Libra

Libra,* 1.17 whose Scales, when Autumn turns the Signs,

And ruddy Bacchus treads the juicy Vines;

In equal Balance, poize the Night and Day,

Teach how to measure, and instruct to weigh:

And Rival 21 Palamed, (who Numbers found,

And into Letters fram'd unpolisht sound;

To Him the Art of Words, and Speech we owe,

Till then Men only Spoak, but knew not how.)

Besides, He'll know the Niceties of Law;

What guard the Good, and what the Guilty awe,

What Vengeance wait on Crimes, with Skill de∣clare,

His private Chamber, still shall be the Bar.

What He determines, that for Right shall stand,

As Justice weigh'd her Balance in his Hand.

This Rul'd at 22 Servius's Birth, who first did give

Our Laws a Being, rather than Revive;

The Tables seem'd Old, Reverend Senseless Lines,

Meer waxen Things, and fit to serve Designs,

As Fools mistook, or Crafty Knaves would draw;

Till He infus'd a Soul, and made them Law.

-Manilius, translated by Thomas Creech