YOUR royal father checked the wish disclosed; 115

On you the reins of empire he reposed;

And round the brow where he such merits traced,

The sacred diadem of sov'reigns placed.

The virtues, unattained at early age,

Were found in you attention to engage;
And all lamented the retarded hour,
That you invested with imperial pow'r.
Beneath your auspices, our armies round
Were presently beheld with conquest crowned;
For your great sire the hand of valour fought :
For you the DESTINIES protection brought;
For you the lofty Alps were open laid:
The cautious foe in vain 'mid ramparts stayed;
The hoped defence, the pallisade and rock,
Which stood around, straight yielded to the shock.
For you, from summits high, the NORTHERN blast,
On rebel armies snowy masses cast:

Repelled the arrows on the hostile force,

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And turned the lance to measure back its course.

O HEAV'N's delight!-For you, from dreary cave,

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Oft Æolus spreads tempests o'er the wave;

For you

the skies contend; and winds conspire

To fly where'er your trumps their pow'r require!

The Alpine snows a ruddy aspect gained;

The FRIGID RIVER Smoked and, red, was stained; 140 The heaps of slain awhile delayed the flood;

But, all proceeded, swelled by streams of blood.

Howe'er the fell disturber of our rest

Has many stabs inflicted on his breast,

Non uno mucrone latus, duplexque tepebat

Ensis, & ultrices in se converterat iras,

Tandem justa manus.

Jam libertate reducta,

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Quamvis emeritum peteret natura reverti
Numen, & auratas astrorum panderet arces,
Nutaretque oneri venturo conscius Atlas,
Distulit Augustus cupido se credere cœlo,
Dum tibi pacatum præsenti traderet orbem ;
Nec mora; Bistoniis alacer consurgis ab oris,
Inter Barbaricas ausus transire cohortes
Impavido vultu. Linquis Rhodopeïa saxa
Orpheis animata modis: juga deseris Oetes
Herculeo damnața rogo: post Pelion intras
Nereis illustre toris. Te pulcer Enipeus
Celsaque Dodone stupuit, rursusque locutæ
In te Chaoniæ moverunt carmina quercus.
Illyrici legitur plaga littoris: arva teruntur
Dalmatia: Phrygii numerantur stagna Timavi.

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Two swords, still reeking, have his entrails torn;
Avenging rage at length his hand has borne,
To turn against himself the fatal steel,
And, stern decrees of justice, make him feel.

Now LIBERTY restored, the hour drew near
That marked the prince's limited career.
In vain his presence NATURE might demand,
Or HEAV'N its spangled arch of stars expand;
Already Atlas tottered with the load,

Which ready seemed to reach the high abode;
But Theodosius was not yet inclined

To take the seat, th' IMMORTALS him designed:
Within your hands, he anxiously desired
To leave the realm at peace, when he retired.

SOON you, beyond the lofty hills of Thrace,

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Broke through BARBARIAN ranks with fearless face; 160 Passed Rhodope's high brow, whose rocks had proved

Obedient to the strings by Orpheus moved;

Left Eta's top, where Hercules's frame
Was ashes made amid funereal flame;
And penetrated rugged Pelion's shade,
Illustrious by the Nereid marriage made.
Th' Enipeus, and Dodona's tow'ring height,
Were, by your presence, filled with fond delight.
For you the oaks, that in Chaonia spoke,

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Again, in oracles, their silence broke,

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Along Illyricum you kept the shore;

Dalmatia's fallow fields your footsteps bore.

Timavus' waters you with care o'erran,

Where ceased the wand'rings of the Phrygian clan,

Gaudent Italiæ sublimibus oppida muris

Adventu sacrata tuo.

Submissus adorat

Eridanus, blandosque jubet mitescere fluctus,

Et Phaethonteas solitæ deflere ruinas

Roscida frondosæ revocant electra sorores.

Quanti tum juvenes, quantæ sprevere pudorem

Spectandi studio matres, puerisque severi

Certavere senes, cum tu genitoris amico

Exceptus gremio mediam veherere per urbem,

Velaretque pios communis laurea currus.

Quis non Luciferum roseo cum Sole videri

Credidit, aut junctum Bromio radiare Tonantem?
Floret cristatis exercitus undique turmis,
Quisque sua te voce canens. Præstringit aëna.
Lux oculos, nudique seges Mavortia ferri
Ingeminat splendore diem. Pars nobilis arcu,
Pars longe jaculis, pars cominus horrida contis.
Hi volucres tollunt aquilas, hi picta draconum
Colla levant, multusque tumet per nubila serpens
Iratus stimulante Noto; vivitque receptis
Flatibus, & vario mentitur sibila tractu.

Ut ventum ad sedes; cunctos discedere tectis Dux jubet, & generum compellat talibus ultro: Bellipotens Stilico, cujus mihi robur in armis,

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Th' Italian splendid cities joy expressed,

When
you,
within their ramparts, they possessed;
The Po due rev'rence and attention showed :
Devoid of noise, its undulations flowed
The amber tears no more from leaves distilled,
And grief th' Heliades no longer filled.

How many youths and mothers then forgot
The laws, decorum's rigid rules allot,
And gratified their opticks with delight :
E'en age with boys contended for the sight,

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When you, through Rome, your father fondly bore, 185 Raised on a car which, simple laurel, wore.

The STAR of MORN seemed joined with SOL's bright rays, Or Bacchus with the god who, THUNDER, Sways.

THE warriours' tufted plumage waved around,
And, in their accents, were your praises found.
The glare of polished brass fatigued the view;
Drawn swords, on day, redoubled splendour, threw ;
Bows, monuments of glory;-javelins strong:-
And other horrid weapons, sharp and long.
Here eagles floated:-dragons raised their crest;
And, t'wards the clouds, the angry serpents pressed :-
Appeared to stimulate the SOUTHERN gale,
Which, lending life, seemed hisses to exhale.

THE SOV'reign having reached the palace gate, The crowd, he ordered from the house of state :

"INTREPID Stilicho!" he then exclaimed, "In war or peace, alike for honour famed,

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