Page:Odes and Carmen Saeculare.djvu/58

 To Helicon's sequester'd shade,
 * Or Pindus, or on Hæmus chill,

Where once the hurrying woods obey'd The minstrel's will, Who, by his mother's gift of song,
 * Held the fleet stream, the rapid breeze,

And led with blandishment along The listening trees? Whom praise we first? the Sire on high,
 * Who gods and men unerring guides,

Who rules the sea, the earth, the sky, Their times and tides. No mightier birth may He beget;
 * No like, no second has He known;

Yet nearest to her sire's is set Minerva's throne. Nor yet shall Bacchus pass unsaid,
 * Bold warrior, nor the virgin foe

Of savage beasts, nor Phœbus, dread With deadly bow. Alcides too shall be my theme,
 * And Leda's twins, for horses he,

He famed for boxing; soon as gleam Their stars at sea, The lash'd spray trickles from the steep,
 * The wind sinks down, the storm-cloud flies,

The threatening billow on the deep Obedient lies. Shall now Quirinus take his turn,
 * Or quiet Huma, or the state