Horace Book II Ode 9
Clouds do not always veil the skies,
Nor showers immerse the verdant plain;
Nor do the billows always rise,
Or storms afflict the ruffled main.
Nor,
Valgius, on the Armenian
Do the chain'd waters always freeze;
Not always furious Boreas roars,
Or bends with violent force the trees.
But you are ever drown'd in tears,
For Mystes dead you ever mourn;
No setting Sol can ease your cares,
But find you sad at his return.
The wise experienced Grecian
Mourn'd not Antilochus so long;
Nor did King Priam's hoary
So much lament his slaughter'd son.
Leave off, at length, these woman's sighs,
Augustus' number'd trophies sing,
To whom all nations tribute bring.
Niphates rolls an humbler wave,
At length th' undaunted Scythian yields,
Content to live the Roman slave,
And scarce forsakes his native fields.
Samuel Johnson
Other author posts
Song
Not the soft sighs of vernal gales, The fragrance of the flowery vales, The murmurs of the crystal rill, The vocal grove, the verdant hill;
From Boethius De Consolatione Philosophiae Book II Metre 4
Wouldst thou to some steadfast seat, Out of Fortune's power retreat Wouldst thou, when fierce Eurus blows, Calmly rest in safe repose
The Vanity of Human Wishes The Tenth Satire of Juvenal Imitated by Samuel Johnson
Let Observation with extensive View, Survey Mankind, from China to Peru; Remark each anxious Toil, each eager Strife, And watch the busy Scenes of crowded Life;
On the Death of Dr Robert Levet
Condemn'd to Hope's delusive mine, As on we toil from day to day, By sudden blasts or slow decline, Our social comforts drop away