iled by the weight of his deep-laden keels; if a bay

Lay hidden beyond, or a land which might yield yellow gold

'Twas held as a foe. While the struggle for treasure went on

The fates were preparing the horrors and scourges of war.

Amusements enjoyed by the vulgar no longer can charm

Nor pleasures worn threadbare by use of the plebeian mob.

The bronzes of Corinth are praised by the soldier at sea;

And glittering gems sought in earth, vie with purple of Tyre;

Numidia curses her here, there, the exquisite silks

Of China; Arabia's people have stripped their own fields.

Behold other woes and calamities outraging peace!

Wild beasts, in the forest are hunted, for gold; and remote

African hammon is covered by beaters, for fear

Some beast that slays men with his teeth shall escape, for by that

His value to men is enhanced! The vessels receive

Strange ravening monsters; the tiger behind gilded bars

And pacing his cage is transported to Rome, that his jaws

May drip with the life blood of men to the plaudits of men

Oh shame! To point out our impending destruction; the crime

Of Persia enacted anew; in his puberty's bloom

The man child is kidnapped; surrenders his powers to the knife,

Is forced to the calling of Venus; delayed and hedged round

The hurrying passage of life's finest years is held back

And Nature seeks Nature but finds herself not. Everywhere

These frail-limbed and mincing effeminates, flowing of locks,

Bedecked with an infinite number of garments of silk

Whose names ever change, the wantons and lechers to snare,

Are eagerly welcomed! From African soil now behold

The citron-wood tables; their well-burnished surface reflects

Our Tyrian purples and slaves by the horde, and whose spots

Resemble the gold that is cheaper than they and ensnare

Extravagance. Sterile and ignobly prized is the wood

But round it is gathered a company sodden with wine;

And soldiers of fortune whose weapons have rusted, devour

The spoils of the world. Art caters to appetite. Wrasse

From Sicily brought to their table, alive in his own Sea water.

The oysters from Lucrine's shore torn, at the feast

Are served to make famous the host; and the appetite, cloyed,

To tempt by extravagan