💜When the hounds of spring are on winter's traces,       The mother of months in meadow or plain Fills the shadows and windy places       With lisp of leaves and ripple of rain; And the brown bright nightingale amorous Is half assuaged for Itylus, For the Thracian ships and the foreign faces,       The tongueless vigil, and all the pain. 💜Come with bows bent and with emptying of quivers,       Maiden most perfect, lady of light, With a noise of winds and many rivers,       With a clamor of waters, and with might; Bind on thy sandals, O thou most fleet, Over the splendor and speed of thy feet; For the faint east quickens, the wan west shivers,       Round the feet of the day and the feet of the night. 💜Where shall we find her, how shall we sing to her,       Fold our hands round her knees, and cling? O that man's heart were as fire and could spring to her,       Fire, or the strength of the streams that spring! For the stars and the winds are unto her As raiment, as songs of the harp-player; For the risen stars and the fallen cling to her,       And the southwest wind and the west wind sing. 💜For winter's rains and ruins are over,       And all the season of snows and sins; The days dividing lover and lover,       The light that loses, the night that wins; And time remembered is grief forgotten, And frosts are slain and flowers begotten, And in green underwood and cover       Blossom by blossom the spring begins. 💜The full streams feed on flower of rushes,       Ripe grasses trammel a traveling foot, The faint fresh flame of the young year flushes       From leaf to flower and flower to fruit; And fruit and leaf are as gold and fire, And the oat is heard above the lyre, And the hoofed heel of a satyr crushes       The chestnut-husk at the chestnut-root. 💜And Pan by noon and Bacchus by night,       Fleeter of foot than the fleet-foot kid, Follows with dancing and fills with delight       The Maenad and the Bassarid; And soft as lips that laugh and hide The laughing leaves of the trees divide, And screen from seeing and leave in sight       The god pursuing, the maiden hid. 💜The ivy falls with the Bacchanal's hair       Over her eyebrows hiding her eyes; The wild vine slipping down leaves bare       Her bright breast shortening into sighs; The wild vine slips with the weight of its leaves, But the berried ivy catches and cleaves To the limbs that glitter, the feet that scare       The wolf that follows, the fawn that flies.

vir hiemem indagat: latrans vestigia pellit: ~~ nutrit prata Ceres et novus annus agros: murmura crebrescunt pluviae frondisque susurri, ~~ dum repleant tenebras aeriosque locos: fuscaque rursus amans minuit Philomela dolorem, ~~ clara nitens, neque Ityn iam velut ante gemit: mente cadunt Thressae naves et barbara turba ~~ et quantus vigili lingua resecta dolor. at venias, virgo sanctissima, lucis origo: ~~ tende ferox arcum: prompta sagitta micet! detque sonum surgens multo cum flumine ventus: ~~ detque sonum raucae vis resonantis aquae. indue tu soleas, o velocissima cursu: ~~ ornetur rapidi splendida forma pedis: nam veniente die veniente et nocte tremescit ~~ pallidus, en! Zephyrus, regna et Eoa nitent. queis quaerenda locis numerisve adfanda puella est? ~~ haereat apprendens qua manus arte genu ? o si cor nostrum saliens ceu flamma salutet, ~~ flamma, vel exortae mobile robur aquae ! sidera enim et venti sunt illi talis amictus, ~~ psallentem fertur qui decorasse Linum : illam oriens sidus, delapsum amplectitur illam : ~~ Africus Orpheos dat Zephyrusque sonos. nam sat hiems dederat stragis : iam desiit imber: ~~ diffugere nives: tollitur omne nefas : iam perit et tempus quod amantibus abdit amantes, ~~ quod noctes auget deminuitque dies. iam est memor horarum, maeroris et immemor, idem: ~~ confectum nascens flos fugat acre gelu: iam virgulta virent, frondescunt germina gemmis : ~~ verna sub arbustis incipit ipsa dies. crescit arundinibus pinguis cum floribus amnis: ~~ gramen opimum obstat, quin vetat ire pedem : vix rubet igne novo tener annus, et impiger heres ~~ flos folio, flori denique fructus adest : fructusque et folium splendent velut ignis et aurum, ~~ rustica dum cultam vincit avena lyram, cornipedi et Satyrus contundit calce sub umbra ~~ castaneam siliquam castaneamque nucem. et pede Pan rapido – non acrior haedus eundo! – ~~ tuve movens noctu, Liber, ut ille die, saltibus exagitans mirabilibusque choreis ~~ Maenadas oblectas Bassaridumque comas : et, ceu dissiliunr risu mollita labella, ~~ arboreae molles dissiluere comae : nec latet ille sequens Bacchantem divus amandam, ~~ nec patet adsiduo tecta puella deo. delapsi crines, hedera et delapsa puellae : ~~ cumque superciliis lumina clara latent: labitur et vitis: pectus nudatur anhelum : ~~ occultant nitidum tegmina nulla sinum. sub pede procumbunt oneroso palmite vites: ~~ ipsa hedera haere nti baccare membra capit, membra corusca et turbantes animalia plantas, ~~ seu lupus insequitur, seu cita cerva fugit.

