117. Thus Telemachus expresses his surprise to Pisistratus at the magnificent furniture of Mena laus's palace at Sparta;

View'st thou unmov'd, O ever honour'd most! These prodigies of art, and wondrous cost! Above, beneath, around the palace shines The sumless treasure of exhausted mines: The spoils of elephants the roof inlay, And studded amber darts a golden ray: Such, and not nobler, in the realms above My wonder dictates is the dome of Jove. Pope's Odyss. b. 4. 124. They live, they move] Velut si Re verâ pugnent, feriant, vitentque moventes Arma viri. Hor. b. 2. sat. 7.

127. Lo, stretch'd upon a silver bed, &c.] At the feast of Adonis they always placed his image on a magnificent bed; thus Bion,

And, as young nightingales their wings essay,
Skip here and there, and hop from spray to spray.
What heaps of golden vessels glittering bright!
What stores of ebon black, and ivory white! 180
In ivory carv'd large eagles seem to move,
And thro' the clouds bear Ganymede to Jove.
Lo! purple tapestry arrang'd on high
Charms the spectators with the Tyrian dye;
The Samian and Milesian swains, who keep
Large flocks, acknowledge 'tis more soft than
sleep:

Of this Adonis claims a downy bed,
And lo! another for fair Venus spread!

190

Her bridegroom scarce attains to nineteen years,
Rosy his lips, and no rough beard appears.
Let raptur'd Venus now enjoy her mate,
While we, descending to the city gate,
Airay'd in decent robes that sweep the ground,
With naked bosoms, and with hair unbound,
Bring forth Adonis, slain in youthful years,
Ere Phoebus drinks the morning's early tears.

178. Skip here and there, &c.] Thus Bion, speaking likewise of Cupid,

Τα καὶ τα τον Ερωτα μεταλμένον,

How here and there he skipt, and hopt from tree to tree.

181. Large eagles, &c.] Virgil has an image of this sort,

Intextusque puer
quem præpes ab
Idâ, &c.
En. b. 5.
There royal Ganymede, inwrought with art,
O'er hills and forests hunts the bounding hart:
The beauteous youth, all wondrous to behold;
Pants in the moving threads, and lives in gold:
From towering Ida shoots the bird of Jove,
And bears him struggling thro' the clouds above;
With out-stretch'd hands his hoary guardians
cry,

And the loud hounds spring furious at the sky.

Pitt.

I transcribed this fine passage from Mr. Pitt's translation of Virgil, that I might lay before the reader Mr. Warton's note upon it. "The descrip tion of this beautiful piece of tapestry is extremely picturesque: the circumstances of the boy's panting, the old men lifting up their hands, and above all, the dogs looking up and barking after him, are painted in the liveliest manner imaginable. There is a very fine painting by Michael Angelo on this subject, who has exactly copied Virgil's description, except that he has omitted the circumstance of the dogs, which Spenser has likewise, in describing this story, as part of the tapestry with which the house of Busyrane was adorned."

When as the Trojan boy so faire He snatch'd from Ida hill, and with him bare, Wondrous delight it was, there to behold How the rude shepherds after him did stare, Trembling thro' fear lest he down fallen should, And often to him calling to take surer holde. F. Q. b. 3. c. 11.

185. Milesian] Thus Virgil,

Quamvis Milesia magno Veliera mutentur Tyrios incocta rubores. Geor. b. 3. 306. 186. More soft than sleep] See Idyl. v. ver. 58, and the note.

And while to yonder flood we march along,
With tuneful voices raise the funeral song.
"Adonis, you alone of demigods,

Now visit Earth, and now Hell's dire abodes: 200
Not fam'd Atrides could this favour boast,
Nor furious Ajax, though himself an host;
Nor Hector, long his mother's grace and joy
Of twenty sons; not Pyrrhus safe from Troy;
Not brave Patroclus of immortal fame;
Nor the fierce Lapithæ, a deathless name;
Nor sons of Pelops, nor Deucalion's race,
Nor stout Pelasgians, Argos' honour'd grace.
"As now, divine Adonis, you appear
Kind to our prayers, O bless the future year! 210
As now propitious to our vows you prove,
Return with meek benevolence and love."

210. O bless the future, &c.] Sis bonus ô feEcl. 5. 65. lixque tuis.

Sis felix, nostrumque leves quæcunque laborem. Æn. 1. $30. Ver. 212. This superstitious mystery, of lamenting for Adonis, may be thus explained: Adonis was the Sun; the upper hemisphere of the Earth, or that which we think so, was anciently called Venus; the under, Proserpine; therefore, when the Sun was in the six inferior signs, they said, he was with Proserpine; when he was in the six superior, with Venus. By the Boar that slew Adonis, they understood winter; for they made the Boar, not unaptly, the emblem of that rigid season. Or, by Adonis, they meant the fruits of the earth, which are for one while buried, but at length appear flourishing to the sight; when therefore the seed was thrown into the ground, they said, Adonis was gone to Proserpine; but when it sprouted up, they said, he had revisited the light and Venus. Hence probably it was that they sowed corn, and made gardens for Adonis.

