TO AURORA
From the 'Odi Barbare'
Thou risest and kissest, O Goddess, with thy rosy breath, the clouds,
Kissest the dusky pinnacles of marble temples.
The forests feel thee, and with a cool shiver awake;
Up soars the falcon, flashing in eager joy.
Meanwhile amid the wet leaves mutter the garrulous nests,
And far off the gray gull screams over the purple sea.
First to delight in thee, down in the laborious plain,
Are the streams which glisten amid the rustling poplars.
Daringly the sorrel colt breaks away from his feeding,
Runs to the brooks with high-lifted mane, neighing in the wind.
Wakeful answer from the huts the great pack of the hounds,
And the whole valley is filled with the noisy sound of their barking.
But the man whom thou awakest to life-consuming labor,
He, O ancient Youth, O Youth eternal,
Still thoughtful admires thee, even as on the mountain
The Aryan Fathers adored thee, standing amid their white oxen.