The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013534676 This Edition is limited to two hundred and fifty copies. This is No. &0. DEBITA FLACCO. DEBITA FLACCO ECHOES OF ODE AND EPODE / BY E*H. PEMBER LONDON PRINTED AT THE CHISWICK PRESS FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION 1891 PREFACE. THE translation of Poetry is an impossibility ; there is indeed no such thing, and the phrase is utterly unrepresentative. Form and sound differentiate poetry, and these are obviously lost in translation. The delicate enamel of originally chosen language, which forms, as it were, the surface bloom of verse, shrivels off in the heat of the translator's crucible. Whatever else may emerge from the ashes, that never can. It is inevitable that it should suffer "Change Into something rich (?) and strange." If there were degrees of the impossible, its climax would be reached in efforts to render an antique, and of all antiques, perhaps, Horace. But his social affinities are so far reaching as to leave it not quite out of the question that one should give to those who cannot read him some notion of what he was in his lighter moods. This I have tried to do by placing some of his smaller pieces side by side with a series of parallels worked upon motives and incidents taken from modern life. In doing so, it may be that I shall have pleased some of the friends among whom I have ventured to distribute this little book. E. H. P. Vicars Hill, April, 1 89 1. CONTENTS. Ad Agrippam Ad L. Sestium . Ad Navem Ad Lydiam Ad Fuscum Ad Pyrrham Ad Leuconoen . Ad C. Sallustium Crispum Invocatio Ad Venerem . Ad Xanthiam Phoceum . Ad Famulum .... Ad Postumum . Ad Valgium .... Paupertatem Divitiis Pr>efert Ad Thaliarchum Luxum Reprehendit Ad Fontem Bandusiae . dlalogus horatii et lydiae . Ad Ligurinum . In Chlorin Vetulam Ad Lyden ... Ad Asterien .... In Lycen Vetulam . In Canidiam Veneficam . Fenerator Alfius Vitam Rusticam Laudat De Carminibus Suis . . . * . PAGE 2 6 IO 14 16 20 22 24 28 3° 34 36 40 44 54 58 62 66 70 74 78 So 84 88 96 CONTENTS. To a Patron Spring To the ' Calais-Douvres Love-Sloth Love's Armour . The Flirt Futility . The Miser's Heir . An Invitation . A Sanction Al Fresco . Sir Peter . Fidelity . Temple Chambers . Rollick and Frolic Smart Squires . Boldre Water . A Sham Fight . Blind Boys The Frisky Matron A Birthday A Brother's Letter The Old Coquette . Weird Sisters . The Queen's Counsel Envoi .... PAGE 3 7 ii 15 17 21 23 25 29 3i 35 37 41 45 55 59 63 67 7i 75 79 81 SS 89 97 in ECHOES OF ODE AND EPODE. AD AGRIPPAM. C CRIBERIS Vario fortis et hostium *~-* Victor Maeonii carminis alite, Quam rem cunque ferox navibus aut equis Miles te duce gesserit : Nos, Agrippa, neque haec dicere nee gravem Pelidae stomachum cedere nescii Nee cursus duplicis per mare Ulixei Nee saevam Pelopis domum Conamur tenues grandia, dum pudor Imbellisque lyrae Musa potens vetat Laudes egregii Caesaris et tuas Culpa deterere ingeni. Quis Martem tunica tectum adamantina Digne scripserit aut pulvere Troico Nigrum Merionen aut ope Palladis Tydiden superis parem ? TO A PATRON. A H no, my Lord, I've learned my level now ; No more towards Epic or the Tragic heights I care to raise a too ambitious brow ; Saints, Sagas, Vedas, and Arthurian fights My Muse hath long forbidden me to try, And under her benevolent behest, All themes for me too difficult and high I leave to Lewis Morris and the rest. Unhappy Laureates of the loftier lays, Whom the stern suffrage of the cruel Nine Compels towards heights of failure ! How I praise My Mistress, and her sovereignty benign That shepherds me in lowlier realms of song, The ripe green valleys wealthy with the sun, Woods, fountains, fruits, and flowers, the dancing throng, Shy twilight's whispers, midnight's sprightlier fun, Nos convivia, nos proelia virginum Sectis in juvenes unguibus acrium Cantamus vacui, sive quid urimur Non praeter solitum leves. 5 Love, holding both hands to his laughing face, And Strife who struggles vainly to endure, Tears that a dimple buries without trace, And wounds, such scratches as a kiss may cure. AD L. SESTIUM. O OLVITUR acris hiems grata vice veris et Favoni, *~^ Trahuntque siccas machinae carinas, Ac neque jam stabulis gaudet pecus aut arator igni ; Nee prata canis albicant pruinis. Jam Cytherea choros ducit Venus imminente Luna, Junctaeque Nymphis Gratiae decentes Alterno terram quatiunt pede, dum graves Cyclopum Vulcanus ardens urit officinas. Nunc decet aut viridi nitidum caput impedire myrto Aut flore terrae quern ferunt solutae. Nunc et in umbrosis Fauno decet immolare lucis, Seu poscat agnam sive malit haedum. Pallida Mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas Regumque turres. O beate Sesti, Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat inchoare Iongam. Jam te premet nox fabulaeque Manes SPRING. ' I "'HE south wind holds, the frost departs, -*- I feel that Spring is really here ; The sailors borrow country carts To carry down their boats and gear. The meads have lost their looks of grey, The cattle feed a-field again, The farmer's people day by day Grow busier still with plough and wain. Yon mounting moon infects the sky, The evening air breathes warm and bright, If I believed in fairies, I Should say that they would dance to-night. I dream of dinner through the gloom — Spring-chicken and a water-cress — And, knowing where some wall-flowers bloom, I pick a few for Fanny's dress. Et domus exilis Plutonia : quo simul mearis, Nee regna vini sortiere talis Nee tenerum Lycidan mirabere, quo calet juventus Nunc omnis et mox virgines tepebunt. The bird, the herb, the flower I chose With touch of reverence for the Spring, I thought, combined with old La Rose, They'd make a vernal offering. Don't look so serious, Lady mine, 'Tis not all gluttony, my dear ; Reflect, you angel, while you dine, How that fell season may be near, When wine and poultry both shall end, And o'er our heads shall bloom the flowers And later folk than we, sweet friend, Shall feast their spring as I feast ours. IO AU NAVEM. O IC te diva potens Cypri, "^ Sic fratres Helenae lucida sidera, Ventorumque regat pater, Obstrictis aliis praeter Iapyga : Navis, quae tibi creditum Debes Virgilium, finibus Atticis Reddas incolumem precor, Et serves animae dimidium meae. I Hi robur et aes triplex Circa pectus erat qui fragilem truci Commisit pelago ratem Primus, nee timuit praecipitem Africum Decertantem Aquilonibus, Nee tristes Hyadas, nee rabiem Noti, Quo non arbiter Hadriae Major, tollere seu ponere vult freta. I I TO THE "CALAIS-DOUVRES." T^AIR Steamer, who from Calais Pier - 1 - Pliest this afternoon to Dover, Oh hear, if you have ears to hear, And take care how you take us over ! Britannia, heritress divine Of all the bygone Gods of weather, I pray thee rule those waves of thine, And shut up all the winds together ! I quite indorse what Horace said About the heart of oak and brass He must have had who first essayed Across the villainous seas to pass. Oh vainly fixed the Norse and Danes Our Island home with wise intent, If we will nullify their pains By going on the Continent. 