Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/289

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To manly virtue. Shall thou hold 1565
Thy seat within the northern skies,
Or where his fiercest rays the sun
Sends forth? Or in the balmy west
Wilt shine, where thou mayst hear the waves
On Calpe's shore resound? What place
In heaven serene shalt thou obtain? 1570
When great Alcides is received
Among the stars, who will be free
From fear? May Jove assign thy place
Far from the raging Lion's seat,
And burning Crab, lest at sight of thee
The frightened stars confuse their laws
And Titan quake with fear. 1575
So long as blooming flowers shall come
With wakening spring; while winter's frosts
Strip bare the trees, and summer suns
Reclothe them with their wonted green;
While in the autumn ripened fruits
Fall to the ground: no lapse of time 1580
Shall e'er destroy thy memory
Upon the earth. For thou shalt live
As comrade of the sun and stars.
Sooner shall wheat grow in the sea,
Or stormy straits with gentle waves
Beat on the shore; sooner descend
The Bear from out his frozen sky
And bathe him in forbidden waves: 1585
Than shall the thankful people cease
To sing thy praise.
And now to thee,
O father of the world, we pray:
Let do dread beast be born on earth,
No monstrous pest; keep this poor world
Prom abject fear of heartless kings;
Let no one hold the reins of power 1590
Who deems his kingdom's glory lies
In the terror of his naked sword.
But if again some thing of dread