THE MINSTREL'S TALE. Le donne, i cavalier, l' arme, gli amori, ARIOSTO. THE MINSTREL'S TALE. I. * WHERE heaves the billow on thy rocky shore, 66 Delightful Baiæ,"* joyous in its roar, I wend my way, and bid thy presence greet The age when Romans sought thy blest retreat. Nursed by the mildness of thy laughing clime, A senate wooed thee to beguile the time : Sweetly relax'd— along thy sands they stray, Their might forgotten, and their lore away; “Nullus in orbe sinus Baiis prælucet amœnis.” — HORACE. Their Forum now the broad and restless flood Meet emblem of their sway and chafing mood; When earth's bright sunshine gave a dungeon's ray To all who fell beneath one tyrant's sway One tyrant of a prostrate -of a prostrate-wide domain, Which girt the earth, and bondsmen wept in vain; For where they fly where'er their steps they trace, They find the world - the Despot's dwelling-place! But 'tis not here the Imperial badge hath wound The limb which shrunk convulsive at its sound It binds no fears on hearts as fresh and fair As if their old Republic sought them there. Oh, fatal luxury- thy soft thy soft repose, First ray of that which gleamed upon their woes, |