She will herself, when you my tale repeat,
Smile, and approve the amorous deceit.

}

Marry, the 'll fay, whom heaven commends to thee,
He, who has pleas'd Diana, pleases me
But should fhe afk from what defcent I came,
My country, and my parents, and my name;
Tell her, that none of thefe deferve my fhame.
Had you not fworn, you such a one might chufe;
But, were he worse, now fworn, you can't refuse,
This in my dreams Diana bade me write,
And when I wak’d, sent Cupid to indite.
Obey them both, for one has wounded me,
Which wound if you with eyes of pity fee,
She too will foon relent that wounded thee,
Then to our joys with eager hafte we'll move,
As full of beauty you, as I of love :
To the great temple we 'll in triumph go,
And with our offerings at the altar bow.
A golden image there I'll confecrate,
Of the falfe Apple's innocent deceit ;
And write below the happy verfe that came
The meffenger of my fuccefsful flame.

"Let all the world this from Acontius know,

}

More I could write! but, fince thy illnefs reigns, And wracks thy tender limbs with sharpcft pains, My pen falls down for fear, left this might be, Although for me too little, yet too much for thee.

JUVENAL,

SAT. IV.

THE

ARGUMENT.

The Poet in this fatire first brings in Crifpinus, whom he had a lash at in his first satire, and whom he promifes here not to be forgetful of for the future. He exposes his monftrous prodigality and luxury, in giving the price of an eftate for a barbel: and from thence takes occafion to introduce the principal fubject and true defign of this fatire, which is grounded upon a ridiculous ftory of a turbot prefented to Domitian, of fo vaft a bignefs, that all the Emperor's fcullery had not a difh large enough to hold it: Upon which the fenate in all hafte is fummoned, to confult in this exigency, what is fitteft to be done. The Poet gives us a particular of the fenators' names, their diftinct characters, and fpeeches, and advice; and, after much and wife confultation, an expedient being found out and agreed upon, he difmiffes the fenate, and concludes the fatire.

ONCE

upon

the stage

NCE more Crifpinus call'd
(Nor fhall once more suffice) provokes my rage:

A monster, to whom every vice lays claim,

Without one virtue to redeem his fame.

Feeble and fick, yet ftrong in luft alone,
The rank adulterer preys on all the town,
All but the widows' naufeous charms go down.

What

What matter then how stately is the arch

Where his tir'd mules flow with their burden march? What matter then how thick and long the shade Through which he is by sweating flaves convey'd? How many acres near the city walls,

Or new-built palaces, his own he calls?

No ill man's happy; least of all is he
Whose study 'tis to corrupt chastity;

Th' incestuous brute, who the veil'd veftal maid
But lately to his impious bed betray'd,

Who for her crime, if laws their courfe might have,
Ought to defcend alive into the grave*.

But now of flighter faults; and yet the fame
By others done, the cenfor's juftice claim.
For what good men ignoble count and base,
Is virtue here, and does Crifpinus grace:
In this he's fafe, whate'er we write of him,.
The perfon is more odious than the crime.
And fo all fatire 's loft. The lavish flave
Six thousand pieces † for a barbel gave:
A fefterce for each pound it weigh'd, as they
Gave out, that hear great things, but greater fay.
If, by this bribe well plac'd, he would enfnare
Some faplefs, ufurer that wants an heir,
Or if this present the fly courtier meant
Should to fome punk of quality be fent,

* Crifpinus had feduced a vestal virgin; and, by the law of Numa, fhould have been buried alive.

† Roman Seftertii.

M 3

That

That in her eafy chair in state does ride,
The glaffes all drawn up on every fide,
I'd praife his cunning; but expect not this.
For his own gut he bought the stately fish.
Now even Apicius * frugal feems, and poor,
Outvy'd in luxury unknown before.

Gave you, Crifpinus, you this mighty fum
You that, for want of other rags, did come
In your own country paper wrapp'd, to Rome?
Do scales and fins bear price to this excess ?
You might have bought the fisherman for lefs.
For lefs fome provinces whole acres fell;
Nay, in Apulia †, if you bargain well,
A manor would coft lefs than fuch a meal.

What think we then of this luxurious lord ‡ ?
What banquets loaded that imperial board?
When, in one difh, that, taken from the reft,
His conftant table would have hardly miss'd,
So many fefterces were swallow'd down,
To ftuff one fcarlet-coated court buffoon,
Whom Rome of all her knights now chiefeft greets,
From crying ftinking fish about her streets.

Begin, Calliope, but not to fing:
Plain, honeft truth we for our fubject bring.

}

}

*Famous for gluttony, even to a proverb. Seo Dr. King's" Art of Cookery."

+ Where land was remarkably cheap.

Domitian.

Help

Help then, ye young Pierian maids, to tell
A downright narrative of what befell.

Afford me willingly your facred aids,

Me that have call'd you young, me that have ftyl'd you maids.

When he, with whom the Flavian race decay'd *,
The groaning world with iron fceptre fway'd,
When a bald Nero + reign'd, and fervile Rome obey'd› ̧
Where Venus' fhrine does fair Ancona grace,
A turbot taken, of prodigious space,

Fill'd the extended net, not less than those
That dull Mæotis does with ice inclofe;
Till, conquer'd by the fun's prevailing ray,
It opens to the Pontic Sea their way;

And throws them out unweildy with their growth,
Fat with long cafe, and a whole winter's sloth :
The wife commander of the boat and lines,
For our high-priest ‡ the stately prey designs ;
For who that lordly fish durft fell or buy,
So many fpies and court-informers nigh?
No fhore but of this vermin fwarms does bear,
Searchers of mud and fea-weed! that would swear
The fish had long in Cæfar's ponds been fed,
And from its lord undutifully fled;

*Domitian was the laft and worst of that family. + Domitian, from his cruelty, was called a fecond Nero; and, from his baldness, Calvus.

A title often affumed by the Emperors.