Medulla Poetarum Romanorum - Vol. I. (Ætna - Ages ) Poem by Henry Baker

In dreadful Ruins. With a Whirlwind's Force
Sometimes it throws to Heav'n a pitchy Cloud,
Redden'd with Cinders, and involv'd in Smoke:
And tosses Balls of Flame, and licks the Stars.
Sometimes with loud Explosion high it hurls
The Rocks, and Entrails from the Mountain torn:
With roaring Noise slings molten Stones in Air,
And boils, and bellows, from its lowest Caves.

'Tis said the Bulk of huge Enceladus
Blasted with Lightning, by this pondrous Mount
Is crush'd: and Ætna, o'er him whelm'd, expires
Flame from it's burst Volcanos: and when e'er
He shifts his weary Side, Trinacria all
Groans trembling, and with Smoke obscures the Sky.--

Far stretching it's burnt Rocks, is Æna found;
Ætna for vanquish'd Gyants still renown'd:
Enceladus's Load; who crush'd beneath,
From his huge Breast does burning Tempests breathe.
Still as the Monster, weary of the Weight,
Exchanges Sides, he shakes the Mountain's Height:
Sicilia heaves, and ev'ry tott'ring Wall
Leans toward the Ground, and meditates a Fall.
It's pointed Summits from afar are shewn,
But are accessible to Sight alone.
While on it's other Parts fresh Greens appear,
And Groves of Trees their shady Branches rear,
No hardy Hind dares turn the sultry Soil
On the high Crown, and cultivate with Toil.
For now black Clouds and Tempests force their Way,
And with their loathsome Pitch pollute the Day:
Now massy Fragments of the shiver'd Stone,
Torn from it's Root, against the Stars are thrown.

But tho' the Burnings rage to such Excess,
Still with the Snows they hold a faithful Peace.
Here hoary Winter does her Seat maintain,
Secure of Thaws, and unmolested reign:
Thick Clouds of Smoke hang o'er the freezing Coast,
And the swift Flames sweep harmless o'er the Frost.

What forceful Engines whirl aloft in Air
The craggy Quarries, and the Mountain tare?
From what strange Source proceeds the burning Stream,
Which on the wasted Vallies spouts the Flame?--
Or in Confinement choak'd, th'imprison'd Wind
Pushes around an open Vent to find,
And, in it's Course resisted by the Rock,
Bursts thro' it's Prison with a mighty Shock:
Or the Sea, ent'ring thro' the sulph'rous Veins,
Boils with the Fires, and on the blasted Plains
Displodes the mingled Ruin: wildly thrown,
The Stones and liquid Flames pour with Destruction down.


Affection Filial.

Then Jason thus his Spouse address'd, O, Wife!
To whom I stand indebted for my Life:
Whose Tenderness and boundless Favours prove,
How much Thou art a Miracle of Love:
If Magick can:--what cannot that surmount?
O! take some needless Years from my Account,
And to my Father's Life the Number place:
He spoke: and as he spoke the Tears bedew'd his Face.--

--Now
The Fire more loudly roars: and, from the Walls
The blazing Torrent nearer rolls the Flames.
Haste then, dear Father! on my Shoulders lay
Your aged Body: I the Load will bear,
Nor think that Labour hard: whatever Chance
Betides us, Both shall share one common Fate,
Escape together, or together fall.--

--Yet more than all
Rewards, and Prizes, one Thing I implore:
I have a Mother, from the ancient Race
Of Priam sprung: whose Fondness for her Son,
Urg'd her, unhappy, thro' the Toils of War
To follow me: nor could the Ilian Coasts
Detain her, nor the King Acestes' Walls.
Her, ignorant of whate'er Fate impends,
Unbless'd, and unsaluting, I forsake:
This Night, and thy Right Hand, I here attest,
I cannot bear my wretched Parent's Tears.
But Thou, I beg, console her helpless Age,
And aid her desolate: of that secure,
With less Concern shall I all Hazards run.--

Æneas, glad to see the Tuscan's Blood,
Snatches his Fauchion from his Thigh with Haste,
And darts impetuous on his trembling Foe.
This Lausus saw: and struck with Fear and Grief,
For his lov'd Father by such Danger press'd,
Groan'd deep: and Tears ran trickling down his Cheeks.
The Sire, retreating, useless for the Fight,
And with his Wound disabled, back withdrew:
And in his Target trail'd the hostile Spear.
The Youth springs on amidst the thickest Arms,
Himself opposing to Æneas' Sword
Rais'd high, and ready to discharge the Blow.--


Affection Conjugal.
See Constancy.

