The lightning leaps too, at my ravishing songs;
_Iris_ about my neck hangs round,
And with her divers colour'd bow, I'me bound.
Being now my selfe, and newly wak'd,
My not unwelcome dreames, just now off shak'd;
Thrice o're my Lute, I scarce had run
With nible finger neat division;
Remembring _Horace_, Thee, my guide,
When my high Genius through th'ayre doth ride;
Now o're the scatt'red Islands, then
O're Seas, with dry feet passing back again;
Nothing that's mortall of mee, now
I beare, and nought to my dull bulke I owe.
_Tursci_, saepe tamen mones
Olim ne veteri clarior Icaro
Veris fabula casibus
Mutem Parrhasii nomina Balthiri.
Frustra; nam memor Icari,
Addo stultitiae consilium brevi:
Nam, seu dormio, me torus;
Seu scribo, stabili sella tenet situ.
Yet _Turscius_ thou hast often told,
And warn'd mee, lest then _Icarus_ of old
By a true fall indeed, I make
A lowder tale, and change the name o'th'Lake.
In vaine: Remembring Him, I had
A care, and counsell, to my folly, add:
For when I sleep, in bed I lye,
And if I write, my secure chaire holds mee.
Ad Quintum Tiberinum.
Ode 34. Lib. 4.
Divitem numquam, _Tiberine_, dices,
Cuius Eois potiora glebis
Rura, fortunae sine faece pulcher
Rivus inaurat;
Quem per insigneis geniale ceras
Stemma claravit; vaga quem per urbes
Quem per & gentes radiante vexit
Gloria curru.
Pauper est, qui se caret; & superbe
Ipse se librans, sua rura latam
Addit in lancem, socioq; fallens
Pondus in auro,
Ceteris parvus, sibi magnus uni,
Ipse se nescit, pretioque falsa
Plebis attollit, propriaq; se mi-
ratur in umbra.
Splendidam vera sine luce gazam,
Turgidum plena sine laude nomen
Mitte; te solo, _Tiberine_, disces
Esse beatus.
To _Quintus Tiberinus_.
_Ode 34. Lib. 4._
Thou shalt not _Tiberinus_, call
Him rich, whose every Acre shall
Outvie the Easterne glebe, whose field
Faire Fortune's clearest streame doth gild.
Nor him, whose birth, and pedigree
Is fam'd abroad by's Heraldrie;
Hee who by fleeting glory's hurld
In his rich Chariot through the world:
He's poore that wants himselfe, yet weighs
Proudly himselfe; in this scale layes
His lands, in th'other broad one, by,
The false weight of his gold doth lye,
Great to himselfe, to others small,
That never knowes himselfe at all,
As the false people raise him higher,
Himselfe in's shadow hee'l admire.
The fairest Gemme without true light,
Without true praise great titles, flight:
Blest _Tiberinus_, and most free
In thy selfe alone thoul't learne to bee.
Ad Paulum Coslovium.
_Ode 35. Lib. 4._
To _Paulus Coslovius_.
_Ode 35. Lib. 4._
Iam pridem tepido veris anhelitu
Afflarunt reduces arva Favonii;
Jam se florida vernis
Pingunt prata coloribus:
Stratus frugiferis Vilia puppibus
Grato praeter abit rura silentio,
Quamvis proximus omni
Collis personet alite;
Quamvis & viridi pastor ab aggere
Dicat graminea carmina fistula.
Et qui navita debet
Plenis otia carbasis.
The Westerne winds, with the warm breath o'th'Spring,
Returne, and o're our fields their soft gales fling;
The flowry-garnish'd Meadowes by,
With freshest colours painted lye.
The River, which the gainfull ships so throng,
With welcome silence gently glides along,
Although the neighbouring Hill doth ring
With the shrill notes of birds that sing;
Although the Swaine, on the green bank that sits
Old Sonnets with his Oaten Pipe repeats,
Although the Seaman doth not faile
At length to strike his full blowne sayle.
