ODE TO PEACE. COME, peace of mind, delightful guest! Where wilt thou dwell, if not with me, For whom, alas! dost thou prepare The great, the gay, shall they partake That murmurs through the dewy mead, For thee I panted, thee I prized, Whate'er I loved before; And shall I see thee start away, BOADICEA. AN ODE, WHEN the British warrior queen, Sage beneath a spreading oak Princess! if our aged eyes Weep upon thy matchless wrongs, 'Tis because resentment ties All the terrors of our tongues. Rome shall perish-write that word Rome, for empire far renown'd,. Tramples on a thousand states; Soon her pride shall kiss the ground— Hark! the Gaul is at her gates! Other Romans shall arise, Heedless of a soldier's name; Sounds, not arms, shall win the prize, Harmony the path to fame. Then the progeny that springs From the forests of our land, Arm'd with thunder, clad with wings, Shall a wider world command. Regions Cæsar never knew Thy posterity shall sway; Where his eagles never flew, None invincible as they. Such the bard's prophetic words, She, with all a monarch's pride, Ruffians, pitiless as proud, Heaven awards the vengeance due; Empire is on us bestow'd, Shame and ruin wait for you. ON AN INKGLASS ALMOST DRIED IN THE SUN. PATRON of all those luckless brains, Ah why, since oceans, rivers, streams, Pay tribute to thy glorious beams, Why, stooping from the noon of day, Too covetous of drink, Apollo, hast thou stolen away A poet's drop of ink? Upborne into the viewless air, It floats a vapour now; To form an Iris in the skies, Illustrious drop! and happy then Phœbus, if such be thy design, Give wit, that what is left With equal grace below. may shine HORACE. BOOK II. ODE X. RECEIVE, dear friend, the truths I teach, He that holds fast the golden mean, The little and the great, Feels not the wants that pinch the poor, Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's door, Imbittering all his state. The tallest pines feel most the power The bolts that spare the mountain's side The well inform'd philosopher Soon the sweet Spring comes dancing forth, And Nature laughs again. |