Page:Pindar and Anacreon.djvu/55

Rh To lofty Cronium's sun-crown'd hill they came;

Where great Apollo bade his son receive

A twofold portion of prophetic fame;

To hear the voice that knows not to deceive—

But when the glory of Amphitryo's line

Alcides prosperous in each bold design

Appear'd to crown his sire's immortal feast,

From every clime to call the frequent guest,

And fix the laws of each heroic game,

He placed the augur's seat near Jove's exalted shrine.

New glories hence through Hellas grace

Th' Iamidæ's illustrious race—

And wealth attends to crown their state—

For those who seek with high emprise

The steep where virtue's guerdon lies,

The brightest walks of life await.

In his own path each seeks renown,

But carping Envy most his course attends,

Who first to win Olympia's crown

Twelve times around the goal his chariot bends—

On him sweet Grace distils a lustre all her own.

Agesias! if thy brave maternal line,

Who dwelt beneath Cyllene's hallow'd shade,

Duly their suppliant vows and rites divine

To Mercury, the god's swift herald, paid;

Whose favouring power the contest's law maintains,

And guards Arcadia's richly peopled plains;

By him and by his thundering sire decreed,

Oh son of Sostratus! expect the victor's meed.

Another motive prompts my tongue—

Which as the stone that whets the blade

Upon its sharpening surface laid,

Impels me down the flowing tide of song.