Hail to thee, stream, generous giver of the waters of healing, chief glory of the land of Italy, doctor of all that come to thee, common helper of all Aesculapius’ sons; a very present deity for whose aid there is nought to pay. Whether it be that hell’s fiery streams have burst their banks and that Phlegethon gone astray bestows his heat upon the upper world, or that a river, originally of cold water, sinks down into veins of sulphur and rises thence afire (as one would think from the smell), or that the mountain in arbitration summons the two elements to a treaty, balancing a certain quantity of fire against a similar amount of water that neither yield to the other but under a just law of equipoise each may withstand the other’s might--whatsoever * * * * * Page 222 quidquid erit causae, quocumque emitteris ortu, non sine consilio currere certa fides. 80 quis casum meritis adscribere talibus audet? quis negat auctores haec statuisse deos? ille pater rerum, qui saecula dividit astris, inter prima poli te quoque sacra dedit et fragilem nostri miseratus corporis usum 85 telluri medicas fundere iussit aquas, Parcarumque colos exoratura severas flumina laxatis emicuere iugis. Felices, proprium qui te meruere, coloni, fas quibus est Aponon iuris habere sui. 90 non illis terrena lues corrupta nec Austri flamina nec saevo Sirius igne nocet, sed quamvis Lachesis letali stamine damnet, in te fata sibi prosperiora petunt. quodsi forte malus membris exuberat umor 95 languida vel nimio viscera felle rubent, non venas reserant nec vulnere vulnera sanant pocula nec tristi gramine mixta bibunt: amissum lymphis reparant impune vigorem, pacaturque aegro luxuriante dolor. 100 XXVII. (XLIV.) _Phoenix._ Oceani summo circumfluus aequore lucus trans Indos Eurumque viret, qui primus anhelis sollicitatur equis vicinaque verbera sentit, umida roranti resonant cum limina curru, * * * * * Page 223 shall prove to be the cause, whatever the origin, of this we may be sure--that thou flowest not without design. Who would dare to ascribe such a miracle to chance? Who could deny that the overruling gods have so ordained? Nature’s lord, who measures the centuries by the stars, has given thee a place of honour among the works of his divinity, and, pitying the feebleness of our human bodies, has bidden pour forth healing waters for the earth, and from the riven hills burst forth streams that should win pardon from the Fates’ relentless distaffs.