Book I

Emathian plains with slaughter cover'd o'er,
And rage unknown to civil wars before,
Establish'd violence, and lawless might,
Avow'd and hallow'd by the name of right;
A race renown'd, the world's victorious lords.
Turn'd on themselves with their own hostile swords;
Piles against piles oppos'd in impious fight.
And eagles against eagles bending flight;
Of blood by friends, by kindred, parents, spilt.
One common horror and promiscuous guilt,
A shatter'd world in wild disorder toss'd,
Leagues, laws, and empire in confusion lost
Of all the woes which civil discords bring.
And Rome o'ercome by Roman arms, I sing.
What blind, detested madness could afford
Such horrid licence to the murdering sword?
Say, Romans, whence so dire a fury rose.
To glut with Latian blood your barbarous foes?
Could you in wars like these provoke your fate?
Wars, where no triumphs on the victor wait!
While Babylon's proud spires yet rise so high.
And rich in Roman spoils invade the sky;
While yet no vengeance is to Crassus paid,
But unaton'd repines the wandering shade!
What tracts of land, what realms unknown before,
What seas wide-stretching to the distant shore.
What crowns, what empires might that blood have gain'd.
With which Emathia's fatal fields were stain'd!
Where Seres in their silken woods reside.
Where swift Araxes rolls his rapid tide:
Where'er (if such a nation can be found)
Nile's secret fountain springing cleaves the ground;
Where southern suns with double ardour rise,
Flame o'er the land, and scorch the mid-day skies;
Where Winter's hand the Scythian seas constrains,
And binds the frozen floods in crystal chains;
Where'er the shady night and dayspring come.
All had submitted to the yoke of Rome.
Oh Rome! if slaughter be thy only care.
If such thy fond desire of impious war;
Turn from thyself, at least, the destin'd wound,
Till thou art mistress of the world around,
And none to conquer but thyself be found.
Thy foes as yet a juster war afford.
And barbarous blood remains to glut thy sword.
But see! her hands on her own vitals seize,
And no destruction but her own can please.
Behold her fields unknowing of the plow!
Behold her palaces and towers laid low!
See where o'erthrown the massy column lies,
While weeds obscene above the cornice rise.
Here gaping wide, half-ruin'd walls remain,
There mouldering pillars nodding roots sustain.
The landscape once in various beauty spread,
With yellow harvests and the flowery mead.
Displays a wild uncultivated face,
Which bushy brakes and brambles vile disgrace:
No human footstep prints the' untrodden green.
No cheerful maid nor villager is seen.
Ev'n in her cities, famous once and great,
Where thousands crowded in the noisy street,
No sound is heard of human voices now.
But whistling winds through empty dwellings blow.
While passing strangers wonder, if they spy
One single' melancholy face go by:
Nor Pyrrhus' sword, nor Cannae's fatal field.
Such universal desolation yield i'
Her impious sons have her worst foes surpass'd.
And Roman hands have laid Hesperia waste.
But if our fates severely have decreed
No way but this, for Nero to succeed;
If only thus our heroes can be gods.
And earth must pay for their divine abodes
If heaven could not the thunderer obtain,
Till giants' wars made room for Jove to reign,
'Tis just, ye gods, nor ought we to complain;
Though Latian blood the Punic ghosts atone;
Though Pompey's hapless sons renew the war.
And Munda' view the slaughter'd heaps from far;
Though meagre famine in Perusia reign,
Though Mutina with battles fill the plain;
Though Leuca's isle, and wide Ambracia's bay,
Record the rage of Actium's fatal day;
Though servile hands are arm'd to man the fleet,
And on Sicilian seas the navies meet;
All crimes, all horrors, we with joy regard.
Since thou, O Caesar! art the great reward.
Vast are tire thanks thy grateful Rome should pay
To wars, which usher in thy sacred sway.
When, the great business of the world achiev'd.
Late by the willing stars thou art receiv'd,
Through all the blissful seats the news shall roll.
And heaven resound with joy from pole to pole.
Whether great Jove resign supreme command.
And trust his sceptre to thy abler hand;
Or if thou choose the empire of the day,
And make the sun's unwilling steeds obey;
Auspicious if thou drive the flaming team,
While earth rejoices in thy gentler beam;
Where'er thou reign with one consenting voice.
The gods and nature shall approve thy choice.
But oh! whatever be thy godhead great.
Fix not in regions too remote thy seat;
Nor deign thou near the frozen Bear to shine,
Nor where the sultry southern stars decline;
Less kindly thence thy influence shall come.
And thy bless'd rays obliquely visit Rome.
Press not too much on any part the sphere:
Hard were the task thy weight divine to bear;
Soon would the axis feel the' unusual load,
And groaning bend beneath the' incumbent god:
O'er the mid orb more equal shalt thou rise,
And with a juster balance fix the skies.
Serene for ever be that azure space,
No blackening clouds the purer heaven disgrace,
Nor hide from Rome her Caesar's radiant face,
Then shall mankind consent in sweet accord.
And warring nations sheathe the wrathful sword;
Peace shall the world in friendly leagues compose.
And Janus' dreadful gates for ever close.
To me thy present godhead stands confess'd,
Oh! let thy sacred fury fire my breast;
So thou vouchsafe to hear, let Phoebus dwell
Still uninvok'd in Cyrrha's mystic cell;
By me uncall'd, let sprightly Bacchus reign.
And lead the dance on Indian Nysa's plain.
To thee, O Caesar! all my vows belong,
Do thou alone inspire the Roman song.
And now the mighty task demands our care,
The fatal source of discord to declare;
What cause accurs'd produc'd the dire event,
Why rage so dire the madding nations rent.
And peace was driven away by one consent.
But thus the malice of our fate commands.
And nothing great to long duration stands;
Aspiring Rome had risen too much in height.
And sunk beneath her own unwieldy weit.
So shall one hour at last this globe control.
Break up the vast machine, dissolve the whole.
And time no more through measur'd ages roll.
