Pleas'd to behold unbounded power thy own, And fingly fill a fear'd and envy'd throne! But the vile Vulgar, ever difcontent,
Their growing fears in fecret murmurs vent ;
Still prone to change, though ftill the flaves of ftate, And fure the monarch whom they have, to hate; New lords they madly make, then tamely bear, And foftly curfe the Tyrants whom they fear. And one of those who groan beneath the sway Of Kings impos'd, and grudgingly obey, (Whom envy to the great and vulgar spight With fcandal arm'd, th' ignoble mind's delight) Exclaim'd-O Thebes! for thee what fates remain ! What woes attend this inaufpicious reign!
Muft we, alas! our doubtful necks
Each haughty master's yoke by turns to bear,
And ftill to change whom chang'd we still must fear? Thefe now control a wretched people's fate,
Thefe can divide, and thefe reverse the state: Ev'n Fortune rules no more :-O fervile land, Where exil'd tyrants still by turns command!
Et nufquam par ftare caput? Jam murmura ferpunt Plebis Echioniae, tacitumque a principe vulgus Diffidet, et (qui mos populis) venturus amatur. Atque aliquis, cui mens humili laefiffe veneno Summa, nec impofitos unquam cervice volenti Ferre duces: Hancne Ogygiis, ait, afpera rebus Fata tulere vicem? toties mutare timendos, Alternoque jugo dubitantia fubdere colla!
Thou fire of gods and men, imperial Jove! Is this th' eternal doom decreed above?
On thy own offspring haft thou fix'd this fate, From the first birth of our unhappy state; When banish'd Cadmus, wandering o'er the main, For loft Europa fearch'd the world in vain, And, fated in Boeotian fields to found, A rifing empire on a foreign ground,
First rais'd our walls on that ill-omen'd plain, Where earth-born brothers were by brothers flain?
What lofty looks th' unrival'd monarch bears! How all the tyrant in his face appears!
What fullen fury clouds his fcornful brow!
Gods! how his eyes with threatening ardour glow! Can this imperious lord forget to reign,
Quit all his ftate, defcend, and ferve again?
Partiti verfant populorum fata, manuque Fortunam fecere levem. femperne viciflim Exulibus fervire dabor? tibi, fumme deorum, Terrarumque fator, fociis hanc addere mentem Sedit? an inde vetus Thebis extenditur omen, Ex quo Sidonii nequicquam blanda juvenci Pondera, Carpathio juffus fale quaerere Cadmus Exul Hyanteos invenit regna per agros : Fraternafque acies foetae telluris hiatu, Augurium, feros dimifit adufque nepotes ? Cernis ut erectum torva fub fronte minetur Saevior affurgens dempto conforte potestas? Quas gerit ore minas? quanto premit omnia fastu?
Yet, who, before, more popularly bow'd, Who more propitious to the suppliant croud ? Patient of right, familiar in the throne ? What wonder then he was not then alone. O wretched we, a vile fubmiffive train, Fortune's tame fools, and flaves in every reign! As when two winds with rival force contend, This way and that, the wavering fails they bend, While freezing Boreas and black Eurus blow, Now here, now there, the reeling veffel throw: Thus, on each fide, alas! our tottering state Feels all the fury of resistless fate;
And doubtful ftill, and ftill diftracted stands,
While that Prince threatens, and while this com
And now th' almighty Father of the Gods Convenes a council in the bleft abodes:
Hicne unquam privatus erit? tamen ille precanti Mitis, et affatu bonus et patientior aequi.
Quid mirum? non folus erat. nos vilis in omnes Prompta manus cafus domino cuicunque parati. Qualiter hinc gelidus Boreas, hinc nubifer Eurus 265 Vela trahunt, nutat mediae fortuna carinae, Heu dubio fufpenfa metu, tolerandaque nullis Afpera fors populis! hic imperat : ille minátur. At Jovis imperiis rapidi fuper atria coeli Lectus concilio divûm convenerat ordo Interiore polo. fpatiis hinc omnia juxta VOL. I.
Far in the bright recesses of the skies,
High o'er the rolling heavens, a mansion lies, Whence, far below, the Gods at once furvey The realms of rifing and declining day,
And all th' extended space of earth, and air, and fea. Full in the midft, and on a starry throne, The Majefty of heaven fuperior fhone; Serene he look'd, and gave an awful nod, And all the trembling spheres confess'd the God. At Jove's affent, the deities around In folemn ftate the confiftory crown'd. Next a long order of inferior powers
Afcend from hills, and plains, and shady bowers; Thofe from whofe urns the rolling rivers flow; And those that give the wandering winds to błów: Here all their rage, and ev'n their murmurs ceafe, 290 And facred filence reigns, and univerfal peace.
A fhining fynod of majestic Gods
Gilds with new luftre the divine abodes;
Primaeque occiduaeque domus, effufa fub omni Terra atque unda die. mediis fefe arduus infert Ipfe deis, placido quatiens tamen omnia vultu, Stellantique locat folio. nec protinus aufi Coelicolae, veniam donec pater ipfe fedendi Tranquilla jubet effe manu. mox túrba vagorum Semideum, et fummis cognati nubibus Amnes, Et compreffa metu fervantes murmura venti. Aurea tecta replent; mixta convexa deorum
Heaven feems improv'd with a fuperior ray, And the bright arch reflects a double day. The Monarch then his folemn filence broke, The still creation liften'd while he spoke, Each facred accent bears eternal weight, And each irrevocable word is Fate.
How long shall man the wrath of Heaven defy, 300 And force unwilling vengeance from the sky! Oh race confederate into crimes, that prove Triumphant o'er th' eluded rage of Jove! This weary'd arm can scarce the bolt sustain, And unregarded thunder rolls in vain : Th' o'erlabour'd Cyclop from his task retires; Th' Æolian forge exhausted of its fires. For this I fuffer'd Phoebus' feeds to stray, And the mad Ruler to mifguide the day.
Majeftate tremunt: radiant majore fereno Culmina, et arcano florentes lumine poftes. Poftquam juffa quies, filuitque exterritus orbis. Incipit ex alto: (grave et immutabile fanctis Pondus adeft verbis, et vocem fata fequuntur) Terrarum delicta, nec exfuperabile diris
Ingenium mortale queror. quonam ufque nocentum Exigar in poenas? taedet faevire corufco
Fulmine; jampridem Cyclopum operofa fatifcunt Brachia, et Æoliis defunt incudibus ignes. Atque ideo tuleram falfo rectore folutos Solis equos, coelumque rotis errantibus uri,
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