Axis et eversum fudit super agmina montem,
Quid superest de corporibus? quis membra, quis ossa
Invenit? Obtritum vulgi perit omne cadaver
Domus interea secura patellas
Jam lavat et bucca foculum excitat, et sonat unctis
Striglibus et pleno componit lintea gutto.
Haec inter pueros varie properantur : at ille
Jam sedet in ripa tetrumque novicius horret
Porthmea, nec sperat coenosi gurgitis alnum,
Infelix, nec habet quem porrigat ore trientem.
Respice nunc alia ac diversa pericula noctis:
Quod spatium tectis sublimibus, unde cerebrum
Testa ferit, quotiens rimosa et curta fenestris
Vasa cadant; quanto percussum pondere signent
Et laedant silicem. Possis ignavus haberi
Et subiti casus improvidus, ad coenam si
Intestatus eas. 'Adeo tot fata, quot illa
Nocte patent vigiles, te praetereunte, fenestrae.
Ergo optes votumque feras miserabile tecum,
Ut sint contentae patulas defundere pelves.
Ebrius ac petulans, qui nullum forte cecidit,
Dat poenas, noctem patitur lugentis amicum
Of huge Ligurian stone, and pour the freight
On the pale crowd beneath, what would remain,
What joint, what bone, what atom of the slain?
The body, with the soul, would vanish quite,
Invisible as air, to mortal sight !-
Meanwhile, unconscious of their fellow's fate,
At home, they heat the water, scour the plate,
Arrange the strigils, fill the cruise with oil,
And ply their several tasks with fruitless toil :
For he who bore the dole, poor mangled ghost,
Sits pale and trembling on the Stygian coast,
Scared at the horrours of the novel scene,
At Charon's threatening voice, and scowling mien;
Nor hopes a passage, thus abruptly hurl'd,
Without his farthing, to the nether world.
Pass we these fearful dangers, and survey,
What other evils threat our nightly way.
And first, behold the mansion's towering size,
Where floors on floors to the tenth story rise;
Whence heedless garretteers their potsherds throw,
And crush the unwary wretch that walks below!
Clattering the storm descends from heights unknown,
Ploughs up the street, and wounds the flinty stone!
"Tis madness, dire improvidence of ill,
To sup abroad, before you sign your Will;
Since fate in ambush lies, and marks his prey
From every wakeful window in the way:
Pray, then,—and count your humble prayer
If pots be only-emptied on your head.
The drunken bully, ere his man be slain, Frets through the night, and courts repose in vain ; And while the thirst of blood his bosom burns,
Pelidae, cubat in faciem, mox deinde supinus.
Ergo non aliter poterit dormire? Quibusdam
Somnum rixa facit; sed, quamvis improbus annis
Atque mero fervens, cavet hunc, quem coccina laena
Vitari jubet et comitum longissimus ordo,
Multum praeterea flammarum et aenea lampas, luna solet deducere vel breve lumen
Candelae, cujus dispenso et tempero filum,
Contemnit. Miserae cognosce prooemia rixae,
Si rixa est, ubi tu pulsas, ego vapulo tantum.
Stat contra starique jubet; parere necesse est.
Nam quid agas, quum te furiosus cogat et idem
Fortior? Unde venis? exclamat: cujus aceto,
Cujus conche tumes? quis tecum sectile porrum
Sutor et elixi vervecis labra comedit?
Nil mihi respondes? Aut dic, aut accipe calcem.
Ede, ubi consistas: in qua te quaero proseucha?
Dicere si tentes aliquid tacitusve recedas,
Tantumdem est; feriunt pariter: vadimonia deinde
Libertas pauperis haec est:
Pulsatus rogat et pugnis concisus adorat,
From side to side, in restless anguish, turns,
Like Peleus' son, when, quell'd by Hector's hand,
His loved Patroclus prest the Phrygian strand.
There are, who murder as an opiate take,
And only, when no brawls await them, wake:
Yet even these heroes, flush'd with youth and wine,
All contest with the purple robe decline;
Securely give the lengthen'd train to pass,
The sun-bright flambeaux, and the lamps of brass.-
Me, whom the moon, or candle's paler gleam,
Whose wick I husband to the last extreme,
Guides through the gloom, he braves, devoid of fear:
The prelude to our doughty quarrel hear,
If that be deem'd a quarrel, where, heaven knows,
He only gives, and I receive, the blows!
Across my path he strides, and bids me STAND!
I bow, obsequious to the dread command;
What else remains, where madness, rage, combine
With youth, and strength superiour far to mine?
"Whence come you, rogue?" he cries;
Have stuff'd you, thus? what cobbler clubb'd his mite, For leeks, and sheep's-head porridge? Dumb! quite dumb!
Speak, or be kick'd.-Yet, once again! your home?
Where shall I find you? At what beggar's stand,
(Temple, or bridge) whimp'ring, with outstretch'd hand?"
Whether I strive some humble plea to frame,
Or steal in silence by, 'tis just the same;
I'm beaten first, then dragg'd in rage away;
Bound to the peace, or punish'd for the fray!
Mark here the boasted freedom of the poor!
Ut liceat paucis cum dentibus inde reverti..
Nec tamen haec tantum metuas: nam, qui spoliet te,
Non deerit, clausis domibus, postquam omnis ubique
Fixa catenatae siluit compago tabernae.
Interdum et ferro subitus grassator agit rem,
Armato quotiens tutae custode tenentur
Et Pontina palus et Gallinaria pinus.
Sic inde huc omnes, tamquam ad vivaria, currunt.
Qua fornace graves, qua non incude, catenae?
Maximus in vinclis ferri modus, ut timeas, ne
Vomer deficiat, ne marrae et sarcula desint.
Felices proavorum atavos, felicia dicas
Saecula, quae quondam sub regibus atque tribunis
Viderunt uno contentam carcere Romam.
His alias poteram et plures subnectere causas :
Sed jumenta vocant, et sol inclinat: eundum est.
Nam mihi commota jamdudum mulio virga
Annuit. Ergo vale nostri memor, et quotiens te
Roma tuo refici properantem reddet Aquino,
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