Then chaos hoar shall seize his former right,
And reign with anarchy and eldest night;
The starry lamps shall combat in the sky.
And lost and blended in each other die;
Quench'd in the deep the heavenly fires shall fall.
And ocean cast abroad o'erspread the ball:
The moon no more her well-known course shall run,
But rise from western waves and meet the sun;
Ungovern'd shall she quit her ancient way.
Herself ambitious to supply the day:
Confusion wild shall all around be hurl'd.
And discord and disorder tear the world.
Thus power and greatness to destruction haste,
Thus bounds to human happiness are plac'd,
And Jove forbids prosperity to last.
Yet Fortune, when she meant to wreak her hate,
From foreign foes preserv'd the Roman state.
Nor suffer'd barbarous hands to give the blow,
That laid the queen of earth and ocean low;
To Rome herself for enemies she sought,
And Rome herself her own destruction wrought;
Rome, that ne'er knew three lordly heads before
First fell by fatal partnership of pow'r.
What blind ambition bids your force combine?
What means this frantic league in which you join?
Mistaken men! who hope to share the spoil,
And hold the world within one common toil!
While earth the seas shall in her bosom bear,
While earth herself shall hang in ambient air.
While Phoebus shall his constant task renew;
While through the zodiac night shall day pursue;
No faith, no trust, no friendship, shall be known
Among the jealous partners of a throne;
But be who reigns shall strive to reign alone.
Nor seek for foreign tales to make this good;
Were not our walls first built in brother's blood?
Nor did the feud for wide dominion rise.
Nor was the world their impious fury's prize?
Divided power contention still affords,
And for a village strove the petty lords.
The fierce triumvirate combin'd in peace,
Preserv'd file bond but for a little space,
Still with an awkward disagreeing grace.
Twas not a league by inclination made.
But bare agreement, such as friends persuade.
Desire of war in either chief was seen.
Though interposing Crassus stood between.
Such in the midst the parting isthmus lies
While swelling seas on either side arise;
The solid boundaries of earth restrain
The fierce Ionian and Aegean main;
But if the mound gives way, straight roaring loud
In at the breach the rushing torrents crowd;
Raging they meet, the dashing waves run high,
And work their foamy waters to the sky.
So when unhappy Crassus, sadly slain.
Dyed with his blood Assyrian Carre's plain;
Sudden the seeming friends in arms engage,
The Parthian sword let loose the Latian rage.
Ye fierce Arsacidae foes of Rome,
Now triumph; you have more than overcome:
The vanquish'd felt your victory from far,
And from that field receiv'd their civil war.
'The sword is now the umpire to decide.
And part what friendship knew not to divide.
'Twas hard, an empire of so vast a size.
Could not for two ambitious minds suffice;
The peopled earth, and wide extended main,
Could furnish room for only one to reign.
When (dying Julia first forsook the light,
And Hymen's tapers sunk in endless night.
The tender ties of kindred-love were tom,
Forgotten all, and buried in her urn.
Oh! if her death had haply been delay'd,
How might the daughter and the wife persuade
Like the fam'd Sabine dames she had been seen
To stay the meeting war, and stand between:
On either hand had woo'd 'em to accord,
Sooth'd her fierce father, and her furious lord,
To join in peace, and sheathe the ruthless sword.
But this the fatal sisters doom denied;
The friends were sever'd, when the matron died.
The rival leaders mortal war proclaim,
Rage fires their souls with jealousy of fame.
And emulation fans the rising flame.
Thee, Pompey thy past deeds by turns infest.
And jealous glory burns within thy breast;
Thy fam'd piratic laurel seems to fade,
Beneath successful Caesar's' rising shade;
His Gallic wreaths, thou view'st, with anxious eyes
Above thy naval crowns triumphant rise.
Thee, Caesar, thy long labours past incite.
Thy use of war, and custom of the fight;
While bold ambition prompts thee in the race,
And bids thy courage scorn a second place.
Superior power, fierce faction's dearest care.
One could not brook, and one disdain'd to shares
Justly to name the better cause were hard.
While greatest names for either side declar'd:
Victorious Caesar by the gods was. crown'd.
The vanquish'd party was by Cato own'd,
'Nor came the rivals equal to the field;
One to increasing years began to yield;
Old age came creeping in the peaceful gown.
And civil functions weigh'd the soldier down;
Disus'd to arms, he turn'd him to the laws.
And pleas'd himself with popular applause;
With gifts, and liberal bounty sought for fame.
And lov'd to hear the vulgar shout his name;
In his own theatre rejoic'd to sit.
Amidst the noisy praises of the pit.
Careless of future ills that might betide,
No aid he sought to prop his (ailing side,
But on his former fortune much relied.
Still seem'd he to possess, and fill his place;
But stood the shadow of what once he was.
So ill the field with Ceres' bounty spread,
Uprears some ancient oak his reverend head;
Chaplets and sacred gifts his boughs adorn.
And spoils of war by mighty heroes worn.
But the first vigour of his root now gone.
He stands dependent on his weight alone;
All bare his naked branches are display'd,
And with his leafless trunk he forms a shade:
Yet though the winds his ruin daily threat.
As every blast would heave him from his seat;
Though thousand fairer trees the field supplies,
That rich in youthful verdure round him rise;
Fix'd in his ancient state he yields to none,
And wears the honours of the grove alone.
But Caesar's greatness, and his strength, was mor
Than past renown and antiquated pow'r:
'Twas not the fame of what he once had been.
Or tales in old records and annals seen;
But 'twas a valour, restless, unconfin'd.
Which no success could sate, nor limits bind;
'Twas shame, a soldier's shame, untaught to yield.
That blush'd for nothing but an ill-fought field;
Fierce in his hopes he was, nor knew to stay,
Where vengeance or ambition led the way;
Still prodigal of war whene'er withstood,
Nor spar'd to stain the guilty sword with blood;
Urging advantage he improv'd all odds,
And made the most of fortune and the gods;
Pleas'd to o'erturn whate'er withheld his prize,
And saw the ruin with rejoicing eyes.
