The more gladly if it be heard by One
Whom Venus willed long back a Paragon,
Adorned with all the gifts that mortal man
Has owed her since Humanity began.
A Memmius is by that illustrious name
Pledged not to stand aloof from Rome aflame;
And thou didst thy part; but, the crisis past,
Thou now, my Lord and Friend, art free at last.
Yet weigh all well;
I have toiled hard to learn,