[211] The original has "colorati Seres." [212] So ed. B.--Ed. C "And." [213] "Temere." [214] Old eds. "They." [215] Cunningham and the editor of 1826 may be right in reading "trammels" (_i.e._ ringlets). "Trannel" was the name for a bodkin. (The original has "Ut fieret torto flexilis orbe sinus.") [216] "Nuda _Dione_." [217] "Nescio quam pro me laudat nunc iste _Sygambram_." ELEGIA XV. Ad invidos, quod fama poetarum sit perennis. Envy, why carp'st thou my time's spent so ill? And term'st[218] my works fruits of an idle quill? Or that unlike the line from whence I sprung[219] War's dusty honours are refused being young? Nor that I study not the brawling laws, Nor set my voice to sail in every cause? Thy scope is mortal; mine, eternal fame. That all the world may[220] ever chant my name. Homer shall live while Tenedos stands and Ide, Or to[221] the sea swift Simois shall[222] slide. 10 AscrÊus lives while grapes with new wine swell, Or men with crookËd sickles corn down fell. The[223] world shall of Callimachus ever speak; His art excelled, although his wit was weak. For ever lasts high Sophocles' proud vein, With sun and moon Aratus shall remain. While bondmen cheat, fathers [be] hard,[224] bawds whorish, And strumpets flatter, shall Menander flourish. Rude Ennius, and Plautus[225] full of wit, Are both in Fame's eternal legend writ. 20 What age of Varro's name shall not be told, And Jason's Argo,[226] and the fleece of gold? Lofty Lucretius shall live that hour, That nature shall dissolve this earthly bower. ∆neas' war and Tityrus shall be read, While Rome of all the conquered[227] world is head. Till Cupid's bow, and fiery shafts be broken, Thy verses, sweet Tibullus, shall be spoken. And Gallus shall be known from East to West, So shall Lycoris whom he lovËd best. 30 Therefore when flint and iron wear away, Verse is immortal and shall ne'er decay. To[228] verse let kings give place and kingly shows, And banks o'er which gold-bearing Tagus flows. Let base-conceited wits admire vild things; Fair Phoebus lead me to the Muses' springs. About my head be quivering myrtle wound, And in sad lovers' heads let me be found. The living, not the dead, can envy bite, For after death all men receive their right. 40 Then though death racks[229] my bones in funeral fire, I'll live, and as he pulls me down mount higher. The same, by B. I.[230]