Against the pangs of hunger unsupplied,
By slow degrees his tatter'd bed forsook,
And poking in the dark. explored the nook
Where embers slept with ashes heap'd around,
And with burnt fingers' ends the treasure found.
It chanced that from a brand beneath his nose,
Sure proof of latent fire some smoke arose;
When trimming with a pin the encrusted tow,
And stooping it towards the coals below,
He toils with cheeks distended, to excite
The lingering flame, and gains at length a light.
With prudent heed he spreads his hand before
The quivering lamp, and opes his granary door.
Small was his stock. but taken for the day
A measured stint of twice eight pounds away,
With these his mill he seeks. A shelf at hand,
Fix'd in the wall, affords his lamp a stand:
Then baring both his arms-a sleeveless coat
He girds, the rough exuviæ of a goat:
And with a rubber, for that use design'd,
Cleansing his mill within-begins to grind;
Each hand has its employ; laboring amain,
This turns the winch, while that supplies the
grain.

The stone, revolving rapidly, now glows,
And the bruised corn a mealy current flows;
While be to make his heavy labor light.
Tasks oft his left hand to relieve his right;
And chants with rudest accent to beguile
His ceaseless toil, as rude a strain the while.
And now Dame Cybale come forth!" he cries;
But Cybale, still slumbering nought replies.
From Afric she, the swain's sole serving-maid,
Whose face and form alike her birth betray'd.
With woolly locks, lips tumid, sable skin,
Wide bosom, udders flaccid, belly thin.
Legs slender, broad and most misshapen feet,
Chapp'd into chinks and parch'd with solar heat.
Such summon'd oft she came; at his command
Fresh fuel heap'd the sleeping embers fann'd,
And made in haste her simine ring skillet steam,
Replenish'd newly from the neighboring stream.
The labors of the mill perform'd a sieve
The mingled flour and bran must next receive.
Which shaken o t shoots Ceres through refined,
And better dress'd her husks all left behind.

This done, at once his future plain repast
Unleaven'd on a shaven board he cast,
With tepid lymph first largely soak'd it all,
Then gather'd it with both hands to a ball
And spreading it again with both hands wide,
With sprinkled salt the stiffen'd mass supplied;
At length the stubborn substance, duly wrought,
Takes from his palms impress'd the shape a
ought,

Becomes an orb-and quarter'd into shares,
The faithful mark of just division bears.
Last, on his hearth it finds convenient space,
For Cybale before had swept the place
And there, with tiles and embers overspread,
She leaves it-reeking in its sultry bed.

Nor Simulus while Vulcan thus alone
His part perform'd, proves heedless of his own,
But sedulous, not merely to subdue
His hunger, but to please his palate too.
Prepares more savory food. His chimney side
Could boast no gammon, salted well and dried
And hook'd behind him; but sufficient store
Of bundled anise and a cheese it bore

[strung

A broad round cheese, which, through its centre
With a tough broom twig in the corner hung,
The prudent hero therefore, with address
And quick despatch now seeks another mess.

Close to his cottage lay a garden ground,
With reeds and osiers sparely girt around,
Small was the spot, but liberal to produce,
Nor wanted aught to serve a peasant's use;
And sometimes e'en the rich would borrow
thence.

[beet,

Although its tillage was its sole expense.
For oft as from his toils abroad he ceased.
Home-bound by weather or some stated feast,
His debt of culture here he duly paid,
And only left the plough to wield the spade.
He knew to give each plant the soil it needs,
To drill the ground and cover close the seeds;
And could with ease compel the wanton rill
To turn and wind obedient to his will.
There flourish'd star-wort, and the branching
The sorrel acid and the mallow sweet
The skirret, and the leek's aspiring kind.
The noxious poppy-quencher of the mind!
Salubrious sequel of a sumptuous board
The lettuce and the long huge-be thed gourd;
But these (for none his appetite controll d
With stricter sway) the thruty rustic sold ;
With broom twigs neatly bound each kind apart,
He bore them ever to the public mart:
Whence laden still but with a lighter load
Of cash well earn'd, he took his homeward road,

Expending seldom, ere he quitted Rome,
His gains in flesh meat for a feast at home.
There, at no cost on onions rank and red,
Or the curl'd endive's bitter leaf he fed :
On scallions sliced or, with a sensual gust,
On rockets-foul provocatives of lust!
Nor ever shunn'd with smarting gums to press
Nasturtium-pungent face-distorting mess!

