Page:Juvenal and Persius by G. G. Ramsay.djvu/479



winter yet brought thee, Bassus, to thy Sabine hearth? Are thy lyre and its strings still alive under thy sturdy quill? Thou that art so rare a craftsman in setting to numbers the beginnings of our ancient tongue, and bringing out the manly notes of the Latin lyre; then again a wonderful old man to ply the youthful jest, and sing in lighter but not indecorous strains. To me now the Ligurian coast, and my own winter sea, are giving all their warmth; here the cliffs form a mighty wall, with a deep valley running in from the shore. "'Tis worth your while, O citizens, to know the port of Luna"; so did Ennius speak his mind when he had given up dreaming that he was Maeon's son, fifth in descent from the peacock of Pythagoras. 393