Univers. Hist. vol. ii. Milton has some fine melodious lines on this

subject,

Thammuz came next behind, Whose annual wound in Lebanon allur'd The Syrian daunsels to lament his fate In amorous ditties all a summer's day, While smooth Adonis, from his native rock, Ran purple to the sea, suppos'd with blood Of Thammuz ycarly wounded.

Par. Lost. b. 1.

Give me leave here to insert the account given by the late Mr. Maundrel of this ancient piece of worship, and probably the first occasion of such a superstition. "We had the fortune to see what may be supposed to be the occasion of that opinion which Lucian relates, viz. That this stream (the river Adonis) at certain seasons of the year, especially about the feast of Adonis, is of a bloody colour; which the heathens looked upon as proceeding from a kind of sympathy in the river for the death of Adonis, who was killed by a wild boar in the mountains, out of which this stream rises. Something like this we saw actually come to pass; for the water was stained to a surprising redness; and, as we observed in travelling, had discoloured the sea a great way into a reddish hue, occasioned doubtless by a sort of minium or red earth, washed into the river by the violence of the rain, and not

GORGO.

O, fam'd for knowledge in mysterious things! How sweet, Praxinoe, the damsel sings! Time calls me home to keep my husband kind, He's prone to anger if he has not din'd. Farewell, Adonis, lov'd and honour'd boy; 0 come, propitious, and augment our joy.

IDYLLIUM XVI*.

THE GRACES, OR HIERO,

ARGUMENT.

This idylium is addressed to Hiero, the last tyrant of Sicily. Theocritus having before celebrated this prince, without being recompensed for his trouble, composed this poem, in which he complains of the in. ratitude of princes to poets, who can alone render their actions immortal. He observes, that not only the Lycian and Trojan heroes, but even Ulysses himself, would have been buried in oblivion, if their fame had not been celebrated by Homer.

It fits the Muse's tongue, the poet's pen,
To praise th' immortal gods, and famous men:
The Nine are deities, and gods resound,
But bards are men, and sing of men renown'd.
Yet who that lives beneath Heaven's cope regards
The incense, or the sacrifice of bards?

by any stain from the blood of Adonis." The proport Ezekiel saw the women at Jerusalem lament ng Tammuz, ch. 8. ver. 14. "He brought me to the dor of the gate of the Lord's house, which was toWards the north, and behold there sat women weeping for Tammuz."

216.

If he has not din'd.] Thus Horace, Impransus non qui civem dignosceret hoste. B. 1. Ep. 15. With hunger keen, On friends and foes he vented his chagrin. Duncombe. This little piece abounds with so many beauties and graces, that it is with great propriety styled Lar, or THE GRACES. Hicro, the subject of this poem, was the son of Hierocles, one of the descendents of Gelon the first king of Syracuse. Hiero succeeded to the throne of Syracuse 265 wears before Christ. He was remarkable for his constant attachment to, and generous friendship for the Romans.

2. To praise th' immortal gods and famous men] la like manner Horace says,

Quem virum, aut heroa, lyrâ, vel acri
Tibia sumes celebrare, Clio?

10

Who opens now the hospitable door,
And makes the Muses richer than before?
Barefoot, unpaid, indignant they return,
Reproach my zeal, and unavailing mourn:
To the dark chest their labours they consign,
And on cold knees the languid head recline;
For none, alas! the race of inen among,
Receives the bard, or hears his lofty song;
Men thirst not now for glory, as of old,
But all their passions are confin'd to go.d;
To their mean breasts their thrifty hands they join,
And scarce will give the canker of their coin.
Hint at a recompense, they thus begin;
"Close is my shirt, but closer is my skin:
My own I'll keep! and may the gods reward,
And crown with honours every living bard.
Homer's the prince of poets-sure 'tis sense,
To read the noblest works, at no expense."
What profit, wretched churls, can gold afford,
Which thus in coffers ye abundant hoard?
The wise a different use for riches know,
And love on men of genius to bestow;

20

7. Who opens, &c.] Nemo cibo, nemo hospitio, tectoque juvabit. Juv. Sat. 3.211. Through the wide world a wretched vagrant roam, For where can starving merit find a home? In vain your mouruful narrative disclose, While all neglect, and most insult your woes. S. Johnson.

9. Barefoot, unpaid, &c.] The protection of princes is the greatest incentive to the diligence of poets, and often of more avail than the inspiration of Apollo, Et spes et ratio studiorum in Cæsare tantum. Juvenal says,

Tædia tunc subeunt animos, tunc seque, suamque
Terpsichoren odit facunda et nuda senectus.

Last, crush'd by age, in poverty ye pine,
And sighing curse the unavailing Nine.

Sat. 7.

