She, that cries herbs, has less impertinence; judgment or experience. It is probable that he | But thou art nobly born, 'tis true; go boast makes Seneca, in this satire, sustain the part Thy pedigree, the thing thou valu'st most: of Socrates, under a borrowed name; and, Besides, thou art a beau: what's that, my child? withal, discovers some secret vices of Nero, ❘ A fop well drest, extravagant, and wild: concerning his lust, his drunkenness, and his effeminacy, which had not yet arrived to public notice. He also reprehends the flattery of his courtiers, who endeavoured to make all his vices pass for virtues. Covetousness was undoubtedly none of his faults; but it is here described as a veil cast over the true meaning of the poet, which was to satirize his prodigality and voluptuousness; to which he makes a transition. I find no instance in history of that emperor's being a pathic, though Persius seems to brand him with it. From the two dialogues of Plato, both called Alcibiades, the poet took the arguments of the second and third satires, but he inverted the order of them for the third satire is taken from the first of those dialogues. The commentators, before Casaubon, were ignorant of our author's secret meaning; and thought ne had only written against young noblemen in general, who were too forward in aspiring to public magistracy: but this excellent scholiast has unraveled the whole mystery; and made it apparent, that the sting of this satire was particularly aimed at Nero. WHOE'ER thou art, whose forward years are bent Tell me, thou pupil to great Pericles, [pare Our second hope, my Alcibiades, Know when to speak, and when to hold their Know'st, with an equal hand, to hold the scale : None, none descends into himself, to find Ever a glutton at another's cost, But in whose kitchen dwells perpetual frost? Thus fares the drudge: but thou, whose life's a And where exceptions o'er the general rule prevail, ❘ Can smooth the roughness of thy shameful parts. And, taught by inspiration, in a trice, Canst punish crimes, and brand offending vice. Leave, leave to fathom such high points as these, What aim'st thou at, and whither tends thy care, Hold, hold! are all thy empty wishes such? Not five, the strongest that the Circus breeds, crowd. And dost in murders, rapes, and spoils, delight; THE FIFTH SATIRE OF PERSIUS. 4 THE ARGUMENT. THE judicious. Casaubon, in his proem to this satire, tells us, that Aristophanes the grammarian being asked, what poem of Archilochus's lambics he preferred before the rest, answered, the longest. His answer may justly be applied to this fifth satite; which, being of a greater length than any of the rest, is also, by far, the most instructive: for this reason I have selected it from all the others, and inscribed it to my learned master, doctor Busby; to whom I am not only obliged myself for the best part of my own education, and that of my two sons; but have also received from him the first and truest taste of Persius. May he be pleased to find in this translation, the gratitude, or at least some small acknowledg And why would'st thou these mighty morsels Of words unchew'd, and fit to choke the Muse And the sweet accents of the peaceful gown: PERSIUS. 'Tis not, indeed, my talent to engage In lofty trifles, or to swell my page With wind and noise; but freely to impart, As to a friend, the secrets of my heart, And, in familiar speech, to let thee know How much I love thee, and how much I owe. Knock on my heart: for thou hast skill to find If it sound solid, or be fill'd with wind; ment of his unworthy scholar, at the distance And, through the veil of words, thou view'st the of twenty-four years, from the time when I departed from under his tuition. This satire consists of two distinct parts: the first contains the praises of the stoic philosopher Cornutus, master and tutor to our Persius. It also declares the love and piety of Persius, to his well-deserving master; and the mutual friendship which continued betwixt them, after Persius was now grown a man. As also his exhortation to young noblemen, that they would enter themselves into his institution. From whence he makes an artful transition into the second part of his subject: wherein he first complains of the sloth of scholars, and afterwards persuades them to the pursuit of their true liberty: Here our author excellently treats that paradox of the Stoics, which affirms, that only the wise or virtuous man is free; and that all vicions men are naturally slaves. And, in the illustration of this dogma, he takes up the remaining part of this inimitable batire. For this a hundred voices I desire, [naked mind. To tell thee what a hundred tongues would tire; Yet never could be worthily exprest, How deeply thou art seated in my breast. When first my childish robe resign'd the charge, And left me, unconfin'd, to live at large; When now my golden bulla (hung on high To household gods) declar'd me past a boy; And my white shield proclaim'd my liberty: When, with my wild companions, I could roll From street to street, and sin without control; Just at that age, when manhood set me free, I then depos'd myself, and left the reins to thee. On thy wise bosom I repos'd my head, And by my better Socrates was bred. Then thy straight rule set virtue in my sight, The crooked line reforming by the right. My reason took the bent of thy command, Was form'd and polish'd by thy skilful hand: Long summer days thy precepts I rehearse; And winter-nights were short in our converse: One was our labour, one was our repose, One frugal suppor did our studies close. Nature is ever various in her frame : Each has a different will; and few the same: The greedy merchants, led by lucre, run To the parch'd Indies, and the rising Sun; I grant, true freedom you have well defin'd: Hear me with patience, while thy mind I free From thence hot pepper and rich drugs they bear, From those fond notions of false liberty: Bartering, for spices, their Italian ware; 'Tis not the pretor's province to bestow True freedom; nor to teach mankind to know ground; Rots like a dodder'd oak, and piecemeal falls to Where you are sure to fail, th' attempt forbear. Then his lewd follies he would late repent; And his past years, that in a mist were spent. Yes, sure for yesterday was once to morrow. That yesterday is gone, and nothing gain'd: And all thy fruitless days will thus be drain'd; For thou hast more to morrows yet to ask, And wilt be ever to begin thy task; No need of public sanctions this to bind, sign'd. Unskill'd in