To whom the latent god: “O king, forbear To tempt my youth, for apt is youth to err. But can I, absent from my prince’s sight, Take gifts in secret, that must shun the light? What from our master’s interest thus we draw, Is but a licensed theft that ’scapes the law. Respecting him, my soul abjures the offence; And as the crime, I dread the consequence. Thee, far as Argos, pleased I could convey; Guard of thy life, and partner of thy way: On thee attend, thy safety to maintain, O’er pathless forests, or the roaring main.”