Nullus argento color est, avaris Abditæ terris inim ce lamnæ

Crispe Sallusti, nisi temperato

Splendeat usu,

Hor. b. 2. O. 2.

My Sallust's generous thoughts disdain
The sordid miser's hoarded gain;
Since silver with no lustre glows,
But what a moderate use bestows.

Duncombe.

28. Love on men of genius to bestow] Horace has something similar; Cur eget indignus quisquam te divite? &c. B. 2. S. 2,

P

To every man their bounty shines display'd,
And yet the offerings of the gods are paid.
With prudent hospitality they spend,
And kindly greeting speed the parting friend.
But most the Muses' sons these honours claim,
Whose deathless lays immortalize their fame;
Then will they never rove, in glorious shades,
(Like those who living labour'd with their, spades)
Along cold Acheron's infernal river,
And mourn hereditary want for ever.
Aleua and Antiochus, we're told,
Reign'd rich, and mighty potentates of old,
And to a thousand slaves, their menial train,
In lots distributed the monthly grain:
In Scopas' fields unnumber'd heifers fed,
And bulls that proudly toss'd the rough-horn'd

head:

40

34. And kindly greeting, &c.] Here are some admirable precepts for social life; some of them seem to be borrowed from Homer's Odyssey, b. 15. which I shall give in Mr. Pope's version.

True friendship's laws are by this rule exprest, Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest. Which he has adopted in his imitation of the 2d Satire of the 2d book of Horace.

38. Like those, &c.] The sense of the original is, Like some ditcher, who by labouring hard with his spade, has rendered his hands callous.

40. Nunc et pauperiem et duros preferre labores En. b. 6, 436. 41. Antiochus was king of Syria: the Aleuada and Scopada reigned in Thessaly and the neighbouring islands.

44. In lots, &c] Anciently the masters of families used to distribute to their slaves, every month, such a measure of corn as would keep them the month, which they cailed dentensum; thus Terence,

Quod ille unciatum vix de demenso suo, Suum defraudens genium, comparsit miser. Phor. act 1. sc. 1. 48. Cranonian] Cranon was a city of Thessaly. 50. Et ferrugineâ subvectat corpora cymbâ.

60

Had not the Céan Muse extoll'd their name,
Awak'd his sounding lyre, and given them death.
less fame.
[meed,
Verse crowns the race-horse with fair honour's
That in the field has signaliz'd his speed.
Who had the Lycian chiefs and Trojan known,
Or Cycnus, delicate with milk-white crown,
Had not THE BARD delighted to rehearse
Their bold achievements in heroic verse?
Ulysses ne'er had endless glory gain'd,
Though for ten tedious summers he sustain'd
Unnumber'd toils, while he observant stray'd
From clime to clime, and men and states survey'd;
Ev'n though he scap'd the Cyclops' gioomy cell,
And quick descended to the realms of Hell:
Philcetius and Eumæus with the dead
Had lain as nameless as the beasts they fed; 70
And brave Laertes with his parting breath
Had dy'd, but Homer snatch'd their names from
death.

All human fame is by the Muses spread,
And heirs consume the riches of the dead.
Yet 'tis an easier task, when tempests roar,
To count the waves that ceaseless lash the shore,
'Tis easier far to bleach the Ethiop foul,
Than tuin the tenour of the miser's soul.

Curse on the wretch, that thus augments his store!
And much possessing, may he wish for more! 80
I still prefer fair fame, with better sense,
And, more than riches, men's benevolence.
And yet, alas! what guardian shall I choose,
What princely chief to patronize my Muse?

Vain was the chief's, the sage's pride;
They had no poct, and they dy'd.
In vain they schem'd, in vain they bled!
They had no poet, and are dead. Pope.

55. Céan Muse] Simonides, a native of Céos, an island in the Agean sea. He was a moving and a passionate writer, and succeeded chiefly in elegies: he gained as much bonour as he gave by his poems on the four celebrated battles at Marathon, Thermopyla, Salamis, and Platæa.

59. Lycian chiefs] These were Sarpedon and Glaucus: Cycnus, the son of Neptune, was slain by Achilles, and turned into a swan: Hesiod, ac cording to the scholiast, describes Cycnus with a white head.

65. Thus Horace,

-Multorum providus urbes, Et mores hominum inspexit, latumque per æquor, [multa Dum sibi, dum sociis reditum parat, aspera Pertulit.B. 1. Ep. 2.

69 It is here worth observation, that after the enumeration of these great heroes, Theocritus does not forget his pastoral capacity, or omit to mention the swineherd Eumæus, and the neatberd Photins. See Homer's Odyssey.

73. All human fame, &c.] Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori. Hor. b. 4. Q. 8. 74. And heirs, &c.] Extructis in altum Divitiis potictur hæres. Hor. b. 2. 0.5. 75. 'Tis an easier task, &c.] Virgil seems to have imitated this passage. Quem qui scire velit,

&c.

Geor. b. 9. 103.