AEquat Palladiis, _Paulle_, laboribus
Interpone vices. Cras simul aureo
Sol arriserit ore
Summorum juga montium,
Scandemus viridis terga Luciscii,
Qua celsa tegitur plurimus ilice,
Et se praetereuntum
Audit murmura fontium.
Illinc e medio tota videbitur
Nobis Vilna jugo; tota videbitur
Quae Vilnam sinuosis
Ambit Vilia flexibus.
To thy _Palladian_ labours interpose
Such changes _Paullus_; when the Sun forth showes
And with his golden presence smiles
On the hye tops of highest Hills,
Wee'l mount the back of green _Luciscus_, where
Hee's thickest set with tallest Okes, and heare
The bubbling noise of streames that flow
From Fountaines that close by him goe.
Thence from the midst o'th'hill all _Vilna_ shall
Our prospect be; our eye shall lower fall--
On _Vilia_'s cooler streames, that wind,
And with embraces _Vilna_ bind.
Illinc picta procul quae radiantibus
Fulgent fana tholis, & geminam super
Despectabimus arcem,
Magni regna Palaemonis.
Ut longo faciles Pacis in otio
Se tollunt populi! nam tria tertio
Surrexere sub anno
Priscis templa Quiritibus;
Et qua conspicuis se Gediminia
Jactant saxa jugis, & Capitolium,
Et quae tecta superbis
Intrant nubila turribus.
From thence, farre off, the Temples wee'l behold,
And radiant Scutcheons all adorn'd with gold;
Then wee'l looke o're that double towre,
Th'extent of great _Palaemon_'s pow're.
How in a settled peace, and kingdomes rest
The easie people raise themselves, so blest!
Three Temples in three yeares w'have seen
To th'Citizens have reared been;
Where _Gediminian_ Rocks themselves extoll
With their plaine tops, and then the Capitol,
Those buildings, whose proud turrets stretch
Themselves to th'Cloudes, and stars doe reach:
Auget magna, Quies: exiguus labor
In majus modico provenit otio.
Hinc & terga virentum
Late prospice collium.
Quae nunc mobilibus nutat Etesiis,
Segni cana stetit sub nive populus:
Qui nunc defluit, alta
Haesit sub glacie latex:
Qui nunc purpureis floret ager rosis,
Immoto sterilis delituit gelu:
Verno quae strepit ales,
Hiberno tacuit die.
Ergo rumpe moras, & solidum gravi
Curae deme diem, quem tibi candidus
Spondet vesper, & albis
Cras Horae revehent equis.
Great things to greater growth doe thus increase,
And with least paines, improve themselves by peace.
Here, tops of Hills, themselves behold,
In all their flowry pride unfold.
The Poplar now that shakes, when th'East winds blow
Stood cloth'd in gray, under the ling'ring snow:
The Springs that now so nimbly rise,
Were all of late lock'd up, in Ice:
The fields that now with blushing Roses spread,
Lay barren, and in hardest frost all hid:
The birds which chirping sit i'th'Spring;
When Winter comes, forget to sing.
Breake off delayes then, and from grievous care
A constant day, set by; which th'ev'ning faire
Doth promise, and the next dayes Sun
With his white Steeds will freely run.
[Decoration]
_Ad Paulum Iordanum Vrsinum Bracciani Ducem._
Bracciani agri amoenitatem commendat, ad quam per ferias Septembres
secesserat Roma.
_Ode 1. Lib. Epod._
[Decoration]
To _Paulus Iordanus Vrsinus_, Duke of _Bracciano_.
Hee commends the pleasantnesse of the Countrey, where
in the feasts of _September_, he retyred from _Rome_.
_Ode 1. Lib. Epod._
Huc o quietis apta Musis otia,
Levesque Ludorum chori;
Huc feriantum Phoebe Musarum pater,
Huc hospitales Gratiae;
Huc delicatis ite permisti Jocis
Non inverecundi Sales:
Hic otiosi mite Bracciani solum
Vago coronemus pede.
