Vix ea fatus erat, cum nuda incomptaqve tellus, Nuda prius lateqve informis vastaqve visu, Gramina summisit: qvae mollia matris apertum Vestivere latus verno viridiqve lepore.
Tum subit herbarum qvidqvid frondescit; at illae In florem patuere et versicolore coorta Laetificant specie gremium telluris odorum. Deinde profusa freqvens uvis atqve ubere vitis; Prorepsit cum ventre cucurbita; iuncus agrestes Direxit calamorum acies et inhorruit hastis; Mox dumus brevis, et sqvalens hirsuta tenacis Silva rubi; genus extremum et procerior ordo, Plurima processit similis saltantibus arbos, Ramosqve exseruit felicia poma ferentes
Aut gemmis alacres. Agrum silva alta coronat; Caespitibusqve viret vallis, viret uvida margo Fontis, et inclusit labentia flumina ripae Agger: eo tellus omnis perfusa lepore est In caeli speciem, divisqve accommoda sedes, Qva vellent spatiari et sacras ire sub umbras: Qvamvis arva Deus nondum saturaverat imbri, Nec putres homo qvi glebas domitaret aratro Ullus erat, sed humo subiens tum roscidus aer Omne solum terrae fruticesqve rigabat agrestes.
Moritura super crudeli funere. Taxum sternite lugubrem,
Huc vos in tumulo sternite, virgines, Et glaucum salicis decus,
Intactaqve mori dicite me fide.
Tu fallax fueras, puer,
Fido Leuconoe pectore vixero: Tellus, accipe leniter
Et pondus cineri fac leve sis meo.
The Destruction of Sennacherib.
The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold, And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, Where the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset were seen; Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown, That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed on the face of the foe as he pass'd, And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still.
And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride; And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail; And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, The lances unlifted, the trumpets unblown.
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail, And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal, And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.
A. Flaccus in thy Caesar proudly own; Thy poet-king, fair city, richly crown: In ivy-wreaths entwine thy treasured gold, And into bays thy choicest emeralds mould.
Irruit Assyrius, qvalis lupus instat ovili, Murice et aurata splendida veste cohors; Plurimaqve, astrorum ritu qvae caerula reddit Unda Palaestini marmoris, hasta micat. Haud secus aestivis ac ridet frondibus arbos, Innumerae fulgent vespere signa manus; Haud secus ac pereunt hiemali turbine frondes, Mane tegunt latum mortua membra solum. Pandit enim nigras fatalis nuntius alas, Cunctaqve funestam spirat in ora luem; Lumina mox alto frigent langventia somno, Corda premit gemitu vix agitata qvies. Non patula carpit recreantia flamina nare, Non fremit insultans frenaqve mandit eqvus: Spumaqve anhelanti manans pulmone per herbam Canet, ut in scopulis unda refusa maris. Hic eqves accumbit deformi pallidus ore, Tela situ, gelido tempora rore madent. Castra silent, vacuas fluitant vexilla per auras, Nec tuba dat solitum nec gravis hasta sonum. Assyrias luctus viduarum personat urbes, Dirutus antiqva Belus in aede cadit.
At non usus erat gladiis: exercitus ingens Tabuit aspectu, nix velut igne, Dei.
Inscriptum in Albo Gazophylacii Monacensis
Augustum Flaccumqve viro miraris in uno, Rege tuo felix, urbs pia, vate tuo: Finge hederas auro, laurus imitare smaragdis, Ut decoret tantum digna corona caput.
Shepherd, I pray thee stay. thee stay.
Where hast thou been? Or whither goest thou? Here be woods as green As any, air likewise as fresh and sweet
As where smooth Zephyrus plays on the fleet Face of the curled streams, with flowers as many As the young spring gives, and as choice as any; Here be all new delights, cool streams and wells, Arbours o'ergrown with woodbines; caves and dells. Choose where thou wilt; whilst I sit by and sing, Or gather rushes to make many a ring For thy long fingers, tell the tales of love, How the pale Phoebe, hunting in a grove, First saw the boy Endymion, from whose eyes She took eternal fire that never dies; How she conveyed him softly in a sleep, His temples bound with poppy, to the steep Head of old Latmus, where she stoops each night, Gilding the mountain with her brother's light, To kiss her sweetest.
Pan to his Worshippers.
Go rouse the deer with hound and horn, And chase him o'er the mountains free: Or bid the hollow woods resound
The triumphs of your archery.
Pan leads and if you hail me right As guardian of the silvan reign, I'll wing your arrows on their flight, And speed your coursers o'er the plain. MERIVALE (from LEONIDAS).
Hic genus omne Silvarum fruticumqve viret. Unde mihi Corydon? qvi te fert impetus? Eheu Qvid fugis, O demens? Hac nulla virentior umbra est, Lucidus hic aer, Zephyri vix gratior ala
Molliter allabens fluviorum in marmore crispo Luxuriat; circa ridet tibi copia florum
Qvot novus annus habet, suboles laetissima glebae. Adde tot ingenuos fontes semperqve recentes Delicias ruris, saltus et frigida Tempe:
Adde lacus, adde antra hederae praetexta corymbis. Qva libet et gratum est, age, considamus amantes: Tu lentus recubes, teretes ego sedula iuxta Impediam digitos nexis de gramine circlis, Aut calamis ludam silvestribus, aut ego molles Historias dicam, cervos ut pallida Phoebe Per nemora insectans conspexerit Endymiona. Vidit, et ex oculis pueri concepit amoris Aeternas dea victa faces, simul ad tua, Latme, Saxa papavereis redimitum tempora sertis Leniter attollens per somnos abripit; illic Oscula dilecti iuvenis nocturna reqvirens Luce nova montem et fraterno sidere vestit.
Ite, per vastos agitate montes Excitam cornu canibusqve damam, Vel cavas late resonante silvas
Ite: sin recte nemorum coletis Pana custodem, duce me sagittae Fugerint certae, rapietqve victrix Ungula campum.
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