The satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis translated into English verse by Mr. Dryden and several other eminent hands ; together with the satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus, made English by Mr. Dryden ; with explanatory notes at the end of each satire ; to which is prefix'd a discourse concerning the original and progress of satire ... by Mr. Dryden.

THE THIRD SATYR OF Aulus Persius Flaccus.

Translated into ENGLISH VERSE BY MR. DRYDEN.

ARGUMENT OF THE Third Satyr.

Our Author has made two Satyrs concerning Study; the First and the Third: The First related to Men; This to Young Students, whom he desir'd to be Educated in the Stoick Philosophy: He him∣self sustains the Person of the Master, or Prae∣ceptor, in this admirable Satyr. Where he up∣b••aids the You••h of Sloth, and Negligen••e in learn∣ing. Yet he begins with one Scholar reproaching his Fellow Students with late rising to their Books. After which he takes upon him the other part, of the Teacher. And addressing himself particularly to Young Noblemen, tells them, That, by reason of their High Birth, and the Great Possessions of their Fa∣thers, they are careless of adorning their Minds with Precepts of Moral Philosophy: And withall inculcates to them the Miseries which will attend them in the whole Course of their Life, if they do not apply themselves betimes to the Knowledge of Virtue, and the End of their Creation, which he pathetically insinuates to them. The Title of this Satyr, in some Ancient Manuscripts, was The Reproach of Idleness; tho in others of the Scholiasts, 'tis inscrib'd, Against the Luxury

and Vices of the Rich. In both of which the Intention of the Poet is pursu'd; but principally in the former.

I remember I translated this Satyr, when I was a Kings-Scholar at West∣minster School, for 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Thursday Nights Exercise; and believe that it, and many other of my Exerci∣ses of this nature, in English Verse, are still in the Hands of my Learn∣ed Master, the Reverend Doctor Busby.

THE THIRD SATYR.

IS this thy daily course? the glaring Sun Breaks in at ev'ry Chink: The Cattle run To Shades, and Noon•• tide Rays of Summer shun. Yet plung'd in Sloth we lye; and snore supine, As fill'd with Fumes of undigested Wine.

This grave Advice some sober Student bears; And loudly rings it in his Fellows Ears. The yawning Youth, scarce half awake, essays His lazy Limbs and dozy Head to raise: Then rubs his gummy Eyes, and scrubs his Pate;Line 10 And cries I thought it had not been so late: My Cloaths, make haste: why when! if none be near, He mutters first, and then begins to swear: And brays aloud, with a more clam'rous note, Than an Arcadian Ass can stretch his throat.

With much ado, his Book before him laid, And 1 Parchment with the smoother side display'd;

He takes the Papers; lays 'em down agen; And, with unwilling Fingers, tries the Pen: Some peevish quarrel straight he strives to pick;Line 20 His Quill writes double, or his Ink's too thick; Infuse more water; now 'tis grown so thin It sinks, nor can the Character be seen.

O Wretch, and still more wretched ev'ry day! Are Mortals born to sleep their lives away! Go back to what thy Infancy began, Thou who wert never meant to be a Man: Eat Pap and Spoon-meat; for thy Gugaws cry; Be sullen, and refuse the Lullaby. No more accuse thy Pen; but charge the CrimeLine 30 On Native Sloth, and negligence of time. Think'st thou thy Master, or thy Friends to cheat? Fool, 'tis thy self, and that's a worse deceit. Beware the publick Laughter of the Town; Thou spring'st a Leak already in thy Crown. A flaw is in thy ill-bak'd Vessel found; 'Tis hollow, and returns a jarring sound.

Yet, thy moist Clay is pliant to Command; Unwrought, and easie to the Potter's hand: Now take the Mold; now bend thy Mind to feelLine 40 The first sharp Motions of the Forming Wheel.

But thou hast Land; a Country Seat, secure By a just Title; costly Furniture; A 2 Fuming-Pan thy Lares to appease: What need of Learning when a Man's at ••ase? If this be not enough to swell thy Soul, Then please thy Pride, and search the Herald's Roll: Where thou shalt find thy famous Pedigree Drawn 3 from the Root of some old Thuscan Tree; And thou, a Thousand, off, a Fool of long Degree.Line 50 Who, clad in 4 Purple, canst thy Censor greet; And, loudly, call him Cousin, in the Street.