The King commands his Servants to their Arms,
Resolv'd to go: but the loud Noise alarms
His lovely Queen, who from her Chamber flew,
And her half--plaited Hair behind her threw:
About his Neck she hung with loving Fears,
And now with Words, and now with pleading Tears,
Intreated that he'd send his Men alone,
And stay Himself to save two Lives in one.--

He, with his concave Shell his pining Love
Consol'd: and lonely, on the desart Shore,
Thee, sweet Eurydice! Thee still he sung:
Thee, at the Op'ning, Thee at Close of Day.--
No proffer'd Loves, no Hymenéal Vows
Could move his Soul: The Hyperborean Ice,
And snowy Tanais, and th' extended Fields
For ever rigid with Riphaean Frost,
Alone He travell'd o'er: Eurydice
Ravish'd away, deploring.--
The Thracian Dames enrag'd by this Contempt,
At Bacchus' Orgies, and nocturnal Rites,
With furious Madness tore the hapless Youth,
And strew'd his mangled Carcass o'er the Plains.
Then too, his Head, from the fair Neck disjoyn'd,
Œgrian Hebrus in his gulphy Tide
Rolling along, Eurydice he call'd,
With his last Accents, and his dying Tongue:
Ah! poor Eurydice! his flying Breath,
Eurydice! the Stream, and Banks resound.--


The Four Ages of the WORLD.


The Golden Age. First Age.

The Golden Age was first: when Man yet new,
No Rule but uncorrupted Reason knew:
And, with a native Bent, did Good pursue.
Unforc'd by Punishment, un--aw'd by Fear,
His Words were simple, and his Soul sincere.
Needless was written Law, where none oppress'd;
The Law of Man was written in his Breast.
No suppliant Crowds before the Judge appear'd,
No Court erected yet, nor Cause was heard:
But all was safe, for Conscience was their Guard.
The Mountain Pine, unfell'd, securely stood,
Nor chang'd for distant Seas her native Wood.
Then Mortals, unambitious, knew no more
Than the short Prospect of their native Shore.
No Walls were yet: nor Fence, nor Moat, nor Mound:
Nor Drum was heard, nor Trumpet's warlike Sound:
Nor Sword, nor Helm was made: in calm Content,
And downy Peace, their Lives these happy People spen.

The teeming Earth yet guiltless of the Plow,
And unprovok'd, did fruitful Stores allow:
Content with Food, which Nature freely bred,
On Wildings, and on Strawberries they fed:
Cornels and Bramble Berries gave the rest,
And fallen Acorns furnish'd out a Feast.
On Flow'rs unsown soft Zephyr spread his Wing,
And Time itself was one eternal Spring.
In following Years, the bearded Corn ensu'd,
From Earth untill'd, nor was that Earth renew'd.
Streams, then, of Milk, and Streams of Nectar flow'd,
And yellow Honey sweating Oaks bestow'd.--

Then Men were hard, as hard as parent Stones,
And built on bigger and on firmer Bones:
The Nerves that join'd their Limbs were tough and strong,
Their Life was healthy, and their Age was long.
No Colds, nor Heats, nor dire Diseases bred
By dainty Dishes, multiply'd the Dead:
But rolling Years long found them in their Prime,
And, like the Brutes, in Search of Food they spent their Time.
No brawny Plowman then had learn'd to tare
The Earth's firm Surface with the crooked Share:
None prun'd old Branches from the Trees that grew,
Or dug the fruitful Ground for planting new:
But all were well contented with the Store
Sun, Rain, and Earth bestow'd, and wish'd no more.
In Woods they liv'd, on Acorns chiefly fed,
And such wild Berries as in Winter, red,
Become mature: the youthful World then gave
Of these abundance more than now we have;
And various Fruits beside did then produce,
Amply sufficient for poor Mortals' Use.--

--Then none resign'd
Their Lives to Seas, or Wishes to the Wind:
Confin'd their Search: they knew themselves alone,
And thought That only worthy to be known.--

That ancient Time, we call the Golden--Age,
Was happy: when Earth's Fruits, and wholsom Herbs,
Were Man's delicious Food; e'er he with Blood
His Lips polluted.--Safely thro' the Air
The Bird then wing'd his Way: then o'er the Plains
The Hare securely wander'd, void of Fear:
Nor did his Confidence the Fish betray,
Or guileful Hooks ensnare.--All, then, sincere,
And unsuspicious, perfect Peace enjoy'd.--

