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8

PHARSALIA

Book I

Lest newer glories triumphs past obscure,Late conquered Gaul the bays from pirates won,This, Magnus, was thy fear; thy roll of fame,Of glorious deeds accomplished for the stateAllows no equal; nor will Cæsar's pride 140A prior rival in his triumphs brook;Which had the right 'twere impious to enquire;Each for his cause can vouch a judge supreme;The victor, heaven: the vanquished, Cato, thee.^[1]Nor were they like to like the one in yearsNow verging towards decay, in times of peaceHad unlearned war; but thirsting for applauseHad given the people much, and proud of fameHis former glory cared not to renew,But joyed in plaudits of the theatre,^[2] 150His gift to Rome: his triumphs in the past,Himself the shadow of a mighty name.As when some oak, in fruitful field sublime,Adorned with venerable spoils, and giftsOf bygone leaders, by its weight to earthWith feeble roots still clings; its naked armsAnd hollow trunk, though leafless, give a shade;And though condemned beneath the tempest's shockTo speedy fall, amid the sturdier trees

↑ This famous line was quoted by Lamartine when addressing the French Assembly in 1848. He was advocating, against the interests of his own party (which in the Assembly was all-powerful), that the President of the Republic should be chosen by the nation, and not by the Assembly; and he ended by saying that if the course he advocated was disastrous to himself, 'Victrix causa Diis placuit, sed victa Catoni.'
↑ 'Plansuque sui gaudere theatri.' Quoted by Mr. Pitt, in his speech on the address in 1783, on the occasion of peace being made with France, Spain, and America; in allusion to Mr. Sheridan. The latter replied, 'If ever I again engage in the compositions he alludes to, I may be tempted to an act of presumption—to attempt an improvement on one of Ben Jonson's best characters—the character of the Angry Boy in the "Alchymist."'

[1] This famous line was quoted by Lamartine when addressing the French Assembly in 1848. He was advocating, against the interests of his own party (which in the Assembly was all-powerful), that the President of the Republic should be chosen by the nation, and not by the Assembly; and he ended by saying that if the course he advocated was disastrous to himself, 'Victrix causa Diis placuit, sed victa Catoni.'

[2] 'Plansuque sui gaudere theatri.' Quoted by Mr. Pitt, in his speech on the address in 1783, on the occasion of peace being made with France, Spain, and America; in allusion to Mr. Sheridan. The latter replied, 'If ever I again engage in the compositions he alludes to, I may be tempted to an act of presumption—to attempt an improvement on one of Ben Jonson's best characters—the character of the Angry Boy in the "Alchymist."'

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