Such Pagcantry be to the People shown: There boast thy Horse's Trappings, and thy own: I know thee to thy Bottom; from within Thy shallow Centre, to thy ou••most Skin: Dost thou not blush to live so like a Beast; So trim, so dissolute, so loosely drest?

But, 'tis in vain: The Wretch is drench'd too deep; His Soul is stupid, and his Heart asleep:Line 60 Fatten'd in Vice; so callous, and so gross; He sins, and sees not; senseless of his Loss. Down goes the Wretch at once; unskill'd to swim; Hopeless to bubble up, and reach the Water's Brim.

Great Father of the Gods, when, for our Crimes, Thou send'st some heavy Judgment on the Times; Some Tyrant-King, the Terrour of his Age, The Type, and true Vicegerent of thy Rage; Thus punish him: Set Virtue in his Sight, With all her Charms adorn'd; with all her Graces bright:Line 70 But set her distant; make him pale to see His Gains out-weigh'd by lost Felicity!

Sicilian 5 Tortures, and the Brazen Bull, Are Emblems, rather than express the Full Of what he feels: Yet what he fears, is more: The 6 Wretch, who sitting at his plenteous Board, Look'd up, and view'd on high the pointed Sword Hang o'er his Head, and hanging by a Twine, Did with less Dread, and more securely Dine. Ev'n in his Sleep he starts, and fears the Knife;Line 80 And, trembling, in his Arms, takes his Accomplice Wife▪ Down, down he goes; and from his Darling-Friend Conceals the Woes his guilty Dreams portend.

When I was young, I like a lazy Fool, Wou'd blear my Eyes with Oyl, to stay from School: Averse from Pains, and loath to learn the Part Of C••to, dying with a dauntless Heart:

Though much, my Master, that stern Virtue prais'd, Which, o'er the Vanquisher, the Vanquish'd rais'd: And my pleas'd Father came, with Pride, to seeLine 90 His Boy defend the Roman Liberty.

But then my Study was to Cog the Dice; And dext'rously to throw the lucky Sice: To shun Ames-Ace, that swept my Stakes away; And watch the Box, for f••ar they shou'd convey False Bones, and put upon me in the Play. Careful, besides, the Whirling Top to whip; And drive her giddy, till she fell asleep.

Thy Years are ripe, nor art thou yet to learn What's Good or Ill, and both their Ends discern:Line 100 Thou, 7 in the Stoick Porch, severely bred, Hast heard the Dogma's of great Zeno read: Where on the Walls, by 8 Polignotus Hand, The Conquer'd Medians in Trunk-Breeches stand. Where the Shorn Youth, to Midnight-Lectures rise, Rous'd from their Slumbers, to be early wise: Where the coarse Cake, and homely Husks of Beans, From pamp'ring Riot the young Stomach weans: And, 9 where the Samian Y, directs thy Steps to run, To Virtue's Narrow Steep, and Broad-way Vice to shun.Line 110 And yet thou snor'st; thou draw'st thy Drunken Breath, Sour with Debauch; and sleep'st the Sleep of Death.

Thy Chaps are fallen, and thy Frame dis-joyn'd: Thy Body as dissolv'd as is thy Mind.

Hast thou not, yet, propos'd some certain End, To which thy Life, thy ev'ry Act may tend? Hast thou no Mark, at which to bend thy Bow; Or like a Boy pursu'st the Carrion Crow With Pellets, and with Stones from Tree to Tree: A fruitless Toil, and liv'st Extempore?Line 120

Watch the Disease in time: For, when within The Dropsy rages, and extends the Skin, In vain for Hellebore the patient Cries; And Fees the Doctor; but too late is wise: Too late, for Cure, he proffers half his Wealth: Conq••est and Guibbons cannot give him Health.