Then fly our greetings, fly our speech and smiles! —As some grave Tyrian trader, from the sea, Descried at sunrise an emerging prow Lifting the cool-hair'd creepers stealthily, The fringes of a southward-facing brow Among the Ægæan Isles; And saw the merry Grecian coaster come, Freighted with amber grapes, and Chian wine, Green, bursting figs, and tunnies steep'd in brine— And knew the intruders on his ancient home, The young light-hearted masters of the waves— And snatch'd his rudder, and shook out more sail; And day and night held on indignantly O'er the blue Midland waters with the gale, Betwixt the Syrtes and soft Sicily, To where the Atlantic raves Outside the western straits; and unbent sails There, where down cloudy cliffs, through sheets of foam, Shy traffickers, the dark Iberians come; And on the beach undid his corded bales.

at fuge, verba pavens hominum blandamque salutem! ceu vidit Tyrius gravis emptor in aequore vectus luce nova procul elapsam per vimina proram tollere clam gelidas frondes, qua cincta corona Australem Aegaeo solem excipit insula ponto : namque hilaris Chioque mero fulvoque racemo et sale perfusis thunnis adfertur onustus Graecorum linter: necnon viret ubera ficus: ipse autem insolitos sentit regnare per undas corde hilari iuvenes, sentitque tenere vetustos et penetrasse lares: raptim moderamine prenso vela movet panditque, dies noctesque secutus indignans cursum: maris aequora caerula nostri transit per terras: quem provehit Eurus euntem. laeva Syrtis erat, dulcis Trinacria dextra; Hesperiumque fretum subit Oceanumque furentem. hic rupe et nebula et spuma delapsus opaca vix audens tentat commercia fuscus Hiberus. hic demum exonerat malum: nodisque solutis extemplo in media merces ostendit harena.