hellebore, if thou should'st try To mix it, and mistake the quantity, The rules of physic would against thee ory. The high-shoe'd ploughman, should he quit the To take the pilot's rudder in his hand, Artless of stars, and of the moving sand, The gods would leave him to the waves and wind, And think all shawe was lost in human kind. [land, [skill, Tell me, my friend, from whence hadst thou the So nicely to distinguish good from ill? Or by the sound to judge of gold and brass, What piece is tinker's metal, what will pass? And what thou art to follow, what to fly, This to condemn, and that to ratify? When to be bountiful, and when to spare, But never craving, or opprest with care? The baits of gifts, and money to despise, And look on wealth with undesiring eyes? When thou can'st truly call these virtues thine, Be wise and free, by Heaven's consent, and mine But thou, who lately, of the common straip, Wert one of us, if still thou dost retain Who, like the hindmost chariot-wheels, art curst, The same ill habits, the same follies too, Still to be near, but ne'er to reach the first. O freedom! first delight of human kind! Not that which bondmen from their masters find, Gloss'd over only with a saint-like show, PERSIUS. In spite of this, my freedom still remains. CORNUTUS. Free! what, and fetter'd with so many chains? Canst thou no other master understand Than him that freed thee by the pretor's wand Should he, who was thy lord, command thee now, At his command th' unwilling sluggard wakes : "Why, rise, make ready, and go straight abroad: 'Tis wholesome sin: but Jove, thou say'st, will hear: Swear, fool, or starve; for the dilemma 's even: Sir, take your course: but my advice is plain: Once freed, 'tis madness to resume your chain." Ay, there's the man, who, loos'd from lust and Less to the pretor owes, than to himself. [pelf, But write him down a slave, who, humbly proud, With presents begs preferments from the crowd; That early suppliant, who salutes the tribes, And sets the mob to scramble for his bribes: That some old dotard, sitting in the sun, On holidays may tell, that such a feat was done : In future times this will be counted rare. Thy superstition too may claim a sbare: The dull fat captain, with a hound's deep throat, On a brown george, with lowsy swobbers fed, Dead wine, that stinks of the borrachio, sup From a foul jack, or greasy maple-cup? Say, would'st thou bear all this, to raise thy store From six i' th' hundred, to six hundred more? Indulge, and to thy genius freely give; For, not to live at ease, is not to live; THE SIXTH SATIRE OF PERSIUS Death stalks behind thee, and each flying hour Speak; wilt thou Avarice, or Pleasure, choose Nor think, when once thou hast resisted one, That all thy marks of servitude are gone: The struggling greyhound gnaws his leash in vain; If, when 'tis broken, still he drags the chain. Says Phædra to his man, "Believe me, friend, To this uneasy love I'll put an end: Shall I run out of all? my friends disgrace, And be the first lewd unthrift of my race? Shall I the neighbour's nightly rest invade At her deaf doors, with some vile serenade?" "Well hast thou freed thyself," his man replies, "Go, thank the gods, and offer sacrifice." "Ah," says the youth, " if we unkindly part, Will not the poor fond creature break her heart? Weak soul! and blindly to destruction led!" "She break her heart! she'll sooner break your head. She knows her man, and, when you rant and swear, THE ARGUMENT. THIS sixth satire treats an admirable common place of moral philosophy; of the true use of riches. They certainly are intended, by the power who bestows them, as instruments and helps of living commodiously ourselves; and of administering to the wants of others, who are oppressed by fortune. There are two extremes in the opinions of men concerning them. One errour, though on the right hand, yet a great one, is, that they are no helps to a virtuous life; the other places all our happiness in the acquisition and possession of them; and this is, undoubtedly, the worse extreme. The mean betwixt these, is the opinion of the Stoics; which is, that riches may be useful to the leading a virtuous life; in case we rightly understand how to give according to right reason; and how to receive what is given us by others. The virtue of giving well, is called liberality: and it is of this virtue that Persius writes in this satire; wherein he not only shows the lawful use of riches, but also sharply inveighs against the vices which are opposed to it; and especially of those, which consist in the defects of giving or spending; or in the abuse of riches. He writes to Cesius Bassus his friend, and a poet also, inquires first of his health and studies; and afterwards informs him of his own, and where he is now resident. He gives an ac count of himself, that he is endeavouring, by | Live on thy annual income; spend thy store; little and little, to wear off his vices; and particularly, that he is combating ambition, and the desire of wealth. He dwells upon the latter vice: and, being sensible that few men either desire or use riches as they ought, he endeavours to convince them of their folly; which is the main design of the whole satire. THE SIXTH SATIRE. TO CESIUS BASSUS, A LYRIC POET. And freely grind, from thy full threshing-floor; And he himself stands shivering on the coast; A pittance of thy land will set him free. And sound the Maker's work, in equal verse. For me, my warmer constitution wants Nor tell me that thy frowning heir will say, Secure and free from business of the state, My arms are on the Rhine victorious. From mourning altars sweep the dust away: When I behold a larger crop than mine: To see a beggar's brat in riches flow, Cease fasting, and proclaim a fat thanksgiving day.' Adds not a wrinkle to my even brow; And setting her good housewifery aside, Nor, envious at the sight, will I forbear Prepares for all the pageantry of pride. My plenteous bowl, nor bate my bounteous cheer. The captive Germans, of gigantic size, Nor yet unseal the dregs of wine that stink Are rank'd in order, and are clad in frize : Of cask; nor in a nasty flaggon drink; The spoils of kings and conquer'd camps we boast, Let others stuff their guts with homely fare; Their arms in trophies hang on the triumphal post. For men of different inclinations are; Though born perhaps beneath one common star. For me, I'll use my own; and take my share; " Now, for so many glorious actions done Of oil and pies, to make the people dine: You give as if you were the Persian king: |