Page:Virgil - The Georgics, Thomas Nevile, 1767.djvu/77

 

Fond hopes of glory flush the youthful train;
Their hearts leap high; fear beats in ev'ry vein;
Prone o'er their steeds the twisted lash they ply,
Give all the rein; the glowing axles fly:
Now low on earth, now lifted from the ground 135
Aloft they spring, and seem thro' air to bound;
Rise the red sands in clouds; no stop, no stay;
Close-prest the leaders of the dusty way
Steam with their followers' foam: so fierce a flame
Prompts them to conquest; such the lust of fame. 140

First Erichthonius to the chariot broke,
And boldly join'd four horses to the yoke,
O'er all the racers victor in his speed:
The Lapithæ next rein'd, and back'd the steed;
Taught him to wheel, in stately march to round 145
The circling paw, and proudly spurn the ground.
Arduous each labour; both alike require
A youth of eager pace, and full of fire:
Else it imports but little, tho' in fight
He oft has forc'd th' opponent hosts to flight, 150
Epirus or Mycenæ tho' he boast,
And ev'n in Neptune's self his line be lost.

Observant Riders to these rules attend;
And in fit season with firm fat distend

Him