BIRDS IN THE BEARD (published in CA News, December 2004) There was an Old Man with a beard, Who said, 'It is just as I feared! Two Owls and a Hen, Four Larks and a Wren, Have all built their nests in my beard!' CAPRICIOUS CAPERS published in CA News There was an Old Person of Ischia, Whose conduct grew friskier and friskier; He danced hornpipes and jigs, And ate thousands of figs, That lively Old Person of Ischia. DEFLATED published in CA News, said at Horatian Society There was an Old Man in a boat, Who said ‘I’m afloat! I’m afloat!’ When they said ‘No! you ain’t!’ He was ready to faint, That unhappy Old Man in a boat. TERRA FIRMA published in CA News There was a Young Lady of Portugal, Whose ideas were excessively nautical: She climbed up a tree, to examine the sea, But declared she would never leave Portugal. SHOE SHOCK Said at Horatian Society dinner There was an Old Man of the Wrekin Whose shoes made a horrible creaking; But they said ‘Tell us whether Your shoes are of leather, Or of what, you Old Man of the Wrekin?’ NONCHALANT There was a Young lady of Norway Who sat herself down in a doorway. When the door squashed her flat, She exclaimed ‘What of that?’ This courageous Young lady of Norway. TOO LONG BY HALF There was an old man of Coblenz, The length of whose legs was immense ; He went with one prance, from Turkey to France, That surprising old man of Coblenz. EASTERN PROMISE There was a young lady of Tyre, Who swept the loud chords of a lyre ; At the sound of each sweep, she enraptured the deep, And enchanted the city of Tyre. UNHEEDED There was an Old Man who said, "Well! Will nobody answer this bell? I have pulled day and night, till my hair has grown white, But nobody answers this bell!" DIRGE OF A SHREW There was an old person of Tartary Who divided his jugular artery. But he screeched to his wife, and she said »Oh, my life! Your death will be felt by all Tartary. » VULCAN’S STITHY published in CA News There was an Old Person of Gretna, Who rushed down the crater of Etna; When they said, ‘Is it hot?’ he replied, ‘No, it’s not!’ That mendacious Old Person of Gretna. ATHLETE’S FEAT There was a Young Girl of Majorca, Whose Aunt was a very fast walker; She walked seventy miles, and leaped fifteen stiles, Which astonished that Girl of Majorca. STRICT REGIMEN published in CA News There was an Old Person of Sparta Who had twenty-five sons and one daughter; He fed them on snails, and weighed them in scales, That wonderful person of Sparta. MAD COW There was an Old Man of Aôsta, Who possessed a large Cow, but he lost her; But they said, 'Don't you see, she has rushed up a tree? You invidious Old Man of Aôsta HONG KONG There was an old man of Hong Kong Who never did anything wrong. He lay on his back With his head in a sack, That innocuous old man of Hong Kong. DOOM WITH A VIEW There was an Old Person of Florence, Who held mutton chops in abhorrence; He purchased a Bustard, and fried ihm in Mustard, Which choked that Old Person of Florence, DISCOMBOBULATED CA News and Horatian Society There was an Old Person of Diss, Who said, ‘It is this! It is this!’ When they said, ‘What?’ or ‘Which?’ – He jumped into a ditch, Which absorbed that Old Person of Diss.

* barbatus hospes nidificantium: ‘fit quod timebam! strix, trochilus, canens gallina cum bubone, alaudae quattuor, inseruere nidos.’ * lasciviores Inarimae, senex, misces choreas; innumerabiles mandis, Pithecusæe, ficus; fersque pedem numeris marinis. * ‘heus, nonne no? no! nat mea trabs,’ ait vir lintre vectus; praetereuntium cui turba: ‘tu non nas.’ recessit deficiens miserandum in alveum. * non Lusitanae mente cadunt maris naves; ut aequor spectet, in arborem conscendit. inde effata: ‘nunquam te, Tage, teque, Duri, relinquam.’ * raucis cothurnis improbe Cornovi, crepide crocis. ‘ num corio crepis? quonamve?’ sic horrent canoras carbatinas Viroconienses. * Septentrionum nubilis incola incauta portae sedit in ostio. elisa, ‘quidnam tum?’ vigore clamat Hyperboreos feroci. * immensa saltans ex Asia gradu imponit uno crura Parisiis, quem Rhenus eduxit Mosella compare sesquipedaliorem. * Phoenissa chordas raucisonas lyrae cum nympha magnis verreret ictibus, immane delectabat aequor et Tyriam recreabat urbem. * ‘longum sonanti num quis adest seni? canescit, inquam, caesaries mihi: pernoxque tinnitu vocavi perque diem: neque oboedit ullus.’ * qui Chersonesi se iugulaverat dat soricinas gutture nenias. cui sponsa: ‘vexabuntur omnes morte tua, mea vita, Tauri.’ * ex Hadriani moenibus advena cratera in Aetnae desilit irruens. ‘ardetne?’ ‘nequaquam.’ fefellit Scoticus Empedocles Sicanos. * tu dena vadis milia septies, ter quinque sepes tu superevolas, matertera, admiranda nepti: quin Baliaris hians stupescit. * o pasta proles fotaque cochleis! examinasti tu, pater, unicam post quinque vigintique natos, mire Lacon, trutina puellam. * Praetorianus possidet haud levem perditque vaccam. ‘nonne vides?’ ait vicinus, ‘ascendit comantes, invidiose, oneratque ramos.’ * urbs, a Britannis reddita Seribus! vir, purus omnis criminis improbi, velavit in sacco supinus innocuum caput, et recumbit. * non Arniensem lanigeri caro delectat agni. comparat otidem, quae fricta cum flavo sinapi fauce premit perimitque Tuscum. * Icenus, annis nempe senilibus marcens, ‘id hoc est’, inquit, ‘et hoc id est’. cum ‘quid? quod?’ aut ‘quod? quid?’ rogarent, desilit excipiturque fossa.

