...
A_y, and the red right arm of Jove_,
H_urtling his lightnings from above_,
W_ith all his terrors then unfurl'd_,
H_e would unmoved, unawed behold_:
T_he flames of an expiring world_
A_gain in crashing chaos roll'd_,
I_n vast promiscuous ruin hurl'd_,
M_ust light his glorious funeral pile_:
S_till dauntless midst the wreck of earth he'd smile_."
Of this passage Stemplinger records thirty-one imitations. How many have
had their patriotism strengthened by _Dulce et decorum est pro patria
mori_, the verse which is aptly found in modern Rome on the monument to
those who fell at Dogali. How many have been supported and comforted in
calamity and sorrow by the poet's immortal words of consolation on the
death of Quintilius:
Durum: sed levius fit patientia
Quicquid corrigere est nefas,--
A_h, hard it is! but patience lends_
S_trength to endure what Heaven sends_.
The motto of Warren Hastings was _Mens aequa in arduis_,--An even temper
in times of trial. Even humorous use of these phrases has served a
purpose. The French minister, compelled to resign, no doubt drew
substantial consolation from _Virtute me involvo_, when he turned it to
fit his case:
I_n the robe of my virtue I wrap me round_
A _solace for loss of all I had_;
B_ut ah! I realize I've found_
W_hat it really means to be lightly clad_!
But the most pronounced effect of Horace's dynamic power is its
inspiration to sane and truthful living.
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