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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ODES III, 12 by QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS

First Line: BANDUSIAN SPRING, AS CRYSTAL CLEAR
Last Line: FROM HOLLOW CRAGS WITH ILEX CROWN'D.

Bandusian Spring, as crystal clear,
With flowers, thy due, and pleasant wine,
A kid to-morrow shall be thine,
Whose horns just budding forth appear,

Portending love and war. In vain!
Child of the wanton flock, his blood
The ice-cold current of thy flood
Ere long with crimson hue shall stain.

The blazing Dog-star's scorching heat
Doth touch thee not. Oh! grateful thou
To oxen wearied of the plough,
And the faint herd with wandering feet.

Thou, too, ennobled, shalt be found
Among Earth's fountains, while I sing
Thy bubbling rills, that downward spring
From hollow crags with ilex crown'd.



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