12 Quem Mortis timuit gradum Qui siccis oculis monstra natantia, Qui vidit mare turgidum et Infames scopulos Acroceraunia ? Nequicquam deus abscidit Prudens Oceano dissociabili Terras si tamen impiae Non tangenda rates transiliunt vada. Audax omnia perpeti Gens humana ruit per vetitum nefas. Audax Iapeti genus Ignem fraude mala gentibus intulit. Post ignem aetheria domo Subductum macies et nova febrium Terris incubuit cohors, Semotique prius tarda necessitas Leti corripuit gradum. Expertus vacuum Daedalus aera Pennis non homini datis ; Perrupit Acheronta Herculeus labor. Nil mortalibus ardui est ; Caelum ipsum petimus stultitia, neque Per nostrum patimur scelus Iracunda Jovem ponere fulmina. 13 Since first Prometheus filled his reed There's nothing men won't try to do, Provided only that the deed Is rash, or impudent, or new. Our Mother Eve wrecked all our lives By sampling unaccustomed fruits, And now Professor Baldwin thrives By risking his in parachutes. I've heard that Rajah Dhuleep S., A black gem of the purest water, Once asked in simple fatuousness The hand of Queen Victoria's Daughter. A steeple to their schism shop Is reared by every Canting Crew, And soon, unless they're made to stop, They'll talk of going to Heaven too ! Our Alpine Clubmen hang like flies On slippery scarp and icy fell, And now and then some idiot tries Th' Atlantic in a Cockle-Shell. But, sweet Britannia, curb your seas, And let me once step safe ashore, And you shall wreck me as you please, If I turn seaward any more. H AD LYDIAM. T YD I A, die, per omnes -* — ' Te deos oro, Sybarin cur properas amando Perdere ; cur apricum Oderit campum patiens pulveris atque solis ? Cur neque militaris Inter aequales equitat, Gallica nee lupatis Temperat ora frenis ? Cur timet flavum Tiberim tangere ? Cur olivum Sanguine viperino Cautius vitat, neque jam livida gestat armis Brachia saepe disco, Saepe trans finem jaculo nobilis expedito ? Quid latet, ut marinae Filium dicunt Thetidis sub lacrimosa Trojae Funera ne virilis Cultus in caedem et Lycias proriperet catervas ? 15 LOVE-SLOTH. T) Y all my Gods, and they are very many, ■*-' I pray you, Lady Lydia, let me know Why, as it seems to do, it gives you any Pleasure to let your love spoil Sidney so. He left the Second Life Guards for your sake, Sold all his horses, hunts and shoots no more, And, do our worst, we cannot make him take A cricket bat in hand, or touch an oar. Why does he thus " lie low," as legends say Achilles did to shirk the siege of Troy ; You best know why, but be it what it may, We think it rather rough on him, poor Boy ! i6 AD FUSCUM. T NTEGER vitae scelerisque purus -*■ Non eget Mauris jaculis neque arcu Nee venenatis gravida sagittis, Fusee, pharetra, Sive per Syrtes iter aestuosas Sive facturus per inhospitalem Caucasum vel quae loca fabulosus Lambit Hydaspes. Namque me silva lupus in Sabina, Dum meam canto Lalagen et ultra Terminum curis vagor expeditis, Fugit inermem, Quale portentum neque militaris Daunias latis alit aesculetis, Nee Jubae tellus generat leonum Arida nutrix. Pone^me pigris ubi nulla campis Arbor aestiva recreatur aura, Quod latus mundi nebulae malusque Juppiter urget ; i7 LOVE'S ARMOUR. CO, Gerald, I hear that you're off to the " Rockies," v -' To kill conscientiously all that you see, And Lilian writes that of weapons your stock is About as complete as could possibly be. But, Gerald, you rascal, in all your collection There's one arm that's^ wanting, I very much fear ; And that is the panoply wrought by affection For some little woman who's worth holding dear. Old man, there are perils we've all us slighted, And I not a whit less, I own it, than you, That beat every rifle that ever was sighted, But Love and Love's purity carry us through. And talking of Lily, last night I succeeded In setting some words to her favourite song, And thinking my efforts unheard or unheeded, Was trolling them out as I sauntered along. D Pone sub curru nimium propinqui Solis in terra domibus negata : Dulce ridentem Lalagen amabo, Dulce loquentem. '9 And while I sang on, and my vision grew sweeter, For Lilian's melody wrought like a charm, A horrid great Bull-dog, a well-known man-eater, Rushed out through the gate into Tomkins's farm. You'll laugh when you read this, I know it looks silly, But still it's a fact, that most truculent hound, As soon as he heard I was singing of Lily, Just shut up his chaps, and turned quietly round ! Don't ask me to come too ; what's done can't be undone ; And Love is a master as well as a joy ; Only three months ago I'd have whisked up to London, And started next week without winking, dear Boy ! But I feel somehow stalking^ just now not in my line, And fear that at best I should be in your way ; For how could I look for " Bighorn '' on a sky line, If dreaming of Lilian half through the day ? 20 AD PYRRHAM. QUIS multa gracilis te puer in rosa Perfusus liquidis urget odoribus Grato, Pyrrha, sub antro ? Cui flavam religas comam Simplex munditiis ? Heu quoties fidem Mutatosque deos flebit et aspera Nigris aequora ventis Emirabitur insolens Qui nunc te fruitur credulus aurea ; Qui semper vacuam, semper amabilem Sperat nescius aurae Fallacis. Miseri quibus Intentata nites ! Me tabula sacer Votiva paries indicat uvida Suspendisse potenti Vestimenta maris deo 21 THE FLIRT. f~* OOD evening, Lady Flora ; who's the man ? ^~* Forgive my bluntness, but you needn't stare ; You can't be puzzled, tho' I may be rude. Who, if not I, may claim to know your plan, The small white rosebuds in your golden hair, The long black skirt untrimmed ? Oh, we grow shrewd When you've half ruined us ! Ah, there he is, Poor little chap ! And from his button-hole, As once from mine, peeps a white rosebud too. How he believes in your simplicities ! A creed of brief duration, poor young soul ! Soon will he know his Goddess thro' and thro', And fret, as we all fretted, till we waded Thro' surf of Knowledge to Salvation's crags ! Under a glass case in my library I keep a few white rosebuds, very faded, As rescued sailors once hung up their rags In token of their gratitude. Goodbye ! 22 AD LEUCONOEN. ' I 'U ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quern mihi, quem tibi -*■ Finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nee Babylonios Tentaris numeros. Ut melius quidquid erit pati, Seu plures hiemes seu tribuit Juppiter ultimam, Quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare Tyrrhenum. Sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi Spem longam reseces. Dum loquimur fugerit invida Aetas : carpe diem quam minimum credula postero. 23 FUTILITY /^\H cease to speculate on Life and Death, ^-^ And who shall live the longest, you or I ; Nor on vain sighing, Nelly, waste your breath Because Astrology is all a lie. Be calm, a score of winters with their fun May be in store for us, or it may be That this particularly nasty one, Freezing the mud-banks of our Solent sea, May be our last ; be wise, my child, and take One glass of this mulled claret, and go sleep ; 'Tis fatal to be over wideawake ! Old Time, while we this wasteful vigil keep, Passes and chuckles ; let us live to-day, And look ahead as little as we may ! 2 4 AD C. SALLUSTIUM CRISPUM. AT ULLUS argento color est avaris -^ ^ Abdito terris, inimice lamnae Crispe Sallusti, nisi temperato Splendeat usu. Vivet extento Proculeius aevo Notus in fratres animi patemi ; Ilium aget penna metuente solvi Fama superstes. Latius regnes avidum domando Spiritum, quam si Libyam remotis Gadibus jungas et uterque Poenus Serviat uni. Crescit indulgens sibi dims hydrops, Nee sitim pellit nisi causa morbi Fugerit venis et aquosus albo Corpore 1 languor. 