At his command the storms invade; The winds by his commission blow; Till with a nod he bids 'em cease, And then the calm returns, and all is peace. To-morrow and her works defy, Lay hold upon the present hour, And snatch the pleasures passing by, To put them out of fortune's power: Nor love, nor love's delights disdain; Whate'er thou gett'st to-day is gain. Secure those golden early joys, That youth unsour'd with sorrow bears, The appointed hour of promis'd bliss, The pleasing whisper in the dark, The half unwilling willing kiss, The laugh that guides thee to the mark, When the kind nymph would coyness feign, And hides but to be found again; These, these are joys, the gods for youth ordain. THE TWENTY-NINTH ODE OF THE FIRST BOOK OF HORACE; PARAPHRASED IN PINDARIC VERSE, AND INSCRIBED TO THE RIGHT HON. LAURENCE EARL OF ROCHESTER. DESCENDED of an ancient line, That long the Tuscan sceptre sway'd, Make haste to meet the generous wine, Whose piercing is for thee delay'd: The rosy wreath is ready made; And artful hands prepare The fragrant Syrian oil, that shall perfume thy hair. When the wine sparkles from afar, And the well-natur'd friend cries, Come away; Make haste, and leave thy business and thy care: No mortal interest can be worth thy stay. Leave for a while thy costly country seat; The nauseous pleasures of the great Come, and forsake thy cloying store; Thy turret that surveys, from high, The smoke, and wealth, and noise of Rome; And all the busy pageantry That wise men scorn, and fools adore: 15 20 Come, give thy soul a loose, and taste the plea sures of the poor. Sometimes 'tis grateful to the rich to try The sun is in the Lion mounted high Barks from afar, 25 30 And with his sultry breath infects the sky; The ground below is parch'd, the heavens above us fry. The shepherd drives his fainting flock And seeks refreshing rivulets nigh: 35 The Sylvans to their shades retire, Those very shades and streams new shades and streams require, And want a cooling breeze of wind to fan the raging fire. Thou, what befits the new Lord Mayor, And what the Gallic arms will do, Art anxiously inquisitive to know: But God has, wisely, hid from human sight 40 45 And sown their seeds in depth of night; He laughs at all the giddy turns of state; When mortals search too soon, and fear too late. Enjoy the present smiling hour; And put it out of fortune's power: The tide of business, like the running stream, A quiet ebb, or a tempestuous flow, And always in extreme. Now with a noiseless gentle course 50 55 And bears down all before it with impetuous force; 60 And trunks of trees come rolling down, Sheep and their folds together drown: Both house and homestead into seas are borne; And rocks are from their old foundations torn, And woods, made thin with winds, their scatter'd honours mourn. 65 Happy the man, and happy he alone, The joys I have possess'd, in spite of fate, are mine. 70 Not heaven itself upon the past has power; But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour. Fortune, that with malicious joy Is seldom pleas'd to bless: Promotes, degrades, delights in strife, I can enjoy her while she 's kind; But when she dances in the wind, And shakes the wings, and will not stay, I puff the prostitute away: 75 80 The little or the much she gave is quietly resign'd: Content with poverty, my soul I arm; And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm. What is 't to me, Who never sail in her unfaithful sea, If storms arise, and clouds grow black; 90 If the mast split, and threaten wreck? Then let the greedy merchant fear For his ill-gotten gain; And pray to gods that will not hear, While the debating winds and billows bear 95 His wealth into the main. For me, secure from Fortune's blows, In my small pinnace I can sail, Contemning all the blustering roar; And running with a merry gale, 100 |