LXVIII.

When the oldest cask 1 is opened,
And the largest lamp is lit;
When the chestnuts glow in the embers,
And the kid turns on the spit;
When young and old in circle
Around the firebrands close;
When the girls are weaving baskets,
And the lads are shaping bows;

LXIX.

When the goodman mends his armor,
And trims his helmet's plume;
When the goodwife's shuttle merrily
Goes flashing through the loom ;
With weeping and with laughter
Still is the story told,

How well Horatius kept the bridge
In the brave days of old.

1 Cask: cask of wine.

LORD MACAULAY.

VIRGINIA.

FRAGMENTS OF A LAY SUNG IN THE FORUM 1 ON THE DAY WHEREON LUCIUS SEXTIUS SEXTINUS LATERANUS AND CAIUS LICINIUS CALVUS STOLO WERE ELECTED TRIBUNES OF THE COMMONS THE FIFTH

TIME, IN THE YEAR OF THE CITY CCCLXXXII.

YE good men of the Commons, with loving hearts and

true,

Who stand by the bold Tribunes 2 that still have stood

by you,

Come, make a circle round me, and mark my tale with

care,

A tale of what Rome once hath borne, of what Rome yet may bear.

This is no Grecian fable, of fountains running wine,
Of maids with snaky tresses,3 or sailors turned to swine.1
Here, in this very Forum, under the noonday sun,

In sight of all the people, the bloody deed was done.
Old men still creep among us who saw that fearful day,
Just seventy years and seven ago, when the wicked
Ten 5 bare sway.

1 Fo'rum: a large square in Rome where public meetings were held, and judicial and commercial business transacted. It was surrounded by courts of justice, temples, and many other magnificent public buildings. 2 See Horatius, p. 14.

8 Furies; goddesses with snakes for hair. They took vengeance on those who shed blood without a cause.

4 Circe, the daughter of the Sun, was said to have the power by her magic of turning men into swine. See Homer's "Odyssey."

5 Ten: the ten magistrates who were chosen to rule the city of Rome, and to draw up a body of laws in 450. They behaved in the most tyrannical manner, and refused to resign when their term of office had expired.

Of all the wicked Ten still the names are held ac

cursed,

And of all the wicked Ten Appius Claudius 1 was the

worst.

He stalked along the Forum like King Tarquin2 in his

pride:

3

Twelve axes 3 waited on him, six marching on a side; The townsmen shrank to right and left, and eyed askance with fear

His lowering brow, his curling mouth, which always seemed to sneer:

That brow of hate, that mouth of scorn, marks all the kindred still;

For never was there Claudius yet but wished the Commons ill:

Nor lacks he fit attendance; for close behind his

heels,

With outstretched chin and crouching pace, the client 5 Marcus steals,

His loins girt up to run with speed, be the errand what

it may,

And the smile flickering on his cheek, for aught his lord may say.

Such varlets 7 pimp and jest for hire among the lying Greeks:

Such varlets still are paid to hoot when brave Licinius 9

speaks.

1 Ap'pius Clau'dius.

2 Tarquin: see Horatius, p. 1.

8 Each of the Ten was attended by twelve men ("lictors") armed with rods and axes.

5 Client: a dependent.

4 Askance: sideways.

6 Aught: anything.

8 Pimp: to minister to the base passions of another.

9 Licin'ius: one of the tribunes of the people.

7 Varlets: menials.

Where'er ye shed the honey, the buzzing flies will

crowd;

Where'er ye fling the carrion, the raven's croak is

loud;

Where'er down Tiber garbage floats, the greedy pike ye

see;

And wheresoe'er such lord is found, such client still will be.

Just then, as through one cloudless chink in a black stormy sky,

Shines out the dewy morning-star, a fair young girl came by.

With her small tablets 1 in her hand, and her satchel on

her arm,

Home she went bounding from the school, nor dreamed of shame or harm;

And past those dreaded axes she innocently ran,

With bright, frank brow that had not learned to blush at gaze of man;

And up the Sacred Street 2 she turned, and, as she danced along,

She warbled gayly to herself lines of the good old song. How for a sport the princes came spurring from the

camp,

And found Lucrece,3 combing the fleece, under the midnight lamp.

1 Tablets: small boards covered with a coat of wax, on which Roman school children wrote or ciphered with a pointed instrument.

2 Sacred Street: a celebrated street in Rome, on which stood the Temple of Peace. The Sacred Street led to the Forum.

8 Lucrece: a noble Roman matron who was foully wronged by Sextus, and who stabbed herself to the heart in consequence.

The maiden sang as sings the lark, when up he darts his flight,

From his nest in the green April corn, to meet the morning light;

And Appius heard her sweet young voice, and saw her sweet young face,

And loved her with the accursed love of his accursed

race,1

And all along the Forum, and up the Sacred Street, His vulture eye pursued the trip of those small glancing feet.

*

* 2

Over the Alban mountains the light of morning

broke ;

From all the roofs of the Seven Hills 3 curled the thin wreaths of smoke:

The city gates were opened; the Forum all alive.

With buyers and with sellers was humming like a hive: Blithely on brass and timber the craftsman's stroke was

ringing,

And blithely o'er her panniers 5 the market-girl was singing,

And blithely young Virginia came smiling from her

home:

Ah! woe for young Virginia, the sweetest maid in Rome!

With her small tablets in her hand, and her satchel on

her arm,

1 The Claudian family was noted for its oppression of the people.

2 Alban mountains: the mountains southeast of Rome; usually spoken of in the singular as Mount Alban.

3 Rome was built on seven hills. 4 Craftsman: artisan or mechanic. 5 Panniers: large, open baskets for vegetables and fruit.