Some such regale now also in his thought,
With hasty steps his garden ground he sought;
There delving with his hands he first displaced
Four plants of garlick, large, and rooted fast;
The tender tops of parsley next he culls.
Then the old rue bush shudders as he pulls;
And coriander last to these succeeds, [seeds.
That hangs on slightest threads her trembling
Placed near his sprightly fire he now demands
The mortar at his sable servant's hands;
When, stripping all his garlick first, he tore
The exterior coats, and cast them on the floor,
Then cast away with like contempt the skin,
Flimsier concealment of the cloves within.
These search'd and perfect found, he one by one
Rinsed and disposed within the hollow stone.
Salt added, and a lump of salted cheese,
With his injected herbs he cover'd these,
And, tucking with his left his tunic tight,
And seizing fast the pestle with his right,
The garlick bruising first he soon express'd,
And mixed the various juices of the rest.
He grinds and by degrees his herbs below,
Lost in each other, their own powers forego,
And with the cheese in compound to the sight
Nor wholly green appear nor wholly white.
His nostrils oft the forceful fume resent,
He cursed full oft his dinner for its scent;
Or, with wry faces, wiping as he spoke
The trickling tears, cried, "Vengeance on the
sinoke!"

The work proceeds: not roughly turns he now
The pestle, but in circles smooth and slow;
With cautious hand that grudges what it spills,
Some drops of olive oil he next instils,
Then vinegar with caution scarcely less,
And gathering to a ball the medley mess,
Last, with two fingers frugally applied,
Sweeps the small remnant from the mortar's side.
And, thus complete in figure and in kind,
Obtains at length the salad he design'd.

And now black Cybale before him stands,
The cake drawn newly glowing in her hands,
He glads receives it, chasing far away
All fears of famine for the passing day;
His legs enclosed in buskins and his head
In its tough casque of leather forth he led
And yoked his steers a dull obedient pair,
Then drove afield, and plunged the pointed

share.

June, 1799.

TRANSLATION FROM VIRGIL.

ENEID, BOOK VIII. LINE 18.

Thus Italy was moved-nor did the chief
Aneas in his mind less tumult feel.
On every side his anxious thought he turns,
Restless unfix'd not knowing which to choose.
And as a cistern that in brim of brass
Confines the crystal flood in chance the sun
Smite on it, or the moon's resplendent orb,

The quivering light now flashes on the walls,
Now leaps uncertain to the vaulted roof:
Such were the wavering motions of his mind.
'Twas night-and weary nature sunk to rest.
The birds the bleating flocks, were heard no

more.

At length, on the cold ground, beneath the damp
And dewy vault fast by the river's brink,
The father of his country sought repose.
When lo! among the spreading poplar boughs,
Forth from his pleasant stream, propitious rose
The god of Tiber: clear transparent gauze
Infolds his loins, his brows with reeds are
crown'd:

And these his gracious words to soothe his care: Heaven-born, who bring'st our kindred home again,

Rescued, and givest eternity to Troy,

Long have Laurentum and the Latian plains
Expected thee; behold thy fix'd abode.
Fear not the threats of war, the storm is past,
The gods appeased. For proof that what thou
hear st

Is no vain forgery or delusive dream,
Beneath the grove that borders my green bank,
A milk-white swine, with thirty milk-white young,
Shall greet thy wondering eyes. Mark well the

place;

For 'tis thy place of rest. there end thy toils:
There twice ten years elapsed fair Alba's walls
Shall rise, fair Alba by Ascanius' hand.
Thus shall it be-now listen, while I teach
The means to accomplish these events at hand.
The Arcadians here, a race from Pallas sprung,
Following Evander's standard and his fate,
High on these mountains, a well chosen spot,
Have built a city, for their grandsire's sake
Named Pallanteum. These perpetual war
Wage with the Latians: join'd in faitutul league
And arms confederate add them to your camp.
Myself between my winding banks will speed
Your well oar'd barks to stem the opposing tide.
Rise goddess born, arise; and with the first
Declining stars seek Juno in thy prayer
And vanquish all her wrath with suppliant vows.
When conquest crowns thee. then remember me.
I am the Tiber, whose cærulean stream
Heaven favors; I with copious flood divide
These grassy banks and cleave the fruitful meads.
My mansion, this-and lofty cities crown
My fountain head."-He spoke and sought the

deep.

