Ovid

“ Be that, whate'er inspiring Pow'r, obey'd.
For I will sing of mighty Mysteries,⁠
Of Truths conceal'd before, from human Eyes,
Dark Oracles unveil, and open all the Skies.
Pleas'd as I am to walk along the Sphere
Of shining Stars, and travel with the Year,
To leave the heavy Earth, and scale the Height
Of Atlas, who supports the heav'nly Weight
To look from upper Light, and thence survey
Mistaken Mortals wand'ring from the Way,
And wanting Wisdom, fearful for the State
Of future Things, and trembling at their Fate! ”

“ In happier Fields a rising Town I see,⁠
Greater, than what e'er was, or is, or e'er shall be:
And Heav'n yet owes the World a Race deriv'd from Thee.
Sages, and Chiefs, of other Lineage born,
The City shall extend, extended shall adorn:
But from Iulus he must draw his Breath,
By whom thy Rome shall rule the conquer'd Earth:
Whom Heav'n will lend Mankind on Earth to reign,
And late require the precious Pledge again. ”

“ And drench in Gore Philippi's Fields again:
A mighty Leader, in Sicilia's Flood,
Great Pompey's warlike Son, shall be subdu'd:
Ægypt's soft Queen adorn'd with fatal Charms,
Shall mourn her Soldier's unsuccessful Arms:
Too late shall find, her swelling Hopes were vain,
And know, that Rome o'er Memphis still must reign:
What name I Afric or Nile's hidden Head?
Far as both Oceans roll, his Power shall spread:
All the known Earth to him shall Homage pay,
And the Seas own his universal Sway:
When cruel War no more disturbs Mankind ”

“ Thus Erasinus dives; and blind in Earth
Runs on, and gropes his Way to second Birth,
Starts up in Argos' Meads, and shakes his Locks
Around the Fields, and fattens all the Flocks.
So Mysus by another way is led,
And, grown a River, now disdains his Head:
Forgets his humble Birth, his Name forsakes,
And the proud Title of Caicus takes.
Large Amenane, impure with yellow Sands,
Runs rapid often, and as often stands,
And here he threats the drunken Fields to drown ”

“ Withdrew from Rome, and sought th' Arician Vale.
Hid in thick Woods, she made incessant Moans,
Disturbing Cynthia's sacred Rites with Groans.
How oft the Nymphs, who rul'd the Wood and Lake,
Reprov'd her Tears, and Words of Comfort spake!
How oft (in vain) the Son of Theseus said,
Thy stormy Sorrows be with Patience laid;
Nor are thy Fortunes to be wept alone,
Weigh others Woes, and learn to bear thine own. ”

“ Some plead to yield to Rome the sacred Charge;
Others, tenacious of their Country's Wealth,
Refuse to grant the Pow'r, who guards it's Health.
⁠While dubious they remain'd, the wasting Light
Withdrew before the growing Shades of Night;
Thick Darkness now obscur'd the dusky Skies:
Now, Roman, clos'd in Sleep were mortal Eyes,
When Health's auspicuous God appears to thee,
And thy glad Dreams his Form celestial see:
In his left Hand, a rural Staff preferr'd,
His Right is seen to stroke his decent Beard. ”

“ Apt to run Riot, and transgress the Goal:
And therefore I conclude, Whatever lies,
In Earth, or flits in Air, or fills the Skies,
All suffer Change; and we, that are of Soul
And Body mix'd, are Members of the whole. ”

“ The spiry God unfolds his spheric Form,
Thro' large Indentings draws his lubric Train,
And seeks the Refuge of Apollo's Fane;
⁠The Fane is situate on the yellow Shore:
When the Sea smil'd, and the Winds rag'd no more,
He leaves his Father's hospitable Lands,
And furrows, with his rattling Scales, the Sands
Along the Coast; at length the Ship regains,
And sails to Tibur, and Lavinum's Plains. ”

“ And that is solid Earth, that once was Sea:
Seas in their Turn retreating from the Shore,
Make solid Land, what Ocean was before;
And far from Strands are Shells of Fishes found,
And rusty Anchors fix'd on Mountain-Ground:
And what were Fields before, now wash'd and worn
By falling Floods from high, to Valleys turn.
And crumbling Hill descend to level Lands;
And Lakes, and trembling Bogs, are barren Sands:
And the parched Desart floats in Streams unknown;
Wondring to drink of Waters not her own.
⁠Here Nature living Fountains opes ”