Those Woods were first the Seat of Sylvan Pow'rs,
Of Nymphs, and Fawns, and savage Men, who took
Their Birth from Trunks of Trees, and stubborn Oak:
Nor Laws they knew, nor Manners, nor the Care
Of lab'ring Oxen, nor the shining Share:
Nor Arts of Gain, nor what they gain'd to spare.
Their Exercise the Chace: the running Flood
Supply'd their Thirst: The Trees supply'd their Food.
Then Saturn came, who fled the Pow'r of Jove,
Robb'd of his Realms, and banish'd from above.
The Men dispersed on Hills, to Towns he brought:
And Laws ordain'd, and civil Customs taught.
With his mild Empire Peace and Plenty came,
And hence the Golden Times deriv'd their Name.--

Thus Saturn flourished in an Age of Gold,
On Earth: nor Mortals yet had heard th' Alarms
Of Trumpets, nor the sputt'ring of the Steel
On Anvils form'd, and hammer'd into Swords.--

How happy liv'd Mankind in Saturn's Days!
E'er tiresom Journeys mark'd out tedious Ways:
No Ship then ventur'd on the azure Main,
Or spread its Sails the speeding Winds to gain:
To Coasts unknown then none a Voyage made,
Or stor'd their Vessels with a foreign Trade.
No sturdy Bull as yet had wore the Yoke,
No Horse with Bit and Bridle yet was broke.
No Doors their Houses had: and in their Grounds
No Stone was fix'd, to mark each Tenant's Bounds.
Oaks Honey gave, and of their own Accord
The Ewes with swelling Dugs their Milk afford.
Armies, nor Rage, nor Wars, as yet were found,
Nor yet the cruel Smith had Weapons forg'd to wound.--


Silver Age.

But when good Saturn, banish'd from above,
Was driv'n to Hell, the World was under Jove.
Succeeding Times a Silver Age behold,
Excelling Brass, but more excell'd by Gold.
Then Summer, Winter, Autumn did appear:
And Spring was but a Season of the Year.
The Sun his annual Course obliquely made,
Good Days contracted, and enlarg'd the bad.
Then glow'd the Air with sultry Heats, the Wind
Began with Ice and Snow the Rains to bind.
Mortals to Houses then for Shelter fled:
Caves were their Houses, or an Osier--Shed.
Then Furrows for the quick'ning Grain were broke,
And Oxen labour'd first beneath the Yoke.--

E'er Jove was King no Hinds subdu'd the Glebe:
Nor lawful was it held to sever Lands,
Or mark their Bounds: in common all Things lay:
And Earth without Compulsion yielded Food.--
He baneful Poyson to fell Serpents gave:
Commanded Wolves to prowl, the Sea to toss:
From Trees the Honey shook: conceal'd the Fire:
And all in Streams repress'd the running Wine:
That Want by Thought might strike out various Arts,
Gradual; in Furrows seek the Blade of Corn:
And by Collision from the Veins of Flint
Extund the latent Fire.--Then Rivers first
Felt hollow'd Timber: the sea--faring Crew
Then first gave Names and Numbers to the Stars,
The Pleïads, Hyads, and the northern Bear.
'Twas then invented to intangle Beasts
In Toils, and Fowls in Bird--lime to deceive:
And with stanch Hounds the Thicket to inclose.
One with his Casting--net, lanch'd on the deep,
Beats the broad River: from the deeper Sea
Another drags along his dropping Twine.
Then rigid Iron, and the grating Saw,
(With Wedges, first, the splitting Wood they riv'd)
Then various Arts ensu'd.-- Brazen Age.
Third in Succession came the Brazen Age:
A warlike Offspring, prompt to bloody Rage,
But yet not impious.-- Iron Age.
--Hard Steel succeeded then,
And stubborn as the Metal were the Men.
Truth, Modesty, and Shame, the World forsook;
Fraud, Avarice, and Force, their Places took.
Then Sails were spread to ev'ry Wind that blew,
Raw were the Sailors, and the Depths were new:
Trees that long rooted on the Mountains stood,
Now bounded o'er the deep unpractis'd Flood.

