Classic Poem

O DE VII.— TO MUNATIUS PLANCUS .

Rhodes, Ephesus, or Mitylene,
Or Thessaly's fair valley,
Or Corinth, placed two gulfs atween,
Delphi, or Thebes, suggest the scene
Where some would choose to dally;
Others in praise of Athens launch,
And poets lyric
Grace, with Minerva's olive-branch
Their panegyric.

To Juno's city some would roam—
Argos—of steeds productive;
In rich Mycenæ make their home,
Or find Larissa pleasant some,
Or Sparta deem seductive;
Me Tibur's grove charms more than all
The brook's bright bosom.
And o'er loud Anio's waterfall
Fruit-trees in blossom.
Plancus! do blasts for ever sweep
Athwart the welkin rancoured?
Friend! do the clouds for ever weep?—
Then cheer thee! and thy sorrows deep
Drown in a flowing tankard:
Whether “the camp! the field! the sword!”
Be still thy motto.
Or Tibur to thy choice afford
A sheltered grotto.

When Teucer from his father's frown
For exile parted,
Wreathing his brow with poplar-crown,
In wine he bade his comrades drown
Their woes light-hearted;
And thus he cried, Whate'er betide,
Hope shall not leave me:
The home a father hath denied
Let Fortune give me!

Who doubts or dreads if Teucer lead?
Hath not Apollo
A new-found Salamis decreed,
Old Fatherland shall supersede:
Then fearless follow.
Ye who could bear ten years you share
Of toil and slaughter,
Drink! for our sail to-morrow's gale
Wafts o'er the water.