25 THE MISER'S HEIR. "\TOW, friend Charley, that you've come into that ' fortune Which enables you to count your Million twice, Tho' most anxious not to lecture or importune, I shall send you this one letter of advice. Said old Horace, " Hoarded money has no colour," A quaint dictum which I paraphrase to you By remarking that no lot could well be duller Than the life of an immensely wealthy screw. That Avarice has its use may be conceded, Altho' writers don't admit it as a rule ; One chance Miser in a family is needed, But the Miser who succeeds one is a fool. For a period of at least three generations Has your Uncle 1 done the business for you all ; Then accept the grand result of his privations, And at once begin to furbish up the Hall. 1 Horace's friend Sallust had succeeded to his Uncle, a noted miser. E 26 Redditum Cyri solio Phraaten Dissidens plebi numero beatorum Eximit Virtus, populumque falsis Dedocet uti Vocibus, regnum et diadema tutum Deferens uni propriamque laurum Quisquis ingentes oculo irretorto Spectat acervos. 27 Don't take refuge in a pitiful autopsy, And whine, " I must, I feel it in my blood ; " Did a water-diet ever cure the dropsy ? Hire a forest, buy a steam yacht, raise a stud ! Show the colour of your money to your neighbours ; Be God's almoner and herald to the poor ; Make the measure and the merit of your labours, To drive misery, say, ten miles from your door. If you follow up old Horace's direction, And will make of generosity a creed, You shall win a little kingdom of affection, Where your Uncle found a dungeon in his greed. 28 INVOCATIO AD VENEREM. S~\ VENUS, regina Cnidi Paphique, ^^ Sperne dilectam Cypron, et vocantis Thure te multo Glycerae decoram Transfer in aedem. Fervidus tecum puer et solutis Gratiae zonis properentque Nymphae Et parum comis sine te Juventas Mercuriusque. 29 AN INVITATION. /^VH Venus, if haply of Paphos and Cnidus ^-^ And Cyprus in general you've had your fill, And do not as mortals too keenly deride us, Pray pay us a visit at Vicars Hill. And bring your Boy with you, and all the three Graces, And lightly-zoned Ladies who trip in your train, And Youth, who without thee wellnigh out of place is, And Mercury too, should he be in the vein. 3° AD XANTHIAM PHOCEUM. TV J E sit ancillae tibi amor pudori, Xanthia Phoceu ! Prius insolentem Serva Briseis niveo colore Movit Achillem ; Movit Ajacem Telamone natum Forma captivae dominum Tecmessae ; Arsit Atrides medio in triumpho Virgine rapta, Barbarae postquam cecidere turmae Thessalo victore et ademptus Hector Tradidit fessis leviora tolli Pergama Grais. Nescias an te generum beati Phyllidis flavae decorent parentes : Regium certe genus et penates Maeret iniquos. 3* A SANCTION. A ND so you want to marry Phyllis Gray, ■**■ The little mystery of Hertford Street ; Well, well, a wilful man will have his way, And yours is most intelligibly sweet ! I don't mind in the least confessing, Geo, I'm pleased that you should ask for my consent, For, though I'm not entitled to say " No ", Like all old folks I feel a compliment. Of course I wish we knew from whom she came — For as to what she is I have no fear — And vainly have I pumped that dry old dame Who always acts as her Duenna here. But Phyllis says — and she is in her right — " Take me for what I am, or let me be ; " Love gives your answer, and an instinct bright With sixty years of handling speaks for me. 32 t Crede non illam tibi de scelesta Plebe dilectam, neque sic fidelem, Sic lucro aversam, potuisse nasci Matre pudenda. Brachia et vultum teretesque suras Integer laudo ; fuge surpicari, Cujus octavum trepidavit aetas Claudere lustrum. 33 A mouth so frank, a brow so broad and fair, Such hands and feet, so fine a carriage too ; And as for eyes, I never saw a pair At once so deep, so truthful, and so blue ! Whate'er the story that enshrouds her birth, By every test that ever was applied In judging women, I'd stake all I'm worth That she lacks nothing on the mother's side ! One trifle more, it may be that it sounds A little coarse and mercantile — but still — A woman who has thirty thousand pounds Marries for nothing but her own sweet will. We are the last survivors of our race, And have to please ourselves alone, dear boy ; • And I for my part shall take heart of grace, Give my consent herewith, and wish you joy. So bear an old man's blessing to her straight, And add, I shall be growling till I've read A note, in lawyer's phrase, " of even date ", Writ in her pattes de mouche to Uncle Ned. And bring the Morning Post upon the scene — We fling our shields in front of her that way — " A marriage has been just arranged between Captain George Hawkhurst and Miss Phyllis Gray ' 34 AD FAMULUM. -P J <5> "DERSICOS odi, puer, apparatus, -*• Displicent nexae philyra coronae ; Mitte sectari rosa quo locorum Sera moretur. Simplici myrto nihil allabores Sedulus euro : neque te ministrum Dedecet myrtus neque me sub arta Vite bibentem. 35 AL FRESCO. I" HATE the sight of your prim white waistcoat, - 1 - And standing armies of plate and glass, These indoor splendours bore me, Prestcott, I'll have my dinner out on the grass. Go fetch my wideawake, take this tie ; You may put on your own hat if you please ; And carry me out that cold grouse pie With a bottle of Burgundy under the trees. 36 AD POSTUMUM. T? HEU fugaces, Postume, Postume, — ' Labuntur anni, nee pietas moram Rugis et instanti senectae Afferet indomitaeque morti, — Non, si trecenis, quotquot eunt dies, Amice, places illacrimabilem Plutona tauris, qui ter amplum Geryonen Tityonque tristi Compescit unda, scilicet omnibus Quicunque terrae munere vescimur Enaviganda, sive reges Sive inopes erimus coloni. Frustra cruento Marte carebimus Fractisque rauci fluctibus Hadriae, Frustra per auctumnos nocentem Corporibus metuemus Austrum : 37 SIR PETER. (~~\F all the little fools I know, there's none ^-^ Can come within a day's march of Sir Peter ; Prig, pietist, and petit-maitre in one, Who could be meaner, fussier, or neater ? Death is to him a sempiternal fear, Alas, alas, Sir Peter, oh Sir Peter ! Your ceremonious coddling makes each year To seem, if anything, a little fleeter ! Tho' not a fop, each grizzling whisker is A source of terror that he can't dissemble ; Each widening wrinkle on his wizen phiz He measures with two hands that really tremble. He never walks in London after dark, Because he once heard someone was garotted ; Nor helps to shoot the game in his own park, Because he lives in dread of being potted. 3§ Visendus ater flumine languido Cocytos errans et Danai genus Infame damnatusque longi Sisyphus Aeolides laboris. Linquenda tellus et domus et placens Uxor, neque harum quas colis arborum Te praeter invisas cupressos Ulla brevem dominum sequetur. Absumet heres Caecuba dignior Servata centum clavibus, et mero Tinget pavimentum superbo Pontificum potiore coenis. 39 He flies from England to avoid the Spring, And skips into a fur-coat in October ; He pushes to a vicious point one thing That I could make a virtue of — he's sober. By Jove, yes, there's a cellar thrown away ! I know his heir, and feel the worst of sinners For hoping I may live to see the day When that young man begins his course of dinners. 