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I see them totter under arms and flames,
And Simois and Xanthus swift with blood.
Behold, the ruin comes when war hath ceas'd,

And gods and sons of gods walk slow with wounds.
209. L. A mortal shoot on heaven you cannot graft.
A. This cause concerns not one but many gods.
L. What! were they servants ere becoming gods?
A. The Delian shepherd fed the sheep of Pheræ.
L. But wander'd not an exile through all lands.
A. A wanderer bore him on a wandering soil.
L. No monsters Phœbus had to fear, no beasts.
A. His shafts he season'd with a dragon's gore.
But thine own strength
Should for thine own deliverance be put forth:
Then might the higher powers approving see
And bless the brave resolve. O that my arm
Could wield yon lightnings that play idly there
In inoffensive radiance round thy head!

210.

The Swerga should not need a champion now,
Nor earth implore deliverance now in vain.

211. But, as I think, I surely foresee this,

That these my words will be preserv'd hereafter
In many people's recollection. And

Another man will come, who'll strip my reasons
Of their poetic dress, and, clothing them
In other garments and with purple broidery,
Will show them off, and, being invincible,
Will make all rivals bow the knee to him.

212. O flower, which yonder fierce Thessalian hand
Is plucking, on what altar art thou laid?
Why blaze so the Sigean shores, the torch
Unkindled yet? those rocks of Tenedos,
Why throw they back again that trailing light?
Fly, let us fly: Citharon and the towers
Chaonian, the Ceraunian rocks, the strand

213.

214.

Of Achelous, hark, reverberate
The clamour, the loud plaint of Ilion.

The faults kings do
Shine like the fiery beacons on a hill,
For all to see, and seeing tremble at.
It's not a single ill which you commit:
What in the subject is a petty fault,
Monsters your actions, and is foul offence.
You give your subjects license to offend
When you do teach them how.

My noble father,

Three times to-day I holp him to his horse,
Three times bestrid him, thrice I led him off,
Persuaded him from any further act:

But still, where danger was, still there I met him;
And like rich hangings in a homely house,

So was his will in his old feeble body.
But, noble as he is, look where he comes.

215. There Italus, there stood with pruning-blade
The sire Sabinus, planter of the vine;
Old Saturn, Janus with his double brow,
And other early kings, that had in war
Bled for their country. On the sacred posts
Hung armour, captive chariots, helmet-crests,
Bucklers and shafts, curv'd axes, gate-bars huge,
And beaks from galleys torn.

216. For this return I? came I back to light

To see two funerals, and a double slaughter?
Widow'd and childless, with one torch to fire
The funeral pyres of two most fondly lov'd,
The wife, the son. O thou that gav'st again
This light, my darkness, Hercules, that gift
Bid Pluto now resume, and to the shades

217. Sire, in prosperity be still humane,
As in misfortune thou hast ever been;
And on the height of greatness ne'er forget
The value of a friend in times of need;
Thou hast approv'd it in adversity.
Refuse not to the lowest of thy people
The claims of justice and humanity;

For from the fold God call'd thy Saviour forth. 218. Yes, unrestrained weep, thou valiant soul,

219.

With many a wave o'erridden. Thou striv'st nobly
Where hearts of sterner stuff perhaps had sunken;
And o'er thy fall, if it be so decreed,

Good men will mourn, and brave men will shed

tears

Kindred to those which now thou shed'st. Thy name
Shall in succeeding ages be remember'd,
When those of mighty monarchs are forgot.
So the eagle,

That bears the thunder of our grandsire Jove,
With joy beholds his hardy youthful offspring
Forsake the nest, to try his tender pinions
In the wide untrack'd air; till, bolder grown,
Now, like a whirlwind on a shepherd's fold,
He darts precipitate, and gripes the prey;
Or fixing on some dragon's scaly hide,
Eager of combat, and his future feast,
Bears him aloft reluctant, and in vain
Wreathing his spiry tail.

220. Seek not to know what pleaseth heaven to hide.
Dark is the abyss of time,

But light enough to guide your steps is given.
Whatever weal or woe betide,

Turn never from the way of truth aside,

And leave the event in holy hope to heaven.
The moment is at hand; no more delay:
Ascend th' ethereal bark, and go your way.

221. Return to Xerxes; tell him on this rock
The Grecians, faithful to their post, await
His chosen myriads; tell him thou hast seen
How far the lust of empire is below

A free-born mind: and tell him, to behold
A tyrant humbled, and by virtuous death
To seal my country's freedom, is a good
Surpassing all his boasted pow'r can give.
222. V. His fate alone I seek, and mine in his.

C. And hast thou strength to bear it? Art thou

firm?

V. Thou reckonest then to look on dreadful things.
C. I may or I may not: then brace thy mind.
V. I can bear all things but uncertainty.

C. Then shall it be unto thee as thou wilt.

V. O what dost thou behold? speak, speak to me.
C. Nothing as yet but the dark formless void.

223. Yea, there thou mak'st me sad, and mak'st me sin, In envy that my Lord Northumberland

Should be the father of so blest a son :

A son, who is the theme of honour's tongue;
Amongst a grove the very straightest plant;
Who is sweet Fortune's minion and her pride:
Whilst I, by looking on the praise of him,

See riot and dishonor stain the brow

Of my young Harry.

224. Though all the doors are sure, and all our servants
Are sure bound with their sleeps; yet there is One
That wakes above, whose eye no sleep can bind.
He sees through doors and darkness, and our
thoughts:

And therefore, as we should avoid with fear
To think amiss ourselves before his search;

So should we ever be curious to shun

225. Would I had trod the humble path, and made
My industry less ambitious. The shrub
Securely grows; the tallest tree stands most
Within the wind. And thus we do distinguish
The noble from the base: the noble find

226.

227.

Their lives and deaths still troublesome; but safe
Humility doth sleep, the while the storm
Grows hoarse with scolding.

I knew that liberty

Would draw thee forth to perilous enterprises;
While I at home sat full of cares and fears,
Wailing thy absence in my widow'd bed.
Here I should still enjoy thee, day and night,
Mine and love's prisoner, not the Philistines',
Whole to myself, unhazarded abroad,
Fearless at home of partners in my love.

Auletes grave

With hundred oarblades rising to the stroke
Lashes the sea; the parted billows foam.
Him the huge Triton bears, and with a shell
Swimming affrights the wave, a monster-shape,
Man to the waist, but ending in a fish

Of hideous bulk, beneath whose shaggy breast
The foamy waters roar.

228. C. Infallible, all-searching Eye, thou seest
Mine inmost heart, my deep humility.
J. Humility shines brightly in the skies;
Thou art abased, hence God exalteth thee.
C. Shall I indeed withstand mine enemies?
J. France I will lay submissive at thy feet.

C. And Orleans, say'st thou, will not be surren-
der'd?

J. The Loire shall sooner roll its waters back.

229. Incerta qualis entheos cursus tulit

Quum jam recepto Manas insanit deo,

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