VIII.

Ad Conjugem ereptam.

FORSITAN et non te flerem viduatus ademtam,
Credere mortalem si potuisset amor;

Me tamen immemorem fugit, tibi luce fruenti
Dum comes hærebam, te quoque posse mori:
Non subiit, properare suam contingere metam
Candida neglecto tempora lapsa gradu;

Et fore, quo non te spectarem ego, Lydia, nec tu
Suave renideres amplius ipsa die.

Nunc etiam, placidis mox arrisura labellis
Pallida, dum specto, credulus ora puto;
Nec bene, me frustra faciem spectare rigentem,
Et labra jam nulla voce movenda, fero.
At loquor; et, semper quæ sponte referre solebas,
Dulcia nunc primum non mihi verba refers.
Certior heu! verum, quo nunc patet indice, sensi:
Mortua, nec fallor, Lydia cara, jaces!

Sicut es, at mecum si frigida tota maneres,

Sicut es, at mecum tota serena, domi;

Et vel adhuc tacitum premerem tibi pectore pectus,

Et labra, queis risus ante fuere, labris.

C

While e'en thy chill, bleak corse I have,
Thou seemest still mine own;

But there I lay thee in thy grave,—
And I am now alone!

I do not think, where'er thou art,

Thou hast forgotten me;

And I, perhaps, may soothe this heart
In thinking, too, of thee:

Yet, there was round thee such a dawn
Of light ne'er seen before,

As fancy never could have drawn,

And never can restore.

C. Wolfe.

IX.

From the Arabic.

WHEN born, in tears we saw thee drowned,

Whilst thy assembled friends around

With smiles their joy confest:

So live that in thy latest hour

We may the floods of sorrow pour,

And thou in smiles be drest.

Carlisle.

Donec et exsanguem teneo gelidamque superstes, Alterius non es, visa sed esse mea:

Jam tamen obscuro mihi conderis ecce! sepulcro ; Solus et in vacua nunc queror ipse domo.

Quæ loca cunque tenes, felici in sede piorum
Non tamen oblitam te reor esse mei;
Forsitan et memorem tua me soletur imago,
Mersaque perpetuo corda dolore juvet:
Talis at emicuit circum lux aurea frontis,
Et prius haud alio visus in ore nitor,

Vivida mens qualem potuisset fingere nunquam,
Reddere sublatam nec meditata potest.

IX.

Infans.

DUM tibi vix nato læti risere parentes

Vagitu implebas tu lacrymisque domum:
Sic vivas, ut summa tibi cum venerit hora,

Sit ridere tuum, sit lacrymare tuis.

B.

G.

X.

Psalm cxxxvii.

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

X.

Judæa captiva.

EUPHRATIS ripaæ acclines, ubi, limite longo
Porrecta, Assyria tristia culta patent,
Amissam memores patriam, sanctumque Siona
Flevimus, et summi diruta templa Dei.
At qua mosta salix invisam offuderat umbram,
Pendebant tacitæ, pristina cura, lyræ.

Sæpe illic Solymæ eversæ captiva propago
Impia victoris probra minasque tulit:
Sæpe illic, pompas inter ritusque nefandos,
Ingemuit, patrios jussa referre modos.
Ergone solennes virgo Solymaa choreas
Captiva et patriis finibus exul agat?
Ergo et nunc poterit, Babylonis mœnia propter,
Sacra Davideæ tangere fila lyræ,

Qua Siloa, altusque Hermon, Libanusque sonabant,
Præsentique Patris numine plena Salem?
Cara Salem, quascunque ferar vagus exul in oras,
Ecquando possim non memor esse tui?

At mihi defixa obmutescat lingua palato,

At citharam, et solitum dextra recuset opus, Si mentem non una meam tua torquet imago,

Una Salem, luctus lætitiæque comes.

G.