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Home  »  An American Anthology, 1787–1900  »  1511 “Hic Me, Pater Optime, Fessam Deseris”

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

By LucyRobinson

1511 “Hic Me, Pater Optime, Fessam Deseris”

ERE yet in Vergil I could scan or spell,

Or through the enchanted portal of that lay

Dear to old Rome had found my faltering way,

How oft with heaving breast I heard thee tell

Of horrors that the Trojan fleet befell:

How for a time they were the tempest’s prey,

And how at last into a little bay

Their boats came gliding on the peaceful swell.

There, though thick shade might threaten from above,

Were rest and peace, nor any need to roam.

Alas! I did not dream how soon for thee,

Best father, sweetest friend, the quiet cove

Would stretch its arms, while I, half blind with foam,

Should still be tossing on the open sea.