Appeare ye spritefull Quire with choicest sports,
All pastime fit for _Phoebus_ Courts;
And Thou great Master of the Revels, joyne
The Graces, to thy Daughters nine;
Witt pure and quaint, with rich conceits and free
From all obscaene scurrilitie:
Here free from care, nimbly let's dance a round
Upon _Bracciano_'s softer ground.
Clemens supino clivus assurgit jugo,
Caelumq; paulatim subit,
Et solida subter terga scopulorum arduo
Securus insessu premit:
Arcisq; jactat inter alta turrium
Insigne propugnacula,
Timenda quondam Caesarum turmis ducum,
Timenda magno Borgiae,
Cum per minantum militum aratos globos
Metuenda jaceret fulmima,
Ageretque profugum Caesarem, & quassum metu;
Adusque promissum _Nihil_.
A gentle Cliffe from a steep Hill doth rise
That even to Heaven, mounts by degrees,
And safe, with uncouth passage, leanes upon
The solid backs, of Rocks and stone:
Whence 'mid'st the Bulwark'd Forts, we may descry
A displayd Banner from on hye,
Which to th'Imperiall force a terrour was,
A terrour to great _Borgias_,
When through the brasen troops of's threatning foes,
His fearfull thunder-bolts he throwes,
Pursuing routed _Caesar_, whom he brought
To that he promis'd him, to _nought_.
Hic ille magnus fraenat Etruscas opes
_Ursinus_ Heroum decus,
Haeres avitae laudis, & princeps caput
Magnaeq; laus Oenotriae.
Circum coruscis scena quercetis viret,
Caelumque verrit frondibus,
Suoque colles vestit, & patentibus
Sese theatris explicat.
Admota muris pone Nympharum domus
Aprica praebet littora:
Ripamque Baccho jungit, & vallum prope.
Lentis flagellat fluctibus.
Great _Ursin_ here puts reynes toth'_Tuscan_ pow're
The grace of _Heroes_ and the flow're;
Heire to his father's worth, chiefe guide and stay
And praise of great _Oenotria_.
A Bow're growes green, set round with trembling Okes
Which fanns the Heavens with gentle strokes.
It clothes the Hills, and spreads it selfe all over
To th'open Theaters a cover.
Close joyn'd to th'walls, the Nymphs coole Arbour stands,
Which to the Sunny shore commands;
By these a banke of Vines, which th'neighbour Trench
With milder waves doth daily drench.
Majore nusquam stagna Neptuno sonant,
Aut aestuantis Larii,
Aut qui severo tangit Albanus lacu
Inenatabilem Styga:
Aut quae procellis gaudet, & magno fremit
Superba ponto Julia:
Nec major usquam spumat, & rupes truci
Benacus assultat salo.
Intonsa curvo monte circumstant juga,
Mitesque despectant aquas.
Nowhere the Lakes with fuller Sea doth roare,
Either of _Larius_ that boyles o're,
Or rough _Albanus_ whose troubled waves doe mix
With the unnavigable Styx:
Not stormy _Julia_, when her swelling pride
Most rageth in her highest tyde:
_Benacus_ doth not raise more froth, when he
Assaults the rocks with fiercest Sea.
With rugged tops the bending mountaines round
Upon the slow calme streames looke downe.
Nivosus illinc terga Romanus movet,
Caeloque diducit minas:
Illinc caducis ilicem quassat comis
Sublime Cymini caput:
Crudumque Boream frangit impotentibus
Depraeliaturum Notis,
Terrisque late regnat, & caeli minis
Opponit hibernum latus.
_Romanus_ here his snowy back up-reares.
