Living

A Hint from the Beginning of the Third Satyr of Juvenal

by Philip Ayres 1638–1712

From Lyric Poems, Made in Imitation of the Italians (1687)

Living

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?

✦ ✦ ✦

Imitated from the opening of Juvenal's Third Satire.

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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