ode (the golden mids)

you will do well Licinius neither deeps
always to urge nor while gales
cautious you cringe at press too much
           the iniquitous shore

whosoever the golden mids
loves is safe free from obsolete
sordid digs free from palatial
           envy in sobriety

often winds shake mighty
pines and heavy is the case
of falling lofty towers lightning strikes
           the topmost peaks

expects in worse dreads in other fortune
alteration well prepared
in his breast hideous winter recalls
           Jupiter the same

expels it if ill be now and then
it will not be the kithara sometimes rouses
the silent Muse neither always the bow
           bends Apollo

in tight places spirited and
strong appear wisely the same
shorten in fair wind too much
           turgid sail

 

Horace