDCCLIII.
IN WATFORD CHURCH.
In the vault below are deposited the remains of JANE BELL[a], wife of JOHN BELL, esq. who, in the fifty-third year of her age, surrounded with many worldly blessings, heard, with fortitude and composure truly great, the horrible malady, which had, for some time, begun to afflict her, pronounced incurable; and for more than three years, endured with patience, and concealed with decency, the daily tortures of gradual death; continued to divide the hours not allotted to devotion, between the cares of her family, and the converse of her friends; rewarded the attendance of duty, and acknowledged the offices of affection; and, while she endeavoured to alleviate by cheerfulness her husband's sufferings and sorrows, increased them by her gratitude for his care, and her solicitude for his quiet. To the testimony of these virtues, more highly honoured, as more familiarly known, this monument is erected by JOHN BELL.
[a] She died in October, 1771.
IN STRETHAM CHURCH.
Juxta sepulta est HESTERA MARIA,
Thomae Cotton de Combermere, baronetti Cestriensis,
filia,
Johannis Salusbury, armigeri Flintiensis, uxor,
Forma felix, felix ingenio;
Omnibus jucunda, suorum amantissima.
Linguis artibusque ita exeulta,
Ut loquenti nunquam deessent
Sermonis nitor, sententiarum flosculi,
Sapientiae gravitas, leporum gratia:
Modum servandi adeo perita,
Ut domestica inter negotia literis oblectaretur;
Literarum inter delicias, rem familiarem sedulo curaret.
Multis illi multos annos precantibus
diri carcinomatis venene contabuit,
nexibusque vitae paulatim resolutis,
e terris, meliora sperans, emigravit.
Nata 1707. Nupta 1739. Obijt 1773.
IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
OLIVARII GOLDSMITH,
Poetae, Physici, Historici,
Qui nullum fere scribendi genus
Non tetigit,
Nullum quod tetigit non ornavit:
Sive risus essent movendi,
Sive lacrimae,
Affectuum potens, at lenis, dominator:
Ingenio sublimis, vividus, versatilis,
Oratione grandis, nitidus, venustus:
Hoc monumento memoriam coluit
Sodalium amor,
Amicorum fides,
Lectorum veneratio.
Elfiniae, in Hibernia, natus MDCCXXIX.
Eblauae literis institutus:
Londini obijt MDCCLXXIV [a].
[a] This is the epitaph, that drew from Gibbon, sir J. Reynolds, Sheridan, Joseph Warton, &c. the celebrated Round Robin, composed by Burke, intreating Johnson to write an English epitaph on an English author. His reply was, in the genuine spirit of an old scholar, "he would never consent to disgrace the walls of Westminster abbey with an English inscription." One of his arguments, in favour of a common learned language, was ludicrously cogent: "Consider, sir, how you should feel, were you to find, at Rotterdam, an epitaph, upon Erasmus, in Dutch!" Boswell, iii. He would, however, undoubtedly have written a better epitaph in English, than in Latin. His compositions in that language are not of first rate excellence, either in prose or verse. The epitaph, in Stretham church, on Mr. Thrale, abounds with inaccuracies; and those who are fond of detecting little blunders in great men, may be amply gratified in the perusal of a review of Thrale's epitaph in the Classical Journal, xii. 6. His Greek epitaph on Goldsmith, is not remarkable in itself, but we will subjoin it, in this place, as a literary curiosity.
[Greek:]
Thon taphon eisoraas thon OLIBARIOIO, koniaen
Aphrosi mae semnaen, xeine, podessi patei.
Oisi memaele phusis, metron charis, erga palaion,
Klaiete poiaetaen, istorikon, phusikon.
—ED.
IN STRETHAM CHURCH.
Hie conditur quod reliquum est
HENRICI THRALE,
Qui res seu civiles, seu domesticas, ita egit,
Ut vitam illi longiorem multi optarent;
Ita sacras,
Ut quam brevem esset habiturus praescire videretur;
Simplex, apertus, sibique semper similis,
Nihil ostentavit aut arte fictum, aut cura
elaboratum.
In senatu, regi patriaeque
Fideliter studuit,
Vulgi obstrepentis contemptor animosus;
Domi, inter mille mercaturae negotia,
Literarum elegantiam minime neglexit.
Amicis, quocunque modo laborantibus,
Consiliis, auctoritate, muneribus, adfuit.
Inter familiares, comites, convivas, hospites,
Tam facili fuit morum suavitate
Ut omnium animos ad se alliceret;
Tam felici sermonis libertate,
Ut nulli adulatus, omnibus placeret.
Natus 1724. Obijt 1781.
Consortes tumuli habet Rodolphum, patrem, strenuum
fortemque virum, et Henricum, filium unicum, quem
spei parentum mors inopiua decennem proripuit.
Ita
Domus felix et opulenta quam erexit
Avus, auxitque pater, cum nepote decidit.
Abi, Viator,
Et, vicibus rerum humanarum perspectis,
Aeternitatem cogita!
POEMATA
MESSIA [a].
Ex alieno ingenio poeta, ex suo tantum versificator.
SCALIG. Poet.
Tollite concentum, Solymaeae tollite nymphae,
Nil mortale loquor; coelum mihi carminis alta
Materies; poscunt gravius coelestia plectrum.
Muscosi fontes, sylvestria tecta, valete,
Aonidesque deae, et mendacis somnia Pindi:
Tu, mihi, qui flamma movisti pectora sancti
Siderea Isaiae, dignos accende furores!
Immatura calens rapitur per secula vates
Sic orsus—Qualis rerum mihi nascitur ordo!
Virgo! virgo parit! Felix radicibus arbor
Jessaeis surgit, mulcentesque sethera flores
Coelestes lambunt animae, ramisque columba,
Nuncia sacra Dei, plaudentibus insidet alis.
Nectareos rores, alimentaque mitia coelum
Praebeat, et tacite foecundos irriget imbres.
Hue, foedat quos lepra, urit quos febris, adeste,
Dia salutares spirant medicamina rami;
Hic requies fessis: non sacra sacvit in umbra
Vis boreae gelida, aut rapidi violeutia solis.
