SPE FINIS.

AD dextram, ad lævam, porro, retro, itque, reditque,
Deprensum in laqueo quem labyrinthus habet,
Et legit et relegit gressus, sese explicet unde,
Perplexum quærens unde revolvat iter.
Sta modo, respira paulum, simul accipe filum;
Certius et melius non Ariadne dabit.
Sic te, sic solum exepdies errore, viarum
Principium invenies, id tibi finis erit.

THE MAZE.

FROM right to left, and to and fro,
Caught in a labyrinth you go,

And turn, and turn, and turn again,
To solve the myst'ry, but in vain ;
Stand still, and breathe, and take from me
A clew, that soon shall set you free!
Not Ariadne, if you meet her,

Herself could serve you with a better.
You enter'd easily find where

And make, with ease, your exit there!

NEMO MISER NISI COMPARATUS

"Quis fuit infelix adeo! quis perditus æque !"
Conqueritur mœsto carmine tristis amans.
Non novus hic questus, rarove auditus; amantes
Deserti et spreti mille queruntur idem.
Fatum decantas quod tu miserabile, multus
Deplorat, multo cum Corydone, Strephon,
Si tua cum reliquis confertur amica puellis,
Non ea vel sola est ferrea, tuve miser.

NO SORROW PECULIAR TO THE SUFFERER.

THE lover, in melodiqus verses,

His singular distress rehearses.
Still closing with a rueful cry,
"Was ever such a wretch as I?"
Yes! Thousands have endur'd before
All thy distress; some, haply more
Unnumber'd Corydons complain,
And Strephons, of the like disdain ;
And if thy Chloe be of steel,
Too deaf to hear, too hard to feel;
Not her alone that censure fits,
Nor thou alone hast lost thy wits.

LIMAX.

FRONDIBUS, et pomis, herbisque tenaciter hæret
Limax, et secum portat ubique domum.
Tutus in hac sese occultat, si quando periclum
Imminet, aut subitæ decidit imber aquæ.
Cornua vel leviter tangas, se protinus in se

Colligit, in proprios contrahiturque lares.
Secum habitat quacunque habitat; sibi tota supellex,
Solæ quas adamat, quasque requirit opes.
Secum potat, edit, dormit; sibi in ædibus iisdem
Conviva et comes est, hospes et hospitium.
Limacem, quacumque siet, quacumque moretur.
Siquis eum quærat, dixeris esse domi.

THE SNAIL.

To grass, or leaf, or fruit, or wall,
The Snail sticks close, nor fears to fall,
As if he grew there, house and all

Together

Within that house secure he hides,
When danger imminent betides
Of storm, or other harm besides

Of weather.

Give but his horns the slightest touch,
His self-collecting power is such,
He shrinks into his house, with much

Displeasure.

Where'er he dwells, he dwells alone,

Except himself has chattels none,
Well satisfied to be his own

Whole treasure.

Thus, hermit-like, his life he leads
Nor partner of his banquet needs,
And if he meets one, only feeds

The faster.

Who seeks him must be worse than blind, (He and his house are so combin'd,)

If, finding it, he fails to find

Its master

EQUES ACADEMICUS.

CALCARI instruitur juvenis; geminove vel uno, Haud multum, aut ocreis cujus, et unde, refert; Fors fortasse suo, fortasse aliunde, flagello ;

Quantulacunque sui, pars tamen ipse sui. Sic rite armatus, quinis (et forte minoris)

Conductum solidis scandere gestit equum. Lætus et impavidus qua fert fortuna (volantem Cernite) quadrupedem pungit et urget iter : Admisso cursu, per rura, per oppida fertur:

Adlatrant catuli, multaque ridet anus. Jamque ferox plagis erecta ad verbera dextra Calce cruentata lassat utrumque latus. Impete sed tanto vixdum confecerit ille

Millia proposite sexve novemve viæ, Viribus absumptis, fessusque labore, caballus

Sternit in immundum seque equitemque lutum Vectus iter peraget curru plaustrove viator?

Proh pudor et facinus! cogitur ire pedes.
Si, nec inexpertum, seniorem junior audis,
Quæ sint exiguæ commoda disce more.
Quam tibi præcipio, brevis est, sed regula certa;
Ocyus ut possis, pergere lentus eas! -

THE CANTAB.

WITH two spurs or one; and no great matter which Boots bought, or boots borrow'd, a whip, or a switch, Five shillings or less for the hire of his beast, Paid part into hand ;-you must wait for the rest. Thus equipt, Academicus climbs up his horse, And out they both sally for better or worse; His heart void of fear, and as light as a feather, And in violent haste to go not knowing whither;

Through the fields and the towns, (see !) he scampers

alone,

And is look'd at, and laugh'd at by old and by young, Till at length overspent, and his sides smear'd with

blood,

Down tumbles his horse, man and all, in the mud.
In a wagon or chaise, shall he finish his route?
Oh! scandalous fate! he must do it on foot.

Young gentlemen hear! I am older than you!
The advice that I give I have proved to be true.
Wherever your journey may be, never doubt it,
The faster you ride, you're the longer about it.

THE SALAD

BY

VIRGIL.

[June 8th, 1799.]

THE winter-night now well-nigh worn away,
The wakeful cock proclaim'd approaching day,
When Simulus, poor tenant of a farm

Of narrowest limits, heard the shrill alarm,
Yawn'd, stretch'd his limbs, and anxious to provide
Against the pangs of hunger unsupplied,
By slow degrees his tatter'd bed forsook,
And poking in the dark, explor'd the nook
Where embers slept, with ashes heap'd around,
And with burnt fingers-ends the treasure found.

It chanc'd that from a brand beneath his nose, Sure proof of latent fire, some smoke arose :