And plunged his form beneath the closing flood.
Æneas at the morning dawn awoke,
And, rising, with uplifted eye beheld

The orient sun, then dipped his palins, and scoop'd

The brimming stream, and thus address'd the skies:

Ye nymphs, Laurentian nymphs, who feed the

source

Of many a stream, and thou, with thy blest flood,
O Tiber, hear, accept me, and afford,
At length afford, a shelter from my woes.
Where'er in secret cavern under ground
Thy waters sleep where'er they spring to light,
Since thou hast pity for a wretch like me.
My offerings and my vows shall wait thee still:
Great horned Father of Hesperian floods,
Be gracious now and ratify thy word."
He said and chose two gulleys from his fleet,
Fits them with oars, and clothes the crew in arms.

When lo! astonishing and pleasing sight,
The milk-white dam, with her unspotted brood,
Lay stretch'd upon the bank. beneath the grove.
To thee, the pious Prince. Juno to thee
Devotes them all all on thine altar bleed.
That live-long night old Tiber smooth'd his flood,
And so restrain'd it that it seem'd to stand
Motionless as a pool, or silent lake,
That not a billow might resist their oars.
With cheerful sound of exhortation soon
Their voyage they begin; the pitchy keel
Slides through the gentle deep the quiet stream
Admires the unwonted burden that it bears,
Well polish'd arms, and vessels painted gay.
Beneath the shade of various trees, between
The umbrageous branches of the spreading
groves,

They cut their liquid way, nor day nor night
They slack their course, unwinding as they go
The long meanders of the peaceful tide.

The glowing sun was in meridian height,
When from afar they saw the humble walls,
And the few scatter'd cottages which now
The Roman power has equall'd with the clouds;
But such was then Evander's scant domain.
They steer to shore, and hasten to the town.
It chanced the Arcadian monarch on that day,
Before the walls beneath a shady grove,
Was celebrating high in solemn feast,
Alcides and his tutelary gods.

Pallas his son was there, and there the chief
Of all his youth; with these, a worthy tribe,
His poor but venerable senate, burnt [blood.
Sweet incense, and their altars smoked with
Soon as they saw the towering masts approach,
Sliding between the trees, while the crew rest
Upon their silent oars, amazed they rose,
Not without fear, and all forsook the feast.
But Pallas undismay'd. his javelin seized,
Rush'd to the bank, and from a rising ground
Forbade them to disturb the sacred rites.
"Ye stranger youth! What prompts you to
explore

This untried way? and whither do ye steer? Whence, and who are ye? Bring ye peace or war?"

Eneas from his lofty deck holds forth

The peaceful olive branch, and thus replies:

66

Trojans and enemies to the Latian state, Whom they with unprovoked hostilities [der Have driven away, thou seest. We seek EvanSay this-and say beside, the Trojan chiefs Are come, and seek his friendship and his aid." Pallas with wonder heard that awful name, And Whosoe'er thou art," he cried," come forth: Bear thine own tidings to my father's ear, And be a welcome guest beneath our roof." He said, and press'd the stranger to his breast: Then led him from the river to the grove, Where, courteous thus Æneas greets the king: "Best of the Grecian race, to whom I bow (So wills my fortune) suppliant, and stretch forth In sign of amity this peaceful branch, I fear'd thee not, although I knew thee well A Grecian leader. born in Arcady, And kinsman of the Atrida. Me my virtue, That means no wrong to thee-the Oracles, Our kindred families allied of old,

And thy renown diffused through every land, Have all conspired to bind in friendship to thee, And send me not unwilling to thy shores. Dardanus, author of the Trojan state,

(So say the Greeks,) was fair Electra's son;
Electra boasted Atlas for her sire.
Whose shoulders high sustain the ethereal cris
Your sire is Mercury, whom Maia bore,
Sweet Maia, on Cylene's hoary top.
Her, if we credit aught tradition old,
Atlas of yore, the self-sane Atlas claim'd
His daughter. Thus united close in biool,
Thy race and ours one common sire conitss
With these credentials fraught I would not send
Ambassadors with artful phrase to sound
And win thee by degrees-but came myself-
Me, therefore me thou seest; my life the star
'Tis I, Eneas, who implore thine aid.
Should Daunia that now aims the blow at thee,
Prevail to conquer us, nought then they think,
Will hinder, but Hesperia must be theirs
All theirs, from the upper to the nether sea.
Take then our friendship, and return us thine
We too have courage, we have noble minds
And youth well tried, and exercised in arms.