Irrita vanescent priscae vestigia fraudis,
Justitiaeque manus, pretio intemerata, bilancem
Attollet reducis; bellis praetendet olivas
Compositis pax alma suas, terrasque revisens
Sedatas niveo virtus lucebit amictu.—
Volvantur celeres anni! lux purpuret ortum
Expectata diu! naturae claustra refringens,
Nascere, magne puer! tibi primas, ecce, corollas
Deproperat tellus, fundit tibi munera, quicquid
Carpit Arabs, hortis quicquid frondescit Eois;
Altius, en! Lebanon gaudentia culmina tollit;
En! summo exultant nutantes vertice sylvae:
Mittit aromaticas vallis Saronica nubes,
Et juga Carmeli recreant fragrantia coelum.
Deserti laeta mollescunt aspera voce:
Auditur Deus! ecce Deus! reboantia circum
Saxa sonant, Deus! ecce Deus! deflectitur aether,
Demissumque Deum tellus capit; ardua cedrus,
Gloria sylvarum, dominum inclinata salutet:
Surgite convalles, tumidi subsidite montes!
Sternite saxa viam, rapidi discedite fluctus;
En! quem turba diu cecinerunt enthea, vates,
En! salvator adest; vultus agnoscite, caeci,
Divinos, surdos sacra vox permulceat aures.
Ille cutim spissam visus hebetare vetabit,
Reclusisque oculis infundet amabile lumen;
Obstrictasque diu linguas in carmina solvet.
Ille vias vocis pandet, flexusque liquentis
Harmoniae purgata novos mirabitur auris.
Accrescunt teneris tactu nova robora nervis:
Consuetus fulcro innixus reptare bacilli
Nunc saltu capreas, nunc cursu provocat euros.
Non planctus, non moesta sonant suspiria; pectus
Singultans mulcet, lachrymantes tergit ocellos.
Vincla coercebunt luctantem adamantina mortem,
Aeternoque orci dominator vuluere languens
Invalidi raptos sceptri plorabit honores.
Ut, qua dulce strepunt scatebrse, qua lasta virescunt
Pascua, qua blandum spirat purissimus aer,
Pastor agit pecudes, teneros modo suscipit agnos,
Et gremio fotis selectas porrigit herbas,
Amissas modo quserit oves, revocatque vagantes;
Fidus adest custos, seu nox furat humida nimbis,
Sive dies medius morieutia torreat arva.
Postera sic pastor divinus secla beabit,
Et curas felix patrias testabitur orbis.
Non ultra infestis concurrent agmina signis,
Hostiles oculis flammas jaculantia torvis;
Non litui accendent bellum, non campus ahenis
Triste coruscabit radiis; dabit hasta recusa
Vomerem, et in falcem rigidus curvabitur ensis.
Atria, pacis opus, surgent, finemque caduci
Natus ad optatum perducet coepta parentis.
Qui duxit sulcos, illi teret area messem,
Et serae texent vites umbracula proli.
Attoniti dumeta vident inculta coloni
Suave rubere rosis, sitientesque inter arenas
Garrula mirantur salientis murmura rivi.
Per saxa, ignivomi nuper spelaea draconis,
Canna viret, juncique tremit variabilis umbra.
Horruit implexo qua vallis sente, figurae
Surgit amans abies teretis, buxique sequaces
Artificis frondent dextrae; palmisque rubeta
Aspera, odoratae cedunt mala gramiua myrto.
Per valles sociata lupo lasciviet agna,
Cumque leone petet tutus praesepe juvencus.
Florea mansuetae petulantes vincula tigri
Per ludum pueri injicient, et fessa colubri
Membra viatoris recreabunt frigore linguae.
Serpentes teneris nil jam lethale micantes
Tractabit palmis infans, motusque trisulcae
Bidebit linguae innocuos, squamasque virentes
Aureaque admirans rutilantis fulgura cristae.
Indue reginam, turritae frontis honores
Tolle Salema sacros, quam circum gloria pennas
Explicat, incinctam radiatae luce tiaras!
En! formosa tibi spatiosa per atria proles
Ordinibus surgit densis, vitamque requirit
Impatiens, lenteque fluentes increpat annos.
Ecce peregrinis fervent tua limina turbis;
Barbarus, en! clarum divino lumine templum
Ingreditur, cultuque tuo mansuescere gaudet.
Cinnameos cumulos, Nabathaei munera veris,
Ecce! cremant genibus tritae regalibus arae.
Solis Ophyraeis crudum tibi montibus aurum
Maturant radii; tibi balsama sudat Idume.
Aetheris en! portas sacro fulgore micantes
Coelicolae pandunt, torrentis aurea lucis
Flumina prorumpunt; non posthac sole rubescet
India nascenti, placidaeve argentea noctis
Luna vices revehet; radios pater ipse diei
Proferet archetypos; coelestis gaudia lucis
Ipso fonte bibes, quae circumfusa beatam
Regiam inundabit, nullis cessura tenebris.
Littora deficiens arentia deseret aequor;
Sidera fumabunt, diro labefaeta tremore
Saxa cadent, solidique liquescent robora montis:
Tu secura tamen confusa elementa videbis,
Laetaque Messia semper dominabere rege,
Pollicitis firmata Dei, stabilita ruinis.
[a] This translation has been severely criticised by Dr. Warton, in his edition of Pope, vol. i. p. 105, 8vo. 1797. It certainly contains some expressions that are not classical. Let it be remembered, however, that it was a college exercise, performed with great rapidity, and was, at first, praised, beyond all suspicion of defect—This translation was first published in a Miscellany of Poems by several hands. Published by J. Husbands, A.M. fellow of Pembroke college, Oxon. 8vo. Oxford, 1731. Of Johnson's production, Mr. Husbands says, in his preface, "The translation of Mr. Pope's Messiah was delivered to his tutor as a college exercise, by Mr. Johnson, a commoner of Pembroke college in Oxford, and 'tis hoped will be no discredit to the excellent original." Mr. Husbands died in the following year.
[Jan. 20, 21, 1773.]
Vitae qui varias vices
Rerum perpetuus temperat arbiter,
Laeto cedere lumini
Noctis tristitiam qui gelidae jubet,
Acri sanguine turgidos,
Obductosque oculos nubibus humidis
Sanari voluit meos;
Et me, cuncta beaus cui nocuit dies,
Luci reddidit et mihi.