Valle locus Clausa toto mihi nullus in orbe     gratior aut studiis aptior ora meis. Valle puer Clausa fueram, iuvenemque reversum     fovit in aprico vallis amena sinu. Valle vir in Clausa meliores dulciter annos     exegi et vitae candida fila meae. Valle senex Clausa supremum ducere tempus     et Clausa cupio, te duce, Valle mori.

No place in all the world is dearer to me or worthier of my affection than the Closed Valley. As a boy I had been in the Closed Valley, and when I returned as a youth, the lovely valley nurtured me in its ripe bosom. As a man I eked out my better years and the white threads of my life, with sweetness, in the Closed Valley. As an old man I desire to pass my last days in the Closed Valley; and in the Closed Valley, in your service, to die.

Impia iamdudum condemno silentia, quod te, o patria, insignem Baccho fluviisque virisque, moribus ingeniisque hominum procerumque senatu, non inter primas memorem, quasi conscius urbis exiguae inmeritas dubitem contingere laudes. non pudor hinc nobis; nec enim mihi barbara Rheni ora nec arctoo domus est glacialis in Haemo: BURDIGALA est natale solum; dementia caeli mitis ubi et riguae larga indulgentia terrae, ver longum brumaeque novo cum sole tepentes aestifluique amnes, quorum iuga vitea subter fervent aequoreos imitata fluenta meatus, …

You, my homeland, left till last? That unseemliness is past! Souls, wines, rivers, famous all, Wit and wisdom, City Hall... Well aware that you are small, Did I fear to overpraise? Being small is no disgrace! Not the cold barbarian Rhine, Not the arctic peaks of Thrace, No such glacial home is mine: Bordeaux is my native place. Temperate the skies and mild, Fertile lands that early smiled, Winters warmed in newborn sun, Springs full-blown, where rivers run Like the seas with foaming tides, Vineyards clinging to their sides...

