Astrologus, nova qui venatur sidera, solus Lo! an astrologer, with filth besmear'd, Semper in obscuro penetrali; multaque muros Rough and neglected, with a length of heard. Linea nigrantes, & mulia triangula pingunt. Pores round his cell for undiscover'd stars, Ecce! sed interea curru flamante propinquat And decks the walls with triangles and squares. Titan-Clamo,O me! gelidâ sub rupe, sub umbrâ Lo!-But the radiant car of Phæbus nigh Siste precor: tantos nequeo perferre calores." Glows with red ardour, and inflames the sky Oh! waft me, hide me in some cool retreat ; I faint, I sicken with the fervent heat." Pegason inde tuo genius felicior astro Thence to that milder orb we wing our way, Appulit, alma Venus. Spirant quam molliter Where Venus governs with an easy sway. aura ! Soft breaths the air; fair Flora paints the ground, Ridet ager, frugum facilis, lascivaque florum And laughing Ceres deals her gifts around. Nutrix; non Euri ruit hic per dulcia Tempe This blissful Tempe no rough blasts molest, Vis fera, non Boreæ; sed blandior aura Favoni, Of blust'ring Boreas, or the baleful East; Lenis agens tremulo nutantes vertice sylvas, But gentle Zephyrs o'er the woodlands stray, l'sque fovet teneros, quos usque rescuscitat, ignes. Court the tall trees, and round the branches Hic lætis animata sonis Saltatio vivit: Etherial gales dispensing as they flow, (play, Hic jam voce ciet, cantum, jam pectine, dulces To fan those passions which they teach to glow. Musica docta modos: pulchræ longo ordine Here the gay youth in measur'd steps advance, nymphæ While sprightly music animates the dance; Festivas ducunt choreas, dilecta juventus There the sweet melody of sounds admire, Certatim stipant comites : latè halat amomo Sigh with the song, or languish to the lyre: Omne nemus, varioque æterni veris odore: Fair nymphs and amorous youths, a lovely band, Cura procul : circumvolitant risusque jocique : Blend in the dance, light-bounding hand in Atque amor est, quodcunque vides. Venus ipsa hand. volentes From ev'ry grove the buxom Zephyrs bring Imperio regit indigenas, hic innuba Phæbe, The rich ambrosia of eternal spring. lunuba Pallas amet, cupiant servire Catones. Care dwells not here, their pleasures to destroy, prove, Or the chaste daughter of imperial Jove, And Cato's virtue be the slave of love. Jamque datum molimur iter, sedesque beatas But now through destin'd fields of air we fly,' Multa gemens linquo ; & lugubre rubentia Martis And leave those mansions not without a sigh: Arva, ubi sanguineæ dominantur in omnia rixa, Thence the dire coast we reach, the dreary plains, Adrehimur, ferro riget horrida turba, geritque Where Mars, grim god, and bloody discord Spiculaque, gladiosque, ferosque in bella dolones. reigns. Prochoreâ, and dulci modulamine, Pyrrhicus illis The host in arms embattied sternly stands, Saltus, & horribiles placet ære ciere sonores. The sword, the dart, the dagger, in their hands. Hic conjux viduata viro longo effera luetu Here no fair nymphs to silver sounds advance, Flet noctem, solumque torum sterilesque Hyme- But buskin'd heroes form the Pyrrhic dance ; And brazen trumpets, terrible from far, Deplorans, lacerat crines, & pectora plangit: With martial music fire the soul to war; Nequiquam-sponsus ni fortè appareat, hospes Here the lone bride bewails her absent lord, Heu! brevis, in somuis, & Judicra fallat imago. The sterile nuptials, the deserted board, Imprnemor ille tori interea ruit acer in hostem : Sighs the long nights, and frantic with despair, Horrendum strepit armorum fragor undique Beats her bare breast, and rends her flowing hair: campis; In vain she sighs, in vain dissolves in tears Atque immortales durant in sæcula pugnæ, In sleep, perhaps, the warrior lord appears, A fleeting form that glides before her sight, And the immortal battle never ends. Hence through the boundless void we nimbly Illic mille locis exercet sæva tyrannus move, Imperia in totidem servos, totidemque rebelles : And reach the wide-extended plairs of Jove. Sed brevis exercet: parat illi fata veneno Here the stern tyrant sways an iron rod; Perjurus, populosque premit novus ipse tyrannus. A thousand vassals tremble at his nod. Hi decies pacem figunt pretio atque