Back from India came a trader
who had dared monsoonal seas.
When our stocks had reached their nadir,
he returned with stores of these:
pards and tigers, fierce and haggard;
spears that Alexander hurled
when his Macedonians staggered
to the margins of the world;
pearls and ivory, never tarnished;
lustrous silks from far away;
lapis beads and gems that garnished
necks still lovelier than they;
spice and pepper that, when eaten,
bring our banquets high regard;
and rare fragrances to sweeten
life with cinnamon and nard.
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