And drawes downe envy from the starres:
The lofty head of _Cyminus_ here shakes
The Oke with trembling leaves which quakes,
And holds off _Boreas_, when his rawer blasts
'Gainst the weake Southerne winds he casts,
Commands the Country farre, and out he sets
His Winter sides against Heavens threats.
Amica sternit interim lacum quies,
Fluctusque fluctu nititur,
Et ipsa secum pigra luctatur Thetis,
Aquaeque colludunt aquis:
Quas vel carina, vel citata turgido
Findit phaselus linteo:
Pinnaque late vitreum cogens pecus
Velente lino truditur,
Setaque piscem ducit, & raris procul
Lacum coronat retibus.
Meane while a pleasant calme doth smooth the Lake,
The waves 'gainst one another breake,
Mild _Thetis_ selfe, with her own selfe finds sport,
And waters doe the waters court:
Through which a ship doth cut, with pleasant gales,
Or nimble Barke with swelling sayles:
The large-fin'd Chrystall cattell as they goe
Are forced whether they will or no
With ready dragnet; then with lines of haire
They round the Lake, or Nets more rare.
Hinc alta lucet divitis Pollae domus,
Hinc pinguis Anguilaria:
Trebonianas hinc amica vineas
Vadosa plangunt aequora:
Hinc delicati fundus Aureli nitet,
Lymphae salutaris pater:
Undaque morbos arcet, & vivacibus
Lucem fluentis eluit.
Rich _Polla's_ stately house there shines, and here
Full stored Fish-ponds doe appeare:
The friendly Foords which toward the Sea doe lye
Water _Trebonian_ Vineyards by;
Here neat _Aurelius_ farme looks gay, chiefe Lord
And Master of that healthfull Foord,
Whose water cures diseases, whose quick springs
Doe purge out all infectious things.
At qua superbum fontibus nomen dedit
Suumque Flora marginem,
Vivis perennes decidunt saxis aquae,
Camposque decursu lavant,
Patremque longe Tybrin, & regem sonant,
Romaeque servitum fluunt.
Sincera circum regna naturae nitent;
Et artis immunes loci:
Adhucque virgo sulcus, & montes adhuc
Molleis inexperti manus,
Meramque Bacchus Tethyn, & Bacchum Thetis,
Et pinguis invitat Ceres.
Where _Flora_ makes the banks, and gives the name
To Fountaines, proud of so much fame;
From lively stones perpetuall waters flow,
And wash the fields wheresoe're they goe,
Their father _Tyber_, and their King they found
And flow to _Rome_, with homage bound.
Nature doth purely there advance each part,
Not any place is help'd by Art:
As yet the virgin furrow, th'Hills yet stand
Untouch'd, by any tender hand.
Chast _Tethys_, _Bacchus_ courts, _Thetis_ doth woo
_Bacchus_ againe, and _Ceres_ too.
Hinc ille laetus surgit, & tenacibus
Inserpit ulmis Evius,
Udoque cornu turget, & fluentibus
Crinem racemis impedit.
Non Lesbos illi, non odorati magis
Vineta rident Massici,
Aut quae Falernis educata solibus
Sublucet uvae purpura.
Hence _Evius_ cheerfull rises, and doth twine
With th'Elme, that closely clings toth' Vine,
With's plenteous horne he swells, his locks hang by--
With flowing Clusters tangled lye.
Not _Lesbos_ him, nor the sweet smelling grace,
Of rich _Campania_'s fruitfull race
Delights; the purple Grape not so faire showes,
In the _Falernian_ sun that growes.
Sed nec Falisci glaream malit soli,
Nec pinguis uber Rhaetiae;
Nec flava tantum culta felicis Cypri,
Graiamve dilexit Rhodon:
Quantum suis superbit, & sese suis
Miratur in canalibus.
Circum beatis imperat campis Ceres.
Lateque rura possidet:
Et arva flavo messium fluctu tument,
Motuque culmorum natant.