Qua te laude, Deus, qua prece prosequar?
Sacri discipulis libri
Te semper studiis utilibus colam:
Grates, summe pater, tuis
Recte qui fruitur muneribus, dedit.
[Dec. 25, 1779.]
Nunc dies Christo memoranda nato
Fulsit, in pectus mihi fonte purum
Gaudium sacro fluat, et benigni
Gratia coeli!
Christe, da tutam trepido quietem,
Christe, spem praesta stabilem timenti;
Da fidem certam, precibusque fidis
Annue, Christe.
[In lecto, die passionis, Apr. 13, 1781.]
Summe Deus, qui semper amas quodcunque creasti;
Judice quo, scelerum est poenituisse salus:
Da veteres noxas animo sic flere novato,
Per Christum ut veniam sit reperire mihi.
[In lecto, Dec. 25, 1782.]
Spe non inani confugis,
Peccator, ad latus meum;
Quod poscis, hand unquam tibi
Negabitur solatium.
(Nocte, inter 16 et 17 Junii, 1783[a])
Summe pater, quodcunque tuum[b] de corpore Numen[c]
Hoc statuat[d], precibus[e] Christus adesse velit:
Ingenio parcas, nee sit mihi culpa rogasse[f],
Qua solum potero parte, placere[g] tibi.
[a] The night, above referred to by Dr. Johnson, was that, in which a
paralytic stroke had deprived him of his voice; and, in the anxiety
he felt, lest it should, likewise, have impaired his understanding,
he composed the above lines, and said, concerning them, that he
knew, at the time, that they were not good, but then, that he deemed
his discerning this to be sufficient for quieting the anxiety before
mentioned, as it showed him, that his power of judging was not
diminished.
[b] Al. tuae.
[c] Al. leges.
[d] Al. statuant.
[e] Al. votis.
[f] Al. precari.
[g] Al. litare.
[Cal. Jan. in lecto, ante lucem, 1784.]
Summe dator vitae, naturae aeterne magister,
Causarum series quo moderante fluit,
Respice quem subiget senium, morbique seniles,
Quem terret vitae meta propinqua suae,
Respice inutiliter lapsi quem poenitet aevi;
Recte ut poeniteat, respice, magne parens.
Pater benigne, summa semper lenitas,
Crimine gravatam plurimo mentem leva:
Concede veram poenitentiam, precor,
Concede agendam legibus vitam tuis.
Sacri vagantes luminis gressus face
Rege, et tuere; quae nocent pellens procul:
Veniam petenti, summe, da veniam, pater;
Veniaeque sancta pacis adde gaudia:
Sceleris ut expers, omni et vacuus metu,
Te, mente pura, mente tranquilla colam,
Mihi dona morte haec impetret Christus sua.
[Jan. 18, 1784.]
Summe pater, puro collustra lumine pectus,
Anxietas noceat ne tenebrosa mihi.
In me sparsa manu virtutum semina larga
Sic ale, proveniat messis ut ampla boni.
Noctes atque dies animo spes laeta recurset;
Certa mihi sancto flagret amore fides;
Certa vetat dubitare fides, spes laeta timere;
Velle vetet cuiquam non bene sanctus amor.
Da, ne sint permissa, pater, mihi praemia frustra,
Et colere, et leges semper amare tuas.
Haec mihi, quo gentes, quo secula, Christe, piasti,
Sanguine, precanti promereare tuo!
[Feb. 27, 1784.]
Mens mea, quid quereris? veniet tibi mollior hora,
In summo ut videas numine laeta patrem;
Divinam insontes iram placavit Iesus;
Nunc est pro poena poenituisse reis.
CHRISTIANUS PERFECTUS.
Qui cupit in sanctos, Christo cogente, referri,
Abstergat mundi labem, nec gaudia carnis
Captans, nec fastu tumidus, semperque futuro
Instet, et evellens terroris spicula corde,
Suspiciat tandem clementem in numine patrem.
Huic quoque, nec genti nec sectae noxius ulli,
Sit sacer orbis amor, miseris qui semper adesse
Gestiat, et, nullo pietatis limite clausus,
Cunctorum ignoscat vitiis, pictate fruatur.
Ardeat huic toto sacer ignis pectore, possit
Ut vitam, poscat si res, impendere vero.
Cura placere Deo sit prima, sit ultima; sanctae
Irruptum vitae cupiat servare tenorem;
Et sibi, delirans quanquam et peccator in horas
Displiceat, servet tutum sub pectore rectum:
Nec natet, et nunc has partes, nunc eligat illas,
Nec dubitet quem dicat herum, sed, totus in uno,
Se fidum addicat Christo, mortalia temnens.
Sed timeat semper, caveatque ante omnia, turbae
Ne stolidae similis, leges sibi segreget audax
Quas servare velit, leges quas lentus omittat,
Plenum opus effugiens, aptans juga mollia collo,
Sponte sua demens; nihilum decedere summae
Vult Deus, at qui cuncta dedit tibi, cuncta reposcit.
Denique perpetuo contendit in ardua nisu,
Auxilioque Dei fretus, jam mente serena
Pergit, et imperiis sentit se dulcibus actum.
Paulatim mores, animum, vitamque refingit,
Effigiemque Dei, quantum servare licebit,
Induit, et, terris major, coelestia spirat.
Aeterne rerum conditor,
Salutis aeternae dator;
Felicitatis sedibus
Qui nec scelestos exigis,
Quoscumque scelerum poenitet;
Da, Christe, poenitentiam,
Veniamque, Christe, da mihi;
Aegrum trahenti spiritum
Succurre praesens corpori;
Multo gravatam crimine
Mentem benignus alleva.
Luce collustret mihi pectus alma,
Pellat et tristes animi tenebras,
Nec sinat semper tremere ac dolere,
Gratia Christi.
Me pater tandem reducem benigno
Summus amplexu foveat, beato
Me gregi sanctus socium beatum
Spiritus addat.
JEJUNIUM ET CIBUS.
Serviat ut menti corpus jejunia serva,
Ut mens utatur corpore, sume cibos.
AD URBANUM[a], 1738.
