SATIRE IV.

ARGUMENT.

OUR author, living in the beginning of Nero’s reign, was sensible how unfit he was to govern the Roman people, as he was young and inexperienced; in the person of Alcibiades he arraigns his ambition of meddling with state affairs; he makes Socrates sustain the part of Seneca (Nero’s tutor) under a borrowed name; he discovers some of Nero’s vices which were not then publicly known, and censures the flattery of his courtiers, who would make his vices pass for virtues: under the veil of covetousness he censures his prodigality: this satire is partly taken from Plato’s dialogue called “The First Alcibiades.”

IMAGINE that divine Athenian sage
(At once the shame and honour of his age)
Who, by the malice of his foes belied,
A victim to their rage, by hemlock died,
In scoffing language to have thus address’d
That beardless youth whom Athens once caress’d:
Art thou a statesman? wouldst thou hold the helm,
And rule like Pericles the subject realm?
Does sense mature, ere life has reached its noon?
Does thy young judgment bring forth fruit so soon?
Ere yet the down has gather’d on thy cheek,
Art thou instructed how, and when, to speak?
Canst thou the tumult’s mingled roar restrain,
Silence command, nor wave the hand in vain;
On public good the public mind enlight,
And lift the torch of truth where all is night?
No doubt thou canst in thy experience trust.
Say what is right, and point out what is just;
No doubt thy way thou always canst discern,
And men and manners thou hast not to learn:
Thou holdest virtue at its proper price,
Fixing thy stigma on the brow of vice.
But therefore cease, at every public place,
To show the beauties of thy form and face.
From all these idle practices refrain,
And take to hellebore to clear thy brain.
What have thy pleasures been ‘ what is thy care?
A sumptuous table, and luxurious fare;
Of thy fine skin the whiteness to display,
Preserved untann’d amid the blaze of day.
But for thy mind; old Baucis at her stall,
Who ne’er did aught but beets and cabbage bawl,
Knows just as much , might place, as well as thou,
The statesman’s laurel on her wrinkled brow.
None looks at home; none seeks himself to know ,
(The only knowledge undesired below.)
But each intent regards his neighbour’s mind,
Sees other’s faults, and to his own is blind.
That man thou blamest; (him, whose lands extend
Far as a kite its longest course can bend;)
And him thou wouldst consign to every wo
Which gods award, or wretched mortals know;
Because he grudges annual presents due
To frugal Pales and her rustic crew;
Gives to his wearied hinds a scanty meal,
And dines himself upon an onion peel.
Lo, at thine elbow an accuser stands,
Who thy dark deed with foul opprobrium brands.
[How truly fair was bounteous Nature's plan!
How wisely suited to the state of man!
For him her hand had traced a flowery way;
Mild was her reign, and gentle was her sway:
But fury passions, owning no control,
Seized on her empire, and usurp'd the soul.
Then simple Nature charm'd mankind no more,
Her pleasures vanish'd, and her power was o'er:
Then, undistinguish'd, crowded on the view
The smiling forms her magic pencil drew:
Her hand then clothed the naked woods in vain,
Or threw the flowery mantle o'er the plain,
Gave form and order to the world below,
And show'd the source whence thought and being flow.
Unmark'd we see succeeding seasons roll,
Revolving stars illume the glowing pole;
Unmark'd behold the glorious sun arise,
Tinging with purple light the orient skies;
Unmark'd the spring, on wings of zephyrs borne,
Hangs the wild rose upon the scented thorn;
Unmark'd the cluster bends the curling vine;
Unmark'd the tempest rocks the mountain pine.
All-powerful habit the enchantment breaks;
While wonder sleeps, attention scarcely wakes;
Each soft indulgence blunts the edge of joy,
And every pleasure has, or finds alloy.
Unhappy man takes passion for his guide,
And sighs for bliss to sated sense denied;
Untamed desires impel the vicious mind,
To God, to Virtue, and to Nature blind.]
But dost thou hope thy crimes shall rest unknown,
Hid by the splendour of thy golden zone?
Think not that rigid Virtue frames her laws
In vile compliance with a mob’s applause.
If o’er his lusts the wretch cannot prevail,
But in the sordid search of wealth grows pale;
If to our scorn he can himself expose,
In drunken riot at the midnight shows;
Not all the splendour of a noble name
Shall hide the folly, or conceal the shame.
Look at thyself, examine well thy mind,
To pride, to sloth, to luxury resign’d;
Vicious, yet weak, and arrogant, yet mean,
Retire, unequal to this troubled scene;
Live not of power the tyrant and the fool,
Nor scourge that empire which thou canst not rule.”

In this satire Persius severely censures the conduct of Nero. He begins by imitating Plato’s First Alcibiades, and repeats part of the ironical conversation which Socrates addressed, in that celebrated dialogue, to his young and ambitious pupil. But the Roman satirist soon appears under the disguise of the Grecian sage; and the raillery, which humbled the vanity of the aspiring Athenian, is converted into a just and terrible invective against the tyrant of Rome.

It was indeed impossible for the poet to censure Nero under the name of Alcibiades without soon and plainly discovering the real object of his satire. The character of that Athenian, shaded as it is by a thousand defects, interests us, even while it offends against morality; even while it amazes us by its levity; even while it displeases us by its inconstancy. Blessed with almost every advantage which nature can bestow; liberal in his disposition; brilliant in his conversation; seductive in his manners; beautiful in his person; at Athens a luxurious libertine; at Sparta a rigid moralist; now too easily influenced by the suggestions of ambition; now too softly sensible to the charms of pleasure; strangely blending the insignificance of a fop and the fickleness of a woman with the magnanimity of a hero and with the talents of a statesman; Alcibiades persuaded his countrymen to forgive him many crimes, to pardon him innumerable follies, and to find him amiable even when he was culpable.

How opposite was the character of Nero! that tyrant flattered only to betray; and betrayed only to destroy. Exceeding the limits of moderation in the gratification of his desires, and abandoning the guidance of justice in the exercise of his power, he abused alike the gifts of nature and of fortune. Alcibiades loved pleasure, but Nero hated virtue. The vile atrocities which Persius imputes to the tyrant could never have been applicable to the young Athenian, at least while he was the pupil of Socrates. Alcibiades, under the influence of passion, and corrupted by debauchery, is indeed accused of unjustifiable vices; but his mind had not arrived at that last degree of depravation, which causes so many wretches to forget character, to defy opinion, and to abandon principle; which degrades all that is most excellent in human nature; and which, by making men infamous, makes them also desperate.

To read this satire may be useful to the young. It may help to correct petulance; it may serve to warn inexperience; I cannot hope that it will reclaim guilt. But from it the young statesman may leam, that even in remote times, and in small states, government was considered as a most difficult science: from it, too, the highborn libertine may see, that as the sphere which he moves in is wide and brilliant, his conduct and character are in proportion conspicuous, his vices in proportion heinous, and his follies in proportion ridiculous.

Quoted from: Charles Badham, Samuel Johnson: Juvenal. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1837.