Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By EugeneField

1046 Echoes from the Sabine Farm

O FOUNTAIN of Bandusia!

Whence crystal waters flow,

With garlands gay and wine I ’ll pay

The sacrifice I owe;

A sportive kid with budding horns

I have, whose crimson blood

Anon shall dye and sanctify

Thy cool and babbling flood.

O fountain of Bandusia!

The Dog-star’s hateful spell

No evil brings into the springs

That from thy bosom well;

Here oxen, wearied by the plow,

The roving cattle here

Hasten in quest of certain rest,

And quaff thy gracious cheer.

O fountain of Bandusia!

Ennobled shalt thou be,

For I shall sing the joys that spring

Beneath yon ilex-tree.

Yes, fountain of Bandusia,

Posterity shall know

The cooling brooks that from thy nooks

Singing and dancing go.

WHAT end the gods may have ordained for me,

And what for thee,

Seek not to learn, Leuconöe,—we may not know.

Chaldean tables cannot bring us rest.

’T is for the best

To bear in patience what may come, or weal or woe.

If for more winters our poor lot is cast,

Or this the last,

Which on the crumbling rocks has dashed Etruscan seas,

Strain clear the wine; this life is short, at best.

Take hope with zest,

And, trusting not To-morrow, snatch To-day for ease!

SEEK not, Leuconöe, to know how long you ’re going to live yet,

What boons the gods will yet withhold, or what they ’re going to give yet;

For Jupiter will have his way, despite how much we worry:—

Some will hang on for many a day, and some die in a hurry.

The wisest thing for you to do is to embark this diem

Upon a merry escapade with some such bard as I am.

And while we sport I ’ll reel you off such odes as shall surprise ye;

To-morrow, when the headache comes,—well, then I ’ll satirize ye!