V. ELEGIAC AND LYRIC METRES.

741. Wilt thou my true friend be? Then love not mine, but me.

742. He who hath suffer'd shipwreck fears to sail Upon the seas, though with a gentle gale. 743. When all birds else do of their music fail,

Money's the still sweet-singing nightingale. 744. When one is past, another care we have:

Thus woe succeeds to woe, as wave to wave. 745. Conquer we shall, but we must first contend; 'Tis not the fight that crowns us, but the end. .

746. Two parts of us successively command:

The tongue in peace, but then in war the hand.

747. Lie heavy on him, earth, for he

Laid many a heavy load on thee.

748. Each must in virtue strive for to excel:

That man lives twice who lives the first life well.

749. How rich a man is, all desire to know; But none inquires if good he be, or no.

750. While leanest beasts in pastures feed, The fattest ox the first must bleed.

751. For sooth I may this sentence tell, No man dies ill that liveth well.

752. Wash clean the vessel, lest ye sour Whatever liquor in ye pour.

753. Nothing comes free-cost here; Jove will not let His gifts go from him, if not bought with sweat.

754. Dear Perenna, prithee come,

And with smallage deck my tomb;
Add a cypress sprig thereto

With a tear, and so adieu.

755. Hesperie lateri redimicula nectit eburno,
Facta suis manibus, pectore digna suo.
Jam veteres iras Venus et Tritonia ponit:
Pectora nam Veneris Palladis ambit opus.
756. Fat be my hind; unlearned be my wife;
Peaceful my night; my day devoid of strife:
To these a comely offspring I desire,
Singing about my everlasting fire.

757. Lay by the good a while; a resting field
Will after ease a richer harvest yield;

Trees this year bear; next, they their wealth with

hold;

Continual reaping makes a land wax old.

758. Let not thy tombstone e'er be laid by me,

Nor let my hearse be wept upon by thee;
But let that instant when thou diest be known
The minute of mine expiration;

One knell be rung for both, and let one grave
To hold us two an endless honour have.

759. All things decay with time: the forest sees
The growth and downfall of her aged trees;
That timber tall, which three-score lustres stood,
The proud dictator of the state-like wood;
I mean the sovereign of all plants, the oak,
Droops, dies, and falls without the cleaver's stroke.

760. Græcia bellorum longa succussa ruina

Concidit, immodice viribus usa suis.

Fama manet; fortuna perit; cinis ipse jacentis
Visitur, et tumulo est nunc quoque sacra suo.

Exigua ingentis retinet vestigia famæ ;

761. After thy labour, take thine ease
Here with the sweet Pierides.

But if so be that men will not
Give thee the laurel crown for lot,
Be yet assur'd thou shalt have one
Not subject to corruption.

762. Fly to my mistress, pretty pilf'ring bee,

And say thou bring'st this honey-bag from me;
When on her lip thou hast thy sweet dew plac'd,
Mark if her tongue but slily steal a taste;
If so, we live; if not, with mournful hum
Toll forth my death, next, to my burial come.

763. Mighty Neptune, may it please

Thee, the rector of the seas,
That my bark may safely run
Through thy watery region;
And a tunny-fish shall be

Offer'd

up with thanks to thee.

764. Oh, turn thy bow!

Thy power we feel and know;

Fair Cupid, turn away thy bow!
They be those golden arrows,

Bring ladies all their sorrows;

And till there be more truth in men,
Never shoot at maid again!

765. Delos, jam stabili revincta terra,
Olim purpureo mari natabat,

Et moto levis hinc et inde vento
Ibat fluctibus inquieta summis.
Mox illam geminis Deus catenis
Hac alta Gyaro ligavit, illac
Constanti Mycono dedit tenendam.

766. Store of courage to me grant,
Now I'm turn'd a combatant;

my shield

Help me, so that I
Fighting lose not on the field.
That's the greatest shame of all,
That in warfare can befal.

Do but this, and there shall be
Offer'd up a wolf for thee.

767. Tu qui secura procedis mente, parumper

Siste gradum, quæso, verbaque pauca lege.
Illa ego, quæ claris fueram prælata puellis,
Hoc Homonoa brevi condita sum tumulo.
Nondum bis denos ætas mea viderat annos,
Injecere manus invida fata mihi.

Nec pro me queror hoc: morte est mihi tristior ipsa
Moror Atimeti conjugis ille mei.

768. Sweet western wind, whose luck it is,
Made rival with the air,

To give Perenna's lips a kiss,

And fan her wanton hair;

Bring me but one, I'll promise thee,

Instead of common showers,

Thy wings shall be embalm'd by me,
And all beset with flowers.

769. Maidens tell me I am old;
Let me in my glass behold
Whether smooth, or not, I be,
Or if hair remains to me.
Well! or be 't, or be 't not so,
This for certainty I know,

Ill it fits old men to play

When that death bids come away

770. Roses at first were white,

Till they could not agree

Whether my Sappho's breast

But being vanquished quite,
A blush their cheeks bespread,
Since which, believe the rest,
Roses first came red.

771. Quæ te sub tenera rapuere, Poeta, juventa,
O utinam me crudelia fata vocent!
Ut linquam terras, invisaque lumina solis,
Utque tuus rursum corpore sim posito.
Tu cave Lethæo contingas ora liquore,
Et cito venturi sis memor, oro, viri.
Te sequar obscurum per iter: dux ibit eunti
Fidus Amor, tenebras lampade discutiens.

772. Shall I go to Love, and tell

Thou art all turn'd icicle ?

Shall I say his altars be

Disadorn'd and scorn'd by thee?
O beware! in time submit ;
Love has yet no wrathful fit.
If his patience turns to ire,
Love is then consuming fire.

773. With horns and with hounds I waken the day,
And hie to the woodland walks away;

I tuck up my robe, and am buskin'd soon,
And tie to my forehead a waxing moon.
I course the fleet stag, unkennel the fox,

And chase the wild goats o'er summits of rocks;
With shouting and hooting we pierce through the

sky,

And echo turns hunter, and doubles the cry.

774. Urns and odours bring away

y!

Vapours, sighs, darken the day!

Our dole more deadly looks than dying;

Balms, and gums, and heavy cheers,
Sacred vials filled with tears,

And clamours through the wild air flying!