Then Land--marks limited to each his Right:
For all before was common as the Light.
Nor was the Ground alone required to bear
Her annual Income to the crooked Share,
But greedy Mortals, rummaging her Store,
Digg'd from her Entrails first the precious Oar,
Which next to Hell the prudent Gods had laid:
And that alluring Ill to Sight display'd.
Then cursed Steel, and more accursed Gold,
Gave Mischief Birth, and made that Mischief bold:
The fatal Parents they of new Alarms,
Give Birth to War, and fill the World with Arms.
Now Men are broken loose from moral Bands,
And brandish'd Weapons glitter in their Hands.
No Rights of Hospitality remain:
The Guest by him who harbour'd him is slain.
The Son--in--law pursues the Father's Life,
Brothers with their own Brothers are at Strife,
The Wife her Husband murders, he the Wife:
The Stepdame Poyson for the Son prepares,
The Son inquires into his Father's Years:
Duty and Piety expiring lye,
And Justice, last of all, soars to her native Sky,
Leaving the Earth defil'd with Blood and Cruelty.


Golden Age Restor'd.

The mighty Round of Years again revolv'd,
The Virgin now, and Saturn's Reign return:
And a new Offspring from high Heav'n descends.
Beneath thy Sway the Relicks of our Guilt
(If such be still remaining) quite effac'd
Shall from all future Terrors free the World.
Kindly, to Thee, sweet Infant, shall the Earth,
Yield her first Presents, by no Culture forc'd:
The wand'ring Ivy, and soft Violet,
The smiling Crocus, and the blushing Rose.
The Goats spontaneous homewards shall return,
Their Teats with Milk distended: and the Herds
Unterrify'd by monstrous Lions, feed.
The Serpent too shall die: the fraudful Herbs
Of noxious Poison wither, and decay:
And Syrian Spices bloom o'er all the World.
Ripe yellow Harvests on the Fields shall wave,
The savage Brambles blush with pendant Grapes,
And Honey from hard Oaks in Dew distil.
The Sailor shall renounce the Sea; no Ships
Traffick exchange: All Lands shall all Things bear.
No Glebe shall feel the Harrow's Teeth, no Vine
The Pruning hook: The sturdy Village--Hind
Shall then release his Oxen from the Yoke:
Nor chang'd by Art shall various Wool belye
It's native Colour: but in Pastures green
The Ram himself with Purples glossy Hue,
Or Crocus' yellow Teint shall tinge his Fleece:
And unforc'd Crimson cloath the feeding Lambs.--

--The last great Day is come,
When Earth, and all her impious Sons, shall lye
Crush'd in the Ruins of the falling Sky:
Whence fresh shall rise, her newborn Realms to grace,
A pious Offspring and a purer Race:
Such as e'er--while in Golden Ages sprung,
When Saturn govern'd, and the World was young.--


Ages of Man Characteriz'd.

The Boy, who newly has to Speech attain'd,
And just can go without his Nurse's Hand,
To play with those of his own Growth is pleas'd,
Soon is enrag'd, and is as soon appeas'd:
Changeful his Humour, various is his Will,
To nothing fix'd, but fluctuating still.

The beardless Youth, just from his Tutor freed,
Sports with his Dogs, and sounds his Courser's Speed:
Yielding, as Wax, to each alluring Vice:
Resty to those that would his Faults chastise:
Careless of Profit, lavish in Expence,
Headstrong, and proud, and given up to Sense:
Whate'er he fancies eager to attain,
And hasty to relinquish it again.

With diff'rent Thoughts to sober Manhood grown,
He seeks for Wealth, and Friendship, and Renown:
Becomes discreet, and cautious how to act
What he must after alter, or retract.

With num'rous Ills the Old is round beset:
Fearful to spend, but covetous to get:
Full of Delays, and Hopes, and Love of Ease,
Greedy of Life, morose, and hard to please:
On Youth's gay Frolicks peevishly severe,
But Oh! when he was young, what Times they were!


Ages of several Creatures.

The utmost Age to Man the Gods assign
Are Winters three times Two, and ten times Nine.
Poor Man nine times the prating Daws exceed:
Three times the Daw the Deer's more lasting Breed:
The Deer full thrice the Raven's Race out--run:
Nine times the Raven Titan's feather'd Son:
Beyond his Age, with Youth and Beauty crown'd,
The Hamadryads shine ten Ages round:
Their Breath the longest is the Fates bestow,
And such the Bounds to mortal Lives below.