g dawn!
A wealthier Maid, in pleasing chains,
Illustrious [3]Telephus detains,
From humble THEE withdrawn.

When Pride would daring hopes create,
Of Phaeton recall the fate,
Consum'd in his career!
Let rash Bellerophon, who tried
The fiery Pegasus to guide,
Awake thy prudent fear!

Thus warn'd, thy better interest know,
And cease those charming eyes to throw
On Youths of high degree!
Come then, of all my Loves the last,
For, every other passion past,
I only burn for thee!

Come, and with tuneful voice rehearse
The measures of thy Poet's verse
And charm the list'ning Throng!
Believe me, Fairest, all our cares
Will soften at the melting airs
That deck the lyric song.

1: The Romans made fires in the middle of their rooms, with an hole
in the ceiling, to let out the smoke, which is described as rolling
to the top of the House.

2: The feast of Venus was held by the Romans in April.

3: It is agreed that this is the same young Nobleman, to whom the Ode
is addressed, on Licinius being appointed Augur, and which has been
paraphrased in this Collection.

[1]ON THE PLEASURES OF RURAL LIFE.

BOOK THE FIFTH, EPODE THE SECOND.

I.

Thrice happy he, whose life restores
The pleasures pure of early times;
That ne'er, with anxious heart, explores
The rugged heights Ambition climbs;
Exempt from all the din, the toil, the care,
That Cities for their busy Sons prepare;
Fatigue, beneath the name of pleasure,
Contentious law, usurious treasure,
A tedious mean attendance on the Great,
And emulation vain of all their pomp and state.

II.

Not his sound and balmy sleep
The trumpet's martial warning breaks;
Nor the loud billows of the angry Deep,
When thro' the straining cords the Tempest shrieks;
But the Morning's choral lay,
Chanted wild from every spray.
Swift at the summons flies the wilder'd dream,
And up he springs alert, to meet the orient beam.

I.

The vine-clad hill he lightly scales,
Where [2]tall the frequent poplars rise,
From branch to branch assiduous trails
The pendent clusters rich supplies;
And cautious prunes the weak, the useless shoot,
Engrafting healthier boughs, that promise fruit.--
Then his arms serenely folding,
And the smiling scene beholding,
Marks, as the fertile valley winds away,
His Flocks and lowing Herds, in ample numbers stray