plain;
While slow, with languid neck, the weary Steers
Th' inverted ploughshare drag along,
Mindless of the Shepherd's song;
Then, round his smiling Household-Gods, surveys
A numerous, menial Group, the proof of prosperous days.

I.

'T was thus, amidst his ill-got wealth,
The Roman Usurer justly thought,
Resolv'd to purchase peace and health,
And live, at length, as Nature taught;
No more with subtle avarice to lend,
Oppressive foe beneath the name of friend!
Now grasping views, for once, rejected,
He on the [5]Ides his sums collected,
But on the [6]Calends, lo! with anxious pain,
On the same interest vast, he sends them forth again.

II.

Thus can lust of gold controul,
Tho' the Heart urge a wiser choice,
By force of habit lord it o'er the Soul,
And stifle e'en Conviction's powerful voice.
See, with sighs the Miser yield
The promis'd joys of wood, and field;
Against experienc'd disappointment, try
With Gold to purchase _that_, which Gold can never buy!

1: The Reader will remember, that in the course of these Paraphrases
the design has been _avowed_ of stretching the pictures of Horace
upon a _wider_ canvass, of filling up what are so often mere
outlines. If learned eyes ever glance over this Ode, it is hoped they
will not _frown_ upon the many circumstances and reflections which
have been _added_, upon a presumption, induced by the pleasing nature
of the subject, since the Roman customs and manners are preserved
with fidelity. Those customs and manners, resulting from their
festal, gay, and picturesque Religion, cannot surely be presented
without proving interesting. Yet, to _create_ this interest,
_stronger_ and more _circumstantial_ description seems required than
can be found in Horace, if the Paraphraser may be allowed to judge of
the poetic feelings of others by her own. It was doubtless sufficient
for his contemporary Readers, and for those of some succeeding
Generations, that he slightly alluded to events and ceremonies, which
were familiar to _their_ recollection. In _our_ day more precision is
demanded, at least by those who have poetic taste without knowledge
of the dead languages, or intimacy with the national and domestic
customs of that Time, and of that People. Also, to strengthen this
necessary interest in the mind of the Reader, it must be eligible to
infuse a more liberal portion of those sentiments and ideas, which