Hee'l not preferre _Faliscus_ sandy ground,
Nor _Rhaetia_, that doth so abound;
The yellow Tilths of happy _Cyprus_, hee
Ne're lov'd so much, nor _Rhodos_ by:
As in his owne -- in his owne channells hee
Hugging himselfe, doth proudly lye.
Sole Empresse _Ceres_ of the fertile lands
Whose large possessions shee commands:
The fields with yellow waves doe ebbe and flow,
The ripe eares swim, when winds doe blow.
Innube rarus inquinat caelum vapor,
Aut tensa nimbis vellera:
Aut e Boreis bella ventorum plagis,
Raucusque silvarum fragor
Auditur usquam: non protervis insonant
Exercitati Syrtibus,
Euris & Austris contumaces Africi,
Et perduellibus Notis.
Tantum serenus Vesper, & tenerrima
Etesiarum flamina.
No vapour, here, Heavens cleared face doth staine,
No clowdy fleece stretch'd out with raine:
The Northerne blasts are still, and all at peace,
And the hoarse noise o'th' woods doth cease:
The stubborne _Africke_ winds that use to stray
About th'unruly sandy Sea,
Are all hush'd up, and no Alarum sound
To th'other winds, entrenched round;
Onely the Evening faire, a gentle gale
Of winds that each year never faile:
Albique soles, & serena lucidis
Aspirat aura montibus:
Puramque caelo provehunt Horae facem,
Et Phoebus Horarum pater
Peculiari luce colles irrigat,
Pronaque perfundit die.
Ramis tepentes ingruunt Favonii
Jocantis aurae sibilo,
Et temperatis provocant suspiriis,
Leniq; somnum murmure.
The bright Sun darting through th'enlightned Ayre
His beames, doth guild the Moutaines cleare,
The houres drive on heav'ns torch, that shine so bright,
And _Phoebus_ father of the light--
With a peculiar influence bedewes
The Hills all o're, when night ensues.
The warme _Favonian_ winds with whistling gale
Doe merrily the boughs assaile,
And with their temperate breath, and gentle noise,
Sweet pleasing slumbers softly raise.
At non loquaces interim nidi tacent,
Matresque nidorum vagae.
Sed aut maritis turtur in ramis gemit,
Et saxa rumpit questibus,
Aut laeta late cantibus mulcet loca
Famosa pellex Thraciae.
Silvisq; coram plorat, & crudelibus
Accusat agris Terea:
Quaecumque moesta vocibus dicunt aves,
Respondet argutum nemus,
Affatur alnum quercus, ornum populus,
Affatur ilex ilicem,
Et se vicissim collocuta redditis
Arbusta solantur sonis.
The prateling Nests meane while no silence keep,
Their wandring guests ne're sleep.
To's mate, the Turtle 'mong'st the branches grones,
And with complaints breakes hardest stones,
The Nightingale, the pleasant Groves about
Refresheth, with her warbling note,
Bewayles her losse to th'woods, i'th' cruell fields
'Gainst _Tereus_ her cryes shee yeilds:
And what the mournfull birds doe so complaine,
The shrill woods answer back againe.
The Oke, the Alder tells; the Poplar tree
The Ash; and that, the Elme stands by.
The Groves rejoyce with th'Eccho they afford
And tell them backe--ev'n word for word.
Huc o Quiritum ductor, huc Oenotriae
O magne regnator plagae
_Jordane_, tandem plenus urbis & fori,
Rerumque magnarum satur,
Sepone curis temet, & domesticis
Furare pectus otiis.
Hic vel tuarum lene tranabis vadum
Opacus umbris arborum,
Tuosque colleis inter, & tuas procul
Perambulabis ilices:
_Jordanus_ here, hither thy selfe command,
Great Ruler of th'_Oenotrian_ land.
Withdraw thy selfe from cares, from all resort
So cloy'd with' Citie, and with Court,
So full of great affaires, at length thy breast
Convey to thy domestick rest.
