[1]: It was common with the Ancients to consecrate Fountains by a sacrifice, and vinous libations, poured from goblets crowned with flowers. Lively imaginations glow over the idea of such a beautiful ceremony.
[1]TO TELEPHUS.
BOOK THE THIRD, ODE THE NINETEENTH.
The number of the vanish'd years
That mark each famous Grecian reign,
This night, my Telephus, appears
Thy solemn pleasure to explain;
Or else assiduously to dwell,
In conscious eloquence elate,
On those who conquer'd, those who fell
At sacred Troy's devoted gate.
But at what price the cask, so rare,
Of luscious chian may be ours,
Who shall the tepid baths prepare,
And who shall strew the blooming flowers;
Beneath what roof we next salute,
And when shall smile these gloomy skies,
Thy wondrous eloquence is mute,
Nor here may graver topics rise.—
Fill a bright bumper,—to the Moon!
She's new!—auspicious be her birth!
One to the Midnight!—'t is our noon
Of jocund thought, and festal mirth!
And one to him, for whom the feasts
This night are held with poignant [2]gust,
Murena, whom his Rome invests
With solemn honors, sacred trust!
Kind omens shall his voice convey,
That may each rising care beguile;
Propitious fled the Birds to-day?
Will Love be ours, and Fortune smile?—