Such while earth, trembles, and Heaven thunders loud.
Darts the swift lightning from the rending cloud
Fierce through the day it breaks, and in its flight
The dreadful blast confounds the gazer's sight;
Resistless in its course delights to rove.
And cleaves the temples of its master Jove:
Alike where'er it passes or returns,
With equal rage the fell destroyer burns;
Then, with a whirl, full in its strength retires
And recollects the force of all its scatter'd fires.
Moves like thee the. leading chiefs, inspir'd
But other thoughts the meaner vulgar fir'd;
Those fatal seeds luxurious vices sow,
Which ever lay a mighty people low.,:,
To Rome the vanquish'd earth her tribute paid
And deadly treasures to her view display'd:
Then truth and simple manners left: the place,
While riot rear'd her lewd dishonest face;
Virtue to full prosperity gave way,
And fled from rapine, and the lust of prey.
On every side proud palaces arise,
And lavish gold each common use supplies.
Their fathers' frugal tables stand abhor'd,
And Asia now and Afric are explor'd,
For high-pric'd dainties, and the citron board
In silken robes the minion men appear,
Which maids and youthful brides should blush to wear.
That age by honest poverty adorn'd.
Which brought the manly Romans forth, is scorn'd;
Wherever aught pernicious does abound,
For luxury all lands are ransack'd round,
And dear-bought deaths the sinking state confound,
The Curii's and Camilli's little field,
To vast extended territories yield;
And foreign tenants reap the harvest now.
Where once the great dictator held the plough.
This is Dot here taken for the lemon-tree, hot for a tree
Rome, ever fond of war, was tir'd with ease
Ev'n liberty had lost the power to please:
Hence rage and wrath their ready minds invade,
And want could every wickedness persuade:
Hence impious power was first esteem'd a good.
Worth being sought with arms, and bought with blood:
With glory, tyrants did their country awe,
And violence prescrib'd the rule to law.
Hence pliant servile voices were constrain'd,
And force in popular assemblies reign'd;
Consuls and tribunes, with opposing might,
Join'd to confound and overturn the right:
Hence, shameful magistrates were made for gold.
And a base people by themselves were sold:
Hence slaughter in the venal field returns.
And Rome her yearly competitions mourns:
Hence debt unthrifty, careless to repay.
And usury still watching for its day:
Hence, perjuries in every wrangling court;
And war, the needy bankrupt's last resort
Now sar, marching swift with winged haste,
The summits of the frozen Alps had past;
With vast events and enterprises fraught.
And future wars revolving in his thought.
Now near the banks of Rubicon he stood
When lo! as he survey'd the narrow flood,
Amidst the dusky horrors of the night,
A wondrous vision stood confess'd to sight.
Her awful head Rome's reverend image rear'd,
Trembling and sad the matron form appear'd;
A towery crown her hoary temples bound.
And her torn tresses rudely hung around:
Her naked arms uplifted, ere she spoke.
Then groaning, thus the mournful silence broke.
"Presumptuous men I oh whither do you run?
Oh whither bear you these my ensigns on?
If friends to right, if citizens of Rome,
Here to your utmost barrier are you come."
She said; and sunk within the closing shade: —
Astonishment and dread the chief invade;
Stiff rose his starting hair, he stood dismay'd.
And on the bank his slackening steps were stay'd.
O thou! (at length he cried) whose hand controls
The forky fire, and rattling thunder rolls;
Who from thy Capitol's exalted height
Dost o'er the wide-spread city cast thy sight!
Ye Phrygian gods who guard the Julian line!
Ye mysteries of Romulus divine!
Thou Jove! to whom from young Ascanius came
Thy Alban temple, and thy Latial name:
And thou, immortal sacred vestal dame!
Rut chief, oh I chiefly, thou majestic Rome!
My first, my great divinity, to whom
Thy still successful Caesar am T come:
Nor do thou fear the sword's destructive rage.
With thee my arms no impious war shall wage:
On him thy hate, on him thy curse bestow.
Who would persuade thee Caesar is thy foe;
And since to thee I consecrate my toil,
Oh! favour thou my cause, and on thy soldier smile."
He said; and strait, impatient of delay,
Across the swelling flood pursued his way.
So when on sultry Libya's desert sand
The lion spies the hunter hard at hand;
Couch'd on the earth the doubtful savage lies,
And waits awhile till all his fury rise;
His lashing tail provokes his swelling sides,
And high upon his neck his mane with horror rides.
Then, if at length the flying dart infest,
Or the broad spear invade his ample breast,
Scorning the wound he yawns a dreadful roar.
And flies like lightning on the hostile Moor.
While with hot skies the fervent summer glows,
The Rubicon an humble river flows;
Through lowly vales he cuts his winding way,
And rolls his ruddy waters to the sea:
His bank on either side a limit stands.
Between the Gallic and Ausonian lands.
But stronger now the wintry torrent grows,
The wetting winds had thaw'd the Alpine snows.
And Cynthia rising with a blunted beam
In the third circle, drove her watery team,
A signal sure to raise the swelling stream.
For this, to stem the rapid water's course.
First plung'd amidst the flood the bolder horse;
With strength oppos'd against the stream they lead.
While to the smoother ford, the foot with ease succeed.
The leader now had pass'd the torrent o'er,
And reach'd fair Italy's forbidden shore;
Then rearing on the hostile bank his head,
Here, farewell peace, and injur'd laws, (he said)
Since faith is broke, and leagues are set aside, i'
Henceforth thou, goddess Fortune, art my guide!
Let fate and war the great event decide."
He spoke; and, on the dreadful task intent.
Speedy to near Ariminum he bent
To him the Balearic sling is slow.
And the shaft loiters from the Parthian bow.
With eager marches swift he reach'd the town,
As the shades fled, the sinking stars were gone,
And Lucifer the last was left alone.
At length the morn, the dreadful morn arose.
Whose beams the first tumultuous rage disclose:
Whether the stormy south prolong'd the night,
Or the good gods abhor'd the impious sight,
The clouds awhile withheld the mournful light
To the mid Forum on the soldier pass'd.
