Racine: Phaedra

l66
ARISTOPHANES
These precedents held him in long hesitation
He replied to his friends, with a just observation,
" That a seaman in regular order is bred.
To the oar, to the helm, and to look out ahead
With diligent practise has fixed in his mind
The signs of the weather, and changes of wind-
And when every point of the service is known,
Undertakes the command of a ship of his own."
For reasons like these,
If your judgment agrees,
That he did not embark,
Like an ignorant spark,
Or a troublesome lout.
To puzzle and bother, and blunder about,
Give him a shout.
At his first setting out
And all pull away
With a hearty huzza
For success to the play!
Send him away,
Smiling and gay,
Shining and florid,
With his bald forehead
Strophe.
Neptune, lord of land and deep.
From the lofty Sunian steep,
With delight surveying
The fiery-footed steeds.
Frolicking and neighing
As their humor leads
And rapid cars contending
Venturous and forward.
Where splendid youths are spending
The money that they borrowed.
Thence downward to the ocean.
And the calmer show
Of the dolphin's motion
In the depths below
And the glittering galleys