refigunt: How short the period of a tyrant's date! Tum demum arma parant : longe lateque cohortes The pois'nous pbial speeds the work of fate : Extenduntur agris; simul æquora tota teguntur Scarce is the proud imperious tyrant dead, Classibus, & ficti celebrantur utrinque triumphi. But, lo! a second lords it in his stead. Pædera mox ineunt nunquam violanda ; brevique Here peace, as common merchandize, is sold, Belli iterum simulachra cient; referuntur in al- Heav'n's first best blessing for pernicious gold: tum War soon succeeds, the sturdy squadrons stand Classes, pacificoque replentur milite campi. Wide o'er the fields a formidable band : With num'rous fleets they croud the groaning Their falchions for the mockery of war. The son inhuman seeks bis father's life, Servus hero insidias. Has leges scilicet illis The slave his master's, and her lord's the wife. Imposuit natura locis, quo tempore patrem With vengeance thus their kindling bosoms fire, Jupiter ipse suum solio detrusit avito. Since Jove usurp'd the sceptre of his sire. Inde venena viris, perjuria, munera, fraudes Thence poisons, perjuries, and bribes betray; Suadet opum sitis, & regnandi dira cupido. Nor other passions do their souls obey Than thirst of gold, and avarice of sway. Saturni tandem nos illætabilis ora At length we land, vast fields of ether crost, Accipit: ignavum pecus hic per opaca locorum On Saturn's cold uncomfortable coast; Pinguescunt de more, gravi torpentque veterno. Here in the gloom the pamper'd sluggards lull Vivitar in specubus : quis enimtam sedulus, arces The lazy hours, lethargically dull. Qui struat ingentes, operosaque mænia condat ? In caves they live; for who was ever known Idem omnes stupor altus habet, sub pectore fixus. So wise, so sedulous to build a town; Non studia ambitiosa Jovis, variosque labores The same stupidity infects the whole, Mercurii, non Martis opus, non Cyprida nôrunt. Fix'd in the breast, and center'd in the soul, Post obitum, ut perhibent, sedes glomerantur in These never feel th' ambitious fires of Jove, istas. Toindustry not Mercury can move, Qui longam nullas vitam excoluêre per artes; Mars cannot spur to war, nor Venus woo to love. Sed Cerere & Baccho pleni, sum noque sepulti Here rove those souls, 'tis said, when life departs, Cunctarum duxêre æterna oblivia rerum. Who never cultirated useful arts; Non avium auditurcantus, non murmur aquarum, But stupify'd with plenty and repose, strains No fountains musically murm’ring flow; Chain'd in the fetters of eternal frost, Eternal slumbers of dull indolence. My soul in gloom, ev'n Pegasus grew dull. Insonuit clarùm, terqne altâ voce morantem My guide observ'd, and thrice he urg'd his Încrepuit; secat ille cito pede lævia campi speed, Ætherei, Terræque secundà allabitur aura. Thrice the loud lash resounded from the steed; Fir'd at the stroke, he flies with slacken'd rein Swift o'er the level of the liquid plain, again, MATERIES GAUDET VI INERTIÆ. TAE TEMPLE OF DULLNESS. Translated by the same Hand. Beneath his foot-steps shakes the trembling Huc fato infelix si quando agiteris iniquo, Here shou'dst thou rove, by fate's severe Et tutò in medium liceat penetrare, videbis command, Attonitus, nigrâ de nube emergere templum, And safely reach the centre of the land; Templum ingens, immane, altum penetrale Stu- Thine eyes shall view, with horror and surprize, poris. The fane of Dulness, of enormous size, Plumbea stat turris, plumbum sinuatur in arcus, | Emerging from the sable cloud arise. Et solido limosa tument fundamina plumbo. A leaden tow'r upheaves its heavy head, Hanc, pia Materies, divo ædem extruxit inerti, Vast leaden archies press the slimy bed, Stultitiæ impulsu- quid enim ? Lethargica sem. The soft soil swells beneath the load of lead. per Old Matter here erected his abode, Slumb'ring the dull, inactive hours away; The languid goddess holds ber state of rest. Hic ea monstra habitant, quæ olim sub lumi. Their habitation here those monsters keep, nis auras Whom Matter father'd on the god of sleep: Materies peperit somno patre, lavidus iste Here Zoilus, with cank'ring envy pale, Zoilus, & Bavio non impar Mævius; audax Here Mævius bids his brother Bavius, hail: Spinoza, & Pyrrho, cumque Hobbesio Epicurus. Spinoza, Epicure, and all those mobs Ast omnes valeat quæ Musa referre ? frequentes Of wicked wits, from Pyrrho down to Hobbes: Usque adeo videas hebetes properare ?