Quinquennes oleas eft, et fylveftria corna ;

u

"Ac, nifi mutatum, parcit defundere vinum; et Cujus odorem olei nequeas perferre (licebit Ille repotia, natales, aliofque dierum

Feftos albatus celebret) cornu ipfe bilibri Caulibus inftillat, veteris non parcus aceti.

X

Quali igitur victu fapiens utetur, et horum Utrum imitabitur? hac urget lupus, hac canis,

W

aiunt.

Mundus erit, qua non offendat fordibus, atque In neutram partem cultus mifer. Hic neque

fervis Albutî fenis exemplo, dum munia didit, Saevus erit; nec fit ut fimplex' Naevius, unčtam Convivis praebebit aquam: vitium hoc quoque magnum.

Accipe nunc, victus tenuis quae quantaque fecum

d

Afferat. In primis valeas bene; nam variae res Ut noceant homini, credas, memor illius efcae, Quae fimplex olim tibi federit. at fimul affis Mifcueris elixa, fimul conchylia turdis;

Dulcia fe in bilem vertent, ftomachoque tumultum

Lenta feret pituita. Vides, ut pallidus omnis

с

Sell their prefented partridges, and fruits,
And humbly live on rabbits and on roots:
"One half-pint bottle ferves them both to dine:
And is at once their vinegar and wine.
But on fome "lucky day (as when they found 55
A loft Bank bill, or heard their Son was drown'd)
At fuch a feast, old vinegar to fpare,

X

Is what two fouls fo gen'rous cannot bear
Oyl, tho' it stink, they drop by drop impart,
But fowse the cabbage with a bounteous heart. 60
'He knows to live, who keeps the middle state,
And neither leans on this fide, nor on that;
Nor ftops, for one bad cork, his butler's pay,
Swears, like Albutius, a good cook away;
Nor lets, like Nævius, ev'ry error pass,
The musty wine, foul cloth, or greasy glass.
Now hear what bleffings Temperance can
bring:

65

a

(Thus faid our Friend, and what he said I fing) "First Health: The stomach (cramm'd from ev'ry dish,

с

A tomb of boil'd and roast, and flesh and fish, 70 Where bile, and wind, and phlegm, and acid jar, And all the man is one inteftine war) Remembers oft the School-boy's fimple fare, The temp'rate fleeps, and fpirits light as air. 'How pale, each Worshipful and Rev'rend gueft 75 Rife from a Clergy, or a City feaft!

Coena defurgat dubia? quin corpus onustum Hefternis vitiis animum quoque praegravat una, Atque affigit humo divinae particulam aurae. * Alter, ubi dicto citius curata fopori Membra dedit, vegetus praefcripta ad munia furgit.

"Hic tamen ad melius poterit tranfcurrere quondam;

i

Sive diem feftum rediens advexerit annus,
Seu recreare volet tenuatum corpus: ubique
Accedent anni, et tractari mollius aetas
Imbecilla volet. Tibi quidnam accedet ad iftam,
Quam puer et validus praefumis, mollitiem; feu
Dura valetudo inciderit, feu tarda senectus ?
Rancidum aprum antiqui laudabant: non quia
nafus

Illis nullus erat; fed, credo, hac mente, quod hofpes

Tardius adveniens vitiatum commodius, quam

NOTES.

VER. 79, 80. The Soul fubfides, and wickedly inclines To fe m but mortal, ev'n in found Divines.] Horace was an Epicurean, and laughed at the immortality of the foul. And therefore, to render the doctrine more ridiculous, defcribes that languor of the mind proceeding from intemperance, on the idea, and in the terms of Plato,

"affigit humo divinae particulam aurae."

To this, his ridicule is pointed. Our Poet, with more fobriety and judgment, has turned the Ridicule, from the doctrine, which he believed, upon thofe Preachers of it, whofe feafts and compotations in Taverns did not edify him: a nd fo has

What life in all that ample body, fay?
What heav'nly particle inspires the clay?
The Soul fubfides, and wickedly inclines
To feem but mortal, ev'n in found Divines. 80
* On morning wings how active springs the

Mind

That leaves the load of yesterday behind?
How eafy ev'ry labour it pursues?

How coming to the Poet ev'ry Mufe?

h

Not but we may exceed, fome holy time, 85 Or tir'd in search of Truth, or fearch of Rhymes Ill health fome juft indulgence may engage, And more the fickness of long life, Old age: For fainting Age what cordial drop remains, If our intemp'rate Youth the vessel drains?

90

*Our fathers prais'd rank Ven'fon. You fuppofe Perhaps, young men! our fathers had no nose. Not fo: a Buck was then a week's repaft, And 'twas their point, I ween, to make it last; More pleas'd to keep it till their friends could 95

come,

Than eat the sweetest by themselves at home.

NOTES.

added furprizing humour and spirit to the eafy elegance of the Original.

VER. 81. On morning wings, &c.] Much happier and no bler than the Original.

VER. 86. Or tir'd in fearch of Truth, or fearch of Rhyme ;]

Integrum edax dominus confumeret. 'hos uti

nam inter

Heroas natum tellus me prima tuliffet.

Das aliquid famae, quae carmine gratior aurem Occupet humanam? grandes rhombi, patinaeque Grande ferunt una "cum damno dedecus, adde • Iratum patruum, vicinos, te tibi iniquum, Et fruftra mortis cupidum, cum deerit egenti PAs, laquei pretium.

Jure, inquit, Traufius iftis

Jurgatur verbis: ego vectigalia magna, Divitiafque habeo tribus amplas regibus. Ergo, Quod fuperat, non eft melius quo infumere poffis? Cur eget indignus quifquam, te divite? quare

9

NOTES.

A fine ridicule on the extravagance of human purfuits; where the most trifling and most important concerns of life fucceed one another, indifferently.

VER. 117, 118. Oh Impudence of wealth! with all thy flore, How dar'f thou let one worthy man be poor?] "Cur eget indignus quifquam, te divite?"

is here admirably paraphrafed. And it is obfervable in these Imitations, that where our Poet keeps to the fentiments of Horace, he rather piques himfelf in excelling the most finished touches of his Original, than in correcting or improving the more inferior parts. Of this elegance of Ambition, all his Writings bear fuch marks, that it gave Countenance to an invidious imputation, as if his chief talent lay in copying