Urbane, nullis fesse laboribus,
Urbane, nullis victe calumniis,
Cui fronte sertum in erudita
Perpetuo viret, et virebit;
Quid moliatur gens imitantium,
Quid et minetur, solicitus parum,
Vacare solis perge musis,
Juxta animo, studiisque foelix.
Linguae procacis plumbea spicula,
Fidens, superbo frange silentio;
Victrix per obstantes catervas
Sedulitas animosa tendet.
Intende nervos fortis, inanibus
Risurus olim nisibus emuli;
Intende jam nervos, habebis
Participes opera Camoenas.
Non ulla musis pagina gratior,
Quam quae severis ludicra jungere
Novit, fatigatamque nugis
Utilibus recreare mentem.
Texente nymphis serta Lycoride,
Rosae ruborem sic viola adjuvat
Immista, sic Iris refulget
Aethereis variata fucis.
[a] See Gent. Mag. vol. viii. p. 156; and see also the Introduction to vol. liv.
IN RIVUM A MOLA STOANA LICHFELDIAE DIFFLUENTEM.
Errat adhuc vitreus per prata virentia rivus,
Quo toties lavi membra tenella puer;
Hic delusa rudi frustrabar brachia motu,
Dum docuit, blanda voce, natare pater.
Fecerunt rami latebras, tenebrisque diurnis
Pendula secretas abdidit arbor aquas.
Nunc veteres duris periere securibus umbrae,
Longinquisque oculis nuda lavacra patent.
Lympha, tamen, cursus agit indefessa perennis,
Tectaque qua fluxit, nunc et aperta fluit.
Quid ferat externi velox, quid deterat aetas,
Tu quoque securus res age, Nise, tuas.
[Greek: GNOTHI SEAUTON][a]
[Post Lexicon Anglicanum auctum et emendatum.]
Lexicon ad finem longo luctamine tandem
Scaliger ut duxit, tenuis pertaesus opellae,
Vile indignatus studium, nugasque molestas
Ingemit exosus, scribendaque lexica mandat
Damnatis, poenam pro poenis omnibus unam.
Ille quidem recte, sublimis, doctus et acer,
Quem decuit majora sequi, majoribus aptum,
Qui veterum modo facta ducum, modo carmina vatum,
Gesserat, et quicquid virtus, sapientia quicquid
Dixerat, imperiique vices, coelique meatus,
Ingentemque animo seclorum volveret orbem.
Fallimur exemplis; temere sibi turba scholarum
Ima tuas credit permitti, Scaliger, iras.
Quisque suum norit modulum; tibi, prime virorum,
Ut studiis sperem, aut ausim par esse querelis,
Non mihi sorte datum; lenti seu sanguinis obsint
Frigora, seu nimium longo jacuisse veterno,
Sive mihi mentem dederit natura minorem.
Te sterili functum cura, vocumque salebris
Tuto eluctatum, spatiis sapientia dia
Excipit aethereis, ars omnis plaudit amico,
Linguarumque omni terra discordia concors
Multiplici reducem circumsonat ore magistrum.
Me, pensi immunis cum jam mihi reddor, inertis
Desidiae sors dura manet, graviorque labore
Tristis et atra quies, et tardae taedia vitae.
Nascuntur curis curae, vexatque dolorum
Importuna cohors, vacuae mala somnia mentis.
Nunc clamosa juvant nocturnae gaudia mensae,
Nunc loca sola placent; frustra te, somne, recumbens,
Alme voco, impatiens noctis, metuensque diei.
Omnia percurro trepidus, circum omnia lustro,
Si qua usquam pateat melioris semita vitae,
Nec quid again invenio; meditatus grandia, cogor
Notior ipse mihi fieri, incultumque fateri
Pectus, et ingenium vano se robore jactans.
Ingenium, nisi materiem doctrina ministrat,
Cessat inops rerum, ut torpet, si marmoris absit
Copia, Phidiaci foecunda potentia coeli.
Quicquid agam, quocunque ferar, conatibus obstat
Res angusta domi, et macrae penuria mentis.
Non rationis opes animus, nunc parta recensens
Conspicit aggestas, et se miratur in illis,
Nec sibi de gaza praesens quod postulat usus
Summus adesse jubet celsa dominator ab arce;
Non, operum serie seriem dum computat aevi,
Praeteritis fruitur, laetos aut sumit honores
Ipse sui judex, actae bene munera vitae;
Sed sua regna videns, loca nocte silentia late
Horret, ubi vanae species, umbraeque fugaces,
Et rerum volitant rarae per inane figurae.
Quid faciam? tenebrisne pigram damnare senectam
Restat? an accingar studiis gravioribus audax?
Aut, hoc si nimium est, tandem nova lexica poscam?
[a] For a translation of this poem, see Murphy's Essay on the Life and
Genius of Dr. Johnson, prefixed to the present volume.
AD THOMAM LAURENCE, MEDICUM DOCTISSIMUM,
Cum filium peregre agentem desiderio nimis tristi prosequeretur.
Fateris ergo, quod populus solet
Crepare vecors, nil sapientiam
Prodesse vitae, literasque
In dubiis dare terga rebus.
Tu, queis laborat sors hominum, mala
Nec vincis acer, nee pateris pius;
Te mille succorum potentem
Destituit medicina mentis.
Per caeca noctis taedia turbidae,
Pigrae per horas lucis inutiles,
Torpesque, languescisque, curis
Solicitus nimis heu! paternis.
Tandem dolori plus satis est datum,
Exsurge fortis, nunc animis opus,
Te, docta, Laurenti, vetustas,
Te medici revocant labores.
Permitte summo quicquid habes patri,
Permitte fidens; et muliebribus,
Amice, majorem querelis
Redde tuis, tibi redde, mentem.
IN THEATRO, MARCH 8, 1771.
Tertii verso quater orbe lustri,
Quid theatrales tibi, Crispe, pompae?
Quam decet canos male litteratos
Sera voluptas!
Tene mulceri fidibus canoris?
Tene cantorum modulis stupere?
Tene per pictas, oculo elegante,
Currere formas?
Inter aequales, sine felle liber,
Codices, veri studiosus, inter
Rectius vives. Sua quisque carpat
Gaudia gratus.