4Q AD VALGIUM. ~\ T ON semper imbres nubibus hispidos Manant in agros aut mare Caspium Vexant inaequales procellae Usque, nee Armeniis in oris, Amice Valgi, stat glacies iners Menses per omnes aut Aquilonibus Querceta Gargani laborant Et foliis viduantur orni : Tu semper urges flebilibus modis Mysten ademptum, nee tibi Vespero Surgente decedunt amores Nee rapidum fugiente Solem. At non ter aevo functus amabilem Ploravit omnes Antilochum senex Annos, nee impubem parentes Tro'ilon aut Phrygiae sorores 41 FIDELITY. "XT O longer mourn for that which thou hast lost ■^ But let Time have thy leave to cancel woe ; Too long hast thou postponed thy Pentecost, Give thy last look unto her grave, and go ! Mark how thy mother Nature ever sways The throes that do contort her seething spheres, And on the floor that splintering Havoc lays, Spreads the flowered carpet of the weaving years. 42 Flevere semper. Desine mollium Tandem querelarum, et potius nova Cantemus Augusti tropaea Caesaris et rigidum Niphaten, Medumque flumen gentibus additum Victis minores volvere vertices, Intraque praescriptum Gelonos Exiguis equitare campis. 43 'Tis time thy heart began to bloom anew Above the battered stalks of thy regret, Sweet birds still sing, streams sparkle, skies are blue, And maidens yearn, and thou art youthful yet, Arise and choose ; he lied, whoever said To love the living were to slight the dead ! 44 PAUPERTATEM DIVITIIS PRJEFERT. TVJ ON ebur neque aureum ^ ^ Mea renidet in domo lacunar ; Non trabes Hymettiae Premunt columnas ultima recisas Africa ; neque Attali Ignotus heres regiam occupavi ; Nee Laconicas mihi Trahunt honestae purpuras clientae : At fides et ingeni Benigna vena est, pauperemque dives Me petit ; nihil supra Deos lacesso, nee potentem amicum 45 TEMPLE CHAMBERS. ' I ''HE man who dares -*- Three flights of stairs To find me out in " Bracton Building ", Must not expect To see them decked With compensating paint or gilding. The rusty rail Is somewhat frail, The side walls sadly want reliming, The steps of stone Are greasy grown, They make a dreary piece of climbing. Inside, my room Repeats the gloom — At first sight only, be it stated — In fact it pays The man who stays To see how gloom maybe abated. 4 6 Largiora flagito, Satis beatus unicis Sabinis. Truditur dies die, Novaeque pergunt interire lunae. Tu secanda marmora Locas sub ipsum funus, et sepulcri Immemor struis domos Marisque Baiis obstrepentis urges Summovere littora, Parum locuples continente ripa. Quid, quod usque proximos Revellis agri terminos et ultra 47 I never chanced To be advanced By any honourable client, I had one Brief From a Jew thief, Evasive first but soon defiant, To whom still sticks The i. 3. 6. That should have draped my bare exchequer ; And since that day None come my way To fill the void of that old ' wrecker '. And no one dies By whose demise — In either sense the word admits of — I'm likely to Receive a sous ; My income small is drawn from bits of Stock chosen well By Charley Bell, That smartest, kindliest of brokers, The best judge known Of share or loan, And most exuberant of smokers. 4 8 Limites clientium Salis avarus ? Pellitur paternos In sinu ferens deos Et uxor et vir sordidosque natos ; Nulla certior tamen Rapacis Orci fine destinata Aula divitem manet Herum. Quid ultra tendis ? Aequa tellus Pauperi recluditur Regumque pueris, nee satelles Orci Callidum Promethea Revexit auro captus. Hie superbum 49 With books, and smoke, And pleasant folk I find it easy to kill time here ; And though 'tis far To Temple Bar A goodish many fellows climb here. Of these some few- Are dull 'tis true, But dullards ofttimes furnish study ; There's many a fool Is like a pool As full of specimens as muddy. A certain Squire Whose one desire Is to be "bigger" than his neighbour, Sighs as he thinks — After three drinks — That saving is a form of labour ; That buying farms Will lose its charms, The more so, if you do not marry ; I hear, and laugh " Oh that's all chaff, You'll never give it up, Sir Harry ! " H 5o Tantalum atque Tantali Genus coercet ; hie levare functum Pauperem laboribus Vocatus atque non vocatus audit. Si Another fool I knew at school, A sort of shoddy, patchwork Crighton, Will prate away The livelong day About his half-built house at Brighton. At vast expense, Not of good sense, In what he calls " Coordination," He means to blend Styles without end In that stupendous elevation. And yet, poor lad, He's worse than bad, And what's more, knows how poor his plight is ; Three years or four, He can't live more, Will slay him of Endocarditis. Then there's old Hicks, Whose politics Mean knowing folks whose names have handles ; And Peter Grime, Who spends his time A dibiter notorious scandals. 53 Well, these depart, And off I start To take my stroll up Piccadilly, And as I go Towards Rotten Row, Think folks look sadder and more silly. I watch the crowd Of riders proud, And mark the carriages with wonder, Then clubward trudge, And without fudge, Don't think my own content a blunder. For when I see The huge ennui, That weighs upon the wealthier classes, I own they strike My mind as like A legion of self-laden asses. 54 V AD THALIARCHUM. IDES ut alta stet nive candidum Soracte, nee jam sustineant onus Silvae laborantes geluque Flumina constiterint acuto. Dissolve frigus ligna super foco Large reponens, atque benignius Deprome quadrimum Sabina, O Thaliarche, merum diota. Permitte divis cetera, qui simul Stravere ventos aequore fervido Deproeliantes nee cupressi Nee veteres agitantur orni. Quid sit futurum eras fuge quaerere, et Quern Fors dierum cunque dabit lucto Appone, nee dulces amores Sperne puer neque tu choreas, 55 ROLLICK AND FROLIC. "\ ~X THITE towers the Lomond 'neath the snow, The spent woods bend and break below, By bristling bands of frost beleaguered The mountain rivulets cease to flow. To drive this damned cold out of door With great logs make the chimney roar ; And get us up, Convivial William, One Magnum, say, of your " '64." All else be their's, whose late decrees Have stilled the wrangling winds and seas ; Mark, how yon veterans of Ashes And Cypress sentinels stand at ease ! To-morrow's forecast fling away, And thank your stars you've got to-day, And stick to dancing and flirtation Until you come to be sour and grey. 56 Donee virenti canities abest Morosa. Nunc et campus et areae Lenesque sub noctem susurri Composita repetantur hora ; Nunc et Iatentis proditor intimo Gratus puellae risus ab angulo, Pignusque dereptum lacertis Aut digito male pertinaci. 57 Now is your time for sports and games ; Now somehow certain persons' names Are apt to find themselves repeated Over the teacups of certain dames ; Now in dark corners should you stray, A laugh some presence will betray, And if you snatch at arm or finger, Some gage cPamitii comes away. =ji \ 1 U 58 LUXUM REPREHENDIT. JAM pauca aratro jugera regiae Moles relinquent ; undique latius Extenta visentur Lucrino Stagna lacu, platanusque caelebs Evincet ulmos ; turn violaria et Myrtus et omnis copia narium Spargent olivetis odorem Fertilibus domino priori, Turn spissa ramis laurea fervidos Excludet ictus. Non ita Romuli Praescriptum et intonsi Catonis Auspiciis veterumque norma. Privatus illis census erat brevis, Commune magnum : nulla decempedis Metata privatis opacam Porticus excipiebat Arcton, 59 SMART SQUIRES. A LTHOUGH to moralize is not my forte, ■*■ It strikes me that your country-gentleman, I mean the very smart and modern sort, Is hardly living on a proper plan. The stately mansion, costly bric-d-brac, The tawdry plant-house in Paxtonian taste, And back-stairs teeming with the monkey pack Whose creed and pride are idleness and waste. The gardens, ample for a city's boast, Square miles of covert swarming for display, And farms shorn naked by the martyr host Butchered to make a Cockney holiday ; The Season, Ascot, Goodwood, Norway, Cowes ; The flight to Monte'Carlo, Paris, Rome ; Meanwhile the blinds down at the Country House, Ten months away, perchance, and two at home ! 