If he should chance to fall.
No; not a single thought like that
Employs his philosophick pate,
Or troubles it at all.
He sees that this great roundabout,
The world, with all its motley rout,
Church, army, physick, law,
Its customs, and its bus'nesses,
Is no concern at all of his,
And says-what says he?-Caw.
VI.
Thrice happy bird! I too have seen
Much of the vanities of men;
And, sick of having seen 'em, Would cheerfully these limbs resign For such a pair of wings as thine, And such a head between 'em.
O QUI meæ culinæ
Argutulus choraules,
Et hospes es canorus,
Quacunque commoreris,
Felicitatis omen;
Jucundiore cantu
Siquando me salutes,
Et ipse te rependam,
Et ipse, quâ valebo,
Remunerabo musâ.
II.
Dicêris innocensque
Et gratus inquilinus ;
Nec victitans rapinis,
Ut sorices voraces,
Muresve curiosi,
Furumque delicatum
Vulgus domesticorum;
Sed tutus in camini
Recessibus, quiete
Contentus et calore.
Beatior Cicada,
Quæ te referre forma,
Quæ voce te videtur;
Et salitans per herbas,
Unius, haud secundæ,
Estatis est chorista;
Tu carmen integratum
Reponis ad Decembrem,
Lætus per universum
Incontinenter annum.
Te nulla lux relinquit,
Te nulla nox revisit,
Non musicæ vacantem,
Curisve non solutum :
Quin amplies canendo,
Quin amplies fruendo,
Ætatuldm, vel omni,
Quam nos homunciones
Absumimus querendo,
Etate longiorem.
TRANSLATION OF THE FOREGOING.
LITTLE inmate, full of mirth,
Chirping on my kitchen hearth,
Wheresoe'er be thine abode,
Always harbinger of good,
Pay me for thy warm retreat
With a song more soft and sweet;
In return thou shalt receive
Such a strain as I can give.
Thus thy praise shall be express'd,
Inoffensive, welcome guest!
While the rat is on the scout,
And the mouse with curious snout,
With what vermin else infest
Ev'ry dish, and spoil the best;
Frisking thus before the fire,
Thou hast all thine heart's desire.
Though in voice and shape they be
Form'd as if akin to thee,
Thou surpassest, happier far, Happiest grasshoppers that are; 24*
Theirs is but a summer's song,
Thine endures the winter long,
Unimpair'd, and shrill, and clear,
Melody throughout the year.
IV.
Neither night, nor dawn of day,
Puts a period to thy play :
Sing then-and extend thy span
Far beyond the date of man.
Wretched man whose years are spent
In repining discontent,
Lives not, aged though he be,
Half a span, compar'd with thee.
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