Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/193

Rh The ship drifts onward with the hurrying tide. For what can reason do when passion rules, When love, almighty, dominates the soul? The wingéd god is lord through all the earth, And with his flames unquenchable the heart Of Jove himself is burned. The god of war Has felt his fire; and Vulcan too, that god Who forges Jove's three-forked thunderbolts; Yea, he, who in the hold of Aetna huge Is lord of ever-blazing furnaces, By this small spark is burned. Apollo, too, Who sends his arrows with unerring aim, Was pierced by Cupid's still more certain darts. For equally in heaven and earth the god Is powerful. Nurse: The god! 'Tis vicious lust That hath his godhead framed; and, that its ends More fully may be gained, it has assigned To its unbridled love the specious name, Divinity! 'Tis Venus' son, in sooth, Sent wandering through all the earth! He flies Through empty air and in his boyish hands His deadly weapon bears! Though least of gods, He holds the widest sway! Such vain conceits The love-mad soul adopts, love's goddess feigns, And Cupid's bow. Whoe'er too much enjoys The smiles of fortune and in ease is lapped, Is ever seeking unaccustomed joys. Then that dire comrade of a high estate, Inordinate desire, comes in. The feast Of yesterday no longer pleases; now A home of sane and simple living, food Of humble sort, are odious. Oh, why Does this destructive pest so rarely come To lowly homes, but chooses rather homes Of luxury? And why does modest love Beneath the humble roof abide, and bless With wholesome intercourse the common throng?