42
PHARSALIA
Book II
'Shall unknown nations, touched by western strife,
'And monarchs born beneath another clime
'Brave the dividing seas to join the war?
'Shall Scythian tribes desert their distant north,
'And Getæ haste to view the fall of Rome,
'And I look idly on? As some fond sire,
'Reft of his sons, compelled by grief, himself
'Marshals the long procession to the tomb,
'Thrusts his own hand within the funeral flames,
'Soothing his heart, and, as the lofty pyre 340
'Rises on high, applies the kindled torch:
'Nought, Rome, shall tear thee from me, till I hold
'Thy form in death embraced; and Freedom's name,
'Shade though it be, I'll follow to the grave.
'Yea! let the cruel gods exact in full
'Rome's expiation: of no drop of blood
'The war be robbed. I would that, to the gods
'Of heaven and hell devoted, this my life
'Might satisfy their vengeance. Decius fell,
'Crushed by the hostile ranks. When Cato falls 350
'Let Rhine's fierce barbarous hordes and both the hosts
'Thrust through my frame their darts! May I alone
'Receive in death the wounds of all the war!
'Thus may the people be redeemed, and thus
'Rome for her guilt pay the atonement due.
'Why should men die who wish to bear the yoke
'And shrink not from the tyranny to come?
'Strike me, and me alone, of laws and rights
'In vain the guardian: this vicarious life
'Shall give Hesperia peace and end her toils. 360
'Who then will reign shall find no need for war.
'You ask, 'Why follow Magnus? If he wins[1]
'And monarchs born beneath another clime
'Brave the dividing seas to join the war?
'Shall Scythian tribes desert their distant north,
'And Getæ haste to view the fall of Rome,
'And I look idly on? As some fond sire,
'Reft of his sons, compelled by grief, himself
'Marshals the long procession to the tomb,
'Thrusts his own hand within the funeral flames,
'Soothing his heart, and, as the lofty pyre 340
'Rises on high, applies the kindled torch:
'Nought, Rome, shall tear thee from me, till I hold
'Thy form in death embraced; and Freedom's name,
'Shade though it be, I'll follow to the grave.
'Yea! let the cruel gods exact in full
'Rome's expiation: of no drop of blood
'The war be robbed. I would that, to the gods
'Of heaven and hell devoted, this my life
'Might satisfy their vengeance. Decius fell,
'Crushed by the hostile ranks. When Cato falls 350
'Let Rhine's fierce barbarous hordes and both the hosts
'Thrust through my frame their darts! May I alone
'Receive in death the wounds of all the war!
'Thus may the people be redeemed, and thus
'Rome for her guilt pay the atonement due.
'Why should men die who wish to bear the yoke
'And shrink not from the tyranny to come?
'Strike me, and me alone, of laws and rights
'In vain the guardian: this vicarious life
'Shall give Hesperia peace and end her toils. 360
'Who then will reign shall find no need for war.
'You ask, 'Why follow Magnus? If he wins[1]