Learn Wretches; learn the Motions of the Mind: Why you were made, for what you were design'd; And the great Moral End of Humane Kind. Study thy self: What Rank, or what degreeLine 130 The wise Creator has ordain'd for thee: And all the Offices of that Estate Perform; and with thy Prudence guide thy Fate.

Pray justly, to be heard: Nor more desire Than what the Decencies of Life require.

Learn what thou ow'st thy Country, and thy Friend; What's requisite to spare, and what to spend: Learn this; and after, envy not the store Of the Greaz'd Advocate, that Grinds the Poor Fat 10 Fees from the defended Vmbrian 11 draws;Line 140 And only gains the wealthy Clients Cause. To whom the Marsians more Provision send, Than he and all his Family can spend. Gammons that give a relish to the taste; And potted Fowl, and Fish come in so fast, That, e're the first is out, the second stinks: And mouldy Mother gathers on the brinks••

But, here, some Captain of the Land, or Fleet, Stout of his hands, but of a Souldiers Wit; Cries, I have sense to serve my turn, in store;Line 150 And he's a Rascal who pretends to more. Dammce, what-e're those Book-learn'd Blockheads say. Solon's the veriest Fool in all the Play. Top-heavy Drones, and always looking down, (As over-Ballasted within the Crown!) Mutt'ring, betwixt their Lips, some Mystick thing, Which, well examin'd, is flat Conjuring. Meer Madmen's Dreams: For, what the Schools have taught Is only this, that nothing can be brought From nothing; and what is, can ne're be turn'd to nought.Line 160

Is it for this they study? to grow pale, And miss the Pleasures of a Glorious Meal; For this, in Rags accouter'd, they are seen, And made the May-game of the publick spleen?

Proceed, my Friend, and rail: But hear me tell A story, which is just thy Parallel.

A Spark, like thee, of the Man-killing Trade, Fell sick; and thus to his Physician said; Methinks I am not right in ev'ry part; I feel a kind of trembling at my Heart:Line 170 My Pulse unequal, and my Breath is strong; Besides, a filthy Fur upon my Tongue. The Doctor heard him, exercis'd his skill; And, after, bad him for four Days be still. Three Days he took good Counsel, and began To mend, and look like a recov'ring Man: The fourth, he cou'd not hold from Drink; but sends His Boy to one of his old trusty Friends: Adjuring him, by all the Pow'rs Divine, To pity his Distress, who cou'd not DineLine 180 Without a Flaggon of his healing Wine. He drinks a swilling Draught: And, lin'd within, Will supple, in the Bath, his outward skin: Whom shou'd he find, but his Physician there; Who, wisely, bad him once again b••ware.

Sir, you look Wan, you hardly draw your Breath, Drinking is Dangerous, and the Bath is Death: 'Tis Nothing, says the Fool; but, says the Friend, This Nothing, Sir, will bring you to your end. Do I not see your Dropsy-Belly swell?Line 190 Your yellow Skin?—No more of that; I'm well. I have already Buried two or three That stood betwixt a fair Estate and me, And, Doctor, I may live to Bury thee. Thou tell'st me, I look ill; and thou look'st worse: Iv'e done, says the Physician; take your Course. The laughing Sot, like all unthinking Men, Baths and gets Drunk; then Baths and Drinks again: His Throat half throtled with Corrupted Fleam, And breathing through his Jaws a belching steam:Line 200 Amidst his Cups with fainting shiv'ring seiz'd, His Limbs dis-jointed, and all o're diseas'd, His hand refuses to sustain the bowl: And his Teeth chatter, and his Eye-balls rowl: T••ll, with his Meat; he vomits out his Soul: Then, Trumpets, Torches, and a tedious Crew Of Hireling Mourners, for his Funeral due. Our Dear departed Brother lies in State; His 12 Heels stretch'd out, and pointing to the Gate: And Slaves, now manumis'd, on their dead Master wait.Line 210 They hoyst him on the Bier, and deal the Dole; And there's an end of a Luxurious Fool.

But, what's thy fulsom Parable to me? My Body is from all Diseases free: My temperate Pulse does regularly beat; Feel, and be satisfi'd, my Hands and Feet: These are not cold, nor those Opprest with heat. Or lay thy hand upon my Naked Heart, And thou shalt find me Hale in ev'ry part.

