Page:Ten Tragedies of Seneca (1902).djvu/33

Lines 134—177] display their verdancy, whilst the scene is opened with the Bacchic revels, and bright Phœbe, the sister of Phœbus, steals away only ("to repeat the story of her birth") to return to us again! Hard toil is now demanded of man, and he busies himself with his manifold concerns, and the light of day reveals the nakedness of many a homestead! The shepherd, having driven away his herds, gathers as a reserve the scanty produce, rendered cold and crisp by the hoar frost—The young bull, with its rudimentary horns (the superjacent cuticle not yet broken through) scampers with wild freedom over the open mead—The mothers deprived of their milk seek to replenish their exhausted udders—the lustful goat wanders nimbly, with uncertain destination, over the velvety sod—The Thracian nightingale (Philomela) perched on a top-most branch gives forth her plaintive notes, and longs to test her wings in sight of rising Sol, and busies herself with the affairs of her nest—in gleefully ministering to the wants of her clamorous progeny—and the confusion of the singing multitude around announces from a medley of throats the coming of bright day—The mariner, careless of the dangers incidental to his calling, confidently trusts his canvas to the winds as the breeze expands his full-set sails—Then another man, a fisherman resting on the wave-indented rock, is engaged either in baiting afresh his unsuccessful hook, or, all anxiety, beholds in mental prospect the reward of his patience already grasped in his right hand, whilst he is really only made conscious that a struggling fish is doing its best to slip away from his line! The following things are of value to a man; the tranquil quiet of an innocent life and a home which is satisfied with its modest belongings; the looking forward with hope to the fruits of his lands—anxious cares present themselves in cities in a discomposing whirl, and amidst trembling fears—and he who seeks ambitiously to approach the dwellings of kings and to enter at doors difficult of access, will assuredly bid goodbye to sleep as his reward—he who lays up, without bounds, riches as the summum bonum of happiness, panting for further wealth, is altogether a pauper, nevertheless, with all his coffers containing their accumulated gold! Popularity bewilders one man, and sets him entirely beside himself, and the ignoble herd, more fickle than the passing waves, captivate his elated imagination with their hollow applause! and surely, that man is a knavish rascal, who amidst the fierce strife of the noisy forum sells at a price, as he would merchandize, his stinging denunciations or honeyed eloquence (as the case might be) merely to gain verdicts for his litigious clients! Uninterrupted serenity is a 