AD INSIGNISSIMUM VIRUM
D. TH O. BURNETTU M,
SACRE THEORIE TELLURIS AUCTOREM.
NON ufitatum carminis alitem,
Burnette, pofcis, non humiles modos: Vulgare plectrum, languidæque
Refpuis officium camœnae.
Tu mixta rerum femina confcius,
Molemque cernis diffociabilem,
Terramque concretam, et latentem
Oceanum gremio capaci:
Dum veritatem quærere pertinax
Ignota pandis, follicitus parum
Utcunque ftet commune vulgi
Arbitrium et popularis error.
Auditur ingens continuo fragor,
Illapfa tellus lubrica deferit
Fundamina, et compage fracta
Suppofitas gravis urget undas,
Impulfus erumpit medius liquor,
Terras aquarum effufa licentia
Claudit viciffim; has inter orbæ
Relliquiae fluitant prioris.
Nunc et reclufo carcere lucidam
Balena fpectat folis imaginem,
Stellafque miratur nutantes,
Et tremulæ fimulacra lunæ.
Quæ pompa vocum non imitabilis !
Qualis calefcit fpiritus ingenî!
Ut tollis undas! ut frementem
Diluvii reprimis tumultum !
Quis tam valenti pectore ferreus
Ut non tremifcens et timido pede
Incedat, orbis dum dolofi
Detegis inftabiles ruinas ?
Quin hæc cadentum fragmina montium
Natura vultum fumere fimplicem
Coget refingens, in priorem
Mox iterum reditura formam.
Nimbis rubentem fulphureis Jovem
Cernas; ut udis fævit atrox hyems
Incendiis, commune mundo
Et populis meditata bustum !
Nudus liquentes plorat Athos nives,
Et mox liquefcens ipfe adamantinum
Fundit cacumen, dum per imas
Saxa fluunt refoluta valles.
Jamque alta cœli moenia corruunt,
Et veftra tandem pagina (proh nefas !)
Burnette, veftra augebit ignes,
Heu focio perituro mundo.
Mox æqua tellus, mox fubitus viror
Ubique rident: En teretem globum !
En læta vernantes Favonî
Flamina, perpetuofque flores !
O pectus ingens! O animum gravem,
Mundi capacem! fi bonus auguror,
Te, noftra quo tellus fuperbit,
Accipiet renovata civem.
HORAC E, Book III. Ode III.
Auguftus had a defign to rebuild Troy and make it the metropolis of the Roman empire, having clofeted feveral fenators on the project: Horace is supposed to have written the following ode on this occafion.
HE man refolv'd and steady to his trust,
Inflexible to ill, and obftinately just,
May the rude rabble's infolence despise,
Their fenfeless clamours and tumultuous cries;
The tyrant's fierceness he beguiles,
And the ftern brow, and the harsh voice defies,
And with fuperior greatness smiles.
Not the rough whirlwind, that deforms,
Adria's black gulf, and vexes it with storms,
The ftubborn virtue of his foul can move;
Nor the red arm of angry Jove,
That flings the thunder from the sky,
And gives it rage to roar, and ftrength to fly.
Should the whole frame of nature round him break,
In ruin and confufion hurl'd.
He, unconcern'd, would hear the mighty crack,
And ftand fecure amidst a falling world.
Such were the godlike arts that led
Bright Pollux to the bleft abodes;
Such did for great Alcides plead,
And gain'd a place among the gods;
Where now Auguftus, mixt with heroes, lies,
And to his lips the nectar bowl applies:
His ruddy lips the purple tincture show,
And with immortal stains divinely glow.
By arts like thefe did young Lyæus rise :
His tigers drew him to the skies;
Wild from the defert and unbroke,
In vain they foam'd, in vain they star'd,
In vain their eyes with fury glar'd;
He tam'd them to the lash, and bent them to the yoke. Such were the paths that Rome's great founder trod, When in a whirlwind snatch'd on high,
He shook off dull mortality,
And loft the monarch in the god.
Bright Juno then her awful filence broke,
And thus th' affembled deities bespoke.
Troy, fays the goddess, perjur'd Troy has felt
The dire effects of her proud tyrant's guilt;
The towering pile, and soft abodes,
Wall'd by the hand of fervile gods,
• Now spreads its ruins all around,
And lies inglorious on the ground.
An umpire, partial and unjust,
And a lewd woman's impious luft,
Lay heavy on her head, and funk her to the duft.
Since falfe Laomedon's tyrannic sway,
That durft defraud th' immortals of their pay,
Her guardian gods renounc'd their patronage,
Nor would the fierce invading foe repel;
To my refentment, and Minerva's rage,
The guilty king and the whole people fell.
And now the long-protracted wars are o'er,
The foft adulterer fhines no more;
No more does Hector's force the Trojans fhield,
That drove whole armies back, and fingly clear'd the
field.
My vengeance fated, I at length refign
To Mars his offspring of the Trojan line:
Advanc'd to godhead let him rife,
And take his ftation in the fkies;
There entertain his ravish'd fight
With fcenes of glory, fields of light;
Quaff with the gods immortal wine,
And fee adoring nations croud his fhrine:
The thin remains of Troy's afflicted hoft,
In diftant realms may feats unenvy'd find,
And flourish on a foreign coaft;
But far be Rome from Troy disjoin'd,
Remov'd by feas, from the difaftrous shore,
May endless billows rife between, and ftorms unnumber'd
Still let the curft detefted place
Where Priam lies, and Priam's faithlefs race,
Be cover'd o'er with weeds, and hid in grass.
There let the wanton flocks unguarded ftray;
Or, while the lonely fhepherd fings,
Amidst the mighty ruins play,
And frisk upon the tombs of kings.
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