The Mosella of Decimus Magnus Ausonius (Classic Reprint) - Decimus Magnus Ausonius

Go now and incrust a smooth soil with Phrygian inlay; spread out a plain of marble in your panelled halls: for my part, despising those things which wealth and fortune give, I will admire the works of nature, which are unheeded by spendthrifts, who, rejoicing in ruin, run riot into beggary. Here the wet shores are covered by firm sand, in which the feet leave no imprint of their form. Through your smooth surface can be seen your transparent depths; O river, you have no secrets: as the sweet air lies open to the clear gaze, and the still winds offer no hindrance to the eyes through space, so, our sight. Reaching into the intimate recesses of the river, we behold, far down, its sunken life; and, as the stream ?ows gently by, the inmost heart of its silent depths lies open to us, and in the blue light of the clear, gliding waters are revealed scattered forms: here, the sand is furrowed, ridged by the light waves; and there, the water-grasses tremble, bending over the green bottom; underneath the waters of their birth, the quivering plants suffer the movement of the stream; the pebbles shine, and then hide; and the gravel serves as a foil to the green moss. All along the coast of the Britons of Caledonia may be seen the like, when the ebb-tide leaves bare the green seaweed. The red coral and the white pearls, seeds of the shells, the delight of men; and these.

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