And o’er his face the blackening venom stole,
Festus disdained to wait a lingering death,
Cheered his sad friends, and freed his dauntless soul.
Nor meager famine’s slowly-wasting force,
Nor hemlock’s gradual chillness he endured;
But closed his life a truly Roman course,
And with one blow his liberty secured.
The Fates gave Cato a less glorious end,
For Cæsar was his foe, Festus was Cæsar’s friend.[[1179]]
Hodgson.