Caelo tonantem credidimus Iovem regnare: praesens divus habebitur      Augustus adiectis Britannis       imperio gravibusque Persis. Milesne Crassi coniuge barbara                turpis maritus vixit et hostium,      pro curia inuersique mores!       consenuit socerorum in armis sub rege Medo Marsus et Apulus anciliorum et nominis et togae                     oblitus aeternaeque Vestae,       incolumi Iove et urbe Roma? Hoc caverat mens provida Reguli dissentientis condicionibus      foedis et exemplo trahenti                      perniciem veniens in aevum, si non periret inmiserabilis captius pubes: 'Signa ego Punicis      adfixa delubris et arma       militibus sine caede' dixit                 'derepta vidi; vidi ego civium retorta tergo bracchia libero      portasque non clausas et arva       Marte coli populata nostro. Auro repensus scilicet acrior                miles redibit. Flagitio additis      damnum. Neque amissos colores       lana refert medicata fuco, nec vera virtus, cum semel excidit, curat reponi deterioribus.                     Si pugnat extricata densis       cerva plagis, erit ille fortis, qui perfidis se credidit hostibus, et Marte Poenos proteret altero,      qui lora restrictis lacertis                      sensit iners timuitque mortem. Hic, unde vitam sumeret inscius, pacem duello miscuit. O pudor!      o magna Carthago, probrosis       altior Italiae ruinis!'                 Fertur pudicae coniugis osculum parvosque natos ut capitis minor      ab se removisse et virilem       toruus humi posuisse voltum, donec labantis consilio patres                firmaret auctor nunquam alias dato      interque maerentis amicos      egregius properaret exul. Atqui sciebat quae sibi barbarus tortor pararet; non aliter tamen                     dimovit obstantis propinquos      et populum reditus morantem quam si clientum longa negotia diiudicata lite relinqueret,      tendens Venafranos in agros                     aut Lacedaemonium Tarentum.

When Jupiter has thundered We know that He is Lord; Britons and Persians conquered, Caesar shall reign adored. Did Crassus’ Roman soldiers Wed each his foreign wife, And make the foe their fathers And serve the Medes in strife, Heedless of court and custom, Sky-shields, the garb of home, Hearth-goddess everlasting, Inviolate Jove, and Rome? HE knew it was pernicious, Foresaw the precedent: To no such vile conditions Would Regulus consent. ‘Our men must die. No quarter For captives! I saw there Our eagles on strange altars, Uninjured men stripped bare, ‘Free Romans bound and pinioned, The Punic gates unbarred, Grain sprouting on the ploughland Where Rome had set her sword. ‘Weigh out your gold. More valiant Our gallants shall return! Add loss to shame! No treatment Gives wool a tint that’s gone: ‘True valour once abandoned Is lost to broken men. A doe that’s disentangled Will not give fight. Nor then ‘Will the poor gulls who yielded Fight Carthage by and by, Who let themselves be shackled, Slack-limbed, afraid to die, ‘Who desperate for safety Mixed war with peace. For shame! Great Carthage high and mighty, Rome ruined, Romans’ blame.’ They say he shunned his children, Refused his wife’s embrace; Distraught he glared, and downward He turned an outlaw’s face. The senate heard such counsel As never else was said. They hearkened; he sought exile, Torn from his friends dismayed: He knew the coming torture, And yet he thrust aside Those who delayed departure, The cousins and the crowd: As one whose task is over, A great case closed, may go At ease to green Venafrum Or Spartan Táranto.

