Thy keel aufpicious fhall the ftorm appeafe,
Shall glide triumphant o'er the calmer feas,
And reach Brundufium's fafer port with ease.
Nor can the gods ordain another now, ›
'Tis what I want, and what they must bestow..
Thus while in vaunting words the leader fpoke;
Full on his bark the thundering tempeft ftruck k;.
Off rips the rending canvas from the mast,
And whirling flits before the driving blast;
In every joint the groaning alder founds,
And gapes wide-opening with a thousand wounds.
Now, rifing all at once, and unconfin'd,
From every quarter roars the rushing wind:
Firft from the wide Atlantic ocean's bed,
Tempestuous Corus rears his dreadful head;
Th' obedient deep his potent breath controls,
And, mountain-high, the foamy flood he rolls.
Him the north-eaft encountering fierce defy'd,
And back rebuffeted the yielding tide.
The curling furges loud conflicting meet,
Dash their proud heads, and bellow as they beat ;
While piercing Boreas, from the Scythian strand,
Plows up the waves, and scoops the lowest fand.
Nor Eurus then, I ween, was left to dwell,
Nor fhowery Notus in th' Eolian cell;
But each from every fide, his power to boast,
Rang'd his proud forces, to defend his coast.
Equal in might, alike they strive in vain,
While in the midft the feas unmov'd remain :
In leffer wars they yield to stormy heaven,
And captive waves to other deeps are driven;
The Tyrrhene billows dash Ægean fhores,
And Adria in the mix'd Ionian roars.
How then must earth the fwelling ocean dread,
When floods ran higher than each mountain's head! 880
Subject and low the trembling beldame lay,
And gave herself for loft, the conquering water's prey.
What other worlds, what feas unknown before,
Then drove their billows on our beaten fhore !
What diftant deeps, their prodigies to boast,
Heav'd their huge moniters on th' Aufonian coast!
So when avenging Jove long time had hurl'd,
And tir'd his thunders on a harden'd world:
New wrath, the god, new punishment difplay'd
And call'd his watery brother to his aid:
Offending earth to Neptune's lot he join'd,
And bade his floods no longer stand confin'd;
At once the furges o'er the nations rife,
And feas are only bounded by the skies.
Such now the spreading deluge had been seen,
Had not th' Almighty Ruler ftood between;
Proud waves the cloud-compelling fire obey'd,
Confefs'd his hand fuppreffing, and were ftay'd.
Nor was that gloom the common fhade of night,
The friendly darkness, that relieves the light;
But fearful, black, and horrible to tell,
A murky vapour breath'd from yawning hell:
So thick the mingling feas and clouds were hung,
Scarce could the ftruggling lightning gleam along.
Through nature's frame the dire convulfion ftruck, 905
Heaven groan'd, the labouring pole and axis fhook :
Uproar, and Chaos old, prevail'd again,
And broke the facred elemental chain :
Black fiends, unhallow'd, fought the bleft abodes,
Profan'd the day, and mingled with the gods.
One only hope, when every other fail'd,
With Cæfar, and with nature's self, prevail'd;
The storm that fought their ruin, prov'd them strong,
Nor could they fall, who stood that shock fo long.
High as Leucadia's leffening cliffs arise,
On the tall billow's top the vefiel flies;
While the pale mafter, from the furge's brow,
With giddy eyes furveys the depth below.
When straight the gaping main at once divides,
On naked fands the rushing bark subsides,
And the low liquid vale the topmast hides.
The trembling fhipman, all diftraught with fear,
Forgets his courfe, and knows not how to steer;
No more the useless rudder guides the prow,
To meet the rolling fwell, or fhun the blow.
But, lo! the ftorm itself affistance lends,
While one affaults, another wave defends :
This lays the fidelong alder on the main,
And that reftores the leaning bark again.
Obedient to the mighty winds fhe plies,
Now feeks the depths, and now invades the skies;
There born aloft, fhe apprehends no more,
Or fhoaly Safon, or Theffalia's shore;
High hills fhe dreads, and promontories now,
And fears to touch Ceraunia's airy brow.
At length the universal wreck appear'd,
To Cæfar's felf, ev'n worthy to be fear'd.
Why all these pains, this toil of fate (he cries)
This labour of the feas, and earth, and skies?
All nature and the gods, at once alarm'd,
Against my little boat and me are arm'd.
If, oh ye Powers Divine! your will decrees
The glory of my death to these rude feas;
If warm, and in the fighting field to die,
If that, my first of wishes, you deny;
My foul no longer at her lot repines,
But yields to what your providence affigns.
Though immature I end my glorious days,
Cut fhort my conqueft, and prevent new praise;
My life, already, ftands the nobleft theme,
To fill long annals of recording fame.
Far northern nations own me for their lord,
And envious factions crouch beneath my
Inferior Pompey yields to me at home,
And only fills a second place in Rome.
My country has my high behefts obey'd,
And at my feet her laws obedient laid;
All fovereignty, all honours are my own,
Conful, dictator, I am all alone.
But thou, my only goddefs, and my friend,
Thou, on whom all my fecret prayers attend,
Conceal, oh Fortune! this inglorious end.
Let none on earth, let none beside thee, know
I funk thus poorly to the fhades below.
Difpofe, ye gods! my carcafe as you please,
Deep let it drown beneath these raging feas;
I ask no urn my ashes to infold,
Nor marble monuments, nor fhrines of gold;
Let but the world, unknowing of my doom,
Expect me ftill, and think I am to come;
So fhall my name with terror ftill be heard,
And my return in every nation fear'd.
He fpoke, and fudden, wondrous to behold,
High on a tenth huge wave his bark was roll`d ;
Nor funk again, alternate, as before,
But rushing, lodg'd, and fix'd upon the shore.
Rome and his fortune were at once reftor'd,
And earth again receiv'd him for her lord.
Now, through the camp his late arrival told,
The warriors croud, their leader to behold;
In tears, around, the murmuring legions stand,
And welcome him, with fond complaints, to land.
What means too-daring Cæfar (thus they cry)
To tempt the ruthless feas, and stormy sky?
What a vile helplefs herd had we been left,
Of every hope at once in thee bereft ?
While on thy life fo many thousands wait,
While nations live dependent on thy fate,
While the whole world on thee, their head, rely, "Tis cruel in thee to confent to die.
And could't thou not one faithful foldier find,
One equal to his mighty mafter's mind,
One that deferv'd not to be left behind?
While tumbling billows toft thee on the main,
We flept at ease, unknowing of thy pain.
Were we the cause, oh fhame! unworthy we,
That urg'd thee on to brave the raging sea?
Is there a flave whofe head thou hold'ft fo light,
To give him up to this tempeftuous night?
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