There halted, and his victor ensigns plac'd:
With dire alarms from band to band around.
The fife, hoarse horn, and rattling trumpets sound.
'The starting citizens uprear their heads;
The lustier youth at once forsake their beds;
Hasty they snatch the weapons, which among
Their household-gods in peace had rested long;
Old bucklers of the covering hides bereft,
The mouldering frames disjoin'd and barely left;
Swords, with foul rust indented deep, they take.
And useless spears with points inverted shake:
Soon as their crests the Roman eagles rear'd.
And Caesar high above the rest appear'd;
Each trembling heart with secret horror shook.
And silent thus within themselves they spoke:
Oh hapless city! oh ill-fated walls!
Rear'd for a curse, so near the neighbouring Gauls!
By us destruction ever takes its way,
We first become each bold invader's prey;
Oh, that by fate we rather had been plac'd
Upon the confines of the utmost east!
The frozen north much better might we know.
Mountains of ice, and everlasting snow.
Better with wandering Scythians choose to roam,
Than fix in fruitful Italy our home,
And guard these dreadful passages to Rome.
Through these the Cimbrians laid Hesperia waste;
Through these the swarthy Carthaginian pass'd;
Whenever fortune threats the Latian states,
War, death, and ruin, enter at these gates."
In secret murmurs thus they sought relief.
While no bold voice proclaim'd aloud their grief.
O'er all one deep, one horrid silence reigns;
As when the rigour of the winter's chains,
All nature, heaven and earth at once constrains;
The tuneful feather'd kind forget their lays,
And shivering tremble on the naked sprays;
Ev'n the rude seas, compos'd, forget to roar,
And freezing billows stiffen on the shore.
The colder shades of night forsook the sky,
When, lo! Bellona lifts her torch on high:
And if the chief, by doubt or shame detain'd,
Awhile from battle and from blood abstain'd;
Fortune and fate, impatient of delay,
Force every soft relenting thought away.
A lucky chance a fair pretence supplies,
And justice in his favour seems to rise.
New accidents new stings to rage suggest,
And fiercer fires inflame the warrior's breast.
The Senate threatening high, and haughty grown,
Had driven the wrangling tribunes from the town
In scorn of law, had chas'd 'em through the gate,
And urg'd 'em with the factious Gracchi's fate.
With these, as for redress their course they sped
To Caesar's camp, the busy Curio fled;
Carlo, a speaker, turbulent and bold,
Of venal eloquence, that serv'd for gold,
And principles that might be bought and sold:
A tribune once himself, in loud debate.
He strove for public freedom and the state
Essay'd to make the warring nobles bow,
And' bring the potent party-leaders low.-
To Caesar thus, while thousand cares infest,
Revolving round the warrior's anxious breast.
His speech the ready orator address'd:
While yet my voice was useful to my friend
While 'twas allow'd me, Caesar to defend,
While yet the pleading bar was left me free.
While I could draw uncertain Rome to thee;
In vain their force the moody fathers join'd,
In vain to rob thee of thy power combin'd
Success shall sure attend thee; boldly go,
And win the world at one successful blow.
No triumph now attends thee at the gate;
No temples for thy sacred laurel wait:
But blasting envy hangs upon thy name,
Denies thee right, and robs thee of thy fame;
Imputes as crimes, the nations overcome.
And makes it treason to have fought for Rome:
Ev'n he who took thy Julia's plighted hand.
Waits to deprive thee of thy just command.
Since Pompey then, and those upon his side,
Forbid thee, e world's empire to divide;
Assume that sway which best mankind may bear.
And rule alone what they disdain to share."
He said; his words the listening chief engage.
And fire his breast, already prone to rage.
Not peals of loud applause with greater force,
At Grecian Elis, rouse the fiery horse;
When eager for the course each nerve he strains,
Hangs on the bit, and tugs the stubborn reins,
At every shout erects his quivering ears.
And his broad breast upon the barrier bears.
Sudden he bids the troops draw out, and straight
The thronging legions round their ensigns wait:,
Then thus (the crowd composing with a look,
And with His hand commanding silence) spoke.
"Fellows in arms, who chose with me to bear
The toils and dangers of a tedious war.
And conquer to this tenth revolving year;
See what reward the grateful Senate yield.
For the lost blood which stains yon northern field;
For wounds, for winter camps, for Alpine snow.
And all the deaths the brave can undergo.
See! the tumultuous city is alarm'd
As if another Hannibal were arm'd:
The lusty youth are cull'd to fill the bands,
And each tall grove falls by the shipwright's hands;
Fleets are equip'd, the field with armies spread.
And all demand devoted Caesar's head.
If thus, while fortune yields us her applause,
While the gods call us on, and own our cause,
If thus returning conquerors they treat.
How had they us'd us flying from defeat
If fickle chance of war had pray'd unkind,
And the fierce Gauls pursued us from behind?
But let their boasted hero leave his home.
Let him, dissolv'd with lazy leisure, come;
With every noisy talking tongue in Rome.
Let loud Marcellus troops of gown-men head,
And their great Cato peaceful burghers lead.
Shall his base followers, a venal train,
For ages, bid their idol Pompey reign?
Shall his ambition still be thought no crime.
His breach of laws, and triumph ere the time
Still shall he gather honours and command.
And grasp all rule in his rapacious hand?
What need I name the violated laws.
And famine made the servant of his cause?
Who knows not how the trembling judge beheld
The peaceful court with armed legions fill'd?
When the bold soldier, justice to defy,
In the mid Forum rear'd his ensigns high:;
When glittering swords the pale assembly scar'd,
When all for death and slaughter stood prepar'd,
And Pompey's arms were guilty Milo's guard?
And now, disdaining peace and needful ease.
Nothing but rule and government can please.
Aspiring still, as ever, to be great.
He robs his age of rest to vex the state:
X)u war intent, to that he bends his. cares,
And for the field of battle now prepares.