6o Nee fortuitum spernere caespitem Leges sinebant, oppida publico Sumptu jubentes et deorum Templa novo decorare saxo. 6i You whine o'er "Agricultural Depression ;" But let your candid friend take leave to say, That Landlords who abandon their profession, Must look to wake up Lacklands some fine day. The Westerns, Coverleys, and Allworthys, With all their failings, played a wholesome role; They spent their substance on their properties, And " Land " and they did better on the whole. 62 AD FONTEM BANDUSIAE. ^ ' OFONS Bandusiae, splendidior vitro, Dulci digne mero non sine floribus, Cras donaberis haedo Cui frons turgida cornibus Primis et venerem et proelia destinat, Frustra : nam gelidos inficiet tibi Rubro sanguine rivos Lascivi suboles gregis. Te flagrantis atrox hora Caniculae Nescit tangere, tu frigus amabile Fessis vomere tauris Praebes et pecori vago. Fies nobilium tu quoque fontium, Me dicente cavis impositam ilicem Saxis, unde loquaces Lymphae desiliunt tuae. 63 BOLDRE WATER. /^~\H, Boldre Water, dear to me ^~"^ As e'er Bandusia's spring could be To him who sang of it so sweetly, One more of Moet I drink to thee ! Thy suns give all that summer needs To bronze the spear-tips on thy reeds, And prank with wealth of gold and purple Thy breadths of rushes and grassy meads. From reach to reach, at food or play, Thy herds of cows and horses stray, Or 'neath thy friendly birch and alder They lazily doze their noons away. And I, my rod in hand, the while I seek thy fishes to beguile, Oft trail a careless fly, and ponder Uncertain whether'to sigh or smile ; 65 And say, " Oh, were I like to him Who basked beside Bandusia's rim, The fame of pleasant Boldre Water No lapse of summers should ever dim ! " 66 DIALOGUS HORATII ET LYDIAE. >>' T^ONEC gratus eram tibi -"-^ Nee quisquam potior brachia candidae Cervici juvenis dabat, Persarum vigui rege beatior. Donee non alia magis Arsisti neque erat Lydia post Chloen, Multi Lydia nominis Romana vigui clarior Ilia. Me nunc Thressa Chloe regit Dulces docta modos et citharae sciens, Pro qua non metuam mori Si parcent animae fata superstiti. Me torret face mutua Thurini Calais filius Ornyti, Pro quo bis patiar mori Si parcent puero fata superstiti. 6; A SHAM FIGHT. H. ~\\ WHILST I was pleasant in thine eyes, while yet * * Those unsurrendered lilies of thy neck No other arm than mine had learned to hem, I had not bartered my love's coronet For all the Royal East, nor, sooth, did reck If Earth held any other diadem. L. Ere yet the fever of thy later flame Its ruinous flicker had begun to fling Along the truant courses of thy blood, And cast back Chloe's shadow on my name, Too fortunate was I and flourishing To change for Ilia's fame my womanhood. H. Ah Chloe, Cretan Chloe, music-sweet ! How through my heart thy strain reverberates, Thou mistress of the Cithern and of me ! Oh cunning little harper out of Crete, Couldst thou but make thy bargain with the Fates, I should not fear to die in place of thee ! 68 Quid si prisca redit Venus Diductosque jugo cogit aeneo, Si flava excutitur Chloe Rejectaeque patet janua Lydiae ? Quamquam sidere pulchrior Ille est, tu levior cortice et improbo Iracundior Hadria, Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens. 6 9 L. Deem not in leaving me thou leftst me lone ; Calais and I have long since lived aglow With love-fires that have made our mutual joy ; And hark, thou traitor, I am free to own, I'd die twice over if I could but know, That dying I could save my darling boy ! H. But what if Love, the old Love, came again Leading her penitents in either hand, And forged for both the brazen yoke anew ? If Chloe, golden hair and golden strain, Should vainly on th' unheeding threshold stand Where Lydia, flouted Lydia, had passed through ? L. Though He be fairer than a star, and thou Lighter than foam in thy behaviour art And rougher than the ever-wrangling sea, Yet take me, for I love thee, and avow My dream of life of thine is to form part, And my best hope in death to die with thee. 7° AD LIGURINUM. f~\ CRUDELIS adhuc et Veneris muneribus potens, ^-^ Insperata tuae cum veniet pluma superbiae, Et quae nunc humeris involitant deciderint comae, Nunc et qui color est puniceae flore prior rosae Mutatus Ligurinum in faciem verterit hispidam, Dices heu quotiens te speculo videris alteram : " Quae mens est hodie, cur eadem non puero fuit ? Vel cur his animis incolumes non redeunt genae ? " BCBS81TAI n BLIND BOYS. DY George, it's very nearly twelve o'clock ! -*-^ And we're to start at seven, eh, Sir Guy ? Which being so, I'll say good-night in block To this especially good company. And d profios de bottes, as I retire Sole champion of an antiquated view Of Love and Life, forgive me if I fire One Parthian shot " into the brown " of you. Youth — like to Manna in the Wilderness — Spreads out its glittering chances day by day, And day by day the waning stores grow less, And hoarded or unreaped alike decay. You turn away from the celestial food Strewn for your banquet by benignant skies, And, masters only of the merry mood, Spurn each neglected offering as it lies. n So did not I, thank God ! Love's sunny lands In grateful retrospect I still descry, Albeit that a tear-stained head-stone stands To mar the foreground of my memory. Gay Cynics of the smoking-room, take care Lest haply some of you may sometime say, " Why are we not to-day what once we were ? " Or, " why not once that which we are to-day ? " 74 IN CHL0R1N VETULAM. T TXOR pauperis Ibyci, **J Tandem nequitiae fige modum tuae Famosisque laboribus : Maturo propior desine funeri Inter ludere virgines Et stellis nebulam spargere candidis. Non si quid Pholoen satis Et te, Chlori, decet : filia rectius Expugnat juvenum domos, Pulso Thyias uti concita tympano. Illam cogit amor Nothi Lascivae similem ludere capreae : Te lanae prope nobilem Tonsae Luceriam, non citharae decent, Nee flos purpureus rosae Nee poti vetulam faece tenus cadi. 75 THE FRISKY MATRON. \7"OU'RE fifty years old, Lady Dolly, 'Tis time you learnt how to behave ; Oh model of middle-aged folly, When will you grow grave ! You've brought out a couple of daughters Whom every one ventures to snub ; I heard them called " wegula snawtas " Last night — at a club ! To see you all prancing together Is almost as sad as absurd ; This moralist hardly knows whether To sigh or to gird. I never like scanty-topped dresses On any girl over thirteen, But yours, with your rouge and bought tresses, Aren't fit to be seen ! 77 Go home, take to sewing and knitting, Make jackets and socks for the poor ; Give up all this flirting and skitting, Turn grey and demure. Accept without tricks or complaining The changes that nature decrees, Nor vainly insist upon draining Life down to the lees. 78 AD LYDEN "Tj*ESTO quid potius die -*- Neptuni faciam ? Prome reconditum, Lyde strenua, Caecubum Munitaeque adhibe vim sapientiae. Inclinare merediem Sentis ac, veluti stet volucris dies, Parcis deripere horreo Cessantem Bibuli consulis amphoram. Nos cantabimus invicem Neptunum et virides Nere'idum comas ; Tu curva recines lyra Latonam et celeris spicula Cynthiae ; Summo carmine quae Cnidon Fulgentesque tenet Cycladas et Paphon Junctis visit oloribus ; Dicetur merita Nox quoque nenia. 