Qualis Lycambæ fpretus infido gener,

Aut acer hoftis Bupalo.

An, fi quis atro dente me petiverit,
Inultus ut flebo puer?

PROSE INTERPRETATION.

a fon-in-law by the falfe Lycambes, or the violent enemy to Bupalus. What, if any one affail me with virulent teeth, thall I nivel, like a boy, unrevenged!

N 4

Like him falfe Lycambes defpis'd for a fon,

Or he that made Bupalus die;

Shall I, when fuch mischief's by virulence done,
Do nought but be boyish and cry?

EPODE

E PODE

VII.

AD

POPULUM ROMANUM.

Execratio belli civilis gefti hinc Bruto & Caffio, illinc Olaviano, M. Antonio & M. Lepido Coff.

QUO, quo fcelefti ruitis? aut cur dexteris

Aptantur enfes conditi?

Parumne campis atque Neptuno fuper
Fufum eft Latini fanguinis?

Non ut fuperbas invidæ Carthaginis

Romanus arces ureret :

Intactus aut Britannus ut defcenderet

Sacrâ catenatus viâ:

Sed ut, fecundum vota Parthorum, fuâ
Urbs hæc periret dexterâ.

Neque hic lupis mos, nec fuit leonibus
Unquam, nifi in difpar, feris.

PROSE INTERPRETATION.

Where, where are you hurrying, ye impious Romans! or why are your fheathed fwords put again into your hands! Is there too little Latian blood fpilt upon plains, and in the ocean? And this, not that the Romans might fet on fire the ambitious citadel of the invidious Carthage; or that the Britons, as yet untouched, might defcend by the facred way,

loaded

E PO DE

TO THE ROMAN

VII.

PEOPLE.

His deteftation of the civil war carried on the one fide by Brutus and Caffius, and on the other by Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus.

WHERE are you rushing on with impious guilt,
And hands upon the fheathed fwords again;
Is there too little blood profufely fpilt,

Of Romans on the land and in the main?
And this-not that our army to the ground,
With flames invidious Carthage fhould deface;
Or that unconquer'd Britons, tied and bound,
Shou'd the facred hill the triumph grace.
But that our Rome, to please the Parthian foe,
By her own prowefs fhou'd be undermin'd;
A folly neither wolves nor lions know,
Save against beafts of a difcordant kind,

up

PROSE INTERPRETATION.

loaded with chains; but that, according to the vows of the Parthians, this ftate may perifh by its own right-hand.---This cuftom nor ever was known to wolves or to lions, fierce as they are, unless to a different fpecies. Does blind fury, or a livelier fpirit, or guilt, impel you.-Give an answer. They

hold

Furorne cæcus, an rapit vis acrior?
An culpa? refponfum date.
Tacent: & ora palor albus inficit:
Mentesque perculfæ ftupent.
Sic eft: acerba fata Romanos agunt,
Scelufque fraternæ necis:

Ut immerentis fluxit in terram Remi
Sacer nepotibus cruor.

PROSE INTERPRETATION.

hold their peace, and a white palenefs difcolours their afpect, and their aftonished minds are in a state of ftupefaction. So it is-cruel fate, and the crime of a brother's death, act

upon