Sicelides Musae, paulo maiora canamus! non omnes arbusta iuvant humilesque myricae; si canimus silvas, silvae sint consule dignae. ultima Cumaei venit iam carminis aetas; magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo. iam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna; iam nova progenies caelo demittitur alto. tu modo nascenti puero, quo ferrea primum desinet ac toto surget gens aurea mundo, casta fave Lucina: tuus iam regnat Apollo. teque adeo decus hoc aevi, te consule, inibit, Pollio, et incipient magni procedere menses; te duce, si qua manent sceleris vestigia nostri, inrita perpetua solvent formidine terras. ille deum vitam accipiet divisque videbit permixtos heroas, et ipse videbitur illis, pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem. at tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu errantes hederas passim cum baccare tellus mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho. ipsae lacte domum referent distenta capellae ubera, nec magnos metuent armenta leones. ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores. occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni occidet; Assyrium vulgo nascetur amomum. at simul heroum laudes et facta parentis iam legere et quae sit poteris cognoscere virtus, molli paulatim flavescet campus arista, incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva, et durae quercus sudabunt roscida mella. pauca tamen suberunt priscae vestigia fraudis, quae temptare Thetim ratibus, quae cingere muris oppida, quae iubeant telluri infindere sulcos. alter erit tum Tiphys, et altera quae vehat Argo delectos heroas; erunt etiam altera bella, atque iterum ad Troiam magnus mittetur Achilles. hinc, ubi iam firmata virum te fecerit aetas, cedet et ipse mari vector, nec nautica pinus mutabit merces: omnis feret omnia tellus. non rastros patietur humus, non vinea falcem; robustus quoque iam tauris iuga solvet arator; nec varios discet mentiri lana colores, ipse sed in pratis aries iam suave rubenti murice, iam croceo mutabit vellera luto; sponte sua sandyx pascentes vestiet agnos. 'talia saecla,' suis dixerunt, 'currite', fusis concordes stabili fatorum numine Parcae. adgredere o magnos - aderit iam tempus - honores, cara deum suboles, magnum Iovis incrementum. aspice convexo nutantem pondere mundum, terrasque tractusque maris caelumque profundum; aspice, venturo laetantur ut omnia saeclo. o mihi tam longae maneat pars ultima vitae, spiritus et quantum sat erit tua dicere facta, non me carminibus vincat nec Thracius Orpheus, nec Linus, huic mater quamvis atque huic pater adsit, Orphei Calliopea, Lino formosus Apollo. Pan etiam, Arcadia mecum si iudice certet, Pan etiam Arcadia dicat se iudice victum. incipe, parve puer, risu cognoscere matrem; matri longa decem tulerunt fastidia menses. incipe, parve puer; cui non risere parentes, nec deus hunc mensa, dea nec dignata cubili est.

The Field. Dear Sir: a somewhat larger theme. Trees and mere hedgerows don't appeal to all; Our Country Notes must grace the Capitol. The prophesied 'last age' has now begun: The mighty March of Time resumes from nil. The Virgin and the Days of Old return; A new breed comes among us from on high. Childbirth! The prehistoric Iron Age Will end, the Golden Age worldwide be born. The Sun is King; so, Sister Moon, shine on! In fact this glorious millennium Will come while Ron presides, and under him A pageant of great seasons will remove The final traces of our infamy, And free the globe from unremitting fear. The boy will live a god's life: he will see Heroes at ease with gods, and they'll see him Rule, by his father's gifts, a world at peace. For baby-toys the earth will offer him Nature's profusion, romping ivy-leaves, Acanthus, gipsy lilies, wild woodbine; Goats with their milk will freely wander home, Huge-uddered; herds won't fear great beasts of prey. His cradle will be thick with pretty flowers; Poisonous weeds and snakes will die the death And cinnamon will come up everywhere. He'll read uplifting stories, and the great Deeds of his father; learn of excellence; By then soft fields of corn will just grow gold, Red grapes will hang along neglected paths And solid oaktrees run with honeydew. Few traces will survive of such old frauds As Shipping, Agriculture and Defence; Another helmsman with a chosen crew Will man the Argo; there'll be other wars, A Churchill, an Achilles back at Troy. By his maturity, they'll quit the sea: Pilots and merchant-ships will cease to trade. All countries will produce all types of crop: Ground won't be harrowed, grapevines won't be cut. The sturdy ploughman will unyoke his bulls. Wool won't be taught untruthful colouring: The grazing ram himself will change his pelt To mauve or saffron-yellow, and the lambs, Browsing, will go spontaneously red. 'Roll on such times!' the spinning Fates decree, In concert with Eternal Destiny. Your hour has come: approach your rank and pomp, Dear child of gods, awesome nativity. See the world lurching with its high-curved load, The land, the wide sea, heaven's mighty dome: See them, ecstatic at the age to come. I hope enough of life remains for me, Breath enough to record what you will do: With luck I'll lyrically outperform Both Linus and the Thracian lutenist, Even allowing them parental help, Apollo and the Muse respectively! Yes, Pan can take me on, his Fauns shall judge: His Fauns shall judge, and Pan shall give me best. Smile then dear child, and recognise - your mum! She's had nine months of drawn-out tedium. Smile for your mother, child, and you'll deserve Feasts with the gods, a goddess for your love.