Page:The Pharsalia of Lucan; (IA cu31924026485809).pdf/55

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BOOK II

THE FLIGHT OF POMPEIUS

Thus was made plain the anger of the gods;The universe gave signs: Nature reversedIn monstrous tumult fraught with prodigiesHer laws, and prescient spake the coming guilt.How seemed it just to thee, Olympus' king,That suffering mortals at thy doom should knowBy omens dire the massacre to come?Or did the primal parent of the worldWhen first the flames gave way and yielding leftMatter unformed to his subduing hand, 10And realms unbalanced, fix by stern decree.Unalterable laws to bind the whole(Himself, too, bound by law), so that for ayeAll Nature moves within its fated bounds?Or, is Chance sovereign over all, and weThe sport of Fortune and her turning wheel?Whate'er be truth, keep thou the future veiledFrom mortal vision, and amid their fearsMay men still hope.Thus known how great the woesThe world should suffer, from the truth divine, 20A solemn fast was called, the courts were closed,All men in private garb; no purple hemAdorned the togas of the chiefs of Rome;No plaints were uttered, and a voiceless grief
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