Thus spoke Eneas,-He with fix'd regari
Survey'd him speaking features, forin and mea
Then briefly thus- Thou noblest of thy nam,
How gladly do I take thee to my heart.
How gladly thus confess thee for a friend'
In thee I trace Anchises; his thy speech
Thy voice, thy countenance. For I well remember
Many a day since, when Priam journey'd forth
To Salamis, to see the land where dwelt
Hesione. his sister, he push'd on
Een to Arcadia's frozen bounds. Twas then
The bloom of youth was glowing on my cheek;
Much I admired the Trojan chies and much
Their king the son of great Laomedon,
But most Anchises, towering o'er them all.
A youthful longing seized me to accost
The hero, and embrace him; I drew near.
And gladly led him to the walls of Pheneus.
Departing he distintinguis'd me with guts,
A costly quiver stored with Lycian darts,
A robe inwove with gold, with gold imboss'd
Two bridles those which Pallas uses now.
The friendly league thou hast solicited
I give thee, therefore, and to-morrow all
My chosen youth shall wait on your return.
Meanwhile since thus in friendship ye are come,
Rejoice with us, and join to celebrate
These annual rites, which may not be delay d,
And be at once familiar at our board."

He said, and bade replace the feast removed; Himself upon a grassy bank disposed The crew; but for Eneas order'd forth A couch spread with a lion's tawny shag. And bade him share the honors of his throne. The appointed youth with glad alacrity Assist the laboring priest to load the hoard With roasted entrails of the slaughter'd beeves Well kneaded bread and mantling bowls. Well pleased,

Eneas and the Trojan youth regale

The den of Cacus; dire his hateful form
That shunn'd the day half monster and half man.
Blood newly shed stream'd ever on the ground
Smoking and many a visage pale and wan
Naild at his gate, hung hideous to the sight.
Vulcan begot the brute: vast was his size,
And from his throat he belch'd his father's fires.
But the day came that brought us what we
wish'd,

The assistance and the presence of a God.
Flush'd with his victory, and the spoils he won
1 rom triple-form'd Geryon lately slain,
The great avenger, Hercules, appear'd.
Hither he drove his stately bulls and pour'd
His herds along the vale. But the sly thief
Cacus that nothing might escape his hand
Of villainy or fraud. drove from the stalls
Four of the lordliest of his bulls and four
The fairest of his heifers: by the tail

He dragg'd them to his den, that, there conceal'd,
No footsteps might betray the dark abode.
And now his herd with provender sufficed,
Alcides would be gone: they as they went
Still bellowing loud, made the deep echoing woods
And distant hills resound: when, hark! one ox,
Imprison'd close within the vast recess,
Lows in return, and frustrates all his hope.
Then fury seized Alcides, and his breast
With indignation heaved; grasping his club
Of knotted oak, swift to the mountain top
He ran he flew. Then first was Cacus seen
To tremble, and his eyes bespoke his fears.
Swift as an eastern blast, he sought his den,
And dread increasing wing'd him as he went.
Drawn up in iron slings above the gate,
A rock was hung enormous. Such his haste,
He burst the chains, and dropp'd it at the door,
Then grappled it with iron work within
Or bolts and bars by Vulcan's art contrived.
Scarce was he fast, when, panting for revenge,
Came Hercules; he gnash'd his teeth with rage,
And quick as lightning glanced his eyes around
In quest of entrance. Fiery red and stung
With indignation, thrice he wheel'd his course
About the mountain; thrice, but thrice in vain,
He strove to force the quarry at the gate,
And thrice sat down, o'erwearied in the vale.
There stood a pointed rock abrupt and rude,
That high o'erlook'd the rest, close at the back
Or the full monster's den, where birds obscene
Or ominous note resorted, choughs and daws.
This as it lean'd obliquely to the left.
Threatening the stream below, he from the right
Push'd with his utmost strength, and to and iro
He shook the mass, loosening its lowest base;
Then shoved it from its seat; down fell the pile;
Sky thunder'd at the fall; the banks give way,
The affrighted stream flows upward to his source.
Behold the kennel of the brute exposed,
The gloomy vault laid open. So, if chance
Earth yawning to the centre should disclose
The mansions the pale mansions of the dead,
Loathed by the gods, such would the gulf appear,
And the ghosts tremble at the sight of day.
The monster braying with unusual din
Within his hollow lair and sore amazed
To see such sudden inroads of the light
Alcides press'd him close with what at hand
Lay rendiest, stumps of trees, and fragments huge
Or millstone size. He. (or escape was none)
Wondrous to tell! forth from his gorge discharged
A smoky cloud that darken'd all the den;

