Odes 1.28 (Martin): Te Maris Et Terra

Thee, O Archytas, who hast scann'd
The wonders of the earth by sea and land,
The lack of some few grains
Of scatter'd dust detains
A shivering phantom here upon Matinum's strand,
And it avails thee nothing, that thy soul,
Death's sure-devoted prey,
Soar'd to the regions of eternal day,
Where wheeling spheres in silvery brightness roll.

What then! E'en Pelops' sire, the guest
Of gods, to Orcus sank, by death oppress'd,
And old Tithonus, too,
Though heavenly air he drew,
And Minos stern, who shared the secrets of Jove's breast.
There, too, Panthoides, once more immured,
Roams, though his spirit's pride
All save this fading flesh to death denied,
By his old Trojan shield deceitfully assured.

And he, even thou wilt grant me, was
Not meanly versed in truth and nature's laws.
But for us all doth stay
One night, and death's dark way
Must needs be trodden once, howe'er we pause.
The Furies some to Mars' grim sport consign,
The hungry waves devour
The shipman, young and old drop hour by hour,
No single head is spared by ruthless Proserpine.

Me, too, the headlong gust,
That dogs Orion, 'neath the billows thrust.
But, prithee, seaman, shed
On my unburied head
And limbs with gentle hand some grains of drifting dust!
So may the storm that threats the western deep
Turn all its wrath away,
To smite the forests of Venusia,
And thou thy course secure o'er the mild ocean keep!

So may from every hand
Wealth rain on thee by righteous Jove's command!
And Neptune, who doth bear
Tarentum in his care.
Bring thy rich-laden argosy to land!
Deny me this, the common tribute due,
And races to be born
Of thy son's sons in after years forlorn,
Though guiltless of thy crime, thy heartless scorn shall rue!

Nor shall thyself go free,
For Fate's vicissitudes shall follow thee,
Its laws, that slight for slight,
And good for good requite!
Not unavenged my bootless pray'r shall be;
Nor victim ever expiate thy guilt.
O, then, though speed thou must —
It asks brief tarrying — thrice with kindly dust
Bestrew my corpse, and then press onward as thou wilt