Studies in the Poetry of Italy, Part I. Roman

by Frank Justus Miller

That the Romans were not without their own light as to the acceptable offering to heaven is further seen in an ode of Horace, in which he voices the same high truth, that the thought of the heart is of more moment in the sight of God than the offering of the hand. This fine ode ends with the following stanza:

If thy hand, free from ill, the altar touch,
Thou shalt the offended gods appease as much
With gifts of sparkling salt and pious meal
As if thy vows more costly victims seal.
Hawkins.

But let us now return to our poet's sermon on prayer. Persius addresses it to his friend Plotius Macrinus, congratulating him upon the returning anniversary of his birthday.

Health to my friend! and while my vows I pay,
O mark, Macrinus, this auspicious day,
Which, to your sum of years already flown,
Adds yet another—with a whiter stone.

Amid the prayers to his tutelary genius this day, Macrinus will not offer those selfish and impious prayers with which men are too prone to come before the gods, prayers which they would not dare to utter to a man, or even in the hearing of men.

Indulge your genius, drench in wine your cares:
It is not yours, with mercenary prayers,
To ask of heaven what you would die with shame,
Unless you drew the gods aside, to name;
While other great ones stand, with downcast eyes,
And with a silent censer tempt the skies!—
Sound sense, integrity, a conscience clear,
Are begged aloud, that all at hand may hear;
But prayers like these (half whispered, half suppressed)
The tongue scarce hazards from the conscious breast:
"O that I could my rich old uncle see
In funeral pomp!—O that some deity
To pots of buried gold would guide my share!
O that my ward, whom I succeed as heir,
Were once at rest! Poor child, he lives in pain,
And death to him must be accounted gain.—
By wedlock thrice has Nerius swelled his store,
And now—he is a widower once more!"

The ingenious manner in which this prayer is framed so as to calm the conscience of the votary is admirably pointed out by Gifford. "The supplicant meditates no injury to any one. The death of his uncle is concealed under a wish that he could see his magnificent funeral, which, as the poor man must one day die, is a prayer becoming a pious nephew. The second petition is quite innocent.—If people will foolishly bury their gold and forget it, there is no more harm in his finding it than another. The third is even laudable; it is a prayer uttered in pure tenderness of heart, for the relief of a poor suffering child. With respect to the last, there can be no wrong in mentioning a fact which everybody knows. Not a syllable is said of his own wife; if the gods are pleased to take a hint and remove her, that is their concern; he never asked it."

One question, friend, an easy one, in fine:
What are thy thoughts of Jove? "My thoughts?" Yes, thine.
Wouldst thou prefer him to the herd of Rome?
To any individual?—But to whom?
To Statius, for example. Heavens! a pause?
Which of the two would best dispense of laws?
Best shield th' unfriended orphan? Good! Now move
The suit to Statius, late preferred to Jove:
"O Jove! Good Jove!" he cries, o'erwhelmed with shame,
And must not Jove himself "O Jove!" exclaim?
Or dost thou think the impious wish forgiven,
Because, when thunder shakes the vault of heaven,
The bolt innoxious flies o'er thee and thine,
To rend the forest oak and mountain pine?
Because, yet livid from the lightning's scath,
Thy smoldering corpse, a monument of wrath,
Lies in no blasted grove, for public care
To expiate, with sacrifice and prayer;
Must, therefore, Jove, unsceptered and unfeared
Give to thy ruder mirth his foolish beard?
What bribe hast thou to win the powers divine
Thus to thy rod?—The lungs and lights of swine!

Again, the ears of heaven are assailed by ignorant and superstitious prayers, against which the poet inveighs. Then follows a rebuke to those who pray for health and happiness, but who, by their vices and folly, thwart their own prayer.

Why do men pray so impiously and foolishly? It is because they entertain such ignorant and unworthy conceptions of the gods, because they think that they are beings of like passions with themselves. No, no! the gods have no such carnal passions, nor do they care for gold and the rich offerings of men's hands. They regard the heart of the worshiper, and if this is pure, even empty hands may bring an acceptable offering.