Lusibus gaudet puer otiosis,
Luxus oblectat juvenem theatri,
At seni fluxo sapienter uti
Tempore restat.
INSULA KENNETHI, INTER HEBRIDAS.
Parva quidem regio, sed religione priorum
Clara, Caledonias panditur inter aquas.
Voce ubi Cennethus populos domuisse feroces
Dicitur, et vanos dedocuisse deos.
Huc ego delatus placido per caerulea cursu,
Scire locus volui quid daret iste novi.
Illic Leniades humili regnabat in aula,
Leniades, magnis nobilitatus avis.
Una duas cepit casa cum genitore puellas,
Quas amor undarum crederet esse deas.
Nec tamen inculti gelidis latuere sub antris,
Accola Danubii qualia saevus habet.
Mollia non desunt vacuae solatia vitae,
Sive libros poscant otia, sive lyram.
Fulserat ilia dies, legis qua docta supernae
Spes hominum et curas gens procul esse jubet.
Ut precibus justas avertat numinis iras,
Et summi accendat pectus amore boni.
Ponte inter strepitus non sacri munera cultus
Cessarunt, pietas hic quoque cura fuit:
Nil opus est aeris sacra de turre sonantis
Admonitu, ipsa suas nunciat hora vices.
Quid, quod sacrifici versavit foemina libros.
Sint pro legitimis pura labella sacris—
Quo vagor ulterius? quod ubique requiritur hic est;
Hic secura quies, hic et honestus amor.
SKIA.
Ponti profundis clausa recessibus,
Strepens procellis, rupibus obsita,
Quam grata defesso virentem,
Skia, sinum nebulosa pandis!
His cura, credo, sedibus exulat;
His blanda certe pax habitat locis;
Non ira, non moeror quietis
Insidias meditatur horis.
At non cavata rupe latescere,
Menti nec aegrae montibus aviis
Prodest vagari, nec frementes
In specula numerare fluctus.
Humana virtus non sibi sufficit;
Datur nec aequum cuique animum sibi
Parare posse, utcunque jactet
Grandiloquus nimis alta Zeno.
Exaestuantis pectoris impetum,
Rex summe, solus tu regis, arbiter;
Mentisque, te tollente, fluctus;
Te, resident, moderante fluctus.
ODE DE SKIA INSULA.
Permeo terras, ubi nuda rupes
Saxeas miscet nebulis ruinas,
Torva ubi rident steriles coloni
Rura labores.
Pervagor gentes hominum ferorum,
Vita ubi nullo decorata cultu
Squallet informis, tugurique fumis
Foeda latescit.
Inter erroris salebrosa longi,
Inter ignotae strepitus loquelae,
Quot modis, mecum, quid agat, requiro,
Thralia dulcis?
Seu viri curas pia nupta mulcet,
Seu fovet mater sobolem benigna,
Sive cum libris novitate pascit
Sedula mentem.
Sit memor nostri, fideique solvat
Fida mercedem, meritoque blandum
Thraliae discant resonare nomen
Littora Skiae.
SPES.
Apr. 16, 1783.
Hora sic peragit citata cursum;
Sic diem sequitur dies fugacem!
Spes novas nova lux parit, secunda
Spondens omnia credulis homullis;
Spes ludit stolidas, metuque caeco
Lux angit, miseros ludens homullos.
VERSUS COLLARI CAPRAE DOMINI BANKS INSCRIBENDI.
Perpetui, ambita bis terra, praemia lactis
Haec habet, altrici capra secunda Jovis.
AD FOEMINAM QUANDAM GENEROSAM QUAE LIBERTATIS CAUSAE IN SERMONE PATROCINATA FUERAT.
Liber ut esse velim, suasisti, pulchra Maria:
Ut maneam liber, pulchra Maria, vale.
JACTURA TEMPORIS.
Hora perit furtim laetis, mens temporis aegra
Pigritiam incusat, nec minus hora perit.
Quas navis recipit, quantum sit pondus aquarum,
Dimidrum tanti ponderis intret onus.
Quot vox missa pedes abit, horae parte secunda?
Undecies centum denos quater adde duosque.
[Greek: Eis BIRCHION][a]
[Greek:]
Eiden Alaetheiae proaen chairousa graphonta
Haeroon te bious Birchion, aede sophon
Kai bion, eipen, hotan rhipsaes thanatoio belessi,
Sou pote grapsomenon Birchion allon echois.
[a] The rev. Dr. Thomas Birch, author of the History of the Royal
Society, and other works of note.
[Greek:] Eis to taes ELISSAES peri ton oneiron ainigma.[a]
Tae kallous dunamei ti telos; Zeus panta dedoken
Kupridi, und' autou skaeptra memaele theo.
Aek Dios estin Onap, theios pot' egrapsen Homaeros,
Alla tod' eis thnaetous Kupris epempsen onar
Zeus mounos phlogoenti poleis ekperse kerauno,
Ommasi lampra Dios Kupris oista pherei.
[a] When Johnson had composed this Greek epigram to Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, he said, in a letter to Cave, "I think she ought to be celebrated in as many different languages as Louis le grand." His admiration of her learning was so great, that when he wished to praise the acquirements of any one excessively, he remarked that, he knew as much Greek almost as Mrs. Carter. The verses in Elizae Aenigma are addressed to the same excellent and accomplished lady. It is now nearly an insult to add, that she translated Epictetus, and contributed Nos. 44 and 100, to the Rambler. See Boswell, i. iii. and iv. and preface to Rambler, ii.—ED.
IN ELIZAE AENIGMA.
Quis formae modus imperio? Venus arrogat audax
Omnia, nec curae sunt sua sceptra Jovi.
Ab Jove Maeonides descendere somnia narrat:
Haec veniunt Cypriae somnia missa Deae.
Jupiter unus erat, qui stravit fulmine gentes;
Nunc armant Veneris lumina tela Jovis.
[a]O! Qui benignus crimina ignoscis, pater,
Facilisque semper confitenti ades reo,
Aurem faventem precibus O! praebe meis;
Scelerum catena me laborantem grave
Aeterna tandem liberet clementia,
Ut summa laus sit, summa Christo gloria.