The barricade of rock, the dark abyss
Lies open; and the imprison'd bulls, the theft
He had with oaths denied, are brought to light;
By the heels the miscreant carcass is dragg'd forth,
His face, his eyes, all terrible, his breast
Beset with bristles, and his sooty jaws
Are view'd with wonder never to be cloy'd.
Hence the celebrity thou seest, and hence
This festal day Potitius first enjoin'd
Posterity: these solemn rites he first,
With those who bear the great Pinarian name,
To Hercules devoted; in the grove
This altar built, deem'd sacred in the highest
By us, and sacred ever to be deem'd. [brows
Come, then, my friends, and bind your youthful
In praise of such deliverance, and hold forth
The brimming cup; your deities and ours
Are now the same, then drink, and freely too."
So saying, he twisted round his reverend locks
A variegated poplar wreath, and fill'd
His right hand with a consecrated bowl.
At once all pour libations on the board,
All offer prayer. And now, the radiant sphere
Of day descending, eventide drew near.
When first Potitius with the priests advanced,
Begirt with skins, and torches in their hands.
High piled with meats of savory taste, they

ranged

The chargers, and renew'd the grateful feast.
Then came the Salii, crown'd with poplar too,
Circling the blazing altars; here the youth
Advanced, a choir harmonious there were heard
The reverend seers responsive; praise they sung,
Much praise in honor of Alcides' deeds;
How first with infant gripe two serpents huge
He strangled sent from Juno; next they sung,
How Troja and Echalia he destroy'd,
Fair cities both, and many a toilsome task
Beneath Eurystheus (so his stepdame will'd)
Achieved victorious. Thou, the cloud-born pair,
Hylæus fierce and Pholus monstrous twins,
Thou slew'st the minotaur, the plague of Crete,
And the vast lion of the Nemean rock,
Thee hell, and Cerberus, hell's porter, fear'd,
Stretch'd in his den upon his half-gnaw'd bones.
Thee no abhorred form, not e'en the vast
Typhoeus could appal though clad in arms.
Hail, true-born son of Jove, among the gods
At length enroll'd, nor least illustrious thou.
Haste thee propitious and approve our songs.
Thus hymn'd the chorus: above all they sing
The cave of Cacus, and the flames he breathed.
The whole grove echoes and the hills rebound.

The rites perform'd, all hasten to the town.
The king bending with age, held as he went
Aneas and his Pallas by the hand,
With much variety of pleasing talk
Shortening the way. Eneas with a smile,
Looks round him charm'd with the delightful

scene

And many a question asks, and much he learns

Of heroes far renown'd in ancient times.
Then spake Evander. These extensive groves,
Were once inhabited by fauns and nymphs.
Produced beneath their shades, and a rude race
Of men, the progeny uncouth of clans
And knotted oaks. They no refinement knew
Of laws or manners civilized to yoke
The steer with forecast provident to store
The hoarded grain or manage what they had,
But browsed like beasts upon the leafy boughs,
Or fed voracious on their hunted prey.
An exile from Olympus and expell'd
His native realn by thunder-bearing Jove,
First Saturn came. He from the mountains

drew

This herd of men untractable and fierce,
And gave them laws: and call'd his hiding-place,
This growth of forests. Latium. Such the peace
His land possess d. the golden age was then,
So famed in story; till by slow degrees
Far other times and of far different hue,
Succeeded thirst of gold and thirst of blood.
Then came Ausonian bands and armed hosts
From Sicily, and Latium often changed
Her master and her name. At length arose
Kings, of whom Tybris of gigantic form
Was chief: and we Italians since have call'd
The river by his name; thus Albula
(So was the country call'd in ancient days)
Was quite forgot. Me from my native land
An exile, through the dangerous ocean driven,
Resistless fortune and relentless fate
Placed where thou seest me. Phoebus, and
The nymph Carmentis with maternal care
Attendant on my wanderings, fix'd me here.
[Ten lines omitted.]

