The Metamorphoses Religion Quotes Page 4

O you, gods
who were Aeneas' comrades, you who saved
the Trojan from the sword and from the flames;
and you, the native gods of Latium;
as well as you who fathered Rome, Quirinus;
you, Mars, invincible Quirinus' father;
you, Vesta, who maintain a sacred place
among the tutelary gods of Caesar;
you, Phoebus, joined to Vesta as a god
who watches over Caesar's house; and Jove,
who have your shrine atop Tarpeia's rock;
and all you other gods to be invoked –
most properly – by one who is a poet:
I beg you to delay beyond my death
that day on which Augustus, having left
the world he governs, will ascend on high
and there, from heaven – one no longer present
on earth – will hear the prayers addressed to him. (15.861-870)