“ Where stronger Beasts oppress the Weak by Might,
And all in Prey, and purple Feasts delight.
⁠O impious Use! to Nature's Laws oppos'd,
Where Bowels are in other Bowels clos'd:
Where, fattened by their Fellow's Fat, they thrive;
Maintain'd by Murder, and by Death they live.
'Tis then for nought, that Mother Earth provides.
The Stores of all she shows, and all she hides,
If Men with fleshy Morsels must be fed,
And chaw with bloody Teeth the breathing Bread:
What else is this, but to devour our Guests,
And barb'rously renew Cyclopean Feasts!
We, by destroying Life, our Life sustain ”

“ Spring first, like Infancy, shoots out her Head,⁠
With milky Juice requiring to be fed:
Helpless, tho' fresh, and wanting to be led.
The green Stem grows in Stature, and in Size,
But only feeds with Hope the Farmer's Eyes;
Then laughs the childish Year with Flowrets crown'd,
And lavishly perfumes the Fields around,
But no substantial Nourishment receives;
Infirm the Stalks, unsolid are the Leaves.
⁠Proceeding onward whence the Year began,
The Summer grows adult, and ripens into Man. ”

“ And crackling Incense, as it mounts the Skies,
The Air with Sweets refreshes; while the Knife,
Warm with the Victim's Blood, let's out the streaming Life.
⁠The World's great Mistress, Rome, receives him now;
On the Mast's Top reclin'd he waves his Brow,
And from that Height surveys the great Abodes,
And Mansions, worthy of residing Gods.
The Land, a narrow Neck, it self extends,
Round which his Course the Stream divided bends;
The Stream's two Arms, on either side, are seen,
Stretch'd out in equal length; the Land between. ”

“ Once Isles, but now increase the Continent;
While the Leucadian Coast, main Land before,
By rushing Seas is sever'd from the Shore.
So Zancle to th' Italian Earth was ty'd,
And Men once walk'd, where Ships at Anchor ride. ”

“ Who, like their Parents, haunt the Fields, and bring
Their Honey-Harvest home, and hope another Spring.
The Warlike-Steed is multiply'd, we find,
To Wasps, and Hornets of the Warrior Kind.
Cut from a Crab his crooked Claws, and hide
The rest in Earth, a Scorpion thence will glide,
And shoot his Sting, his Tail in Circles toss'd
Refers the Limbs his backward Father lost:
And Worms, that stretch on Leaves their filmy Loom,
Crawl from their Bags, and Butterflies become. ”

“ This had been justify'd by Nature's Laws,
And Self-defence: But who did Feasts begin
Of Flesh, he stretch'd Necessity to Sin.
To kill Man-killers, Man has lawful Pow'r,
But not th' extended Licence, to devour. ”

“ The World a Lord, in whom, propitious Heav'n,
When you decreed the Sov'reign Rule to place,
You blest with lavish Bounty human Race.
⁠Now lest so great a Prince might seem to rise
Of mortal Stem, his Sire must reach the Skies ”

“ The Flames no more ascend; for Earth supplies
The Fat that feeds them; and when Earth denies
That Food, by length of Time consum'd, the Fire
Famish'd for want of Fewel must expire.
⁠A Race of Men there are, as Fame has told,
Who shiv'ring suffer Hyperborean Cold,
Till nine times bathing in Minerva's Lake,
Soft Feathers, to defend their naked Sides, they take.
'Tis said, the Scythian Wives (believe who will)
Transform them selves to Birds by Magick Skill ”

“ Tho' great his Sire, him greater we proclaim:
So Atreus yields to Agamemnon's Fame;
Achilles so superior Honours won,
And Peleus must submit to Peleus' Son;
Examples yet more Noble to disclose,
So Saturn was eclipsed, when Jove to Empire rose:
Jove rules the Heav'ns; the Earth Augustus sways;
Each claims a Monarch's and a Father's Praise.
⁠Celestials, who for Rome your Cares employ ”

“ Lies on the lap of Earth, and Mother Earth subsides.
⁠All things are mix'd of these, which all contain,
And into these are all resolv'd again:
Earth rarifies to Dew; expanded more,
The subtil Dew in Air begins to soar ”

“ ⁠Ill Habits gather by unseen Degrees,
As Brooks make Rivers, Rivers run to Seas. ”

“ By turns command, and in their turns obey; ”