The unerring sun by certain signs declares, What the late even or early morn prepares, And when the south projects a stormy day, And when the clearing north will puff the clouds away. The sun reveals the secrets of the sky; And who dares give the source of light the lie? The change of empires often he declares, Fierce tumults, hidden treasons, open wars. He first the fate of Cæsar did foretell, And pitied Rome, when Rome in Cæsar fell; In iron clouds concealed the public light, And impious mortals feared eternal night. Nor was the fact foretold by him alone,-- Nature herself stood forth, and seconded the sun. Earth, air, and seas, with prodigies were signed; And birds obscene, and howling dogs, divined. What rocks did Ætna's bellowing mouth expire From her torn entrails! and what floods of fire! What clanks were heard, in German skies afar, Of arms, and armies rushing to the war! Dire earthquakes rent the solid Alps below, And from their summits shook the eternal snow; Pale spectres in the close of night were seen, And voices heard, of more than mortal men, In silent groves: dumb sheep and oxen spoke; And streams ran backward, and their beds forsook: The yawning earth disclosed the abyss of hell, } The weeping statues did the wars foretell, } And holy sweat from brazen idols fell. } Then, rising in his might, the king of floods Rushed through the forests, tore the lofty woods, And, rolling onward, with a sweepy sway, Bore houses, herds, and labouring hinds away. Blood sprang from wells, wolves howled in towns by night, And boding victims did the priests affright. Such peals of thunder never poured from high, Nor forky lightnings flashed from such a sullen sky. Red meteors ran across the etherial space; Stars disappeared, and comets took their place. For this, the Emathian plains once more were strowed } With Roman bodies, and just heaven thought good } To fatten twice those fields with Roman blood. } Then, after length of time, the labouring swains, Who turn the turfs of those unhappy plains, Shall rusty piles from the ploughed furrows take, And over empty helmets pass the rake-- Amazed at antique titles on the stones, And mighty reliques of gigantic bones. Ye home-born deities, of mortal birth! Thou father Romulus, and mother Earth, Goddess unmoved! whose guardian arms extend O'er Tuscan Tyber's course, and Roman towers defend; With youthful Cæsar your joint powers engage, Nor hinder him to save the sinking age. O! let the blood, already spilt, atone For the past crimes of cursed Laomedon! Heaven wants thee there; and long the gods, we know, Have grudged thee, Cæsar, to the world below, Where fraud and rapine right and wrong confound, } Where impious arms from every part resound, }