79 A BIRTHDAY. "\ ~\ THAT shall we do on this sixth of November, Do on this day of all days in the year ? Call up such things as we care to remember ? Drink to your health ? That is clear, my Dear ! Down sinks the Sun in a hall of vermilion, Carmine, and amethyst, orange, and green ; Revel we too in a fairy pavilion, Gleaming with Youth and its sheen, my Queen ! Wring we again from yon Keyboard's slumbers Passionate themes that our hearts once wrung, You with your Schubert's and Schumann's numbers, I with the songs that I sung, when young ! What do they matter, Love, what do they matter, Pallor and wrinkles and tresses white ? Perrier-Jouet, and tunes, and chatter, Let us be foolish, and bright, to-night ! 8o -AD ASTERIEN. QUID fles, Asterie, quern tibi candidi Primo restituent vere Favonii Thyna merce beatum, Constantis juvenem fide, Gygen ? Ille Notis actus ad Oricum Post insana Caprae sidera frigidas Noctes non sine multis Insomnis lacrimis agit. Atqui sollicitae nuntius hospitae, Suspirare Chloen et miseram tuis Dicens ignibus uri, Tentat mille vafer modis. Ut Proetum mulier perfida credulum Falsis impulerit criminibus nimis Casto Bellerophonti Maturare necem, refert 8i A BROTHER'S LETTER. T"\ON'T cry your little eyes out, poor dear Ciss ! *^ My Colonel tells me that the "Onety Oneths," Owing to some fresh Horse-Guards vagaries, Are due at home again in eighteen months. And meanwhile George will have a heap of fun, Will shoot his tiger, stick wild pigs galore, Win a few hack races in garrison, And bring home Indian weapons by the score. Besides, he's sure to ransack each bazaar For carpets, china, silks, and bric-a-brac ; So, though this parting is a nasty jar, You'll " get home " well upon his coming back. One word of warning ; all the flirting set, I mean my Lady Doll and her galere, Will do their level best to make you fret About poor dear old George's life out there. M 82 Narrat paene datum Pelea Tartaro, Magnessam Hippolyten dum fug-it abstinens ; Et peccare docentes Fallax historias movet. Frustra : nam scopulis surdior Icari Voces audit adhuc integer. At tibi Ne vicinus Enipeus Plus justo placeat cave ; Quamvis non alius flectere equum sciens Aeque conspicitur gramine Martio, Nee quisquam citus aeque Tusco denatat alveo. Prima nocte domum claude neque in vias Sub cantu querulae despice tibiae, Et te saepe vocanti Duram difficilis mane. §3 You know as well as I do what they are ; They can't conceive of people running straight And hating all things slantingdicular — God knows, they don't themselves, at any rate ! And, by the bye, George Hawkhurst came to me In the Rag smoking-room this afternoon, And told me that that rank outsider B., Who pestered Kitty Frampton so last June, Had said — confound his insolence — he meant To take his horses down to Featherstone, And hunt with the Old Blankshire ; so I went Up to the beggar where he sat alone, And said, he'd find the stalls at F. all let ; " Who's taken them?" said he ; " This child," said I j Nothing more passed, but you may safely bet You won't be plagued by him, old Ciss. Good-bye. 34 IN LYCEN VETULAM. A UDIVERE, Lyce, di mea vota, di *• *■ Audivere, Lyce : fis anus, et tamen Vis formosa videri Ludisque et bibis impudens Et cantu tremulo pota Cupidinem Lentum sollicitas. Ille virentis et Doctae psallere Chiae Pulchris excubat in genis. Importunus enim transvolat aridas Quercus, et refugit te quia luridi Dentes, te quia rugae Turpant et capitis nives. Nee Coae referunt jam tibi purpurae Nee clari lapides tempora, quae semel Notis condita fastis Inclusit volucris dies. 85 THE OLD COQUETTE. ' I "'HE Gods have heard my prayer, Lizzie, -*- The Gods have heard my prayer ! You're old, my dear, But would appear Winning as once you were, Lizzie ! Your wine you nowise shy ; Your jinks are over high ; And Love hangs back At the maudlin crack Of the songs you still will try ! He, without shame or pity, Hath found a songstress pretty, And made his lair In the dimples fair Of clever, blooming Kitty. His wings will not bend down Towards trees whose leaves are brown ; He shuns like truth A long dark tooth, Wrinkles, and grizzled crown. 86 Quo fugit venus, heu, quove color? decens Quo motus ? quid habes illius, illius, Quae spirabat amores, Quae me surpuerat mihi, Felix post Cinaram, notaque et artium Gratarum facies ? Sed Cinarae breves Annos fata dederunt, Servatura diu parem Cornicis vetulae temporibus Lycen, Possent ut juvenes visere fervidi Multo non sine risu Dilapsam in cineres facem. FOBT1TUDO. 87 That low-cut frock, nta chire, And plastering riviire, Don't take you back Far on the track Of years to the days that were. Venus ! Can you be she, She who came over me ? Whose arts and smile For a brief while Swamped Carry's memory ? Ah why, alas ! ah, why Should gentle Carry die, So sweet, so true, So young, while you Grow old in coquetry ! 88 IN CANIDIAM VENEFICAM. " A T, o Deorum quidquid in caelo regit Terras et humanum genus, Quid iste fert tumultus ? Aut quid omnium Vultus in unum me truces ? Per liberos te, si vocata partubus Lucina veris afifuit, Per hoc inane purpurae decus precor Per improbaturum haec Jovem, Quid ut noverca me intueris, aut uti Petitaferrobellua?" Ut haec trementi questus ore constitit Insignibus raptis puer, Impube corpus, quale posset impia Mollire Thracum pectora, Canidia brevibus implicata viperis Crines et incomptum caput, Jubet sepulchris caprificos erutas, Jubet cupressus funebres, Et uncta turpis ova ranae sanguine, Plumamque nocturnae strigis 89 WEIRD SISTERS. ' I ""HE reign of Hecate" is o'er, - 1 - Her murderous votaries no more Kidnap and slay ; in such a guise Her bloody trade no sorceress plies ; Yet still Canidia seems to carve The grave in which some child shall starve ; Sagana's tooth and Veia's nail Still seem to rend their victims pale ; And still with hellish dance and rite They seem to desecrate the night. Each finds her latest parallel Among those Pariah souls who dwell As richly shrined as lightly prized, Unnamed, unowned, unrecognized ; In heart, and mind, and body, wrecks Of all that sanctifies their sex ; Victims perchance, but e'en if so, Victims that into vampires grow ; And as those Hags of olden time, 'Gainst whom great Flaccus hurled his rhyme, N go Herbasque, quas Iolcus atque Iberia Mittit venenorum ferax, Et ossa ab ore rapta jejunae canis Flammis aduri Colchicis. At expedita Sagana per totam domum Spargens Avernales aquas Horret capillis ut marinus asperis Echinus aut currens aper. Abacta nulla Veia conscientia, Ligonibus duris humum Exhauriebat ingemens laboribus, Quo posset infossus puer Longo die bis terque mutatae dapis Inemori spectaculo, Quum promineret ore, quantum exstant aqua Suspensa mento corpora ; Exsucta uti medulla et aridum jecur Amoris esset poculum, Interminato quum semel fixae cibo Intabuissent pupulae. Non defuisse masculae libidinis Ariminensem Foliam Et otiosa credidit Neapolis Et omne vicinum oppidum, Quae sidera excantata voce Thessala Lunamque coelo deripit. Hie irresectum saeva dente livido Canidia rodens pollicem Quid dixit aut quid tacuit ? " O, rebus meis Non infideles arbitrae, Nox et Diana, quae silentium regis, 9i With seething cauldron, ghastly spell, And antic shows of their mock Hell, Some hapless youth would immolate To work a charm or wreak a hate, So these will lie in wait, and prey On such weak lives as come their way ; And drag down fortune health and fame To the foul