He copies from his master Sylla well,
And would the dire example far excel.
Hircanian tigers fierceness thus retain,
Whom in the woods their horrid mothers train,
To chase the herds, and surfeit on the slain.
Such, Pompey, still has been thy greedy thirst.
In early love of impious slaughter nurst;
Since first thy infant cruelty essay'd
To lick the curst dictator's reeking blade.
None ver give the savage nature o'er,
Whose jaws have once been drench'd in floods of gore.
But whither would a power so wide extend?
Where will thy long ambition find an end?
Remember him who taught thee to be great;
Let him who chose to quit the sovereign seat,
Let thy own Sylla warn thee to retreat.
Perhaps, for that too boldly I withstand.
Nor yield my conquering eagles on command;
Since the Cicilian pirate strikes his sail,
Since o'er the Pontic king thy arms prevail;
Since the poor prince a weary life o'erpast.
By thee and poison is subdued at last;
Perhaps, one latest province yet remains.
And vanquish'd Caesar most receive thy chains.
But though my labours lose their just reward,
Yet let the Senate these my friends regard;
Whate'er my lot, my brave victorious bands
Deserve to triumph, whosoe'er commands.
Where shall my weary veteran rest? Oh, where
Shall virtue worn with years and arms repair?
What town is for his late repose assign'd?
Where are the promis'd lands be hop'd to find.
Fields for his plough, a country village seat.
Some little comfortable safe retreat;
Where failing age at length from toil may cease.
And waste the poor remains of life in peace?
But march! Your long victorious ensigns rear,
Let valour in its own just cause appear.
When for redress in treating armies call,.
They who deny just things, permit 'em all.
The righteous gods shall surely own the cause.
Which seeks not spoil, nor empire, but the laws.
Proud lords and tyrants to depose we come,
And save from slavery submissive Rome."
He said; a doubtful sullen murmuring sound
Ran through the unresolving vulgar round;
The seeds of piety their rage restrain'd.
And somewhat of their country's love remain'd;
These the rude passions of their soul withstood,
Elate to conquest, and inur'd to blood:
But soon the momentary virtue fail'd.
And war and dread of Caesar's frown prevail'd.
Straight, Lelius from amidst the rest stood forth,
An old centurion of distinguish'd worth;
The oaken wreath his hardy temples wore,
Mark of a citizen preserv'd he bore.
If against thee (he cried) I may exclaim,
Thou greatest leader of the Roman name!
If truth for injur'd honour may be bold.
What lingering patience does thy arms withhold?
Can'st thou distrust our faith so often tried,
In thy long wars not shrinking from thy side?
While in my veins this vital torrent flows,
This heaving breath within my bosom blows,.
While yet these arms sufficient vigour yield
To dart the javelin, and to lift the shield.
While these remain, my general, wilt thou own
The vile dominion of the lazy gown?
Wilt thou the lordly Senate choose to bear,
Rather than conquer in a civil war?
With thee the Scythian wilds we'll wander o'er,
With thee the burning Lybian sands explore,
And tread the Syrt's inhospitable shore.
Behold! this hand, to nobler labours train'd.
For thee the servile oar has not disdain'd,
For thee the swelling seas was taught to plough,
Through the Rhine's whirling stream to force thy prow,
That all the vanquish'd world to thee might bow,
Each faculty, each power, thy will obey,
And inclination ever leads the way.
No friend, no fellow-citizen I know.
Whom Caesar's trumpet once proclaims a foe.
By the long labours of thy sword, I swear.
By all thy fame acquir'd in ten years war.
By thy past triumphs, and by those to come,
(No matter where the vanquish'd be, nor whom)
Bid me to strike my dearest brother dead,
To bring my aged father's hoary head,
Or stab the pregnant partner of my bed;
Though nature plead, and stop my trembling hand,
I swear to execute thy dread command.
Dost thou delight to spoil the wealthy gods.
And scatter flames through all their proud abodes?
See through thy camp our ready torches burn,
Moneta soon her sinking fane shall mourn.
Wilt thou yon haughty factious Senate brave,
And awe the Tuscan river's yellow wave?
On Tiber's bank thy ensigns shall be plac'd,
And thy bold soldier lay Hesperia waste.
Dost thou devote some hostile city's walls
Beneath our thundering rams the ruin s:
She falls, ev'n though thy wrathful sentence doom
The world's imperial mistress, mighty Rome."
He said; the ready legions vow to join
Their chief belov'd, in every bold design;
All lift their well approving bands on high.
And rend with peals of loud applause the sky.
Such is the sound when Thracian Boreas spread!
His weighty wing o'er Ossa's piny heads:
At once the noisy groves are all inclin'd.
And, bending, roar beneath the sweeping wind;
At once their rattling branches all they rear.
And drive the leafy clamour through the air.
Caesar with joy the ready bands beheld.
Urg'd on by fate, and eager for the field
Swift orders straight the scatter'd warriors call.
From every part of wide-extended Gaul
And, lest his fortune languish by delay,
To Rome the moving ensigns speed their way.
Some, at the bidding of the chief, forsake
Their fix'd encampment near the Leman lake
Some from Vogesus' lofty rocks withdraws.
Plac'd on those heights the Lingones to awe!
The Lingones still frequent in alarms.
And rich in many colour'd painted arms.
Others from Isara's low torrent came,
Who winding keeps through many a mead his name;
But seeks the sea with waters not his own,
Lost and confounded in the nobler Rhone.
Their garrison the Ruthen city send.
Whose youth's long locks in yellow rings depend.
No more The Varus and the Atax feel
The lordly burden of the Latian keel.
Alcides' fane the troops commanded leave,
Where winding rocks the peaceful flood receive;
Nor Corns there, nor Zephyrus resort.
Nor roll rude surges in the sacred port;
Circius' loud blast alone is heard to roar,
And vex the safety of Monoecus' shore.
The legions move from Gallia's furthest side,
Wash'd by the restless ocean's various tide;
Now o'er the land flows in the pouring main,
Now rears the land its rising head again,
And seas and earth alternate rule maintain,
If driven by winds from the far distant pole.
