78
Odes.
While the stern ministers of Fate 15
Watchful o'er pale Lutetia wait,
To grieve the Gaul's perfidious head,
The Hours, thy offspring, heav'nly fair!
Their whitest wings should ever wear,
And gentle joys on Albion shed. 20
Watchful o'er pale Lutetia wait,
To grieve the Gaul's perfidious head,
The Hours, thy offspring, heav'nly fair!
Their whitest wings should ever wear,
And gentle joys on Albion shed. 20
III.
When Ilia bore the future fates of Rome,
And the long honours of her race began,
Thus, to prepare the graceful age to come,
'They from thy stores in happy order ran:
Heroes, elected to the list of fame, 25
Fix'd the sure columns of her rising state,
Till the loud triumphs of the Julian name
Render'd the glories of her reign complete;
Each year advanc'd a rival to the rest,
In comely spoils of war and great achievements drest.
When Ilia bore the future fates of Rome,
And the long honours of her race began,
Thus, to prepare the graceful age to come,
'They from thy stores in happy order ran:
Heroes, elected to the list of fame, 25
Fix'd the sure columns of her rising state,
Till the loud triumphs of the Julian name
Render'd the glories of her reign complete;
Each year advanc'd a rival to the rest,
In comely spoils of war and great achievements drest.
I.
Say, Phœbus! for thy searching eye 31
Saw Rome, the darling child of Fate,
When nothing equal here could vie
In strength with her imperious state;
Say if high virtues there did reign 35
Exalted in a nobler strain
Than in fair Albion thou hast seen?
Or can her demi-gods compare
Their trophies for successful war
To those that rise for Albion's Queen? 40
Say, Phœbus! for thy searching eye 31
Saw Rome, the darling child of Fate,
When nothing equal here could vie
In strength with her imperious state;
Say if high virtues there did reign 35
Exalted in a nobler strain
Than in fair Albion thou hast seen?
Or can her demi-gods compare
Their trophies for successful war
To those that rise for Albion's Queen? 40
