Page:Poems - Southey (1799) volume 1.djvu/207

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191

HYMN to the PENATES.

Yet one Song more! one high and solemn strainEre Pæan! on thy temple's ruined wallI hang the silent harp: there may its strings,When the rude tempest shakes the aged pile,Make melancholy music. One Song more!Penates! hear me! for to you I hymnThe votive lay. Whether, as sages deem,Ye dwell in the [1]inmost Heaven, the [2]CounsellorsOf Jove; or if, Supreme of Deities,All things are yours, and in your holy trainJove proudly ranks, and Juno, white arm'd Queen.
  1. ↑ Hence one explanation of the name Penates, because they were supposed to reign in the inmost Heavens.
  2. ↑ This was the belief of the ancient Hetrusci, who called them Consentes and Complices]
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