slough of their own shame ; For perished hopes a saucy laugh Is all they spare for epitaph, Flouncing the while, as who should say " We have been ruined, why not they ? " It was the lair of one of these, A temple of caprice and ease ; The walls with florid silks were hung, Rich furs were on the couches flung ; Here stood a toilet-table smart With marvels of the goldsmith's art, And here a washing-alcove vain With marble bath and porcelain. The sumptuous bed spread piled on high With satins, down, and broidery ; A pair of brazen doves upbore Its lace-fringed curtains, while two more Kissed in the head ; and in it lay Alone, untended, cast away, Canidia's latest shattered toy, At his last gasp, a dying Boy. Poor lad, he lay a wasted thing, With frayed lips faintly muttering ; A half-shed tear on each closed eye 92 Arcana cum fiunt sacra, Nunc nunc adeste, nunc in hostiles domos I ram atque numen vertite ! Formidolosis dum latent sylvis ferae Dulci sopore languidae, Senem, quod omnes rideant, adulterum Latrent Suburanae canes Nardo perunctum, quale non perfectius Meae laborarint manus. Quid accidit ? Cur dira barbarse minus Venena Medeae valent ? Quibus superbam fugit ulta pellicem, Magni Creontis filiam, Quum palla,.tabo munus imbutum, novam Incendio nuptam abstulit. Atqui nee herba nee latens in asperis Radix fefellit me locis. Indormit unctis omnium cubilibus Oblivione pellicum Ah, ah ! Solutus ambulat veneficae Scientioris carmine. Non usitatis Vare potionibus O multa fleturum caput, Ad me recurres nee vocata mens tua Marsis redibit vocibus. Majus parabo, majus infundam tibi Fastidienti poculum, Priusque coelum sidet inferius mari Tellure porrecta super, Quam non amore sic meo flagres uti Bitumen atris ignibus." 93 Told of remorse and misery ; His heart had wandered as he lay To all that he had flung away, Love, sister, home, his lost estate, Remembered all, alas, too late ; While, such his shame and his despair, None knew that he lay shuddering there, Alone, alone, in Circe's sty With death and night for company. Draw close the curtains fringed with lace, Shut out the poor contorted face, Leave him alone with death and gloom, And step down to Canidia's room. About a table amply lit She, Sagana, and Veia sit ; These are no crabbed crooked crones, But beauteous 'mid earth's beauteous ones. No herb or drug they cull or dress, Their philtres stream in a caress ; The deadly draughts wherewith they kill From eye, and cheek, and lip distill ; And far more sure, and far more fell Than votaries of a fabled Hell, They work the doom of those who quaff The poison of their kiss or laugh. Callous and cold behold the Three ; They have supped well and daintily ; For they can eat, and they can drain Recurrent draughts of rich champagne, And each has now her goblet set, And each mouth holds a cigarette ; 94 Sub haec puer jam non ut ante mollibus Lenire verbis impias, Sed dubius unde rumperet silentium Misit Thyesteas preces : " Venena, magnum fas nefasque non valent Convertere humanam vicem ; Diris agam vos ; dira detestatio Nulla expiatur victima. Quin ubi perire jussus e'xspiravero, Nocturnus occurram furor, Petamque vultus umbra curvis unguibus Quae vis Deorum est Manium, Et inquietis assidens praecordiis Pavore somnos auferam. Vos turba vicatim hinc et hinc saxis petens Contundet obscoenas anus. Post insepulta membra different lupi Et Esquilinae alites ; Neque hoc parentes heu mihi superstites Effugerit spectaculum. 95 Their chatter spiced with oath and joke, They loll, and laugh, and sip, and smoke, With scarce a pause or passing word To show that their hard hearts are stirred E'en at the thought that Death's stern tread Paces the chamber overhead. The door-bell rings, and through the hall Sudden they hear a man's foot fall ; " The Doctor's step ! " Canidia swears — " Now I shall have to go upstairs ! " Says Sagana, " No hurry yet ! " And Veia, " Smoke your cigarette ! " So back she lolls, when, lo, once more They hear a step approach the door ; And as a hand the handle tries, Instinctively the trio rise ; And half in fear they mutely scan The grey-haired serious-looking man. He enters ; " Oh," Canidia cries, " I was just coming !".... To her eyes Half culprit, half audacious, stole A glance intended to cajole ; But, scarce evoked, its fatuous rays Died out, as his contemptuous gaze Repelled her, and he gravely said, " Stay where you are ! The poor Lad's dead/ 9 6 FENERATOR ALFIUS VITAM RUSTICAM LAUDAT. ~D EATUS ille qui procul negotiis, Ut prisca gens mortalium, Paterna rura bobus exercet suis, Solutus omni fenore, Neque excitatur classico miles truci, Neque horret iratum mare, Forumque vitat et superba civium Potentiorum limina. Ergo aut adulta vitium propagine Altas maritat populos, Aut in reducta valle mugientium Prospectat errantes greges, Inutilesque falce ramos amputans Feliciores inserit, Aut pressa puris mella condit amphoris, Aut tondet infirmas oves ; Vel cum decorum mitibus pomis caput Auctumnus agris extulit, Ut gaudet insitiva decerpens pira, Certantem et uvam purpurae, 97 THE QUEEN'S COUNSEL. /~\ H might some freak of time or fate ^-^ In our joint lives interpolate Before we get too old, my dear, An intercalatory year ; Which we might spend at our sweet will, Most probably at Vicars Hill, Without incurring risk or blame, Or sense of idleness, or shame, Or lapse in duty, loss in purse, In short be not one whit the worse ! We would be comrades day by day Of Nature on her glorious way,i Would watch the Sun complete his track All round the blessed Zodiac, And hail the Months as each one speeds To drape the woods and deck the meads, Like tiring-maids whose turn draws near To change the apparel of the Year. How would we with combined intent Note, every outdoor incident ! You, in your way, each floweret's springing, o 9 8 Qua muneretur te, Priape, et te, pater Silvane, tutor finium ! Libet jacere modo sub antiqua ilice, Modo in tenaci gramine. Labuntur altis interim ripis aquae, Queruntur in silvis aves, Fontesque lymphis obstrepunt manantibus, Somnos quod invitet leves. At cum tonantis annus hibernus Jovis Imbres nivesque comparat, Aut trudit acres hinc et hinc multa cane Apros in obstantes plagas, 99 Each song-bird's earliest day of singing, And I, in mine as careful, trace The kitchen-garden's mantling grace ; Bold Rhubarb first, vermilion-polled, Bursting his swaddling-cloths of mould ; And next that little violet head That peeps up from its fine-strewn bed, As who should say with timid pride, "j " Behold Asparagus the bride J- Of him who feasts your Eastertide, J The firstling of your flocks, I am The tender consort of Roast Lamb." So later would I pace the lines Where Marrowfat's soft tendril twines, And through his white bloom's sundered lip Spy the first pod's uptilted tip, And sigh for Sage, and that good bird Whose honest quack I'd lately heard ; Then pause to think how strange the tether That binds far distant types together, And gratefully reflect that He Who made the Duck ordained the Pea ! Sights scents and sounds of summer days ! I see your terrace-beds ablaze ; The lawn is flecked with shadows fine From weeping Elm and dark green Pine ; A Gum-tree's opalescent crest Scarce answers to the breathing west, And overhangs with tender shade The Pampas-grass's still cascade. As down your favourite walk I go, IOO Aut amite levi rara tendit retia, Turdis edacibus dolos, Pavidumque leporem et advenam laqueo gruem Jucunda captat