Here thou may'st passe thy Foord, in gloomy shade,
On each side, by thine owne trees made,
And here between thy Mounts, with tall Okes set,
A large walke thou shalt get:
Vel cum Decembri campus, & prima nive
Vicina canescent juga;
Nunc impeditas mollibus plagis feras,
Silvamq; praecinges metu:
Nunc incitato capream rumpes equo,
Teloque deprendes aprum;
Jactoq; cervos collocabis spiculo,
Furesq; terrebis lupos.
Quid si Latinae laus _Alexander_ plagae,
Sacraeque sidus purpurae,
Tecum paterno feriabitur solo,
Seseq; curis eximet;
Tuique cives, hospitesq; civium
Toto fruemur gaudio.
Or in _December_, when the fields looke white,
And th'Hills, with the earlyest snow doth light;
Sometime th'entangled game, with twining nett
I'th' wood, with feare thou shalt besett:
Sometimes with courser fleet, pursue full sore,
The Buck thou mayst, sometimes the Bore;
With thy thrown dart the red Deer thou shalt stick.
And th'frighted ravenous Wolves shalt strick,
And if that Starre o'th' sacred dignity
The glory of all _Italy_,
Will also from his cares, himselfe make free,
And keepe his Festivals with thee;
Each Citizen of thine, and every guest
With the compleatest joy is blest.
_Ad fontem Sonam._
In patrio fundo, dum Roma rediisset.
Ode 2. Lib. Epod.
Fons innocenti lucidus magis vitro
Puraque purior nive,
Pagi voluptas, una Nympharum sitis,
Ocelle natalis soli.
Longis viarum languidus laboribus
Et mole curarum gravis
Thuscis ab usque gentibus redux, tibi
Accline prosterno latus:
Permitte siccus, qua potes, premi; cava
Permitte libari manu.
Sic te quietum nulla perturbet pecus,
Ramusve lapsus arbore:
Sic dum loquaci prata garritu secas,
Et laetus audiri salis;
Assibilantes populetorum comae
Ingrata ponant murmura
Tibi, lyraeq; Vatis: haud frustra sacer
Nam si quid _Urbanus_ probat,
Olim fluenti leue Blandusiae nihil
Aut Sirmioni debeas.
To the Fountaine Sona,
_When hee returned._
_Ode 2. Lib. Epod._
O Fount more cleare then spotlesse glasse,
More pure, then purest snow e're was,
The Nymphs desire, and Countries grace,
Thou joy of this my Native place.
Tyr'd with a tedious journey, I,
And press'd with cares that grievous lye,
From the farre _Tuscan_ Land made free
Thus low I bow my selfe to thee:
Oh, if thou canst, vouchsafe to bee
Press'd, and with hollow palme drawne dry.
So let thy peace no wandring beast
Disturb, no broken bough, thy rest:
So when thou cutt'st with prattling noise
The Meads, and leap'st, men heare thy voice;
May th'whistling leaves of Poplar trees
With their unwelcome murmurs cease--
To thee, and thy Priests Lute: if nought
_Urban_ approves, in vaine is thought
T'_Blandusia_ thou canst nothing owe;
Nor to milde flowing _Sirmio_.
Palinodia
Ad secundam libri Epodon Odam _Q. Horatii Flacci_.
_Laus otii Religiosi._
_Ode 3. Lib. Epod._
A Palinode
To the second Ode of the booke of Epodes of _Q. H. Flaccus_.
_The praise of a Religious Recreation._
_Ode 3. Lib. Epod._
At ille, _Flacce_, nunc erit beatior
Qui mole curarum procul
Paterna liquit rura, litigantium
Solutus omni jurgio;
Nec solis aestum frugibus timet suis,
Nec sidus hiberni Jovis,
Rixasq; vitat, & scelesta curiae
Rapacioris limina.
