Prosiluit regina uiro dare brachia circum impatiens, auidas effugit ille manus; nec semel ardentem species illudit inanis, amplecti quotiens feruida dextra petit : soluitur extemplo formamque resumit imago, continuoque oculis, quæ fuit ante, subest. "Dux tuus, en, solum te, Protesilae, reliquit : fare age, præsentis uox mihi testis erit;
hic se nostra domus, solium hic se tollit eburnum : fare age, uox ipsam lætificabit humum. dona quid expaueam concessa hæc munere divum? gaudia quid mæstæ reddita sera domo?" "Crede mihi, coniux, non imperfecta relinquit, nec sinit omnipotens fallere dona Pater; non redii fallax neque quæ metuatur imago, hunc reditum pietas promeruitque fides: nec nihil interea constantia nostra merebat, nil etenim virtus intemerata nequit. Illius (hand nescis) prædixit Pythia mortem, Iliacam primus qui tetigisset humum.
me sors illa tamen minime prohibere ualebat, pro patria digna uictima digna datur : prosilui præceps Troiana in litora, dextra scilicet Hectorea conficiendus eram."
He thought of that high feast at which he swore By the broad brows of everlasting Jove,
That this fair wife, if won, he would adore And worship, yea, with more than mortal love.
Whereon, loud thunder-peals were heard without Rending the welkin; and the massive wood In the huge rafters cracked; and with a shout The people hailed these auguries of good.
And how he sent the queen his lover's-prayer, How restless on his carven couch he lay, Or clomb to his lone tower and waiting there, Watched for his envoys through the live-long day,
How days passed by, till on an eve were seen White wings of ships upon the crested foam ; His heart foreboded that it was his queen Coming to marriage, Samos, and her home.
That time had gone: fresh longing seized the king, To own the choicest jewel in the land, The priceless emerald in the priceless ring,
The skilful work of Samian Theodore's hand.
And lo! one morn came Theodore to the king, And as a tribute to his lord he brought The priceless emerald in the priceless ring :-
Thus wakeful Gods may hear the unspoken thought.
And ere the morrow's sun had yet gone down, A tramp of men was heard about the port,
And swift-winged Rumour blazed through Juno's town, That king Amasis came with all his court,
To learn if sooth were said in distant lands, That Gods give all Polycrates requires, As if obsequious to his least demands,
And fortune grants his scarcely-framed desires.
And king Amasis long at Samos bode,
And saw the strange-bred herds, the pillared court In Juno's temple, and the fleet that rode At anchor safely in the spacious port.
One happy night it came in triumph home, With shouts and coronals of Victory: The Lesbian navy, scattered o'er the foam, Had left the Samian masters of the sea.
At next eve's feast in honour of the fight, Bards sang the Samian king in lofty strain, "What islands had he conquered by his might, What cities had he won beyond the main!"
And while they sang his glory and his fame
And how his works through boundless time should stand,
And how his children should uphold his name,
Far seen, like lofty towers o'er level land.
And while the royal company were glad,
And red wine foamed and jewelled beakers shone Amasis by his side sat pale and sad,
Then whispered leaning from his ivory throne:
"O King for fortune, in her wanton might
Sports a hard sport and whither she will go, Or on whose shoulders next her honours light, Or thine, or elsewhere, no man may foreknow.
"Supreme of heroes-bravest, noblest, best! Thy matchless courage I bewail no more, That then, when tens of thousands were depress'd By doubt, propell'd thee to the fatal shore; Thou found'st-and I forgive thee-here thou art- A nobler counsellor than my poor heart.
"But thou, though capable of sternest deed, Wert kind as resolute and good as brave; And He, whose power restores thee, hath decreed That thou shouldst cheat the malice of the grave; Redundant are thy locks, thy lips as fair
As when their breath enrich'd Thessalian air. "No spectre greets me,-no vain shadow this: Come, blooming hero, place thee by my side! Give, on this well-known couch, one nuptial kiss To me, this day a second time thy bride!" Jove frown'd in heaven: the conscious Parca threw Upon those roseate lips a Stygian hue.
"This visage tells thee that my doom is past: Know, virtue were not virtue if the joys Of sense were able to return as fast And surely as they vanish.-Earth destroys Those raptures duly-Erebus disdains: Calm pleasures there abide-majestic pains.
"Be taught, O faithful consort, to control Rebellious passion: for the gods approve The depth, and not the tumult of the soul; The fervour-not the impotence of love. Thy transports moderate; and meekly mourn When I depart, for brief is my sojourn--"
"Learn by a mortal yearning to ascend Towards a higher object:-Love was given, Encouraged, sanction'd, chiefly for this end: For this the passion to excess was driven- That self might be annull'd; her bondage prove The fetters of a dream, opposed to love."
o decus heroum præstans, dux optime Graium, non iam uirtutem Laodamia dolet,
tu dum mille duces dubia formidine pressi
deficiunt, audax litora dira petis;
impulit-ignosco tibi enim, qui proximus astas— pectore te uirtus ad meliora meo.
mitis eras idem quiduisque audere paratus ingenium atroci pectore molle foues.
iam quoque cuius ades facili mihi numine iussit
inuida te mortis fallere fata deus;
pulcra coma est, tibi pulcra rubent uelut ante labella,
Thessalis ut facta est gratior aura tua.
iam non umbra mihi loqueris neque inanis imago;
tu lateri, iuvenis floride, iunge latus;
oscula fige toro mihi coniugialia noto, nunc etenim sponso nupta beata iugor.” Contraxit frontem Pater: infecere sorores optati Stygio labra colore uiri.
"hic mea fata docet pallor; tu parce quippe alio uirtus foedere nulla foret; si possent citius semper iucunda referri gaudia, quæ nobis nunc fugitiua cadunt. rite uoluptates tellus quoque delet, et odit orcus ibi requies alta suusque dolor.
disce, precor, coniux: animum compesce rebellem: ne tumeant nimium feruida corda caue.
dis altum ingenium, non qui breuis æstuat ardor, feruidus acceptus, nec uiolentus amor.
tu menti moderare tuæ, summissaque plora auolsum (dabitur non mora longa) uirum;
et desiderio mortali docta memento
spernere mortales dum petis astra uices. namque ut pandat iter cæli demisit Amorem ; scilicet has artes sic fouet ipse Pater: immo etiam stimulis diris instigat amantem, excidat ut penitus pectore cura sui;
ac uelut excussus somno sua uincula rumpit, sic praua omnis amans ambitione uacet."
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