[Page 318]Audivere, Lyce, &c. HOR. Book 4. Ode 13.
IMITATED.
By the Same.
1 LYCE, at length my vows are heard,
2 My vows so oft to heaven preferr'd;
3 Welcome, thy silver'd hairs!
4 a In vain thy affectation gay
5 To hide the manifest decay,
6 In vain thy youthful airs.
[*]
— a fis anus, et tamen
Vis formosa videri
Ludisque —
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7 If still thy cheeks preserve a blush,
8 With b heat of wine, not youth they flush,
9 c Unamiable stain!
10 If still thou warblest, harsh the note
11 When d trembling age shakes in the throat
12 Th' involuntary strain.
13 Think'st thou can these my love prolong?
14 (Ungrateful blush! untuneful song!)
15 Or rival Hebe's charms?
16 Hebe melodious, Hebe fair,
17 For e judgment swells her rapt'rous air,
18 For f youth her blushes warms.
19 The rosy cheek, the forehead smooth,
20 Those native ornaments of youth,
21 Once lost, are lost for aye.
22 No art can smooth g, no paint repair
23 The furrow'd face; h no diamond's glare
24 Give lustre to decay.
[*]
— et b bibis impudens.
Cantu d tremulo b pota Cupidinem
c Lentum solicitas —
— f virentis et
e Doctae psallere Chiae
Pulchris excubat in genis.
Nec g Coae referunt jam tibi purpurae,
Nec h clari lapides, tempera quae semel
Notis condita fastis
Inclusit volucris dies.
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25 What now of all which once was thine,
26 i Feature, k Complexion, l Mien divine,
27 Remains the sense to charm?
28 m Why now command they not my love?
29 Once could they — n even tho' Cloe strove
30 Their empire to disarm,
31 Cloe! — alas, thou much-lov'd name!
32 o Thou, full of beauty, full of fame,
33 Found'st an untimely urn!
34 p Whilst Lyce, reft of every grace
35 T' enrich th' mind, t' adorn the face,
36 Still lives, the public scorn. qq The contemptuous satire at the conclusion of the original, is preserved in the English, but a graver turn is given to it, instead of the more ludicrous one of Horace. Whether judiciously or no, may be better determined by any body, than by the author.
[*]
Quo i Venus fugit, ah! quo k color decens,
Quo l motus? quid habes illius
Quae spirabat amores?
m Quae me surpuerat mihi?
n Faelix post Cynaram.
— o sed Cynarae breves
Annos fata dedere:
Sevatura diu p parem
Cornicis vetulae temporibus Lycen.