This way and that the floods revolving roll;
Or if compell'd by Cynthia's silver beam.
Obedient Tethys heaves the swelling stream;
Or if by heat attracted to the sky,!
Old ocean lifts his heavy waves on high,
And briny deeps the wasting sun supply;!
What cause soe'er the wondrous motion guide.
And press the ebb, or raise the flowing tide;
Be that your task, ye sages, to explore,
Who search the secret springs of nature's pow'r;
To me, for so the wiser gods ordain.
Untrac'd the mystery shall still remain.
From fair Nemossus moves a warlike band.
From Atur's banks and the Tarbellian strand,
Where winding round the coast pursues its way,
And folds the sea within a gentle bay.
The Santones are now with joy releas'd
From hostile inmates, and their Roman guest.
Now the Bituriges forget their fears,
And Suessones nimble with unwieldy spears;
Exult the Leuci, and the Remi now,
E;expert in javelins, and the bending bow.
The Belgae taught on cover'd wains to ride,
The Sequani the wheeling horse to guide;
The bold Averni who from Ilium come.
And boast an ancient brotherhood with Rome;
The Nervii oft rebelling, oft subdued.
Whose hands in Cotta's slaughter were embrew'd;
Vangiones like loose Sarmatians dress'd,
Who with rough hides their brawny thighs invest;
Batavians fierce, whom brazen trumps delight,
And with hoarse rattlings animate to fight;
The nations where the Cinga's waters flow,
And Pyrenaean mountains stand in snow;
Those where slow Arar meets the rapid Rhone
And with his stronger stream is hurried down;
Those o'er the mountains lofty summit spread,
Where high Gehenna lifts her hoary head;
With these the Treviri", and Ligurian shorn.
Whose brow no more long falling locks adorn;
Though chief amongst the Gauls he wont to deck
With ringlets comely spread, his graceful neck:
And yon where Hesus horrid altar stands.
Where dire Teutates human blood demands;
Where Taranis by wretches is obey'd.
And vies in slaughter with the Scythian maid:
All see with joy the war's departing rage
Seek distant lands, and other foes engage.
You too, ye bards! whom sacred raptures fire
To chant your heroes to your country's lyre;
Who consecrate, in your immortal strain.
Brave patriot souls in righteous battle slain;
Securely now the tuneful task renew,
And noblest themes in deathless songs pursue.
The Druids now while arms are heard no more.
Old mysteries and barbarous rites restore:
A tribe who singular religion love.
And haunt the lonely coverts of the grove.
To these, and these of all mankind alone.
The gods are sore reveal'd or sure unknown.
If dying mortals' dooms they sing aright,
No ghosts descend to dwell in dreadful night;
No parting souls to grisly Pluto go,
Nor seek the dreary silent shades below;
But forth they fly, immortal in their kind,
And other bodies in new worlds they find.
Thus life for ever runs its endless race.
And like a line, death but divides the space,-
A stop which can but for a moment last,
A point between the future and the past.
Thrice happy they, beneath their northern skies,
Who that worst fear, the fear of death, despise;
Hence, they no cares for this frail being feel.
But rush undaunted on the pointed steel;
Provoke approaching fate, and bravely scorn
To spare that life which must so soon return.
Yon too, tow'rds Rome advance, ye warlike band
That wont the shaggy Cauci to withstand
Whom once a better order did assign,
To guard the passes of the German Rhine;
Now from the fenceless banks you march away.
And leave the world the fierce barbarians prey.
While thus the numerous troops, from every part
Assembling, raise their daring leader's heart;
O'er Italy he takes his warlike way,
The neighbouring towns his summons straight obey,
And on their walls his ensigns high display.
Meanwhile, the busy messenger of ill.
Officious fame, supplies new terror still:
A thousand slaughters, and ten thousand fears,
She whispers in the trembling vulgar's ears.
Now comes a frighted messenger to tell
The foe to fair Mevania's walls is pass'd,
And lays Clitumnus' fruitful pastures waste;
Where Nar's white waves with Tiber mingling fall.
Range the rough German and the rapid Gaul.
But when himself, when Caesar they would paint.
The stronger image makes description taint;
No tongue can speak with what amazing dread
Wild thought presents him at his army's head;
Unlike the man familiar to their eyes,
Horrid he seems, and of gigantic size:
Unnumber'd eagles vie amidst his train,
And millions seem to hide the crowded plain
Around him all die various nations join.
Between the snowy Alps and distant Rhine.
He draws the fierce barbarians from their home,
With rage surpassing theirs he seems to come,
And urge them on to spoil devoted Rome.
Thus Fear does half the work of lying Fame,
And cowards thus their own misfortunes frame)
By their own feigning fancies are betray'd.
And groan beneath those ills themselves have made.
Nor these alarms the crowd alone infest,
Bat ran alike through every beating breast
With equal dread the grave Patricians shook.
Their seats abandon'd, and the course forsook.
The scattering fathers quit the public care,
And hid the consuls for the war prepare.
Resolv'd on flight, yet still unknowing where
To fly from danger, or for aid repair.
Hasty and headlong differing paths they tread,
As blind impulse and wild distraction lead;
The crowd, a hurrying heartless train, succeed.
Who that the lamentable sight beheld,
The wretched fugitives that hid the field,
Would not have thought the flames, with rapid haste
Destroying wide, had laid their city waste;
Or groaning earth had shook beneath their feet.
While threatening fabrics nodded o'er the street.
By such unthinking rashness were they led;
Such was the madness which their fears had bred.
As if, of every other hope bereft,
To fly from Rome were all the safety left.
So when the stormy south is heard to roar,
And rolls huge billows from the Libyan shore
When rending sails flit with the driving blast,
And with a crash down comes the lofty mast;
Some coward master leaps from off the deck.
And hasty to despair prevents the wreck.
And though the bark unbroken hold her way;
His trembling crew all plunge into the sea.
From doubtful thus they run to certain harms,
And flying from the city rush to arms.
