Forth from the ruftic altar fwift I ftray'd,

"Aid my firm purpose, ye celeftial powers bra Aid me to quell the fordid breaft, I faid; '

And threw, my jav'lin tow'rds their hoftile tow's. I

Think not regretful I furvey the deed;

Or added years no more the zeal allow
Still, ftill obfervant to the grove I fpeed,
The fhrine embellish, and repeat the yow.

i

Sworn from his cradle ROME's relentless foe,
Such gen'rous hate the t Punic champion bore
Thy lake, O THRASIMENE! beheld it glow,

And CANN's walls, and TREBIA's crimson shore.

But let grave annals paint the warriors fame;
Fair fhine his arms in hiftory enroll'd;
hut his arms in h
Whilft humbler lyres his civil worth proclaim,
His nobler hate of avarice and gold.-

"

Now Punic pride its final eve farvey'd;
Its hofts exhaufted, and its fleets on fire;
Patient the victors lurid frown obey'd,

And faw th' unwilling elephants retire.

But when their gold depress'd the yielding scale,
Their gold in pyramidic plenty pil'd,

He faw th' unutterable grief prevail ;

He faw their tears, and, in his fury, fmil'd,

Think

1 (391) #

The Roman ceremony in declaring war. HANNIBAL. VOL. I.

Ο Σ

Think not, he cry'd, ye view the fmiles of cafe,
Or this firm breast disclaims a patriot's pain;
I smile, but from a foul eftrang'd to peace,
Frantic with grief, delirious with difdain!

But were it cordial, this detefted smile,

Seems it lefs timely than the grief ye shew ?
O fons of CARTHAGE! grant me to revile
The fordid source of your indecent woe!

Why weep ye now ! ye faw with tearless eye
When your fleet perifh'd on the Punic wave;
Where lurk'd the coward tear, the lazy figh,
When TYRE's imperial ftate commenc'd a flave?

1

"Tis paft-O CARTHAGE! vanquish'd! honour'd fhade! Go, the mean forrows of thy fons deplore;

t

Had freedom fhar'd the vow to fortune paid,
She ne'er, like fortune, had forfook thy fhore."

He ceas'd-abash'd the confcious audience hear;
Their pallid cheeks a crimson blush unfold;
Yet o'er that virtuous blush diftreams a tear,
And falling moiftens their abandon'd gold.

ELEGY

*By the terms forced upon the CARTHAGINIANS by SCIPIO, they were to deliver up all the elephants, and to pay near two millions Aerling.

ELEGY XX.

He compares his humble fortune with the dif trefs of others; and his fubjection to DELIA, with the miserable fervitude of an African flave.

W

WHY droops this heart, with fancy'd woes forlorn? Why finks my foul beneath each wintry sky? What penfive crowds, by ceaseless labours worn,

What myriads, wish to be as bleft as I!

What tho' my roofs devoid of pomp arife,
Nor tempt the proud to quit his destin'd way?
Nor coftly art my flow'ry dales disguise,

Where only fimple friendship deigns to stray?

See the wild fons of LAPLAND'S chiil domain,
That fcoop their couch beneath the drifted fnows!
How void of hope they ken the frozen plain,
Where the sharp east for ever, ever blows!

Slave tho' I be, to DELIA's eyes a slave,

My DELIA's eyes endear the bands I wear; The figh fhe causes well becomes the brave, The pang fhe caufes, 'tis ev'n blifs to bear.

See the poor native quit the Lybian shores,
Ah! not in love's delightful fetters bound!
No radiant smile his dying peace restores,
Nor love, nor fame, nor friendthip heals his wound.

Let vacant bards difplay their boafted woes,
Shall I the mockery of grief difplay?"
No, let the mufe his piercing pangs difclofe,
Who bleeds and weeps his sum of life away!

On the wild beach in mournfal guife he flood,
Ere the thrill boatswain gave the hated fign
He dropt a tear unfeen into the flood;
He ftole one fecret fhómhent, to repine.

Yet the mufe liften'd to the plaints he made;
Such moving plaints as nature could inspire
To me the mufe his tender plea convey'd, :
But smooth'd, and fuited to the founding lyre.

Why am I ravish'd from my native strand? by What favage race protects this impious gain Shall foreign plagues infeft this teeming land,

And more than fea-born monsters plough the main?

Here the dire locufts horrid swarms prevail;
Here the blue afps with livid poifon fwell ;.
Here the dry dipfa wriths his finuous mail;

Can we not here, fecure from envy, dwell ?:

When

When the grim lion urg'd his cruel chace,

When the ftern panther fought his midnight prey, What fate referv'd me for this chriftian race?

*

O race more polish'd, more fevere than they!

Ye prouling wolves purfue my latest cries!
Thou hungry tyger, leave thy reeking den!
Ye fandy, waftes in rapid eddies rife!

O tear me from the whips and scorns of men!

Yet in their face fuperior beauty glows;

Are fmiles the mien of rapine and of wrong? Yet from their lip the voice of mercy flows, And ev'n religion dwells upon their tongue.

Of blissful haunts they tell, and brighter climes,
Where gentle minds convey'd by death repair,
But ftain'd with blood, and crimson'd o'er with crimes,
Say, fhall they merit what they paint so fair?

No, careless, hopeless of thofe fertile plains,
Rich by our toils, and by our forrows gay,
They ply our labours, and enhance our pains,
And feign thefe diftant regions to repay.

For them our tusky elephant expires;

For them, we drain the mine's embowel'd gold;
Where roye the brutal nations wild defires?-
Our limbs are purchas'd, and our life is fold!

Y