BOOK V.
HISTORY
OF
FORMAL ASTRONOMY
AFTER THE STATIONARY PERIOD.
. . . Cyclopum educta caminis
Mœnia conspicio, atque adverso fornice portas.
. . . . .
His demum exactis, perfecto munere Divæ,
Devenere locos lætos et amœna vireta
Fortunatorum nemorum sedesque beatas.
Largior hic campos æther et lumine vestit
Purpureo: solemque suum, sua sidera norunt.
Virgil, Æn. vi. 630.
They leave at length the nether gloom, and stand
Before the portals of a better land:
To happier plains they come, and fairer groves,
The seats of those whom heaven, benignant, loves;
A brighter day, a bluer ether, spreads
Its lucid depths above their favored heads;
And, purged from mists that veil our earthly skies,
Shine suns and stars unseen by mortal eyes.