y sports the honorable stain?

'T was his to whirl, with matchless skill,
The glancing quoit, the certain javelin throw,
While Crowds, with acclamations shrill,
The lofty Circus joy'd to fill,
And all the honors of the Day bestow.

Such fond seclusion why desire?--
Thus Thetis' care her blooming Son conceal'd,
Ere yet commenc'd that Contest dire,
When mournful gleam'd the funeral pyre,
Thro' ten long years, on Ilium's purpled field.

In vain the female vest he wore,
That Love maternal might avert his fate;
Lest his spear drink the Lycian gore,
Lest sinking Troy his force deplore,
And DEATH with GLORY meet him at her gate.

TO [1]THALIARCHUS.

BOOK THE FIRST, ODE THE NINTH.

In dazzling whiteness, lo! Soracte towers,
As all the mountain were one heap of snow!
Rush from the loaded woods the glittering showers;
The frost-bound waters can no longer flow.

Let plenteous billets, on the glowing hearth,
Dissolve the ice-dart ere it reach thy veins;
Bring mellow wines to prompt convivial mirth,
Nor heed th' arrested streams, or slippery plains.

High Heaven, resistless in his varied sway,
Speaks!--The wild elements contend no more;
Nor then, from raging seas, the foamy spray
Climbs the dark rocks, or curls upon the shore.

And peaceful then yon aged ash shall stand;
In breathless calm the dusky cypress rise;
To-morrow's destiny the Gods command,
To-day is thine;--enjoy it, and be wise!

Youth's radiant tide too swiftly rolls away;
Now, in its flow, let pleasures round thee bloom;
Join the gay dance, awake the melting lay,
Ere hoary tresses blossom for the tomb!

Spears, and the Steed, in busy camps impel;
And, when the early darkness veils the groves,
Amid the leafless boughs let whispers steal,
While frolic Beauty seeks the near alcoves.

Soft as thy tip-toe steps the mazes rove,
A laugh, half-smother'd, thy pleas'd ear shall meet,
And, sportive in the charming wiles of love,
Betray the artifice of coy retreat;

And then the ring, or, from her snowy arm,
The promis'd bracelet may thy force employ;
Her feign'd reluctance, height'ning every charm,
Shall add new value to the ravish'd toy.

1: This Ode was probably written at the Country Seat of that
Nobleman, near the mountain Soracte, in Tuscany, twenty-six miles
from Rome.

TO LEUCONOE.

BOOK THE FIRST, ODE THE ELEVENTH.