Quà violisque, rosisque, et flavi-comis narcissis,

Umbraculis trementibus

Illudit lauri nemus; et crepitante susurro
Tepidi suavè sibilant

Eternum zephyri: nec vomere saucia tellus
Fœcunda solvit ubera.

Turba beatorum nobis assurgeret omnis,
Inque herbidis sedilibus,

Inter Mæonidas, primâ nos sede locarent:
Nec ulla amatricum Jovis

Prærepto cedens indignaretur honore ;
Nec nata Tyndaris Jove.

[Nec vomere, &c.] Thus Virgil, in his description of the

golden age :

Omnis feret omnia tellus.

Non rastros patietur humus, non vinea falcem ;
Robustus quoque jam tauris juga solvet arator.

VIRG. ECLOG. IV.

Then with each harvest shall each soil be crown'd,

No harrow then shall vex the fruitful ground,
No hook shall lop the vine; and o'er the plains

Shall range the steers, unyok'd by sturdy swains. [Nec nata Tyndaris, &c.] The beauteous Helen, wife to Menelaus, whom Paris stole away, causing the celebrated siege of Troy, sung by Homer, is too well known to be spoken of here; most of the ancient classics mention something of her history.

Where ceaseless zephyrs fan the glade,
Soft-murm'ring thro' the laurel-shade;
Beneath whose waving foliage grow
The vi'let sweet of purple glow,
The daffodil that breathes perfume,
And roses of immortal bloom;

Where Earth her fruits spontaneous yields,
Nor plough-share cuts th' unfurrow'd fields.
Soon as we enter these abodes

Of happy souls, of demi-gods,
The Blest shall all respectful rise,
And view us with admiring eyes;
Shall seat us 'mid th' immortal throng,
Where I, renown'd for tender song,
Shall gain with Homer equal praise,
And share with him poetic bays;
While Thou, enthron'd above the rest,
Will shine in beauty's train confest :
Nor shall the Mistresses of Jove
Such partial honours disapprove;
E'en Helen, tho' of race divine,
Will to thy charms her rank resign.

BASIUM III.

"DA mihi suaviolum (dicebam), blanda puella!" Libâsti labris mox mea labra tuis.

Inde, velut presso qui territus angue resultat,
Ora repentè meo vellis ab ore procul.

Non hoc suaviolum dare, lux mea, sed dare tantùm
Est desiderium flebile suavioli.

["Da mihi suaviolum," &c.] Some of my readers may be pleased to see how this lovely little poem appears in a French dress. Mons. Dorat, in his Baisers, entitles it L'Etincelle.

Donne moi, ma belle Maîtresse,

Donne moi, disois-je, un baiser
Doux, amoureux, plein de tendresse-
Tu n'osas me le refuser:

Mais que mom bonheur fut rapide!
Ta bouche à peine, souviens-t-en,

Eut effleurée ma bouche avide,
Elle s'en détache à l'instant.

Ainsi s'exhale une Etincelle.

Oui, plus que Tantale agité,
Je vois comme une onde infidelle,
Fuir le bien qui m'est présenté.
Ton baiser m'échappe, cruelle !
Le desir seul m'en est resté.

DORAT. BAISER II.

KISS III.

"ONE Kiss, enchanting Maid!" (I cry'd ;)-One little Kiss! and then adieu !

Your lips, with luscious crimson dyed,

To mine with trembling rapture flew:
But quick those lips my lips forsake,
With wanton, tantalizing jest ;
So starts some rustic from the snake
Beneath his heedless footstep prest:

Is this to grant the wish'd-for Kiss?-
Ah, no, my Love!-'tis but to fire
The bosom with a transient bliss,
Inflaming unallay'd desire.

BASIUM IV.

NON dat basia, Neæra nectar.
Dat rores animæ suavè-olentes ;

Dat nardumque, thymumque, cinnamumque ;
Et mel, quale jugis legunt Hymetti,

[Non dat basia, dat Neæra nectar, &c.] The following Greek epigram seems to have furnished Secundus with the thought:

Κέρη τις μ' εφίλησε ποθέσπερα χείλεσιν ὑγροις
Νεκταρ την το φίλημα, το γαρ ςομα νεκταρος επνει.
Νυν μεθυω το φιγημα, πολύν τον ερωία πεπωκως.

Phillis the gay,

in robe of beauty drest,

Late on my lips a humid kiss imprest;

ANTHOLOG.

The kiss was nectar which the fair bestow'd,
For in her am'rous breath a gale of néctar flow'd.
What love, ye gods! what raptures in her kiss!
My soul was drunk with ecstacy of bliss.

TAWKES.