53 But meanwhile axe and lever Have manfully been plied; 445 And now the bridge hangs tottering Above the boiling tide. 450 "Come back, come back, Horatius!" Loud cried the Fathers all. "Back, Lartius! back, Herminius! Back, ere the ruin fall!" 54 Back darted Spurius Lartius; And, as they passed, beneath their feet 460 Saw brave Horatius stand alone, 55 But with a crash like thunder Fell every loosened beam, And, like a dam, the mighty wreck 406 As to the highest turret-tops 56 And, like a horse unbroken When first he feels the rein, 470 The furious river struggled hard, And whirling down, in fierce career, 57 Alone stood brave Horatius, 485 58 Round turned he, as not deigning To Sextus naught spake he; The white porch of his home; 400 And he spake to the noble river 59 "O Tiber! father Tiber! To whom the Romans pray, A Roman's life, a Roman's arms, 488. Mons Palatinus survives in the Palatine Hill of moder Rome. 495 Take thou in charge this day!" Plunged headlong in the tide. 60 600 No sound of joy or sorrow Was heard from either bank; 505 And when above the surges All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry, 61 510 But fiercely ran the current, $15 Swollen high by months of rain : And heavy with his armor, And spent with changing blows: 62 Never, I ween, did swimmer, In such an evil case, 520 Struggle through such a raging flood Safe to the landing-place : But his limbs were borne up bravely By the brave heart within, 63 "Curse on him!" quoth false Sextus; We should have sacked the town!" 64 535 And now he feels the bottom; Now on dry earth he stands; And now, with shouts and clapping, $40 He enters through the River-Gate, 65 They gave him of the corn-land, 525. Macaulay notes as passages in English literature which he had in mind when he wrote this : 545 As much as two strong oxen Could plough from morn till night; And there it stands unto this day To witness if I lie. 66 550 It stands in the Comitium, $55 In letters all of gold, How valiantly he kept the bridge In the brave days of old. 67 And still his name sounds stirring $60 As the trumpet-blast that cries to them 585 68 And in the nights of winter, When the cold north-winds blow, And the long howling of the wolves 550. The Comitium was that part of the Forum which served as the meeting-place of the Roman patricians. |