FROM XENOCRITUS

OF RHODES.

Cold on the wild wave floats thy virgin form,
Drench'd are thy auburn tresses by the storm,
Poor lost Eliza! in the raging sea,

Gone was my every joy and hope with thee!
These sad recording stones thy fate deplore,
Thy bones are wafted to some distant shore;
What bitter sorrows did thy father prove,

Who brought thee destin'd for a bridegroom's love!
Sorrowing he came-nor to the youth forlorn
Consign'd a maid to love, nor corpse to mourn.

See Note 39.

FROM ARGENTARIUS.

Call it not a test of Love

If sun-like beauty lights the flame;

Beauty every heart can move;

It delights e'en gods above,

And is to all the same.

But if your fond doting eye

Has taught your heart a different creed; If for wrinkled age you'll die,

Or adore deformity,

Then you must love indeed!

FROM TULLIUS GEMINUS.

ON THE TOMB OF THEMISTOCLES.

Greece be the monument: around her throw
The broken trophies of the Persian fleet;
Inscribe the gods that led th' insulting foe,
And mighty Xerxes at the tablet's feet.
There lay Themistocles-to spread his fame
A lasting column Salamis shall be.
Raise not, weak man, to that immortal name
The little records of mortality!

FROM

ONESTUS.

"Tis hard Parnassus to ascend,

But at the top there is a fount,
Shall well reward you at the end

For all the pains you took to mount.

"Tis hard to reach the top of science,
But when arriv'd securely breathe;

To pride and envy bid defiance,

Deaf to the storm that growls beneath.

See Note 40.

FROM LUCIAN.

I.

In Pleasure's bowers whole lives unheeded fly;
But to the wretch one night's eternity.

II.

A doctor fond of letters once agreed
Beneath my care his son should learn to read;
The lad soon knew "Achilles' wrath" to sing,
And said by heart "To Greece the direful Spring."
'Tis quite enough, my dear,' the parent said,

For too much learning may confuse your head. "That wrath which hurls to Pluto's gloomy reign," 'Go tell your tutor, I can best explain.'

FROM LUCILLIUS.

I.

Art thou my friend-forbear to do me guile,
Nor clothe a secret grudge in friendship's smile.
For traiterous friendship wounds th' unguarded breast
With surer aim than enmity profess'd.

And more on shoals the sailor fears to wreck,

Than where the rocks hang frowning o'er his deck.

II.

Fortune reverses with a smile or frown,
Exalts the poor, and pulls the mighty down.
Tho' rich in golden ore thy rivers flow,

Her pow'r shall curb thy pride and haughty brow.
The wind that sweeps tempestuous thro' the sky
Howls o'er the bending broom and passes by;
But the broad oak uproots, and planes that wav'd
Their royal branches and its fury brav'd.

III.

I mourn not those who banish'd from the light,
Sleep in the grave thro' Death's eternal night,
But those whom Death for ever near appals,
Who see the blow suspended ere it falls.

See Note 41.

IV.

When for long life the old man pours his

prayers,

Grant, Jove, an endless life of growing years!