Odes 2.10 (Gladstone): Rectius Vives

Neither always tempt the deep,
Nor, Licinius, always keep,
Fearing storms, the slippery beach:
Such the rule of life I teach.

Golden is the middle state;
Love the middle gifts of fate,
Not the sloven squalid cot,
Proud and envied palace not.

Tallest pines must oftenest bend,
And the tallest towers descend;
Heaviest fall from loftiest heights:
'T is the tops, that lightning smites.

Fear in good times, hope in ill,
Wise and well-trained bosoms fill;
Angry winters come from Jove,
Jove those winters will remove.

Is it ill? It may be well.
Silent once, a lyre may swell.
Phoebus stirs the Muse's wings,
Or his bended bow unstrings.

Show thy spirit, when in straits;
Courage! If good Fortune waits,
And thou feel a toward gale,
Furl in time some swelling sail.