Scarce is the proud, imperious tyrant dead,
But, lo! a fecond lords it in his ftead.
Here peace, as common merchandize, is fold,
Heav'n's first best bleffing for pernicious gold :
War foon fucceeds, the fturdy fquadrons stand
Wide o'er the fields a formidable band;
With num'rous fleets they croud the groaning main,
And triumph for the victories they feign:
Again in ftrict alliances unite,.
Till difcord raise again the phantom of a fight;
Again they fail; again the troops prepare
Their falchions for the mockery of war.
The fon inhuman feeks his father's life,
The flave his master's, and her lord's the wife.
With vengeance thus their kindling bofoms fire,
Since Jove ufurp'd the fceptre of his fire.
Thence poisons, perjuries, and bribes betray;
Nor other paffions do their fouls obey
'Than thirst of gold, and avarice of fway.
At length we land, vaft fields of æther croft,
On Saturn's cold uncomfortable coast ;
Here in the gloom the pamper'd fluggards lull
The lazy hours, lethargically dull.
In caves they live; for who was ever known
So wife, fo fedulous to build a town ?
Idem omnes ftupor altus habet, fub pectore fixus.
Non ftudia ambitiofa Jovis, variofqve labores
Mercurii, non Martis opus, non Cyprida nôrunt.
Poft obitum, ut perhibent, fedes glomerantur in iftas 90
Qui longam nullas vitam excoluêre per artes ;
Sed Cerere & Baccho pleni, fomnoque fepulti
Cunctarum duxêre æterna oblivia rerum..
Non avium auditur cantus, non murmur aquarum,
Mugitusve boum, aut pecorum balatus in agris
Nudos non decorant fegetes, non gramina campos.
Sylva, ufquam fi fylva, latet fub monte nivali,
Et canet viduata comis: hic noctua tantùm
Glifque habitat, bufoque & cum teftudine, talpa.
Flumina dum tardè fubterlabentia terras
Pigram undam volvunt, & fola papavera pafcunt:
Quorum lentus odor, lethæaque pocula fomnos
Suadent perpetuos, circumfufæque tenebræ..
The fame ftupidity infects the whole,
Fix'd in the breast, and center'd in the foul.
These never feel th' ambitious fires of Jove,
To Industry not Mercury can move,
2
Mars cannot fpur to war, nor Venus woo to love.
Here rove those fouls, 'tis faid, when life departs,
Who never cultivated ufeful arts;
But ftupify'd with plenty and repofe,
Dreamt out long life in one continued dose ! ̈
No feather'd songsters,, with sweet-warbled strains 130
Attune to melting melody the plains,
No flocks wide-paft'ring bleat, nor.oxen low,
No fountains mufically murm'ring flow;
Th' ungenial waste no tender herbage yields,
No harvefts wave luxuriant in the fields.
Low lie the groves, if groves this land can boast,
Chain'd in the fetters of eternal froft,
Their beauty wither'd, and their verdure loft.
Dull animals inhabit this abode,
Nor aught th' unvegetative waters feed,
But fleepy poppy and the flimy reed;
Whofe lazy fogs, like Lethe's cups, difpenfe
Eternal flumbers of dull indolence.
The owl, mole, dormoufe, tortoife, and the toad. 140
Dull rivers deep within their channels glide,
And flow roll on their tributary tide ::
Horrendo vifu obftupui: quin Pegafon ipfum Defecêre animi; senfit dux, terque flagello. Infonuit clarùm, terque altâ voce morantem Increpuit fecat ille cito pede lævia campi Ætherei, terræque fecundâ allabitur aurâ.
Agaft I ftood, the drowsy vapours lull
My foul in gloom, ev'n Pegasus grew dull.
My guide obferv'd, and thrice he urg'd his speed,
Thrice the loud lafh refounded from the fteed;
Fir'd at the strokes, he flies with flacken'd rein
Swift o'er the level of the liquid plain,
Glides with the gentle gale, and lights on earth again.
|