praemia. Quis non malarum quas amor curas habet Haec inter obliviscitur ? Quodsi pudica mulier in partem juvet Domum atque dukes liberos, Sabina qualis aut perusta solibus Pernicis uxor Apuli, Sacrum vetustis exstruat lignis focum Lassi sub adventum viri, 101 High o'er my head the lilies blow, While underneath Tigridias vie With blades of scarlet Gladioli, Whose stems in turn are sweetly set In Heliotrope and Mignonette. Their mingled sweets infect the air, And draw the Bees in squadrons there, Gay Butterflies, and countless forms Of happy insect-life in swarms, While answering song-birds far and near With rival notes complete the cheer. Within my soul tumultuous throng The mingled hues and scents and song ; I love the Birds, I love the Bees, The merry flowers, the sober trees ; The cordial summer glows within Till Nature seems ten times akin ; A new pulse beats along my blood, A sense of general brotherhood, And bird, and beast, and flower, and fly And man, seem but one family, And Summer one high festival Our common Mother holds for all ! I change my dream ; now self-impressed Among the " hands " at hay-harvest I ted the swathes with might and main, Or help to pile the scented wain ; Then, tired with toil unwonted, pass An hour supine upon the grass, Watching the river as it flows, Until my eyelids gently close. 102 Claudensque textis cratibus laetum pecus Distenta siccet ubera, Et horna dulci vina promens dolio Dapes inemptas apparet : Non me Lucrina juverint conchylia Magisve rhombus aut scari, Si quos Eois intonata fluctibus Hiems ad hoc vertat mare ; Non Afra avis descendat in ventrem meum, Non attagen Ionicus Jucundior, quam lecta de pinguissimis Oliva ramis arborum 105 Anon with sudden impulse braced I belt my knives about my waist, And shouldering axe and saw, set out To have a summer-pruning bout ; Or stroll off to the lower mead To pat my Guernseys as they feed ; And as I watch each careful beast Intent upon her evening feast, Rejecting here, selecting there, Munch with discriminating flair, 'Mid herbs whose differences to her Are as the dishes we prefer, I suddenly reflect — Great Heaven, My watch says that 'tis half-past seven ! I must not let the spring soup wait One moment from the stroke of eight ; Then there's the turbot F. brought down, At least I trust he did, from town ; And new potatoes, pretty toy ! And Lamb and Peas, and that rare joy, That Oxymel, that thing apart, That garden Comet, Green Peach Tart ! So home I trudge, well pleased to see The red sun flame o'er Battramslea, And up the East, serene and pale, Fronting his fires, the full Moon sail, And steeped in joy, and thankfulness, And general love, go up to dress. Summer, farewell ! Sweet August come ! Purveyor of the Peach and Plum ! Thy south-west breezes seem to sigh 104 Aut herba Iapathi prata amantis et gravi Malvae salubres corpori, Vel agna festis caesa Terminalibus, Vel haedus ereptus lupo. Has inter epulas ut juvat pastas oves Videre properantes domum, Videre fessos vomerem inversum boves Collo trahentes languido, Positosque vernas, ditis examen domus, Circum renidentes Lares ! Haec ubi locutus fenerator Alfius, Jam jam futurus rusticus, Omnem redegit Idibus pecuniam, Quaerit Kalendis ponere. id; A requiem over Trout that die. Victims — as I should be. no doubt. Had I been born a S air.- 37? Tro ¥ ut — To dainties delicately cooked : God knows how soon I should get hooked ! Upon die terrace see me stand, Bag shouldered, landing-net in hand. Th' etceteras of an Angler's store All carefully accounted for. As I stretch out my — elve-foot rod, As if it longed to feel aguiiu A rive-pound fish's well-known strain. My Spaniel, eager for the hunt Of moorhens, soamoers on us front. Once tirough the rate, he doubts no more. Bat gleeful rushes off at score. And ere I reach the water's edre I see no symptom of a fin. As reach on reach from shore to shore Sc.-unJu'K artem I explore. Until at last I end a fool Expectant in the "Amp res s "■ pool- Here let me pause, and so cut short They are hut idle boasts at best That run no risk :i wholesome test 107 Day follows day in varying rank, Good, middling, fair, vexatious, blank, Until September, swart and ripe, Brings me in contact with the Snipe. The Snipe ! There is no bird that flies, All round whom I more highly prize ; For he is rare, the little brute, And somewhat difficult to shoot, And more than aught that draweth breath Companionable after death. How grateful ought I not to be To him and the Salmonidas ! They stand me in right noble stead Till half October's days are sped, And chill, and gloom, and flood, and gale, Put marsh and stream beyond the pale. But two months thus remain, my dear, For us out of our model year. Still something 'twere for you and me To watch the Earth, in company, Like a live thing accepting fate, Fold her vast wings to hibernate, Just as we watched from March to May Her opening plumes their breadth display. Much comfort would there be to glean E'en from grey Winter's prim routine ; The gardening plans, the short brisk walk, Where silence lends its charm to talk, The fireside doze above a book, The tea-cup (large) in cosy nook, The generous dinner, music, whist, ^Sf* 109 Form an ensemble nowise triste, But one, wherein the thoughtful mind A mystic hint might even find, To make the year's decline, sweet friend, A symbol of life's quiet end. So wrote a Lawyer, leisure-smit ; But while he read what he had writ, His Clerk broke in with vulgar glee, And handed him Retainers three ; He pocketed the cheques, and sighed, " This dream dies as its brethren died ! " So Fenerator Alfius, " Jam jam futurus Rusticus, " His money carefully relent, " E'en as he sang, at cent, per cent. ; " Howe'er they babble of green, fields, " Few quit what wealth or honour yields ! ' no DE CARMINIBUS SUIS. T^ XEGI monumentum aere perennius — ' Regalique situ pyramidum altius, Quod non imber edax, noil Aquilo impotens Possit diruere aut innumerabilis Annorum series et fuga temporum. Non omnis moriar, multaque pars mei Vitabit Libitinam : usque ego postera Crescam laude recens dum Capitolium Scandet cum tacita virgine pontifex. Dicar qua violens obstrepit Aufidus Et qua pauper aquae Daunus agrestium Regnavit populorum, ex humili potens, Princeps Aeolium carmen ad Italos Deduxisse modos. Sume superbiam Quaesitam meritis et mihi Delphica Lauro cinge volens, Melpomene, comam. Ill ENVOI. "T'WOULD seem a little tall should I compare A This book of mine unto a Pyramid ; Or trusting to the brass within, should dare For its perennial life to make a bid. I have not launched it on the world, and so It lies well sheltered, with unruffled page, From " imber edax " and from "Aquilo,'' The teeth and storms of literary rage. " Non omnis morietur ; " howsoe'er My purpose idle or my verse ill done, Some lenient soul shall somewhere see and share My love for Horace, and condone my fun. Perchance some lone grouse-driver in his butt, Or weary fisher waiting for " the rise," Some public-school boy in a soldier's hut, Some yachtsman dreaming under tropic skies, "3 Shall give me heart-room : Then cheer up, my Muse ! And, as a self-dubbed Baronet makes red His scutcheon with the " Bloody Hand," I'll choose A modest little wreath for my own head. FINIS. CHISWICK PRESS.'— C. VVHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE. Cornell University Library PR 5167.P35D4 Debita Flacco.Echoes of Ode and Epode, by 3 1924 013 534 676