Then sons forsook their sires unnerv'd and old.
Nor weeping wives their husbands could withhold
Each left his guardian Lares unador'd,
Nor with one parting prayer their aid implor'd:
None stop'd, or sighing tam'd for one lost view,
Or bid the city of his birth adieu!
The headlong crowd regardless urge their way,
Though ev'n their gods and conn try ask their stay,
And pleading nature beg 'em to delay.
What means, ye gods! this changing in your doom?
Freely you grant, but quickly you resume.
Vain is the Short-liv'd sovereignty you lend;
The pile you raise you deign not to defend.
See where, forsaken by her native bands.
All desolate the once great city stands!
She whom her swarming citizens made proud,
Where once the vanquish'd nations wont to crowd.
Within the circuit of whose ample Space
Mankind might meet at once, and find a place;
A wide defenceless desert now she lies.
And yields herself the victor's easy prize.
The camp intrench'd, securest Slumbers yields.
Though hostile arms beset the neighbouring fields;
Rude banks of earth the hasty soldier rears,
And in the turfy wall forgets his fearS:
While, Rome, thy sons all tremble from afar,
And scatter at the very name of war;
Nor on thy towers depend, nor ramparts height,
Nor trust their safety with thee for a night.
Yet one excuse absolv'd the panic dread;
The vulgar justly fear'd when Pompey fled:
And lest sweet hope might mitigate their woes.
And expectation better times disclose,
On every breast presaging terror sate.
And threaten'd plain some yet more dismal fate.
The gods declare their menaces around,
Earth, air, and seas, in prodigies abound;
Then stars unknown before appeared to born,
And foreign Flames about the pole to turn;
Unusual fires ly night were seen to fly,
And dart obliquely through the gloomy sky.
Then horrid comets shook their fatal hair.
And bad proud royalty for change prepare:
Now dark swift lightnings through the azure clear.
And meteors now in various forms appear:
Some like the javelin shoot extended long,
While some like spreading lamps in heaven are hung.
And though no gathering clouds the day control.
Through skies serene portentous thunders roll;
Fierce blasting bolts from northern regions come.
And aim their vengeance at imperial Rome.
The stars;that twinkled in the lonely night,
Now lift their bolder head in day's broad light:
The moon, in all her brother's beams array'd,
Was blotted by the earth's approaching shade;
The sun himself, in his meridian race,
In sable darkness veil'd his.brighter face;
The trembling world beheld his fading ray.
And mourn'd despairing for the loss of day.
Such was he seen, when backward to the east
He fled, abhorring dire Thyestes feast.
Sicilian Etna then was heard to roar.
While Mulciber let loose his fiery store:
Nor rose the flames, but with a downward tide
Tow'rds Italy their burning torrent guide.
Charybdis' dogs howl doleful o'er the flood.
And all her whirling waves run red with blood;
The vestal fire upon the altar died,
And o'er the sacrifice the flames divide;
The parting points with double streams ascend,
To show the Latian festivals must end:
Such from the Theban brethren's pile arose.
Signal of impious and immortal foes.
With openings.vast the gaping earth gave way.
And in her inmost womb receiv'd the day:
The swelling seas o'er lofty mountains flow.
And nodding Alps shook off their ancient snow.
Then wept the demi-gods of mortal birth.
And sweating lares trembled on the hearth.
In temples then, recording stories tell,
Untouch'd the sacred gifts and garlands fell.
Then birds obscene with inauspicious flight.
And screamings dire, profan'd the hallow'd light.
The savage kind forsook the desert wood.
And in the streets disclos'd their horrid brood.
Then speaking beasts with human sounds were heard.
And monstrous, births the teeming mothers scar'd.
Among the crowd, religious fears disperse
The saws of Sibyl, and foreboding verse.
Bellona's priest, a barbarous frantic train.
Whose mangled arms a thousand wounds distain,
Toss their wild locks, and with a dismal yell
The wrathful gods and coming woes foretel.
Lamenting ghosts amidst their ashes moan,
And groanings echo from the marble um.
The rattling clank of arms is heard around,
And voices loud in lonely woods resound,
Grim spectres every where affright the eye.
Approaching glare, and pass with horror by.
A Fury fierce about the city walks,
Hell-born, and horrible of size, she stalks;
A flaming pine she brandishes in air,
And hissing loud op rise her snaky hair:
Where'er her round accurs'd the monster takes,
The pale inhabitant his house forsakes.
Such to Lycurgus was the phantom seen;
Such the dire visions of the Theban queen;
Such, at his cruel stepmother's command
Before Alcides, did Megera stand:
With dread, till then unknown, the hero shook,
Though he had dar'd on hell's grim king to look.
Amid the deepest silence of the night.
Shrill -sounding clarions animate the fight;
The shoots of meeting armies seem to rise,
And the loud battle shakes the gloomy skies.
Dead Sylla in the Martian field ascends.
And mischiefs mighty as his own portends:
Near Anio's stream old Marius rears his head;
The hinds beheld l)is grisly form, and fled.
The state thus threaten'd, by old custom taught,
For counsel to the Tuscan prophets sought:
Of these the chief, for learning fam'd and age,
A runs by name, a venerable sage,
At Luna liv'd; none better could descry
What bodes the lightning's journey through the sky;
Presaging veins and fibres well he knew,
And omens read aright from every wing that flew.
First he commands to burn the monstrous breed.
Sprung from mix'd species, and discordant seed;
Forbidden and accursed births, which come
Where nature's laws design'd a barren womb.
Next, the remaining trembling tribes he calls,
To pass with solemn rites about their walls.
In holy march to visit all around.
And with lustrations purge the utmost bound.
The sovereign priests the long procession lead,
Inferior orders in the train succeed,
Array'd all duly in the Gabine weed
There the chaste head of Vesta's choir appears,
A sacred fillet binds her reverend hairs;
To her, in sole pre-eminence, is doe,
Phrygian Minerva's awful shrine to view.
Next, the fifteen' in order pass along.
