Plerumque gratæ divitibus vices, Mundæque parvo sub lare pauperum Cœnæ sine aulæis et ostro Sollicitam explicuere frontem. Jam clarus occultum Andromeda pater Ostendit ignem ; jam Procyon furit Et stella vesani Leonis, Sole dies referente siccos. Jam pastor umbras cum grege languido Rivumque fessus quærit et horridi Dumeta Silvani; caretque Ripa vagis taciturna ventis. Thou, what befits the new Lord Mayor, When mortals search too soon, and fear too late. Enjoy the present smiling hour, And put it out of fortune's pow'r : Now with a noiseless, gentle course And bears down all before it with impetuous force; Sheep and their folds together drown: Both house and homesteads into seas are borne; And woods, made thin with winds, their scattered honours mourn. Tu civitatem quis deceat status Bactra parent Tanaisque discors. PRUDENS futuri temporis exitum Caliginosa nocte premit deus, Ridetque si mortalis ultra Fas trepidat. Quod adest, memento Componere æquus: cætera fluminis Stirpesque raptas et pecus et domos Clamore vicinæque silvæ, Cum fera diluvies quietos Happy the man, and happy he alone, To-morrow do thy worst, for I have lived to-day. The joys I have possessed, in spite of fate are mine, But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour. Fortune, that with malicious joy Does man her slave oppress, I can enjoy her while she's kind ; But when she dances in the wind, And shakes her wings and will not stay, I puff the prostitute away : The little or the much she gave, is quietly resigned; Content with poverty, my soul I arm ; And virtue, though in rags, will keep me warm. Irritat amnes. ILLE potens sui Lætusque deget, cui licet in diem Dixisse, Vixi: cras vel atra Nube polum pater occupato, Vel sole puro non tamen irritum Quodcunque retro est efficiet; neque Diffinget infectumque reddet Quod fugiens semel hora vexit. Fortuna sævo læta negotio et Ludum insolentem ludere pertinax, Transmutat incertos honores, Nunc mihi, nunc alii benigna. Laudo manentem: si celeres quatit Pennas, resigno quæ dedit, et mea Virtute me involvo, probamque Pauperiem sine dote quæro. |