Injuries dealt by fate Command this duty, lest some bird or beast Or ocean monster, or fierce Caesar's wrath Should venture aught upon thee.

Take the fire; All that thou canst; by Roman hand at least Enkindled.

And should Fortune grant return To loved Hesperia's land, not here shall rest Thy sacred ashes; but within an urn Cornelia, from this humble hand received, Shall place them.

Here upon a meagre stone We draw the characters to mark thy tomb.
These letters reading may some kindly friend Bring back thine head, dissevered, and may grant Full funeral honours to thine earthly frame." Then did he cherish the enfeebled fire Till Magnus' body mingled with its flames.
But now the harbinger of coming dawn Had paled the constellations: he in fear Seeks for his hiding place.

Whom dost thou dread, Madman, what punishment for such a crime, For which thy fame by rumour trumpet-tongued Has been sent down to ages?
Praise is thine For this thy work, at impious Caesar's hands; Sure of a pardon, go; confess thy task, And beg the head dissevered.