Who guard the fatal Sibyl's secret song;
To Almon's stream Cybele's form they bear,
And wash the goddess each returning year.
The Titian brotherhood, the Augurs band,
Observing flights on the left lucky hand;
The Seven ordain'd Jove's holy feast to deck;
The Salii blithe, with bucklers on the neck;
All marching in their order just appear:
And last the generous Flamens close the rear.
While these, through ways uncouth, and tiresome ground,
Patient perform their long laborious round,
Aruns collects the marks of heaven's dread flame,
In earth he hides 'em with religious hand,
Murmurs a prayer, then gives the place a name,
And bids the fix'd Bidental hallow'd stand,
Next from the herd a chosen male is sought
And soon before the ready altar brought.
And now the seer the sacrifice began,
The pouring wine upon the victim ran;
The mingled meal upon his brow was plac'd;
The crooked knife the destin'd line had trac'd;
When with reluctant rage the' impatient beast
The rites unpleasing to the god confess'd.
At length compell'd his stubborn head to bow,
Vanquish'd he yields him to the fatal blow;
The gushing veins no chearful crimson pour.
But stain with poisonous black the sacred floor.
The paler prophet stood with horror struck;
Then with a hasty hand the entrails took
And sought the angry gods again; but there
Prognostics worse, and sadder signs, appear;
The pallid guts with spots were marbled o'er
With thin cold serum stain'd, and livid gore;
The liver wet with putrid streams he spied
And veins that threaten'd on the hostile side;
Part of the heaving lungs is no where found,
And thinner films the sever'd entrails bound;
No usual motion stirs the panting heart;
The chinky vessels ouze on every part
The cawl, where wrap'd the close intestines lie
Betrays its dark recesses to the eye.
One prodigy superior threaten'd still,
The never-failing harbinger of ill:
Lo! by the fibrous liver's rising head,
A second rival prominence is spread:
All sunk and poor the friendly part appears.
And a pale, sickly, withering visage wears;
While high and full the adverse vessels ride.
And drive, impetuous, on their purple tide.
Amaz'd, the sage foresaw the' impending fate:
"Ye gods! (he cried) forbid me to relate
What woes on this devoted people wait.
Nor dost thou, Jove, in these our rites partake,
Nor smile propitious on the prayer we make;
The dreadful Stygian gods this victim claim.
And to our sacrifice the Furies came.
The ills we fear, command us to be dumb;
Yet somewhat worse than what we fear shall come.
But may the gods be gracious from on high.
Some better prosperous event supply.
Fibres may err, and augury may lie;
Arts may be false, by which our sires divin'd.
And Tages taught 'em to abuse mankind."
Thus darkly he the prophecy express'd,
And riddling sung the double-dealing priest.
But Figulus exclaims (to science bred,
And in the gods' mysterious secrets read;
Whom nor Egyptian Memphis' sons excell'd,
Nor with more skill the rolling orbs beheld:
Well could he judge the labours of the sphere,
And calculate the just revolving year.)
The stars (he cries) are in confusion hurl'd.
And wandering error quite misguides the world;
Or if the laws of nature yet remain.
Some swift destruction now the fates ordain.
Shall earth's wide opening jaws for ruin call,
And sinking cities to the centre fall?
Shall raging drought infest the sultry sky?
Shall faithless earth the promis'd crop deny?
Shall poisonous vapours o'er the waters brood.
And taint the limpid spring and silver flood?
Ye gods! what min does your wrath prepare?
Comes it from heaven, from earth, from seas, or air?
The lives of many to a period haste,
And thousands shall together breathe their last.
If Saturn's sullen beams were lifted high.
And baneful reign'd ascendent o'er the sky,
Then moist Aquarius deluges might rain.
And earth once more lie sunk beneath the main
Or did thy glowing beams, O Phoebus! shine
Malignant in the lion's scorching sign;
Wide o'er the world consuming fires might roll.
And heaven be seen to flame from pole to pole:
For his skill in astrology.
Through peaceful orbits these unangry glide.
But, god of battles! what dost thou provide,
Who in the threatening Scorpion dost preside?
With potent wrath around thy influence streams
And the whole monster kindles at thy beams;
While Jupiter's more gentle rays decline
And Mercury with Venus faintly shine;
The wandering lights are darken'd all and gone
And Mars now lords it o'er the heavens alone.
Orion's starry falchion blazing wide,
Refulgent glitters by his dreadful side.
War comes, and savage slaughter must abound,
The sword of violence shall right confound:
The blackest crimes fair virtue's name shall wear,
And impious fury rage for many a year.
Yet ask not thou an end of arms, O Rome!
Thy peace must with a lordly master come.
Protract destruction, and defer thy chain,
The sword alone prevents the tyrant's reign,
And civil wars thy liberty maintain."
The heartless vulgar to the sage give heed.
New rising fears his words foreboding breed.
When lo! more dreadful wonders strike their eyes;
Forth through the streets a Roman matron flies.
Mad as the Thracian dames that bound along.
And chant Lyaeus in their frantic song:
Enthusiastic heavings swell'd her breast.
And thus her voice the Delphic god confess'd:
Say, Phoebus, wherefore does this fury rise? -
W hat mean these spears and shields before my eyes?
I see the Roman battles crowd the plain!
I see the war, but seek the foe in vain
Again I fly, I seek the rising day.
Where Nile's Egyptian waters take their way:
I see, I know, upon the guilty shore,
The hero's headless trunk besmear'd with gore.
The Syrts and Libyan sands beneath me lie,
Thither Emathia's scatter'd relics fly.
Now o'er the cloudy Alps I stretch my flight.
And soar above Pyrene's airy height:
To Rome, my native Rome, I turn again,
And see the Senate reeking with the slain.
Again the moving chiefs their arms prepare;
Again, I follow through the world the war.
Oh, give me, Phoebus! give me to explore
Some region new, some undiscover'd shore;
I saw Philippi's fatal fields before."
She said: the weary rage began to cease.
And left the fainting prophetess in peace.