To ftranger-guests indulgent host,

Of Agrigentum the support and boast,
Cities born to rule and grace,

Fair bloffom of his ancient race,

ANTISTROPHE I. Measures 16.

Worthies fore perplex'd in thought,

15

Till, wandering far, they found, what long they fought,

A facred feat, faft by

Where the stream does rapid run,

And reign'd, of Sicily the guardian eye,

When happy days,

And wealth, and favour, flow'd, and praise,

That in-born worth inflames.

Saturnian Jove, O! Rhea's fon,

Who o'er Olympus doft prefide,
And the pitch of lofty games,
And Alpheus, of rivers the pride,
Rejoicing in my fongs, do thou

20

25

Incline thine ear, propitious to my vow,

30

Bleffing, with a bounteous hand,

The rich hereditary land

E PODE I. Measures 10.

Through their late lineage down. No power can actions

paft,

Whether deeds of right or wrong,

As things not done recall,

Not even Time, the father, who produces all;

Yet can Oblivion, waiting long,

Cc 3

35

Gather

Gathering strength

Through the length

Of profperous times, forbid thofe deeds to laft:
Such force has fweet-healing joy

The feftering fmart of evils to destroy,

STROPHE

When felicity is fent

II. Measures 16.

Down by the will fupreme with full content :

Thy daughters, Cadmus, they

Greatly wretched here below,

Blefs'd evermore, this mighty truth display.

No weight of grief,

But, whelm'd in pleafures, finds relief,

Sunk in the fweet abyss.

Thou, Semele, with hair a-flow,

Thou by thunder doom`d to die,
Mingling with the gods in blifs,
Art happy, for ever, on high:
Thee Pallas does for ever love,
Thee chiefly Jupiter, who rules above;

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55

Thee thy fon holds ever dear,

Thy fon with the ivy-wreath'd spear.

ANTISTROPHE II. Meafures 16.

Beauteous Ino, we are told,

With the fea-daughters dwells of Nereus old,

60

That offspring of the fun,

Which bids us from our labours fleep,

In vain do mortals feek to know,

Or who deftin'd is to run

A life unintangled with woe;

For none are able to disclofe

The feafons of th' uncertain ebbs and flows

Now of pleasures, now of pains,

Which hidden fate to men ordains :

E PODE II. Measures 10.

Thus Providence, that to thy ancestry, long-fam'd,
Portions out a pleasing share

Of heaven-fprung happiness,

Does, ceafing in another turn of time to blefs,

Diftribute fome reverfe of care,

As from years

Paft appears,

Since the predeftin'd fon, at Pytho nam'd,
Did Laius, blindly meeting, kill,

And the oracle, of old pronounc'd, fulfil:

STROPHE III. Meafures 16.

Fell Erinnys, quick to view

The deed, his warlike fons in battle flew,

Each by the other's rage:

But to Polynices flain

Surviv'd Therfander, glory of his age,

For feats of war,

And youthful contests, honour'd far,

The fcion, kept alive

70

80

85

هو

To raise th' Adrastian house again :

From

Does his fpreading root derive,

To branch out a progeny fair;

Who, fpringing foremost in the chace

Of fame, demands we should his triumph grace,
Tuning lyres to vocal lays,

Sweet union of melodious praife;

ANTISTROPHE III. Measures 16.

For not only has he borne

Th' Olympian prize, but, with his brother, worn
The garland of renown,

At Pytho and at Ifthmus; where,

Victorious both, they shar'd th' allotted crown,

Joint-honour, won

In twelve impetuous courfes, run

With four unwearied fteeds.

To vanquish in the ftrife fevere

Does all anxiety destroy:

And to this, if wealth fucceeds With virtues enamel'd, the joy Luxuriant grows; fuch affluence Does glorious opportunities dispense, Giving depth of thought to find Pursuits which please a noble mind,

E PODE III. Measures 10.

Refulgent ftar! to man the pureft beam of light!

The poffeffor of this store,

Far-future things difcerning, knows

95

100

105

Obdurate wretches, once deceas'd, to immediate woes
Confign'd, too late their pains deplore;

121

For

For below

Ere they go,

Sits one in judgment, who pronounces right
On crimes in this wide realm of Jove;

125

Whofe dire decree no power can e'er remove:

STROPHE IV. Measures 16.

But the good, alike by night,

Alike by day, the fun's unclouded light

Beholding, ever blefs'd,

Live an unlaborious life,

1301

Nor anxious interrupt their hallow'd reft
With fpade and plow,

Who never broke the vow they fwore,
A tearless age enjoy for ever-more;
While the wicked hence depart

To torments which appall the heart:

ANTISTROPHE IV. Measures 16.

But the fouls who greatly dare,

Thrice try'd in either ftate, to persevere

From all injuftice pure,

Journeying onward in the way

Of Jupiter, in virtue ftill fecure,

Along his road

Arrive at Saturn's rais'd abode;

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Where