TRANSLATIONS THE FIFTH ODE OF HORACE, LIB. I. Quis multâ gracilis te puer in rosa. Rendered almost word for word, without rhyme, according to the WHAT slender youth, bedewed with liquid odours, In wreaths thy golden hair, Plain in thy neatness? Oh, how oft shall he Who now enjoys thee credulous, all gold; Unmindful! Hapless they To whom thou untried seem'st fair! Me, in my vowed Picture, the sacred wall declares to have hung My dank and dropping weeds To the stern God of Sea. [As Milton inserts the original with his translation, as if to challenge comparison, it is right that we should do so too.] AD PYRRHAM. ODE V. Horatius ex Pyrrha illecebris tanquam e naufragio enataverat cujus amore irretitos affirmat esse miseros. Quis multâ gracilis te puer in rosâ Grato, Pyrrha, sub antro? Cui flavam religas comam Simplex munditie! Heu, quoties fidem Mutatosque Deos flebit, et aspera Emirabitur insolens, Qui nunc te fruitur credulus aureâ; Fallacis Miseri quibus Intentata nites. Me tabulâ sacer Vestimenta maris Deo. April, 1648.-J. M. Nine of the Psalms done into metre; wherein all, but what is in a different character, are the very words of the Text, translated from the original. PSALM LXXX I THOU Shepherd that dost Israel keep, Who leadest like a flock of sheep That sitt'st between the Cherubs bright, Shine forth, and from thy cloud give light, 2 In Ephraim's view and Benjamin's, Awake1 thy strength, come, and be seen 3 Turn us again; thy grace divine To us, O God, vouchsafe; Cause thou thy face on us to shine, 4 Lord God of Hosts, how long wilt thou, Thy smoking wrath, and angry brow, 5 Thou feed'st them with the bread of tears; ΤΟ 20 1 And mak'st them largely 1 drink the tears 6 A strife thou mak'st us and a prey 2 Among themselves they laugh, they play, 7 Return us, and thy grace divine, Cause thou thy face on us to shine, 8 A Vine from Egypt thou hast brought, And drov'st out nations proud and haut, 9 Thou didst prepare for it a place, 10 With her green shade that covered all Her boughs as high as cedars tall Advanced their lofty head. II Her branches on the western side 12 Why hast thou laid her hedges low, That all may pluck her, as they go, With rudest violence? 13 The tuskèd boar out of the wood Upturns it by the roots; Wild beasts there browse, and make their food 14 Return now, God of Hosts; look down From Heaven, thy seat divine; Behold us, but without a frown, And visit this thy Vine. 15 Visit this Vine, which thy right hand Hath set, and planted long, 30 40 50 60 And the young branch, that for thyself They perish at thy dreadful ire, 17 Upon the man of thy right hand 18 So shall we not go back from thee 19 Return us, and thy grace divine, Cause thou thy face on us to shine, PSALM LXXXI I To God our strength sing loud and clear; To Jacob's God, that all may hear, 2 Prepare a hymn, prepare a song; The appointed time, the day whereon 4 This was a statute given of old A law of Jacob's God to hold, From whence they might not swerve. 5 This he a testimony ordained In Joseph, not to change, When as he passed through Egypt-land; 70 80 ΤΟ 20 6 From burden, and from slavish toil, His hands from pots, and miry soil, 7 When trouble did thee sore assail, Of Meriba renowned. 8 Hear, O my people, hearken well : I testify to thee, Thou ancient stock of Israel, If thou wilt list to me: 9 Throughout the land of thy abode No alien God shall be, Nor shalt thou to a foreign god In honour bend thy knee. Io I am the Lord thy God, which brought Thee out of Egypt-land; Ask large enough, and I, besought, Will grant thy full demand. II And yet my people would not hear, And Israel, whom I loved so dear, 12 Then did I leave them to their will, Their own conceits they followed still, 13 Oh that my people would be wise, And oh that Israel would advise To walk my righteous ways! 14 Then would I soon bring down their foes, And turn my hand against all those 15 Who hate the Lord should then be fain 1 Be Sether ragnam. 60 50 40 30 |