Page:Statius (Mozley 1928) v1.djvu/143

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SILVAE, II. ii. 114–141

Gargettian teacher’s counsels,[1] or strikes my own lyre, or reunites unequal strains,[2] or draws the threatening sword of avenging satire: the nimble Siren speeds from these rocks to sweeter lays than hers, and here Tritonia lifts her head and listens. Then the wild winds abate, the seas themselves are forbidden to rage; the dolphins emerge from the deep, and drawn to the music of his harp float gently by the cliffs.

Long mayst thou live, enriched beyond Midas’ wealth and Lydian[3] gold, blest’ above the diadems of Euphrates[4] and of Troy; whom neither fickle power nor the shifting mob, nor laws nor camps can vex, whose great heart, raised sublime over all desire, doth quell hope and fear, who art beyond the will of Fate and dost baffle the enmity of Fortune; thee the last day shall find, not bewildered in the maze of things, but sated with life and ready to depart. But we, a worthless folk, slaves at the beck of transient blessings and wishes ever new, are tossed from chance to chance: thou from thy mind’s high citadel dost look down upon our wanderings and laughest at human joys. There was a time when the loyalty of two lands tore thee in twain, and thou wert borne in triumph through two cities, there worshipped, as is meet, by Dicarchus’ folk, here made their own by mine, and bountiful alike to these and those, in the full fire of youth and proud of thy wandering Muse.[5] But now are the mists dispersed, and thou dost behold the truth—others in their turn are tossed upon that sea—and thy unshaken bark has entered a peaceful haven and a quiet resting-place. Con-

  1. ↑ Pollius, like Vopiscus, was an Epicurean; this, however, may not mean more than that he enjoyed a cultured leisure, and avoided public life.
  2. ↑ i.e., Writes epic or elegiac verse.
  3. ↑ Of Croesus.
  4. ↑ Of the Persian kings.
  5. ↑ The phrase refers either to the varied poetical achievements of Pollius, or his travelling to different cities for the purpose of recitation, perhaps at various festivals.

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