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And every year a younger Race succeeds;
Death is a Tribute all things owe to Fate;
The Lucrine Mole (Cæsars stupendous Work)
Protects our Navys from the raging North;
And (since Cethegus drain'd the Pontin Lake)
We Plow and Reap where former ages row'd.
See how the Tyber (whose licentious Waves
So often overflow'd the neighbouring Fields,
Now runs a smooth and inoffensive Course,
Confin'd by our great Emperors Command;
Yet this and they, and all will be forgot;
Why then should Words challenge Eternity,
When greatest Men, and greatest Actions dye?
Use may revive the obsoletest Words,
And banish those that now are most in Vogue;
Use is the Judge, the Law, and rule of Speech.
Homer first taught the World in Epick Verse
Death is a Tribute all things owe to Fate;
The Lucrine Mole (Cæsars stupendous Work)
Protects our Navys from the raging North;
And (since Cethegus drain'd the Pontin Lake)
We Plow and Reap where former ages row'd.
See how the Tyber (whose licentious Waves
So often overflow'd the neighbouring Fields,
Now runs a smooth and inoffensive Course,
Confin'd by our great Emperors Command;
Yet this and they, and all will be forgot;
Why then should Words challenge Eternity,
When greatest Men, and greatest Actions dye?
Use may revive the obsoletest Words,
And banish those that now are most in Vogue;
Use is the Judge, the Law, and rule of Speech.
Homer first taught the World in Epick Verse
(To
