Your grand career begins where others' ends :
Such honour, few of hoary years, attends ;
The goal you reach ere bloom diffuses grace,
Or age has clothed with pleasing down the face.
To what propitious pow'r, O MUSE, declare, They owe advantages so very rare!
THE frighted Alps unlocked their barriers strong;
From Theodosius fled BARBARIAN throng;
Rome, anxious to reward the Probus-line,
Implores the prince who rules by right divine.
Now FEAR and TERROUR to the chariot place
The flying coursers, eager for the race;
And, fond of war, attend th' imperial ranks,
To Parthia's empire, or Hydaspes' banks.
THIS to the axle fixes on the wheel;
THAT sets the steeds beneath a yoke of steel;
And teaches them obedient to remain,
And outstretched snowy arms to view exposed;
Half bare the bosom; while a gem is placed
To keep the flowing robe around her waist.
Album puniceo pectus discriminat ostro.
Miscetur decori virtus, pulcerque severo
Armatur terrore pudor, galeæque minaci
Flava cruentarum prætenditur umbra jubarum,
Et formidato clipeus Titana lacessit
Lumine, quem tota variarat Mulciber arte.
Hic, patrius Mavortis amor, fœtusque notantur
Romulei. Pius amnis inest, & bellua nutrix.
Electro Tiberis, pueri formantur in auro.
Fingunt æra lupam. Mavors adamante coruscat.
Jam simul emissis rapido velocior Euro
Fertur equis. Stridunt Zephyri, cursuque rotarum
Saucia dividuis clarescunt nubila sulcis :
Nec traxere moras, sed lapsu protinus uno,
Quem poscunt, tetigere locum; qua fine sub imo
Angustant aditum curvis anfractibus Alpes,
Claustraque conjectis scopulis durissima tendunt,
Non alia reseranda manu, sed pervia tantum
Augusto, geminisque fidem mentita tyrannis.
Semirutæ turres, avulsaque moenia fumant.
Crescunt in cumulum strages, vallemq; profundam 110
Equavere jugis. Stagnant immersa cruore
Corpora. Turbantur permisto funere manes.
The knot, that holds the sword, unites the white
With tints carnation, glowing to the sight.
Majestick worth, in union with each grace,
Appears in ev'ry feature of her face ;
A look ṣevere upon the brow is seen,
Which arms with dignity her modest mien;
The threat'ning helmet's splendid crest is crowned,
With bloody shade that, horrour, nods around;
And from her shield, which rivals Sor's bright beams, 115 The skill of Vulcan, by reflection, gleams.
Here, under adamantine armour's glare,
Are MARS' sly love scenes with the lovely FAIR;
On gold young Romulus and Rhemus breathe:
O'er silver*, Tiber's waters glide beneath;
And there the wolf, as nurse, in brass appears :
With milk the Roman twins she feeds and cheers.
MORE Swift than EURUS now the horses glide:
The ZEPHYRS howl; the wheels the air divide,
And, furrows, trace of light, as on they fly :-
To gain the place, they ev'ry effort try.
The Alps they reach, where crooked, winding ways,
Rough paths, rocks heaped on rocks, obstructions raise,
Impervious, save to Theodosius' name,
And faithless when, of late, two tyrants came.
Here tott'ring tow'rs and smoking ramparts lie;
Within the vale dead bodies heaped on high;
There carcasses in seas of blood immersed :
The MANES stand confused 'mid limbs dispersed.
* The Electrum was a mixture of gold with a fifth part of silver. + Maximus and Eugenius.
Haud procul exacto lætus certamine victor Cespite gramineo consederat, arbore fultus Acclines humeros. Dominum gavisa coronat Terra suum, surguntque toris majoribus herbæ, Sudor adhuc per membra calet, creberque recurrit Halitus, & placidi radiant in casside vultus.
Qualis letifera populatus cæde Gelonos
Procubat horrendum Getico Gradivus in Hæmo.
Exuvias Bellona levat, Bellona tepentes
Pulvere solvit equos, immensaque cornus in hastam
Porrigitur, tremulisque ferit splendoribus Hebrum.
Ut stetit ante ducem discussas Roma per auras,
Conscia ter sonuit rupes, & inhorruit atrum
Majestate nemus, Prior hic, O numen amicum,
Dux ait, & legum genitrix, longeque regendo
Circumfusa polo, consors adjuncta Tonanti,
Dic agedum, quæ caussa viæ ? cur deseris arces
Ausonias, cœlumque tuum? Dic, maxima rerum.
Non ego vel Libycos cessem tolerare vapores,
Sarmaticosve pati medio sub frigore Coros,
Si tu, Roma, velis. Pro te quascumque per oras
Įbimus, & nulla sub tempestate timentes
Solstitio Meroën, bruma tentabimus Istrum.
Tum regina refert; Non me latet, inclite rector, Quam tua pro Latio victricia castra laborent,
HARD by the field which he in triumph trod,
The conqu'ring hero rests upon the sod ;
Beneath the tree that props his back, the earth,
With joy, to plants that crown the prince, gives birth.
Though perspiration o'er his body stream;
Though short and thick his respiration seem :
The look serene, that dwells upon his face,
The helmet pierces with a smile of grace.
HERE MARS, from slaughter of the Getæ, aims
To spread, o'er Hemus' mount, his horrid flames;
BELLONA trophies shows, and from the rein
The hot and dusty coursers freedom gain;
On Hebrus' banks is fixed a lofty lance:
Its trembling shadows, o'er the waters, dance.
THE clouds disperse, and ROME, at CESAR's* feet, Appears, with due respect, her prince to greet ; The rock thrice sounds; the wood's deep, gloomy leaf Spreads awe majestick ;-thus begins the CHIEF.
"O FRIENDLY Pow'R, from whom proceeds our CODE, "Who, with great Jove, divid'st the stars' abode:
Say, why thou leav'st Ausonia's tract serene,
"And wander'st from that all-celestial scene?
"If such thy wish, I'll burning Libya bear,
"Or blasts of cold that chill Sarmatia's air;
"For thee, through regions vast, I'll freely go:
"The Danube ;-Meroë;-or heat;-or snow."
"O HERO famed," the goddess straight replies, "The toils and triumphs of thy arms I prize;
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