JUVENAL.

THE

TWELFTH SATYR.

By Mr. THOMAS POWER, Fellow of Trinity-College in Cambridge.

The ARGUMENT..

The Poet invites Corvinus to affift at the Perfor mance of a Sacrifice he had Vow'd to the Gods, and was now thankfully Offering up for the Safety of bis Friend Catullus the Merchant, who with the Lofs of his Goods, had efcap'd the double Dan-. ger of Fire and Water. He profeffes the Reality of his Friendship, and the fincerity of bis Intentions, that what he did in this nature, was without any Defign upon Catullus, or Profpect of Advan tage from him, who had three Children to leave: bis Eftate to. And here taking the bint, he exercifes his Satyrical Vein upon the Hæredipetæ, or Legacy-Hunters, who made their Court to, and

largely

largely prefented, and in their Sickness Sacrificed for the Health of Rich Childless Men, in hopes to be confider'd in their Will: Among the reft, be fingles out one Pacuvius, a Fellow very dextrous at, and notorious for, this Practice: And conclude all with a Wish for Pacuvius; which fome covetous Perfons would think pleasant enough, but really is a Curse.

HIS Day's, this joyful Day's Solemnity
Do's with my Birth-days more than equal vie

Of Graffie Turves the rural Altar's rear'd,
Expect the Firstlings of the Flock and Herd;
To Royal Juno, and the Warlike Maid,
Shall in à Lamb to each my Vows be paid;
A Steer, of the first Head in the whole Drove,
Referve we facred to 2 Tarpeian Jove:

Forward he bounds his Rope's extended length,
With pufhing Front; proud fince he try'd his Strength,
And budding Horns, against an adverse Oak;
Fit for the Altar, and the fatal Stroke.

I The Queen of the Gods; fo call'd by the Poets, as being Wife to Jupiter, who was the Supream Deity of the Greeks and Romans. By the Warlike Maid, is meant Pallas of Minerva, the Goddefs of Learning and War. They had their peculiar Sacrifices appointed them in the Ri tuals or Books of Ceremonies of the Ancients: White Bulls were offer'd to Jupiter;

of fo great a Sacrifice, yet willing to fhew his Devotion, and pay his Vow for his Friend's fafe Arrival, proportionable to his Eftate, offers to June an Ewe Lamb,`another to Minerva, and to Jupiter a young Bullock.

2 On Mount Capitol, otherwife called the Tarpeian Hill, from the Vestal Virgin Tarpeia, that betray'd it to the Sabines, Jupiter had a Tem

white Cows to June and Mi-ple, whence he was Named nerva. The Poet, tho' not Tarpeian and Capitoline. able to undergo the Charge

Were

:

Were but my Fortunes equal to my Mind,
My bounteous Love more nobly had defign'd;
A Bull high-fed fhould fall the Sacrifice;
One of 3 Hifpulla's huge prodigious Size :
Not one of those our Neighbouring Paftures feed,
But of 4 Clitumnus' whiteft Sacred Breed;
The lively Tincture of whofe gufhing Blood,
Shou'd clearly prove the Richness of his Food:
A Neck fo ftrong, fo large, as wou'd demand
The fpeeding Blow of fome 5 uncommon Hand,
This for my Friend, or more, I wou'd perform;
Who, Danger-free, ftill trembles at the Storm,
Presenting Forms fo hideous to his Sight,
As Safety scarce allays the wild Affright.
Firft from a Cloud, that Heav'n all over cast,
With Glance fo fwift the fubtle Lightning past,
As fplit the Sail-Yards; trembling, and half-dead,
Each thought the Blow was levell'd at his Head:
The flaming Shrouds fo dreadful did appear,
All judg'd a Wreck cou'd no Proportion bear.
So Fancy paints, fo does the Poet write,
When he wou'd work a Tempest to the height.
This Danger paft, a fecond does fucceed;

Again with Pity, and Attention, heed:

3 A fat fenfual Lady, noted | Juvenal fome interpret in a as infamous for keeping a Player, Sat. 6.

4 A River that divides Tufcany and Umbria, whofe Water, as Pliny relates, makes the Cows that drink of it calve their Young white: Whence the Romans, as Virgil and Claudian obferve, were plentifully furnished with Sacrifices for Jupiter Capitoline.

s The Grandis Minister of

Senfe referring to the Quality of the Perfon, as if the Chief Pontiff, and not one of the Popa's, or ordinary Officers, was to give the Blow: Put as it is unfeemly ro make the Chief Pontiff defcend to fo mean Office; fo it is more probable the Poet meant not the Dignity, but the Size_and Strength of the Perfon.

No

No lefs this fecond, tho' of different Kind;
Such as, in Ifis' Temple, you may find

6

On votive Tablets, to the Life pourtray'd;
Where Painters are employ'd, and earn their Bread.
What Painters in their liveli'ft Draughts exprefs,
May be a Copy of my Friend's Diftrefs.

For now a Sea into the Hold was got;
Wave upon Wave another Sea had wrought,
And nigh o'erfet the Stern on either Side:
The Hoary Pilot his best Skill apply'd ;
But ufelefs all when he despairing found,
Catullus then did with the Winds compound.
Just as the Beaver, that wife thinking Brute,
Who, when hard hunted on a close Pursuit,
Bites off his Stones, the Cause of all the Strife,
And pays 'em down a Ransom for his Life.
Over with all he cries, with all that's mine
Without Reserve I freely all refign.

Rich Garments, Purple dy'd in Grain, go o'er;
No foft & Mecanas ever choicer wore :

And

• The Ægyptian Goddess, † Ground is wholly fabulous; look'd upon by Merchants and has experimentally been and Seamen as their Patro-proved fo by Seftius a Phynefs; to whom they made their Vows in their Extremi ty. The Cuftom was for thofe that escap'd, to hang upon the Walls of her Temple the Picture of a Wreck or Storm, which was call'd a Votive Table; and her Votaries, it feems, were fo numerous, that he was forc'd to employ a whole Company of Painters in her Service.

7 A proper Simile, and good Moral Allufion; but the

fician, as it ftands related by Pliny. Dr. Brown, in his Book of Vulgar Errors, fays, That the Testicles, properly so called, are feated inwardly upon the Loins; aud therefore it were not only a Fruitless Attempt, but an Impoffible A&t, to caftrate it self: And might be an hazardous Practice of Art, if at all attempted by

others.