Page:The Complete Poetical Works of John Milton.djvu/408

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��LATIN POEMS

��Fortunate senex ! ergo quacunque per

orbem Torquati decus et nomen celebrabitur in-

gens, 50

Claraque perpetui succrescet fama Marini, Tu quoque in ora frequens venies plausum-

que virorum,

Et parili carpes iter imniortale volatu. Dicetur turn sponte tuos habitasse penates Cynthius, et famulas venisse ad liniina

Musas. At non sponte doniiim tameu idem et regis

adivit

Rura Pheretiadse caelo fugitivus Apollo, Ille licet magnum Alciden suseeperat bos-

pes; Tantum, ubi clamosos placuit vitare bubul-

cos,

Nobile mansueti cessit Cbironis in antrum, Irriguos inter saltus frondosaque tecta, 61 Peneium prope rivum: ibi ssepe sub ilice

nigra, Ad citharse strepitum, blanda prece victus

amici,

Exilii duros lenibat voce labores. Turn neque ripa suo, barathro nee fixa sub

imo

Saxa stetere loco; nutat Tracbinia rupes, Nee sentit solitas, immania pondera, silvas ; Emotseque suis properant de collibus orni, Mulcenturque novo maculosi carmine lyn-

ces. Diis dilecte senex ! te Jupiter sequus opor-

tet 70

Nascentem et miti lustrarit lumine Phoebus, Atlantisqne nepos; neque enim nisi charus

ab ortu

Diis superis potent magno favisse poetse. Hinc longaeva tibi lento sub flore senectus Vernat, et 2Esonios lucratur vivida fusos, Nondum deciduos servans tibi frontis

bonores, Ingeniumque vigens, et adultum mentis

acumen,

O mihi si mea sors talem concedat amicum, Phcsbseos decorasse viros qui tarn bene

norit, Siquando indigenas revocabo in carmina

reges, 80

Arturumque etiam sub terris bella moven-

tem,

Aut dicam invictae social! foedere mensse Magnanimos Ileroas, et (O mod6 spiritus

adsit)

��Fortunate old man ! wherever through the world the mighty name of Tasso is celebrated with honor, wherever the im- perishable fame of Marini spreads, you too shall be on the lips of men for praise ; you shall fly side by side with these poets on their immortal way. It shall be said that of his own accord Cynthian Apollo dwelt in your house, and that the Muses came as familiars to your threshold. When Apollo came a heavenly fugitive to the fields of King Admetus, it was not of his own free accord, though Admetus had been host to" great Alcides. And when he wished to be rid for a while of the shouting plough- men, he went to the cave of the gentle centaur Chiron, amid irriguous slopes and roofs of shade, near to the river Peneius. Often there under the dark ilex, at his friends' request, he took his cythara and sang to lighten the harsh labors of his exile. Then neither the banks of the stream nor the rocks in the chasm stood quiet. The Trachiuian cliff swayed, no longer feeling the mighty weight of its forests. The ash- trees from the mountains drew near, and the spotted lynxes, softened at the new song.

Old man loved of the gods ! Surely Jupiter and Phoebus must have poured upon you mildest radiance at your birth ; for no man, unless he were dear from his cradle to the gods above, could have had the for- tune to befriend a great poet. This is why your age keeps green like ^soil's, and the late blossoms fade not from it ; this is why your head preserves so long its locks un- fallen, your nature its vigor, and your mind the keenness of its prime. Oh, if to me Fate ever gives such a friend, a man who knows so well how to honor the sons of Phoebus, I will some day recall in song the kings of my native land, and Arthur, who carried war even into fairyland. Or I shall tell of those great-hearted champions bound in the society of the Round Table, and (O may the spirit be in me !) I shall break

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