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BOOK III.
83
XIII.
O fons Bandusiæ
BANDUSIA'S fount, in clearness crystalline,
O worthy of the wine, the flowers we vow!
To-morrow shall be thine
A kid, whose crescent brow
Is sprouting all for love and victory.
In vain: his warm red blood, so early stirr'd,
Thy gelid stream shall dye,
Child of the wanton herd.
Thee the fierce Sirian star, to madness fired,
Forbears to touch: sweet cool thy waters yield
To ox with ploughing tired,
And lazy sheep afield.
Thou too one day shalt win proud eminence
'Mid honour'd founts, while I the ilex sing
Crowning the cavern, whence
Thy babbling wavelets spring.
XIV.
Herculis ritu.
OUR Hercules, they told us, Rome,
Had sought the laurel Death bestows:
How Glory brings him conqueror home
From Spaniard foes.
