ttom;
Now on dry earth he stands;
Now round him throng the Fathers
To press his gory hands;
And now, with shouts and clapping,
And noise of weeping loud,
He enters through the River-Gate,
Borne by the joyous crowd.

They gave him of the corn-land,
That was of public right,
As much as two strong oxen
Could plow from morn till night;
And they made a molten image,
And set it up on high,
And there it stands unto this day
To witness if I lie.

It stands in the Comitium,[20-24]
Plain for all folk to see;
Horatius in his harness,
Halting upon one knee:
And underneath is written,
In letters all of gold,
How valiantly he kept the bridge
In the brave days of old.

And still his name sounds stirring
Unto the men of Rome,
As the trumpet-blast that cries to them
To charge the Volscian[20-25] home;
And wives still pray to Juno[20-26]
For boys with hearts as bold
As his who kept the bridge so well
In the brave days of old.

And in the nights of winter,
When the cold north-winds blow,
And the long howling of the wolves
Is heard amidst the snow;
When round the lonely cottage
Roars loud the tempest's din,
And the good logs of Algidus
Roar louder yet within:

[Illustration: HORATIUS IN HIS HARNESS, HALTING UPON ONE KNEE]

When the oldest cask is opened,
And the largest lamp is lit;
When the chestnuts glow in the embers,
And the kid turns on the spit;
When young and old in circle
Around the firebrands close;
And the girls are weaving baskets,
And the lads are shaping bows;

When the goodman mends his armor,
And trims his helmet's plume;
When the goodwife's shuttle merrily
Goes flashing through the loom,--
With weeping and with laughter
Still is the story told,
How well Horatius kept the bridge
In the brave days of old.[22-27]

[Illustration]

FOOTNOTES:

[1-1] Clusium was a powerful town in Etruria.

[1-2] According to the religion of the Etruscans there were nine great
gods. An oath by them was considered the most binding oath that a man
could take.

[2-3] This line shows us that the writing of the Etruscans was done
backwards, as we should consider it; that is, they wrote from right to
left instead of from left to right.