PALÆSTRA MUSARUM.

I. TRAGIC LAMBIC AND TROCHAIC METRES.

1. A GAIN more precious than a friend is none.

Many are table friends, not friends of truth.
Shun not a friend who lies in evil case.

Friend to thyself too much, thou'lt have no friend. 2. Time is the test of friends, as fire of gold.

For wife and friend must toil be undergone.
The praise of friends speak rather than thine own.

You will be wise consorting with the wise, 3. Fortune bestows on some, and takes from others.

Consider all misfortunes common stock.
Good reputation choose rather than wealth,

A lucky chance is living without sorrow.
4. Human affairs have many transmutations.

How easily do splendid fortunes fall!
Trample not on the helpless : fortune's common.

The prosperous man has need to think on God. 5. Deem gain a gain, provided it be just;

Dishonest gains produce calamities.
Life's noblest property is education;

Who knows not letters sees not when he sees. 6. 'Tis time alone displays the righteous man.

Virtue is the most powerful arm to mortals.
Judge not from sight of beauty, but of manners.
Better be ugly than a handsome villain.

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7. In anger no man safely counselleth.

Thou art mortal, cherish not immortal wrath.
To vanquish passion and desire is noble.

Prevail o'er anger by reflecting well.
8. An upright nature knows not to do wrong.

Death is to be preferred to evil life.
Act righteously, and your ally is God.

It is not base to die, but to die basely.
9. Habits of wickedness distort our nature.

Many who are well off are minded ill.
To men right-minded, heavenly things are awful.

The envious man is his own enemy.
10. Earth beareth all things and again receiveth.

Hunger the teacher is of many things.
Sweet to the saved is memory of woes.

Ease will not feed poor men that do not work. 11. A sword the body wounds, a word the mind."

An evil thing is laughter out of season.
Better is silence than to speak in vain.

Of a sick soul the remedy is speech.
12. An inconsiderate man is caught by pleasure.

Twice to commit the same fault marks the unwise.
Occasion is the cause of many things.

God doth not close his ear to righteous prayer. 13. The man who is not scourged will not be taught.

Sweet are the uses of adversity.
The master is the one slave of the house.

When an oak falleth, every one turns woodman. 14. Facient malorum te malum consortia.

Hominem malignum ne viæ comitem cape.
Non vulneratur vir bonus verbo malo.

Majora perdes, minima ni servaveris. 15. As cold water to the thirsty,

So is good news from a far country.

As a bird that wanders from its nest,

So is a man that wanders from his home.
16. As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest,

So honour is not becoming to a fool.
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass,

And a rod for the back of the fool.
17. A battle-axe, and a sword, and a sharp arrow is he

Who bears false witness against his neighbour.
Wrath is cruel, and anger impetuous;

But who is able to stand before jealousy? 18. Boast not thyself of to-morrow :

For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
He who is fed full trampleth on the honey-comb:

But to the hungry a bitter thing is sweet. 19. Oil and perfume gladden the heart:

Sweet too is a friend by hearty counsel.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend's mouth;

But the kisses of enemies are deceitful. 20. Consider well where thy foot is going ;

So shall thy steps be all secure.
Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left:

Withdraw thy foot from evil.
21. Old man to old man hath the sweetest tongue,

Boy suiteth boy, and woman chimes with woman,
The sick man soothes the sick man, and the ill-for-

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Assuageth him who struggles with misfortune.
22. O Palinurus, whence this strange desire ?

Would'st thou unburied see
The fearful river where the Furies bide,

And pass unbidden o'er the Stygian pool ? 23. Because I hold the laws in due respect,

And fear to be unjust, am I a coward ?
Meek let me be to all the friends of truth,
And only terrible among its foes.

24. When to his home the husband leads the wife, '

'Tis not alone a woman that he brings;
But with her doth he take within his doors

A good or evil fortune, as it haps, 25. Wouldst thou have me forget the sea's calm look

How changeful? In this monster put my trust?
Shall I, so often by fair skies deceived,

Expose Æneas to the treacherous wind ? 26. Flowers, wherefore do ye bloom ?

We strew thy pathway to the tomb.
Stars, wherefore do ye rise ?

To light thy spirit to the skies.
27. What's beauty ? Call you that your own,

A flow'r that fades as soon as blown ?
What’s man in all his boast of sway?

Perhaps the tyrant of a day.
28. I have seen the ungodly in his pride of power,

With pomp outspreading like a lordly tree:
I passed by, and lo, he was not there :

I sought him, but his place could not be found. 29. The bravest are as blossoms,

And the longest liver dies ;
And dead, the loveliest creature

As the loathsome carrion lies. 30. Alas, thou fearest him :

Immortal as thou art, thou fearest him.
I thought that death had saved me from his power.

Not even the dead are safe.
31. Consider, man ; weigh well thy frame;

The king, the beggar, is the same.
Dust form'd us all ; each breathes his day,

Then sinks into his native clay.
32. Whoe'er thou be, that comest hither arm’d,

Stand off, and speak thine errand. The abode

Of Shades, and Sleep, and drowsy Night, is here.

None living may the Stygian skiff convey. 33. Whoso, in this our evil day,

Will not his dearest friend betray,
Right worthy is, in my esteem,

That gods and men should honour'd deem.
34. No mortal, laden though he be with wealth,

Grows old securely, violating law :
But justice or by night or in the day

Silently pounces on the criminal. 35. Fair moon, why dost thou wane?

That I may wax again.
O sun, what makes thy beams so bright?

The Word that said, “Let there be ligbt.'
36. Ye Powers of ocean, whose domain I sweep,

I to your altars victor on this beach
Will bring a snow-white bull, his entrails lay

On the salt flood, and liquid wine outpour. 37. Daughter of him who ruled th’ Athenian plains

This honour'd dust Archedice contains.
Of tyrants mother, daughter, sister, wife,

Her mind was modest, and unstained her life. 38. The mind of man is such as Jove

Ordains by his immortal will,
Who moulds it in the courts above

His heav'nly purpose to fulfil.
39. An ancient forest, the wild beast's domain,

With stroke of axe and sound of falling beams
Is made to groan; the sturdy oak is riven,

Pine and broad ash upon the mountain roll. 40. F. Can human sorrows be delights to the gods ?

B. Our sorrows are not, but our troubles may :
A great man vanquishing his destiny
Is a great spectacle worthy of the gods.