--nec How can the Muse recount the numerous crew adfert Of frequent fools that crowd upon the view? Quidquam opis Anglorum doctæ vicinia gentis. Nor can learn'd Albion's sun that burns so c!car, Sic quondam, ut perhibent, stupuit Boeotica tellus Disperse the dulness that involves them here. Vicinâ licet Antycirâ, nihil inde salutis, (æquor Bautia thus remain'd, in days of yore, Nil tulit hellebori Zephyrus, cum sæpe per Senseless and stupid, though the neighb'ring Felicem ad Lesbon levibus volitaverit alis, Afforded salutary hellebore. [shore Indigenæ mellita ferens suspiria Floræ. No cure exhal'd from Zephyr's buxom breeze, Breath'd balmy sighs that melt the soul away. Encompass'd with ten categories round: Grande caput, tenues oculi, cutis arida produnt She from old Matter, the great mother, came, Fallacem : rete una manus tenet, altera fustem. By birth the eldest--and how like the dame! Vestis arachreis sordit circumdata telis, Her shriveld skin, small eyes, prodigious pate, Slow as old Saturn rolls thro' boundless space, And heavily lag on, with the vast load of meat. Proxima deinde tenet loca sorte insaná Ma. The next, mad Mathesis ; her feet all bare, thesis, [pillos, Ungirt, untrimm'd, with dissoluted hair : Nuda pedes, chlamydem discincta, incompta ca- No foreign object can her thoughts disjoint ; Immemor externi, punctoque innixa reclinat. Reclin'd she sits, and ponders o'er a point. Ante pedes vario inscriptam diagrammatearenam Before her, lo! inscrib'd upon the ground, Cemas, rectis curva, atque intertexta rotunda Strange diagrams th' astonish'd sight confound, Schemata quadratisqueis scilicet abdita rerum Right lines and curtes, with figures square and Pandere se jactat solam, doctasque sorores round. She, when great Newton sought his kiudred skies, scens a Turba mathematicům retrahit, poenasque repo- In vain--the mathematic mob restrains Her flight, indignant, and on Earth detains; Detinet in terris, nugisque exercet ineptis. E'er since the captive wretch her brains employs On trifling trinkets, and on gewgaw toys. And moths and butterflies, her dear delight : Omne genus, seu serpit humi, seluludit in undis, Mushrooms and flow’rs, collected on a string, Seu volitans tremulis liquidum secat aëra pennis. Around her neck, around her temples cling, O! ubi littoribus nostris felicior aura With all the strange production of the spring. Polypon appulerit, quanto cava templa Stuporis With greedy eyes she'll search the world to find Mugitu concussa trement, reboabit & ingens Rare uncouth animals of every kind; Pulsa palus! Plausu excipiet dea blanda secundo Whether along the humble ground they stray, Microphile ante omnes; jamnon crocodilon adorat; Or nimbly sportive in the waters play, Non bombyx,conchære juvant: sed polypon ardet, Or through the light expanse of ether fly, Solum polypon ardet,-& ecce! faceta feraci And with fleet pinions cleave the liquid sky. Falce novos creat assidue, pascitque creatos, Ye gales, that gently breathe upon our shore, How will the hollow dome of dulness ring, Of once rare flies, but now esteem'd no more. Quartam Materies peperit conjuncta Stupori, The fourth dire shape from mother Matter Nomen Atheia illi, monstrum cui lumen ademp- Dulness her sire, and Atheism her name, (came, tum, In her no glimpse of sacred sense appears, Proclaim the wise, eternal Deity: Roar in grand chorus to the Lord of Heaven; ing pole. Fonte ortus Lethæro, ipsius ad ostia templi, A river, murmuring from Lethaan source, Ire soporifero tendit cum murmure rivus, Full to the fane directs its sleepy course; Huc potum Stolidos Deus evocat agmine magno: The pow'r of Dulness, leaning on the brink, Crebri adsunt,largisque sitim restinguere gaudent Here calls the multitude of fools to drink, Haustibus, atque iterant calices, certantque siu. Swarming they crowd to stupify the skull, pendo. (aurem With frequent cups contending to be dull. Me, me etiam, clamo, occurrens ;- sed vellicat Me, let me taste the sacred stream, I cry'd, Calliope, nocuasque vetat contingere lymphas. - With