Such were thofe fhields, and thus they came from heaven,
A facred charge to young patricians given;
Perhaps, long fince, to lawless winds a prey,
From far barbarians were they forc'd away;
Thence through long airy journeys fafe did come,
To cheat the croud with miracles at Rome.
Thus, wide o'er Libya, rag'd the stormy fouth,
Thus every way affail'd the Latian youth:
Each feveral method for defence they try,
Now wrap their garments tight, now clofe they lie;
Now finking to the earth, with weight they prefs,
Now clasp it to them with a strong embrace, ̧
Scarce in that pofture fafe; the driving blast
Bears hard, and almoft heaves them off at last.
Meantime a fandy flood comes rolling on,
And fwelling heaps the proftrate legions drown;
New to the fudden danger, and difmay'd,
The frighted foldier hafty calls for aid,
Heaves at the hill, and struggling rears his head.
Soon fhoots the growing pile, and, rear'd on high,
Lifts up its lofty fummit to the sky :
High fandy walls, like forts, their passage stay,
And rifing mountains intercept their way :
The certain bounds which fhould their journey guide,
The moving earth and dusty deluge hide;
So landmarks fink beneath the flowing tide.
As through mid feas uncertainly they move,
Led only by Jove's facred lights above:
Part ev'n of them the Libyan clime denies,
Forbids their native northern stars to rife,
And fhades the well-known luftre from their eyes.
Now near approaching to the burning zone,
To warmer, calmer skies they journey'd on.
The flackening ftorms the neighbouring fun confefs,
The heat ftrikes fiercer, and the winds grow lefs,
Whilft parching thirst and fainting sweats increase.
As forward on the weary way they went,
Panting with drought, and all with labour spent,
Amidst the desert, defolate and dry,
One chanc'd a little trickling spring to spy:
Proud of the prize, he drain'd the fcanty store,
And in his helmet to the chieftain bore.
Around, in crouds, the thirty legions stood,
Their throats and clammy jaws with duft bestrew'd,
And all with wifhful eyes the liquid treasure view'd.
Around the leader caft his careful look,
Sternly the tempting envy'd gift he took,
Held it, and thus the giver fierce bespoke :
And think'st thou then that I want Virtue moft! 860
Am I the meaneft of this Roman hoft!
Am I the first foft coward that complains!
That fhrinks, unequal to these glorious pains!
Am I in eafe and infamy the first !
Rather be thou, base as thou art, accurs'd,
Thou that dar'ft drink, when all befide thee thirst.
He faid; and wrathful fretching forth his hand,
Pour'd out the precious draught upon the fand.
Well did the water thus for all provide,
Envy'd by none, while thus to all deny'd,
A little thus the general want fupply'd.
Now to the facred temple they draw near,
Whofe only altars Libyan lands revere;
There, but unlike the Jove by Rome ador'd,
A form uncouth, ftands heaven's Almighty Lord. 875
No regal enfigns grace his potent hand,
Nor shakes he there the lightning's flaming brand;
But, ruder to behold, a horned ram
Belies the god, and Ammon is his name.
There though he reigns unrival'd and alone,
O'er the rich neighbours of the Torrid Zone.;
Though fwarthy Æthiops are to him confin'd,
With Araby the bleft, and wealthy Inde;
Yet no proud domes are rais'd, no gems are seen,
To blaze upon his fhrines with coftly fheen;
But plain and poor, and unpiophan'd he stood,
Such as, to whom our great fore-fathers bow'd :
A god of pious times, and days of old,
That keeps his temple safe from Roman gold.
Here, and here only, through wide Libya's 'pace, 890
Tall trees, the land, and verdant herbage grace;
Here the loofe fands by plenteous fprings are bound,
Knit to a mafs, and moulded into ground:
Here smiling nature wears a fertile dress,
And all things here the present god confefs.
Yet here the fun to neither pole declines,
-But from his zenith vertically shines :
Hence, ev'n the trees no friendly shelter yield,
Scarce their own trunks the leafy branches shield;
The rays descend direct, ail round embrace,
And to a central point the shadow chace.
Here equally the middle line is found,
To cut the radiant Zodiac in its round;
Here unoblique the Bull and Scorpion rife,
Nor mount too swift, nor leave too foon the fkies; 905
Nor Libra does too long the Ram attend,
Nor bids the Maid the fifby fign-defcend.
The Boys and Centaur justly time divide,
And equally their several feafons guide:
'Alike the Crab and wintery Goat return,
Alike the Lion and the flowing Urn.
any farther nations yet are known,
Beyond the Libyan fires, and scorching zone;
Northward from them the fun's bright courfe is made,
And to the fouthward ftrikes the leaning shade : 915
There flow Boötes, with his lazy wain
Defcending, feems to reach the watery main.
Of all the lights which high above they see,
No ftar what-e'er from Neptune's waves is free,
The whirling axle drives them round, and plunges
Before the temple's entrance, at the gate,
Attending crouds of eastern pilgrims wait:
Thefe from the horned god expect relief :
But all give way before the Latian chief.
His hoft, (as crouds are fuperftitious ftill)
Curious of fate, of future good and ill,
And fond to prove prophetic Ammon's skill,
Intreat their leader to the god would go,
And from his oracle Rome's fortunes know:
But Labienus chief the thought approv'd,
And thus the common fuit to Cato mov'd:
Chance, and the fortune of the way, he said,
-Have brought Jove's facred counfels to our aid:
This greatest of the gods, this mighty chief,
In each redress fhall be a fure relief;
Shall point the distant dangers from afar,
And teach the future fortunes of the war.
To thee, O Cato! pious! wife! and juft!
Their dark decrees the cautious gods fhall truft;
To thee their fore-determin'd will fhall tell :
Their will has been thy law, and thou haft kept it well.
Fate bids thee now the noble thought improve ;
Fate brings thee here, to meet and talk with Jove.
Inquire betimes, what various chance fhall come
To impious Cæfar, and thy native Rome;
Try to avert, at least, thy country's doom.
Atk if thefe arms our freedom fhall reftore:
Or elfe, if laws and right fhall be no more.
Be thy great breast with facred knowledge fraught,
To lead us in the wandering maze of thought:
Thou, that to virtue ever wert inclin'd
Learn what it is, how certainly defin'd,
And leave fome perfect rule to guide mankind.
Full of the god that dwelt within his breaft,
The hero thus his fecret mind exprefs'd,
And in-born truths reveal'd; truths which might well Become ev'n oracles themfelves to tell.
Where would thy fond, thy vain enquiry go? What myftic fate, what fecret, would'st thou know? Is it a doubt if death fhould be my doom, Rather than live till kings and bondage come, Rather than fee a tyrant crown'd in Rome? Or would't thou know if, what we value here, Life, be a trifle hardly worth our care?
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