If in my youth, ambitious then of fame,
In my more verdant and vivacious age,
The deeds and virtues did my song engage
Of heroes worthy an eternal name,
My thoughts and mood henceforth no more the same,
No longer let me gravely act the sage,
But sing the woes my Dun inflicts (to assuage)
From that day he my Creditor became.
Thus Greece's mighty Bard: when, justly prized,
(If to great instances one may compare
Things that to such great types unequal are)
The feats in Phrygia that Achilles wrought
He'd and Ulysses' name immortalized,
He sung about the Frogs and Mice who fought.