out-stretch'd arm—the Muse my boon dee ny'd, And sav'd me from the sense-intoxicating tiden OF THE NUTUA OSCÍTATIONUM PROPA- A MECHANICAL SOLUTION GATIO SOLVI POTEST PROPAGATION OF YAWNING, Translated by the same hand. Momus, scurra, procax superűm, quo tempore When Pallas issued from the brain of Jove, Pallas Momus, the mimic of the gods above, Exiluit cerebro Jovis, est pro more jocatus In his mock mood impertinenily spoke Nescio quid stultum de partu: excanduit irá About the birth, some low, ridic'lous joke: Jupiter, asper, acerba tuens; “ et tu quoque, Jose, sternly frowning, glow'd with vengeful ires dixit, And thus indignant said th' almighty sire; Garrule, concipies, fætumque ex ore profundes: "' “ Loquacious slave, that laugh'st without a cause, Haud mora, jamque supinus in aulâ extenditur Thou shalt conceive, and bring forth at thy jaws." Derisor; dubi â velantur lumina nocte ; [ingens He spoke--stretch'd in the hall the mimic lies, Stertit hians immane; e naso Gallica clangunt Supinely dull, thick rapoars dim his eyes : Classica, Germanique simul sermonis amaror : And as his jaws a horrid chasm disclose, It seem'd he made a trumpet of his nose; Like German jargon grating on the ear. Edita vix tandem est monstrum Polychasmia At length was Polychasmia brought to light, proles Worthy her sire, a monster of a sight, Tanto digna parente, aviæque simillima Nocti. Resembling her great grandmother, Old Night. Illa oculos lentat nequicquam aperire, veterno Her eyes to open oft in vain she try'd, Torpida, & horrendo vultum distorta cachinno. Lock'd were the lids, her mouth distended wides Æmulas banc Jovis aspiciens, qui fictile vulgus Her when Prometheus happen'd to survey Fecerat infelix, imitarier arte Prometheus (Rival of Jove, that made mankind of clay) Audet-nec flammis opus est coelestibus : auræ He form’d without the aid of heav'nly ray. Tres Stygiæ filatus, nigræ tria pocula Lethes To three Lethuan cups he learnt to mix Miscet, & innuptæ suspiria longa puellæ ; Deep sighs of virgins, with three blasts from Styx, His adipem suis & guttur conjungit aseili, The bray of asses, with the fat of brawn, Tensaque cum gemitu somnisque sequacibus ora. The sleep-preceding groan, and hideous yawn. Sic etiam in terris Dea, quæ mortalibus ægris Thus Polychasmia took her wond'rous birth, Ferret opem,inque hebetes dominarier apta, cre- A goddess helpful to the sons of Earth. Lo! how the rustic multitude from far Nonne vides, ut præcipiti petit oppida cursu Haste to the town, and crowd the clam'rous bara Rustica plebs, stipatque forum? sublime tribunal | The prest bench groans with many a squire and Armigeriqne equitesque premunt, de more parati knight, Jastitiæ lances proferre fideliter æquas, Who weigh out justice, and distribute right: Grande capillitiam induti, frontemque minacem. Severe they seem, and formidably big, Non temerè attoniti raapones, torbaque furum With front important and huge periwig. Aufugiunt, gravidæque timent trucia ora puellæ. The little villains skulk aloof dismay'd, At mox fida comes Polychasmia, matutinis And panic terrours seize the pregnant maid. Quæ se miscuerat poc'lis Cerealibus, ipsum But soon friend Polychasm', who always near, Judicis in cerebrum scandit_jamque unus & alter Herself had mingled with their morning beer. Cæperunt longas inhiatum ducere voces : Steals to the judges brain, and centers there; Donec per cunctos dea jam solenne, profundam Then in the court the horrid yawn began, (man: Sparserit hum-nutat taciti , tum brachia magno And hum profound and solemn went from man to Extendunt nisu, patolis & faucibus hiscunt. Silent they nod, and with prodigious strain Intereà legum caupones jurgia miscent, Stretch out their arms, then listless yawn again : Queis nil rhetorice est, nisi copia major hiandi : For all the flow'rs of rhetoric they can boast Vocibus ambiguis certant, nugasque strophasque Amidst their wranglings is to gape the most : Alternis jaculantur, & irascuntur amice, Ambiguous quirks, and friendly wrath they vent, Donantque accipiuntque stuporis missile plum- And give and take the leaden argument. bum. Ye too, fanatics, never shall escape And not one meaning interrupts their sleep. plause. mia, vestros ata est. : |