I grant this true: But, still, the deadly woundLine 220 Is in thy Soul: 'Tis there thou art not sound: Say, when thou seest a heap of tempting Gold, Or a more tempting Harlot do'st behold; Then, when she casts on thee a sidelong glance, Then try thy Heart; and tell me if it Dance.

Some Course cold Salade is before thee set: Bread, with the Bran perhaps, and broken Meat; Fall on, and try thy Appetite to eat. These are not Dishes for thy dainty Tooth: What, hast thou got an Ulcer in thy Mouth?Line 230 Why stand'st thou picking? Is thy Pallat sore? That Bete, and Radishes will make thee roar? Such is th' unequal Temper of thy Mind; Thy Passions, in extreams, and unconfin'd: Thy Hair so bristles with unmanly Fears; As Fields of Corn, that rise in bearded Ears▪

And, when thy Cheeks with flushing Fury glow, The rage of boyling Caldrons is more slow; When fed with fuel and with flames below. With foam upon thy Lips, and sparkling Eyes,Line 240 Thou say'st, and do'st, in such outrageous wise; That 13 mad Orestes, if he saw the show, Wou'd swear thou wert the Madder of the Two.

The End of the Third Satyr.

EXPLANATORY NOTES ON THE THIRD SATYR.

AND Parchement, &c. The Students us'd to write their Notes on Parchments; the inside, on which they wrote, was white; the other side was Hairy: And commonly yellow. Quintilian reproves this Custom, and advises rather Table-books, lin'd with Wax, and a Stile, like that we use in our Vellum Table-books, as more easie.

A Fumeing-Pan, &c. Before eating, it was Customary, to cut off some part of the Meat; which was first put into a Pan, or little Dish; then into the Fire; as an Offering to the Household Gods: This they called a Libation.

Drawn from the Root, &c. The Thuscans were accounted of most Ancient Nobility. Horace observes this, in most of his Compliments to Mecenas; who was deriv'd from the Old Kings of Tuscany, now the Dominion of the Great Duke.

Who Clad in Purple, &c. The Roman Knights, attir'd in the Robe call'd Trabea; were Summon'd by the Censor, to appear before him; and to Salute him, in passing by, as their Names were call'd over. They led their Horses in their hand. See more of this, in Pompey's Life, written by Plutarch.

Sicilian Tortures, &c. Some of the Sicilian Kings were so great Ty∣rants; that the Name is become Proverbial. The Brazen Bull is a known Story of Phalaris, one of those Tyrants; who when Perillus, a famous Artist, had presented him with a Bull of that Metal hollow'd within, which when the Condemn'd Person was inclos'd in it, wou'd render the sound of a Bull's roaring, caus'd the Workman to make the first Experiment. Docuit{que} suum mugire Iuvencum.

The Wretch who fitting, &c. He alludes to the Story of Damocles, a Flatterer of one of those Sicilian Tyrants, namely Dionysius. Damocles had infinitely extoll'd the Happiness of Kings. Dionysius to convince him of the contrary, invited him to a Feast; and Cloath'd him in Pur∣ple: But caus'd a Sword, with the point downward, to be hung over his Head, by a Silken Twine; which, when he perceiv'd he co••'d Eat nothing of the Delicates that were set before him.

Thou, in the Stoick Porch, &c. The Stoicks taught their Philosophy, under a Porticus, to secure their Scholars from the Weather. Zeno was the Chief of that Sect.

Polygnotus, A Famous Painter; who drew the Pi••tures of the Medes and Persians, Conquer'd by Miltiades, Themistocles, and other Athenian Captains, on the Walls of the Portico, in their Natural Habits.

And where the Samian Υ, &c. Pithagoras of Samos, made the allusion of the Y, or Greek Upsilon, to Vice and Virtue. One side of the Letter being broad, Characters Vice, to which the ascent is wide and easie. The other side represents Virtue; to which the Passage is strait, and difficult: And perhaps our Saviour might al••o allude to this, in those Noted words of the Evangelist, The way to Heaven, &c.

