ELEGIA XV.
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d invidos, quod fama poetarum sit perennis. Envy, why carp'st thou my time's spent so ill?And term'st[218] my works fruits of an idle quill?Or that unlike the line from whence I sprung[219]War's dusty honours are refused being young?Nor that I study not the brawling laws,Nor set my voice to sail in every cause?Thy scope is mortal; mine, eternal fame.That all the world may[220] ever chant my name.Homer shall live while Tenedos stands and Ide,Or to[221] the sea swift Simois shall[222] slide. 10AscrÊus lives while grapes with new wine swell,Or men with crookËd sickles corn down fell.The[223] world shall of Callimachus ever speak;His art excelled, although his wit was weak.For ever lasts high Sophocles' proud vein,With sun and moon Aratus shall remain.While bondmen cheat, fathers [be] hard,[224] bawds whorish,And strumpets flatter, shall Menander flourish.Rude Ennius, and Plautus[225] full of wit,Are both in Fame's eternal legend writ. 20What age of Varro's name shall not be told,And Jason's Argo,[226] and the fleece of gold?Lofty Lucretius shall live that hour,That nature shall dissolve this earthly bower.∆neas' war and Tityrus shall be read,While Rome of all the conquered[227] world is head.Till Cupid's bow, and fiery shafts be broken,Thy verses, sweet Tibullus, shall be spoken.And Gallus shall be known from East to West,So shall Lycoris whom he lovËd best. 30Therefore when flint and iron wear away,Verse is immortal and shall ne'er decay.To[228] verse let kings give place and kingly shows,And banks o'er which gold-bearing Tagus flows.Let base-conceited wits admire vild things;Fair Phoebus lead me to the Muses' springs.About my head be quivering myrtle wound,And in sad lovers' heads let me be found.The living, not the dead, can envy bite,For after death all men receive their right. 40Then though death racks[229] my bones in funeral fire,I'll live, and as he pulls me down mount higher. The same, by B. I.[230] Envy, why twitt'st thou me, my time's spent ill?And call'st my verse fruits of an idle quill?Or that (unlike the line from whence I sprung)War's dusty honours I pursue not young?Or that I study not the tedious laws;And prostitute my voice in every cause?Thy scope is mortal; mine eternal fame,Which through the world shall ever chant my name.Homer will live, whilst Tenedos stands, and Ide,Or to the sea, fleet Symois doth slide: 10And so shall Hesiod too, while vines do bear,Or crookËd sickles crop the ripened ear.Callimachus, though in invention low,Shall still be sung, since he in art doth flow;No loss shall come to Sophocles' proud vein;With sun and moon Aratus shall remain.Whilst slaves be false, fathers hard, and bawds be whorish,Whilst harlots flatter, shall Meander flourish.Ennius, though rude, and Accius' high-reared strain,A fresh applause in every age shall gain. 20Of Varro's name, what ear shall not be told?Of Jason's Argo and the fleece of gold?Then, shall Lucretius' lofty numbers die,When earth, and seas in fire and flames shall fry.Tityrus, Tillage, ∆ney shall be read,[231]Whilst Rome of all the conquered world is head.Till Cupid's fires be out, and his bow broken,Thy verses, neat Tibulus, shall be spoken.Our Gallus shall be known from East to West,So shall Lycoris, whom he now loves best. 30The suffering ploughshare or the flint may wear,But heavenly poesy no death can fear.Kings shall give place to it, and kingly shows,The banks o'er which gold-bearing Tagus flows.Kneel hinds to trash: me let bright Phoebus swell,With cups full flowing from the Muses' well.The frost-drad[232] myrtle shall impale my head,And of sad lovers I'll be often read.Envy the living, not the dead doth bite,For after death all men receive their right. 40Then when this body falls in funeral fire,My name shall live, and my best part aspire. FOOTNOTES: [218] Isham copy and ed. A "tearmes our." [219] Dyce's correction for "come" of the old eds. [220] Isham copy and ed. A "might." [221] So Isham copy and ed. A.--Dyce follows ed. B, "Or into sea." [222] So old eds.--Dyce "doth." [223] Isham copy and ed. A omit this line and the next. [224] So Dyce.--Old eds. "fathers hoord." ("_Durus_ pater.") [225] The poet must have read "animosi _Maccius_ oris." The true readingis "animosique _Accius_ oris." [226] Old eds. "Argos." [227] Isham copy and ed. A "conquering." [228] Isham copy and ed. A "Let kings give place to verse." [229] So the Isham copy.--Ed. A (followed by Dyce) gives "rocks."--Eds.B and C "rakes" (and so Cunningham). [230] _I.e._ Ben Jonson, who afterwards introduced it into the_Poetaster_ (I. 1). This version is merely a revision of the preceding,which must also have been written by Ben Jonson. [231] "Tityrus et fruges ∆neÔaque arma legentur." [232] "Metuentem frigora myrtum."
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