Ergo aut profanis hactenus negotiis
Amissa plorat sidera;
Aut in reducta sede dispersum gregem
Errantis animi colligit,
Postquam beatae lucra conscientiae
Quadrante libravit suo.
But, _Flaccus_, now more happy he appeares,
Who, with the burthen of his cares,
Farre off hath left his father's ground, set free
From the fierce wrangling Lawyer's fee;
No scorching heat, nor blasts of Winter _Jove_,
Doth hurt his fruit, or him can move:
Hee shuns all strifes, and never doth resort
The sinfull gates o'th' greedy Court.
But either doth bewayle those dayes and nights,
Lost by him in prophane delights;
Or else retyr'd, strives to collect and find
The dispers'd flock of's wandring mind;
Having first fairly pois'd the recompence
And gaines of a good conscience.
Idem, propinqua nocte, stellatas vigil
Cum vesper accendit faces,
Ut gaudet immortale mirari jubar,
Terraque majores globos,
Et per cadenteis intueri lacrymas
Rimosa lucis atria,
Quae Christe tecum, virgo quae tecum colat
Perennis haeres saeculi!
Volvuntur aureis interim stellaae rotis,
Pigrumque linquunt exulem,
Per ora cujus uberes eunt aquae,
Somnos quod avertat graveis.
At evening, when the harbinger of night
The torches of the sky doth light,
How he admires th'immortall rayes breake forth,
And their bright Orbes, more large then earth;
How through his trickling teares, he heips his fight,
Unto the open Courts of light,
Which with thy selfe, o Christ, thy selfe in pray'r
He' Adores, t'Eternall life an heire!
The Starres with golden wheeles, are hurried by,
And let their prostrate exile lye,
Over whose face, the plenteous teares doe stray,
Which chase all drowsie sleepe away;
At quando lotum Gangis aut Indi fretis
Jam Phoebus attollit caput,
Mentis profundus, & sui totus minor
Irata flectit numina:
Vel cum sereno fulserit dies Jove,
Aprilibusque feriis,
Assueta caelo lumina, in terras vocat
Lateq; prospectum jacit,
Camposq; lustrat, & relucentem sua
Miratur in scena _Deum_.
Assoone as _Phoebus_ head begins t'appeare,
Lately in _Indus_ streames made cleare,
From depth of soule, lesse then himselfe he lies,
And bends the angry pow'rs with cryes:
Or when the Sun shines cleare, the aire serene,
And _Aprill_ Festivals begin,
His eyes, so us'd to Heaven, he downe doth throw,
On a large prospect here below:
He viewes the fields, and wondring stands to see
In's shade the shining Deitie.
En omnis inquit, herba non morantibus
In astra luctatur comis:
Semota caelo lacrymantur, & piis
Liquuntur arva fletibus;
Ligustra canis, & rosae rubentibus
Repunt in auras brachiis;
Astrisque panda nescio quid pallido
Loquuntur ore lilia,
Et sero blandis ingemunt suspiriis,
Et mane rorant lacrymis.
Egone solus, solus in terris piger
Tenace figor pondere?
See how (saies he) each herb with restlesse leaves
To th' starres doth strive and upward heaves:
Remov'd from heaven they weep, the field appeares
All o're dissolv'd in pious teares:
The white-flowr'd Woodbine, and the blushing Rose
Branch into th'aire with twining boughs;
The pale-fac'd Lilly on the bending stalke,
To th'starres I know not what doth talke;
At night with fawning sighes they'expresse their fears
And in the morning drop downe teares.
Am I alone, wretch that I am, fast bound
And held with heavy weight, to th'ground?
Sic & propinquas allocutus arbores,
Et multa coram fontibus
Rivisque fatus, quaerit Auctorem _Deum_
Formosa per vestigia.
Quod si levandas mentis in curas vigil
Ruris suburbani domus,
Quales Lucisci, vel Nemecini Lares,
Udumve Besdani nemus
Rudeis adornet rustica mensas dape
Siccos sub Augusti dies;