Fat Fees, &c. Casaubon here Notes, that among all the Romans, who were brought up to Learning, few besides the Orators, or Law∣yers, grew Rich.

The Martians and Vmbrians, were the most Plentiful, of all the Provinces in Italy.

His Heels stretch'd out, &c. The Romans were Buried withoout the City; for which Reason the Poet says, that the Dead man's heels were stretch'd out towards the Gate.

That Mad Orestes. Orestes was Son to Agamemnon and Clitemnestra. Agamemnon, at his return from the Trojan Wars, was slain by Aegysthus, the Adulterer of Clitemnestra. Orestes to revenge his Fathers Death, slew both Aegysthus and his Mother: For which he was punish'd with Madness, by the Eumenides, or Furies, who continually haunted him.

Notes

• 1

  The Students us'd to write their Notes on Parchments; the inside, on which they wrote, was white; the other side was Hairy: And commonly yellow. Quintilian reproves this Custom, and advises rather Table-books, lin'd with Wax, and a Stile, like that we use in our Vellum Table-books, as more easie.
• 2

  Before eating, it was Customary, to cut off some part of the Meat; which was first put into a Pan, or little Dish; then into the Fire; as an Offering to the Household Gods: This they called a Libation.
• 3

  The Thuscans were accounted of most Ancient Nobility. Horace observes this, in most of his Compliments to Mecenas; who was deriv'd from the Old Kings of Tuscany, now the Dominion of the Great Duke.
• 4

  The Roman Knights, attir'd in the Robe call'd Trabea; were Summon'd by the Censor, to appear before him; and to Salute him, in passing by, as their Names were call'd over. They led their Horses in their hand. See more of this, in Pompey's Life, written by Plutarch.
• 5

  Some of the Sicilian Kings were so great Ty∣rants; that the Name is become Proverbial. The Brazen Bull is a known Story of Phalaris, one of those Tyrants; who when Perillus, a famous Artist, had presented him with a Bull of that Metal hollow'd within, which when the Condemn'd Person was inclos'd in it, wou'd render the sound of a Bull's roaring, caus'd the Workman to make the first Experiment. Docuit{que} suum mugire Iuvencum.
• 6

  He alludes to the Story of Damocles, a Flatterer of one of those Sicilian Tyrants, namely Dionysius. Damocles had infinitely extoll'd the Happiness of Kings. Dionysius to convince him of the contrary, invited him to a Feast; and Cloath'd him in Pur∣ple: But caus'd a Sword, with the point downward, to be hung over his Head, by a Silken Twine; which, when he perceiv'd he co••'d Eat nothing of the Delicates that were set before him.
• 7

  The Stoicks taught their Philosophy, under a Porticus, to secure their Scholars from the Weather. Zeno was the Chief of that Sect.
• 8

  A Famous Painter; who drew the Pi••tures of the Medes and Persians, Conquer'd by Miltiades, Themistocles, and other Athenian Captains, on the Walls of the Portico, in their Natural Habits.
• 9

  Pithagoras of Samos, made the allusion of the Y, or Greek Upsilon, to Vice and Virtue. One side of the Letter being broad, Characters Vice, to which the ascent is wide and easie. The other side represents Virtue; to which the Passage is strait, and difficult: And perhaps our Saviour might al••o allude to this, in those Noted words of the Evangelist, The way to Heaven, &c.
• 10

  Casaubon here Notes, that among all the Romans, who were brought up to Learning, few besides the Orators, or Law∣yers, grew Rich.
• 11

  The Martians and Vmbrians, were the most Plentiful, of all the Provinces in Italy.
• 12

  The Romans were Buried withoout the City; for which Reason the Poet says, that the Dead man's heels were stretch'd out towards the Gate.
• 13

  Orestes was Son to Agamemnon and Clitemnestra. Agamemnon, at his return from the Trojan Wars, was slain by Aegysthus, the Adulterer of Clitemnestra. Orestes to revenge his Fathers Death, slew both Aegysthus and his Mother: For which he was punish'd with Madness, by the Eumenides, or Furies, who continually haunted him.