Living
A Hint from the Beginning of the Third Satyr of Juvenal
From Lyric Poems, Made in Imitation of the Italians (1687)
A Neighbour, now, shall Aged Sibyl have,
For I'll withdraw to Cuma's Sacred Cave,
Where I, Vesuvius like, when Years attire
My Head with Snow, shall still maintain my Fire.
In Hatred of the World my Days I'll spend,
Till with Despight my wretched Life shall end;
My haughty Plumes I've clipp'd, I'll soar no more,
So the Fates cut what they had spun before.
I was when Bad, of Vertuous Men despis'd,
And by the Scourge Vice brings with it, chastis'd:
That Course I left, and turning good agen,
Was hated, and oppress'd by Wicked Men.
Thus seems the Partial World on all sides bent,
It's utmost Spight on wretched me to vent.
My Sins were fruitless: Must, when Life is done,
Vertue lye buried in Oblivion?
Codex Note
Imitated from the opening of Juvenal's Third Satire.
Cite this poem
MLA
Ayres, Philip. “A Hint from the Beginning of the Third Satyr of Juvenal.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/ayres/29/.
Chicago
Ayres, Philip. “A Hint from the Beginning of the Third Satyr of Juvenal.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/ayres/29/.
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