He said, and show'd him the Tarpeian rock,
And the rude spot where now the Capitol
Stands all magnificent and bright with gold,
Then overgrown with thorns. And yet een then
The swains beheld that sacred scene with awe;
The grove, the rock inspired religious fear.
This grove. he said that crowns the lofty top
Of this fair hill, some deity, we know,
Inhabits, but what deity we doubt.
The Arcadians speak of Jupiter himself
That they have often seen him shaking here
His gloomy Egis, while the thunder storms
Came rolling all around him. Turn thine eyes,
Behold that ruin: those dis.nantled walls,
Where once two towns. Janiculum
By Janus this, and that by Saturn built,
Saturnia. Such discourse brought them beneath
The roof of poor Evander; thence they saw,
Where now the proud and stately forum stands,
The grazing herds wide scatter'd o'er the field.
Soon as he enter'd-Hercules he said,
Victorious Hercules on this threshold trod,
These walls contain'd him humble as they are.
Dare to despise magnificence my friend,
Prove thy divine descent by worth divine,
Nor view with haughty scorn this mean abode.
So saying, he led Eneas by the hand,
And placed him on a cushion stuff'd with leaves.
Spread with the skin of a Lybistian bear.

[The Episode of Venus and Vulcan omitted.] While thus in Lemnos Vulcan was employ'd, Awaken'd by the gentle dawn of day.

And the shrill song of birds beneath the eaves
Of his low mansion, old Evander rose.

His tunic, and the sandals on his feet
And his good sword well girded to his side,
A panther's skin dependent from his left
And over his right shoulder thrown aslant.
Thus was he clad. Two mastiffs tollow'd him,
His whole retinue and his nightly guard.

OVID, TRIST. BOOK V. ELEG. XII
Scribis, ut obleciem.

You bid me write to amuse the tedious hours,
And save from withering my poetic powers;
Hard is the task my friend for verse should flow
From the free mind not fetter'd down by woe;
Restless amidst unceasing tempests tost
Whoe'er has cause for sorrow. I have most.
Would you bid Prism laugh his sons all slain,
Or childless Niobe from tears reirain.
Join the gay dance and lead the festive train!
Does grief or study most be fit the mind
To this remote this barbarous nook confined?
Could you impart to my unshaken breast
The fortitude by Socrates possess d,
Soon would it sink beneath such woes as mine,
For what is human strength to wrath divine?
Wise as he was, and Heaven pronounced him so,
My sufferings would have laid that wisdom low.
Could I forget my country, thee and all,
And e'en the offence to which I owe my fall,
Yet fear alone would freeze that poet's vein
While hostile troops swarm o'er the dreary plain.
Add that the fatal rust of long disuse
Unfits me for the service of the muse.
Thistles and weeds are all we can expect
From the best soil impoverish'd by neglect;
Unexercised, and to his stall confined.
The fleetest racer would be left behind;
The best built bark that cleaves the watery way,
Laid useless by, would moulder and decay-
No hope remains that time shall me restore
Mean as I was, to what I was before.
Think how a series of desponding cares
Benumbs the genius and its force impairs.
How oft, as now, on this devoted sheet.
My verse. constrain'd to move with measured feet,
Reluctant and laborious limps along,
And proves itself a wretched exile's song.
What is it tunes the most melodious lays ?
'Tis emulation and the thirst of praise.
A noble thirst and not unknown to me,
While smoothly waited on a calmer sea.
But can a wretch like Ovid pant for fame?
No rather let the world forget my name.
Is it because that world approved my strain,
You prompt me to the same pursuit again?
No, let the Nine the ungrateful truth excuse,
I charge my hopeless ruin on the muse,
And like Perillus meet my just desert,
The victim of my own pernicious art:
Fool that I was to be so warn'd in vain,
And shipwrecked once, to tempt the deep again.
Ill fares the bard in this unletter'd land,
None to consult, and none to understand.
The purest verse has no admirers here.
Their own rude language only suits their ear.
Rule as it is at length familiar grown,
I learn it and almost unlearn my own-
Yet to say truth, e'en here the muse disdains
Confinement, and attempts her former strains,