Per vitae tenebras rerumque incerta vagantem
Numine praesenti me tueare, pater!
Me ducat lux sancta, Deus, lux sancta sequatur;
Usque regat gressus gratia fida meos.
Sic peragam tua jussa libens, accinctus ad omne
Mandatum vivam, sic moriarque tibi.
Me, pater omnipotens, de puro respice coelo,
Quem moestum et timidum crimina dira gravant;
Da veniam pacemque mihi, da, mente serena,
Ut tibi quae placeant, omnia promptus agam.
Solvi, quo Christus cunctis delicta redemit,
Et pro me pretium, tu patiare, pater.
[a] This and the three following articles are metrical versions of collects in the liturgy; the first, of that, beginning, "O God, whose nature and property"; the second and third of the collects for the seventeenth and twenty-first Sundays after Trinity; and the fourth, of the first collect in the communion service.
[Dec. 5, 1784.][a]
Summe Deus, cui caeca patent penetralia cordis;
Quem nulla anxietas, nulla cupido fugit;
Quem nil vafrities peccantum subdola celat;
Omnia qui spectans, omnia ubique regis;
Mentibus afflatu terrenas ejice sordes
Divino, sanctus regnet ut intus amor:
Eloquiumque potens linguis torpentious affer,
Ut tibi laus omni semper ab ore sonet:
Sanguine quo gentes, quo secula cuncta piavit,
Haec nobis Christus promeruisse velit!
[a] The day on which he received the sacrament for the last time; and eight days before his decease.
PSALMUS CXVII.
Anni qua volucris ducitur orbita,
Patrem coelicolum perpetuo colunt
Quo vis sanguine cretae
Gentes undique carmine.
Patrem, cujus amor blandior in dies
Mortales miseros servat, alit, fovet,
Omnes undique gentes,
Sancto dicite carmine.
[a]Seu te saeva fames, levitas sive improba fecit,
Musca, meae comitem, participemque dapis,
Pone metum, rostrum fidens immitte culullo,
Nam licet, et toto prolue laeta mero.
Tu, quamcunque tibi velox indulserit annus,
Carpe diem; fugit, heu, non revocanda dies!
Quae nos blanda comes, quae nos perducat eodem,
Volvitur hora mihi, volvitur hora tibi!
Una quidem, sic fata volunt, tibi vivitur aestas,
Eheu, quid decies plus mihi sexta dedit!
Olim praeteritae numeranti tempora vitae,
Sexaginta annis non minor unus erit.
[a] The above is a version of the song, "Busy, curious, thirsty fly."
[b]Habeo, dedi quod alteri; Habuique, quod dedi mihi; Sed quod reliqui, perdidi.
[b] These lines are a version of three sentences that are said, in the
manuscript, to be "On the monument of John of Doncaster;" and which
are as follow:
What I gave, that I have;
What I spent, that I had;
What I left, that I lost.
[a]E WALTONI PISCATORE PERFECTO EXCERPTUM.
Nunc, per gramina fusi,
Densa fronde salicti,
Dum defenditur imber,
Molles ducimus horas.
Hic, dum debita morti
Paulum vita moratur,
Nunc rescire priora,
Nunc instare futuris,
Nunc summi prece sancta
Patris numen adire est.
Quicquid quraeitur ultra,
Caeco ducit amore,
Vel spe ludit inani,
Luctus mox pariturum.
[a] These lines are a translation of part of a song in the Complete
Angler of Isaac Walton, written by John Chalkhill, a friend of
Spenser, and a good poet in his time. They are but part of the last
stanza, which, that the reader may have it entire, is here given at
length:
If the sun's excessive heat
Make our bodies swelter,
To an osier hedge we get
For a friendly shelter!
Where in a dike,
Perch or pike,
Roach or dace,
We do chase,
Bleak or gudgeon,
Without grudging,
We are still contented.
Or we sometimes pass an hour
Under a green willow,
That defends us from a shower,
Making earth our pillow;
Where we may
Think and pray,
Before death
Stops our breath:
Other joys
Are but toys,
And to be lamented.
[a]Quisquis iter tendis, vitreas qua lucidus undas
Speluncae late Thamesis praetendit opacae;
Marmorea trepidant qua lentae in fornice guttae,
Crystallisque latex fractus scintillat acutis;
Gemmaque, luxuriae nondum famulata nitenti
Splendit, et incoquitur tectum sine fraude metallum;
Ingredere O! rerum pura cole mente parentem;
Auriferasque auri metuens scrutare cavernas.
Ingredere! Egeriae sacrum en tibi panditur antrum!
Hic, in se totum, longe per opaca futuri
Temporis, Henricum rapuit vis vivida mentis:
Hic pia Vindamius traxit suspiria, in ipsa
Morte memor patriae; hic Marmonti pectore prima
Coelestis fido caluerunt semina flammae.
Temnere opes, pretium sceleris, patriamque tueri
Fortis, ades; tibi, sponte, patet venerabile limen.
[a] The above lines are a version of Pope's verses on his own grotto, which begin, "Thou, who shall stop where Thames' translucent wave."
GRAECORTUM EPIGRAMMATUM VERSIONES METRICAE.
Pag. 2. Brodaei edit. Bas. ann. 1549.
Non Argos pugilem, non me Messana creavit;
Patria Sparta mihi est, patria clara virum.
Arte valent isti, mihi robo revivere solo est,
Convenit ut natis, inclyta Sparta, tuis.
Br. 2.
Quandoquidem passim nulla ratione feruntur,
Cuncta cinis, cuncta et ludicra, cuncta nihil.
Br. 5.
Pectore qui duro, crudos de vite racemos,
Venturi exsecuit vascula prima meri,
Labraque constrictus, semesos, jamque terendos
Sub pedibus, populo praetereunte, jacit.
Supplicium huic, quoniam crescentia gaudia laesit,
Det Bacchus, dederat quale, Lycurge, tibi.
Hae poterant uvae laeto convivia cantu
Mulcere, aut pectus triste levare malis.
Br. 8.
Fert humeris claudum validis per compita caecus,
Hic oculos socio commodat, ille pedes.
Br. 10.
