Page:Virgil's Pastorals, Georgics and Aeneis - Dryden (1709) - volume 1.pdf/76

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62
The Life of Virgil.

Illo Virgilium me tempore dulcis alebat, Parthenope.

And this may serve to illustrate his Complement to Cæsar, in which he invites him into his own Constellation,

Where, in the void of Heaven, a place is free,
Betwixt the
Scorpion, and the Maid for thee.

Thus placing him betwixt Justice and Power, and in a Neighbour Mansion to his own; for Virgil suppos'd Souls to ascend again to their proper Stars. Being therefore of this Humour, it is no wonder that he refus'd the Embraces of the Beautiful Plotia, when his indiscreet Friend almost threw her into his Arms.

But however he stood affected to the Ladies, there is a dreadful Accusation brought against him for the most unnatural of all Vices, which by the Malignity of Humane nature has found more Credit