THE THIRD ODE OF THE FIRST BOOK OF HORACE. INSCRIBED TO THE EARL OF ROSCOMMON, ON HIS INTENDED VOYAGE TO IRELAND. * So may the auspicious queen of love, And the twin stars, the seed of Jove, And he who rules the raging wind, To thee, O sacred ship, be kind; * Wentworth Dillon, Earl of Roscommon, an elegant poet and accomplished nobleman, was created captain of the band of pensioners after the Restoration, and made a considerable figure at the court of Charles II. But, having injured his fortune by gaming, and being engaged in a lawsuit with the Lord Privy Seal concerning a considerable part of his estate, he found himself obliged to retire to Ireland, and resigned his post at the English court. After having resided some years in that kingdom, where he enjoyed the post of captain of the guards to the Duke of Ormond, he returned to England, where he died in 1684. Besides the ode which follows, there are several traces through Dryden's works of his intimacy with Roscommon. And gentle breezes fill thy sails, As thou, to whom the Muse commends The eternal fences over-leap, And pass at will the boundless deep. The more confined, the more he tries, And at forbidden quarry flies. Thus bold Prometheus did aspire, And stole from Heaven the seeds of fire: A train of ills, a ghastly crew, The robber's blazing track pursue; Fierce famine with her meagre face, In swarms the offending wretch surround, Plunged through the lake, and snatched the prey. THE NINTH ODE OF THE FIRST BOOK OF HORACE. BEHOLD LD yon mountain's hoary height, Made higher with new mounts of snow; Again behold the winter's weight Oppress the labouring woods below; And streams, with icy fetters bound, Benumbed and crampt to solid ground. II. With well-heaped logs dissolve the cold, III. Let him alone, with what he made, IV. To-morrow and her works defy, V. Secure those golden early joys, That youth unsoured with sorrow bears, VI. The appointed hour of promised bliss, The laugh that guides thee to the mark; These, these are joys the gods for youth ordain. |