The vacant steer he views, with wicker'd food 630
Well pent and plenteous, by no toil renew'd;
Neat hamlets, sheds, small fanes of rustick mould,
And gaudier shrines, but built with hostile gold.
With grim delight his cruel eyes survey

635

The sturdy hinds, his battle's future prey;
Now health's cold gale contented they respire,
And hope an early sun, the poor man's fire.
The gay light tenants of the snow-top'd groves
Flit by unmark'd, to cheer their drooping loves:
Not so the raven's croak, the eagle's scream; 640
Soft to his iron sense their bodings seem.

66

My birds, (he cries) your friends, your feeders know; "Behold my labouring Africans below:

"To Jove if prostrate Italy be dear,

"Let one perpetual winter chill the

year;

For, lo, I come, and as I come prepare
Havock, and waste, and all the woes of war.'

645

998

Quamdiu in Italia fuit, nemo ei in acie restitit, nemo adversus eum post Cannensem pugnam in campo castra posuit. COR. NEP. in Han. Rome

+

Rome still resists, like her own Alpine oak,
Shorn by the axe, or lightning's sulph'rous stroke ;
Still the proud top unbending meets the skies, 650
And still the earth-bound root the storm defies.
How oft, alas! his course of glory run,

Do clouds obscure the hero's setting sun!

His means, his strength, all but his courage drain'd,
And hate, immortal hate, which still remain'd; 655
Driven out by base ingratitude from home,'
And hunted by th' ungenerous fears of Rome;
The matchless chief, with age and care declin'd,
No shelter in Bythinia's court could find;
There, dauntless as he liv'd, the envenom'd bowl
Freed from her bonds of flesh his struggling soul;
And unpropitious even in death to Rome,

His dust upbraids her from the silent tomb.'

659

P. C. SCIPIO

Bona ejus publicarunt, domum a fundamentis disjecerunt, ipsum exulem judicarunt. COR. NEP. in Han.

I

Liberemus (inquit) diuturnâ curâ populum Romanum, quando mortem senis expectare longum censent. Nec magnam nec memorabi

+ Pause now, and now alternate praise divide

lem

Here to bold genius, there true Patriot pride. The sevenhilld City Truth must here confess,
See one great leader whose immortal fame week of herself, but awful in distress,
His Country envies, and his foes proclaim Beat bylie rosstongvonder how she stood
Twenty long years in desperate conflicts tried Even by deseats confirmed in hardihood,
One Host destroyd, behold another rise,
Chaining the /vagrant Fortune to his side:
Another strait her womb desteem'd supplys.
Sun winds of Rain subserve his deep intents,
Who wields gainst Rome neuti. Elements. For lusty youth the hoary Sire but meets
Pale Widows Bourgreing in her once thronged streets,
Sore from his Stratagems the Roman dreads
Surprise or ambush every field he treads,
Looks round with terror, and scarce daves expect Drawn dry of blood, yer undismayel by 2.11
•her Carthage bow (shers) oikommuors..il.
Le
His Shield can cover him or Gods protect,
13 arbarian Bands born under different skies Her procid dominion ler the proud revere,
But own che summit of her Virtue here.
scordant Habies Tongues, and Qualities

tie mass!)in his obedience held

are compacted, and his mind impellà ̧

Antiquus ex argente pure,pondo librarum xx.diametri 2 ped.cum 2 unc. repertus in Rhodano prope Avenionem anno 1656: exhibens Scipionis Africani fuperioris memorandum actionem, qua captam in expugnatione Carthaginis nova eximia formá virginem Allucio Celtiberorum principi, cui desponsata erat, intactam gratis reddidit. Polyb.x.19. LIV XXVI. 50 A Gell.vi.8. Dion. Fragm. Peiresc. LVIII.

P. C. SCIPIO AFRICANUS. A. U. C. 544.

Young Scipio most by grateful Rome was priz'd,

By vanquish'd Hannibal immortaliz’d.

Her armies by the African o'erthrown,

Her means exhausted, and her pride beat down,
From woes on woes despondency ensued,

His gallant spirit only unsubdued:

665

His ardour breath'd an animating strain,

670

Till up she sprung, and grasp'd her arms again.
Of every virtue, every art possess❜d,'
His foes rever'd him, and his country bless'd:
An eagle with the mildness of the dove,
His valour claim'd esteem, his goodness love;
And manly beauty, beaming from his face,
To inborn dignity gave outward grace.

674

lem ex inermi proditoque Flaminius victoriam feret. Mores quidem populi Romani quantum mutaverint, vel hic dies argumento erit. Horum patres Pyrrho regi hosti armato, exercitum in Italia habenti, ut à veneno caveret, prædixerunt. Hi legatum consularem qui auctor esset Prusiæ per scelus occidendi hospitis, miserunt. Liv. l. xxxix. c. 51.

2

Scipio Africanus superior, quem dii immortales nasci voluerunt, ut esset in quo se virtus per omnes numeros hominibus efficaciter ostenderet,—.Val. Max. 1. vi. c. 9.