Qui, mutare vias ausus terraeque marisque,
Trajecit montes nauta, fretumque pedes,
Xerxi, tercentum Spartae Mars obstitit acris
Militibus; terris sit pelagoque pudor!
Br. 11.
Sit tibi, Calliope, Parnassum, cura, tenenti,
Alter ut adsit Homerus, adest etenim alter Achilles.
Br. 18.
Ad musas Venus haec: Veneri parete, puellae,
In vos ne missus spicula tendat amor.
Haec musae ad Venerem: sic Marti, diva, mineris,
Hue nunquam volitat debilis iste puer.
Br. 19.
Prospera sors nec te strepitoso turbine tollat,
Nec menti injiciat sordida cura jugum;
Nam vita incertis incerta impellitur auris,
Omnesque in partes tracta, retracta fluit;
Firma manet virtus; virtuti innitere, tutus
Per fluctus vitae sic tibi cursus erit.
Br. 24.
Hora bonis quasi nunc instet suprema fruaris,
Plura ut victurus secula, parce bonis:
Divitiis, utrinque cavens, qui tempore parcit,
Tempore divitiis utitur, ille sapit.
Br. 24.
Nunquam jugera messibus onusta, aut
Quos Gyges cumulos habebat auri;
Quod vitae satis est, peto, Macrine,
Mi, nequid nimis, est nimis probatum.
Br. 24.
Non opto aut precibus posco ditescere, paucis
Sit contenta mihi vita, dolore carens.
Br. 24
Recta ad pauperiem tendit, cui corpora cordi est
Multa alere, et multas aedificare domos.
Br. 24.
Tu neque dulce putes alienae accumbere mensae;
Nec probrosa avidae grata sit offa gulae;
Nec ficto fletu, fictis solvere cachinnis,
Arridens domino, collacrymansque tuo;
Laetior hand tecum, tecum neque tristior unquam,
Sed Miliae ridens, atque dolens Miliae.
Br. 26.
Nil non mortale est mortalibus; omne quod est hie
Praetereunt, aut hos praeterit omne bonum.
Br. 26.
Democrite, invisas homines majore cachinno;
Plus tibi ridendum secula nostra dabunt.
Heraclite, fluat lacrymarum crebrior imber;
Vita hominum nunc plus quod misereris habet.
Interea dubito; tecum me causa nec ulla
Ridere, aut tecum me lacrymare jubet.
Br. 26.
Elige iter vitae, ut possis: rixisque, dolisque,
Perstrepit omne forum; cura molesta domi est;
Rura labor lassat; mare mille pericula terrent;
Verte solum, fient causa timoris opes;
Paupertas misera est; multae, cum conjuge, lites
Tecta ineunt; coelebs omnia solus ages.
Proles aucta gravat, rapta orbat; caeca juventae est
Virtus; canities cauta vigore caret.
Ergo optent homines, aut nunquam in luminis oras
Venisse, aut visa luce repente mori.
Elige iter vitae, ut mavis: prudenua, lausque,
Permeat omne forum; vita quieta domi est;
Rus ornat natura; levat maris aspera lucrum,
Verte solum, donat plena crumena decus;
Pauperies latitat; cum conjuge, gaudia multa
Tecta ineunt; coelebs impediere minus;
Mulcet amor prolis, sopor est sine prole profundus;
Praecellit juvenis vi, pietate senex.
Nemo optet, nunquam venisse in luminis oras,
Aut periisse; scatet vita benigna bonis.
Br. 27.
Vita omnis scena est ludusque: aut ludere disce
Seria seponens, aut mala dura pati.
Br. 27.
Quae, sine morte, fuga est vitae, quam turba malorum
Non vitanda gravem, non toleranda facit?
Dulcia dat natura quidem, mare, sidera, terras,
Lunaque quas, et sol, itque reditque vias.
Terror inest aliis, moerorque, et siquid habebis,
Forte, boni, ultrices experiere vices.
Br. 27.
Terram adii nudus, de terra nudus abibo.
Quid labor efficiet? non, nisi nudus, ero.
Br. 27.
Natus eram lacrymans, lacrymans e luce recedo:
Sunt quibus a lacrymis vix vacat ulla dies.
Tale hominum genus est, infirmum, triste, misellum,
Quod mors in cineres solvit, et abdit humo.
Br. 29.
Quisquis adit lectos, elata uxore, secundos,
Naufragus iratas ille retentat aquas.
Br. 30.
Foelix ante alios nullius debitor aeris;
Hunc sequitur coelebs; tertius, orbe, venis.
Nee male res cessit, subito si funere sponsam,
Didatus magna dote, recondis humo.
His sapiens lectis, Epicurum quaerere frustra
Quales sint monades, qua fit inane, sinas.
Br. 31.
Optarit quicunque senex sibi longius aevum,
Dignus, qui multa in lustra senescat, erit.
Cum procul est, optat, cum venit, quisque senectam,
Incusat, semper spe meliora videt.
Br. 46.
Omnis vita nimis brevis est felicibus, una
Nox miseris longi temporis instar habet.
Br. 55.
Gratia ter grata est velox, sin forte moretur,
Gratia vix restat nomine digna suo.
Br. 56.
Seu prece poscatur, seu non, da, Jupiter, omne,
Magne, bonum; omne malum, et poscentibus, abnue nobis.
Br. 60.
Me, cane vitato, canis excipit alter; eodem
In me animo tellus gignit et unda feras,
Nec mirum; restat lepori conscendere coelum,
Sidereus tamen hie territat, ecce canis!
Br. 70.
Telluri arboribus ver frondens, sidera coelo,
Graeciae et urbs, urbi est ista propago, decus.
Br. 75.
Impia facta patrans, homines fortasse latebis,
Non poteris, meditans prava, latere deos.
Br. 75.
Antiope satyrum, Danae aurum, Europa juvencum,
Et cycnum fecit Leda petita, Jovem.
Br. 92.
Aevi sat novi quam sim brevis; astra tuenti,
Per certas; stabili lege, voluta vices,
Tangitur haud pedibus tellus: conviva deorum
Expleor ambrosiis, exhilarorque cibis.
Br. 96.
Quod nimium est sit ineptum, hinc, ut dixere priores,
Et melli nimio fellis amaror inest.
Br. 103.
Puppe gubernatrix sedisti, audacia, prima
Divitiis acuens aspera corda virum;
Sola rates struis infidas, et dulcis amorem
Lucri ulciscendum mox nece sola doces.
Aurea secla hominum, quorum spectandus ocellis
E longinquo itidem pontus et orcus erat.
Br. 126.
Ditescis, credo, quid restat? quicquid habebis
In tumulum tecum, morte jubente, trahes?
Divitias cumulas, pereuntes negligis horas;
Incrementa aevi non cumulare potes.
Br. 120.
Mater adulantum, prolesque, pecunia, curae,
Teque frui timer est, teque carere dolor.
Br. 126.
Me miserum sors omnis habet; florentibus annis,
Pauper eram, nummis diffluit area senis;
Queis uti poteram quondam, fortuna negavit,
Queis uti nequeo, nunc mihi praebet, opes.
Br. 127.
Mnemosyne, ut Sappho, mellita voce, canentem
Audiit, irata est, ne nova musa foret.
Br. 152.
Cum tacet indoctus, sapientior esse videtur,
Et morbus tegitur, dum premit ora pudor.
Br. 155.
Nunc huic, nunc aliis cedens, cui farra Menippus
Credit, Achaemenidae nuper agellus eram.
Quod nulli proprium versat fortuna, putabat
Ille suum stolidus, nunc putat ille suum.
Br. 156.
Non fortuna sibi te gratum tollit in altum;
At docet, exemplo, vis sibi quanta, tuo.
Br. 162.
Hic, aurum ut reperit, laqueum abjicit; alter ut aurum
Non reperit, nectit quem reperit, laqueum.
Br. 167.
Vive tuo ex ammo: vario rumore loquetur
De te plebs audax, hic bene, et ille male.
Br. 168.
Vitae rosa brevis est; properans si carpere nolis,
Quaerenti obveniet mox sine flore rubus.
Br. 170.
Pulicibus morsus, restincta lampade, stultus
Exclamat: nunc me cernere desinitis.
Br. 202,
Mendotum pinxit Diodorus, et exit imago,
Praeter Menodotura, nullius absimilis.
Br. 205.
Haud lavit Phido, haud tetigit, mihi febre calenti
In mentem ut venit nominis, interii.
Br. 210.
Nycticorax cantat lethale; sed ipsa, canenti
Demophilo auscultans, Nycticorax moritur.
Br. 212.
Hermem deorum nuncium, pennis levem,
Quo rege gaudent Arcades, furem boum,
Hujus palestrae qui vigil custos stetit,
Clam nocte tollit Aulus, et ridens ait:
Praestat magistro saepe discipulus suo.
Br. 223.
Qui jacet hic servus vixit: nunc, lumine cassus,
Dario magno non minus ille potest.
Br. 227.
Funus Alexandri mentitur fama; fidesque
Si Phoebo, victor nescit obire diem.
Br. 241.
Nauta, quis hoc jaceat, ne percontere, sepulchro,
Eveniat tantum mitior unda tibi!
Br. 256.
Cur opulentus eges? tua cuncta in foenore ponis:
Sic aliis dives, tu tibi pauper agis.
Br. 262.
Qui pascis barbam, si crescis mente, Platoni,
Hirce, parem nitido te tua barba facit.
Br. 266.
Clarus Ioannes, reginae affinis, ab alto
Sanguine Anastasii; cuncta sepulta jacent:
Et pius, et recti cultor: non illa jacere
Dicam; stat virtus non subigenda neci.
Br. 267.
Cunctiparens tellus, salve, levis esto pusillo
Lysigeni, fuerat non gravis ille tibi.
Br. 285.
Naufragus hic jaceo; contra, jacet ecce colonus!
Idem orcus terras, sic, pelagoque subest.
Br. 301.
Quid salvere jubes me, pessime? Corripe gressus;
Est mihi quod non te rideo, plena salus.
Br. 304.
Et ferus est Timon sub terris; janitor orci,
Cerbere, te morsu ne petat ille, cave.
Br. 307.
Vitam a terdecimo sextus mihi finiet annus,
Astra mathematicos si modo vera docent.
Sufficit hoc votis, flos hic pulcherrimus aevi est,
Et senium triplex Nestoris urna capit.
Br. 322.
Zosima, quae solo fuit olim corpore serva,
Corpore nunc etiam libera facta fuit.
Br. 326.
Exiguum en! Priami monumentum; hand ille meretur
Quale, sed hostiles, quale dedere manus.
Br. 326.
Hector dat gladium Ajaci, dat balteum et Ajax
Hectori, et exitio munus utrique fuit.
Br. 344.
Ut vis, ponte minax, modo tres discesseris ulnas
Ingemina fluctus, ingeminaque sonum.
Br. 344.
Naufragus hic jaceo, fidens tamen utere velis;
Tutum aliis aequor, me pereunte, fuit.
Br. 398.
Heraclitus ego; indoctae ne laedite liuguae
Subtile ingenium, quaero, capaxque mei;
Unus homo mihi pro soxcentis, turba popelli
Pro nullo, clamo nunc tumulatus idem.
Br. 399.
Ambraciota, vale lux alma, Cleombrotus infit,
Et saltu e muro ditis opaca petit:
Triste nihil passus, animi at de sorte Platonis
Scripta legens, sola vivere mente cupit.
Br. 399.
Servus, Epictetus, mutilato corpore, vixi,
Pauperieque Irus, curaque summa deum.
Br. 445.
Unde hic Praxiteles? nudam vidistis, Adoni,
Et Pari, et Anchisa, non alius, Venerem.
Br. 451.
Sufflato accendis quisquis carbone lucernam,
Corde meo accendens; ardeo totus ego.
Br. 486.
Jupiter hoc templum, ut, siquando relinquit Olympum,
Atthide non alius desit Olympus, habet.
Br. 487.
Civis et externus grati; domus hospita nescit
Quaerere, quis, cujus, quis pater, unde venis.
POMPEII.
Br. 487.
Cum fugere haud possit, fractis victoria pennis
Te manet, imperii, Roma, perenne decus.
Br. 488.
Latrones, alibi locupletum quaerite tecta,
Assidet huic, custos, strenua pauperies.