For by thy waves, tremendous Styx! that flow
Thro' the drear realms of gliding ghosts below,
Not all the gods, who reign in Heav'n above,
Shall change this fixt decree, or influence Jove.
Thus have I sworn, and what I swear shall stand,
That none but Jove shall exercise command.
Haste then, my son, our orders to perform,
Mount the fleet wind, and ride the rapid storm,
To Pluto's realms with willing haste repair,
And summon Laius to the fields of air,
Whose shiv'ring ghost with lifted hands implores
A speedy passage to the farther shores.
Let his proud grandson, taught by him, disown
The mutual compact, nor resign the crown
To banish'd Polynices, who relies

410

411. Whose shiv'ring] The souls of the deceased wandered a hundred years, before they were ad

mitted to pass the river Styx. Virgil introduces some departed souls in the same state as Laius. Stabant orantes primi transmittere cursum, Tendebantque manus ripa ulterioris amore. En. 6. v. 313. 419. Swift as the word] This description of Mercury is imitated from Virgil's in the fourth Eneid, v. 238.

Ille patris magni parere parabat Imperio: et primum pedibus talaria nectit Aurea quæ sublimem alis, sive æquora supra, Seu terram, rapido pariter cum fiamine portant. Tum virgam capit: hac animas ille evocat orco Pallentes, alias sub tristia Tartara mittit,

Dat somnos adimitque, & lumina morte resignat. Who took it from Homer, Iliad, lib. 24. v. 339.

Ως ἔφαι', εδ' ἀπίθησε διάκτορος Αργειφόντης.
Αὐτίκ ̓ ἔπειθ' ὑπὸ ποσσὶν ἐδήσαλο καλά πέδιλα,
Αμβρόσια, χρύσεια, τώ μιν φέρον ἡμὲν ἐφ' ὑγρην,
Ἠδ' ἐπ' ἀπείρονα γαῖαν, άμα πνοιής ανέμοιο.
Ειλεῖς δὲ ῥάβδον τῇ τ' ἀνδρῶν ὄμμαλα θέλγει
*Ων ἐθέλει, τις δ' αὔτε καὶ ὑπνώοντας ἐγείρει.

Tasso has likewise improved it with many additional images in his description of the angel Gabriel, Gierus. Lib. canto 1. stanza 13.

Cosi parlògli, e Gabriel s' accinse
Veloce ad essequir l'imposte cose.
La sua forma invisibil d' aria cinse,
Ed al senso mortal la sottopose.

The glitt'ring sandals to his feet applies,
And to his heels the well-trim'd pinion ties.
His hat's wide-spread circumference confines
The starry radiance, that around him shines.
He grasps the wand, which draws from hollow

graves,

430

Or drives the trembling shades to Stygian waves;
With magic power seals up the watchful eye
In slumbers soft, or causes sleep to fly.
From the vast height with swift descent be springs;
(A slender gale supports his steady wings)
Then thro' th' etherial void conspicuous flew,
And a long trail of light behind him drew.
Meanwhile from Thebes the banish'd hero roves
Thro' barren tracts, and wide Aonian groves;
And while the flatt'ring hopes of distant sway
Chear the bleak horrours of the tedious way,
The partial signs enlarge their heav'nly space,
And the Sun seems to run a double race:
His cares arise with each revolving ray,
And night renews the labours of the day.
In prospect he prevents his future joy,
And snatches at the visionary toy,
Surveys the glitt'ring tow'rs of Thebes his own,
Or deals out justice from a fancied throne.
Would fate permit, he'd give an age away,
And lavish all on one luxurious day :

440

Umane membra, aspetto uman sinse: Mà di celeste maestà il compose, Trà giovane, e fanciullo età confine Prese, & ornò di raggi il biondo crine. Ali bianche vestì, c' han d' or le cime Infaticabilmente agili, e preste : Fende i venti, e le nubi, e va sublime Sovra la terra, e sovra il mar con queste: These are all inferior to Milton's description of the angel Raphael.

Six wings he wore, to shade
His lineaments divine; the pair that clad
Each shoulder broad, came mantling o'er his
breast

With regal ornament; the middle pair
Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round
Skirted his loins and thighs, with downy gold,
And colours dipp'd in Heav'n: the third his feet
Shadow'd from either heel with feather'd mail,

Sky-tinctur'd grain: like Maia's son he stood
And shook his plumes, that heav'nly fragrance
fill'd
Par. Lost, B.
The circuit wide.

433. Meanwhile] The art of characterizing is perhaps less understood than any one branch in the whole province of poetry: and indeed it may be alleged, that the qualifications requisite for it are acquired with great difficulty, and can result only from the most penetrating sagacity, joined to an intimate acquaintance with, and long study of, human nature. Young poets are apt to describe man as he ought to be, and not as he is, never considering that a completely good man is little less than a monster. Our poet has avoided this defect, and always interspersed the manly conduct of his heroes with some spices of folly and weak ness; nay, he has sometimes fallen into the other extreme, and painted men rather worse than they really are.

Despair renews, now hope dispels his gloom, And fruitless wishes all bis joys consume.

The prince at length resolves to seek for aid, 449
Where Danaus once th' Inachian sceptre sway'd,
From whence th' indignant Sun withdrew his light,
And hid the tyrant's crimes in sudden night:
And now, impell'd by furies, chance or fate,
He rush'd impetuous from the well-known gate,
And quits the caves, where howling matrons toil,
And slaughter'd Pentheus fertiliz'd the soil;
Then views from whence Citharon's less'ning steep
Receives its limits from th' adjoining deep,
Or trembling hangs on Scyron's noted rock,
And from afar surveys the wat'ry shock.
To Megara the warrior next repairs,
Fam'd for the rape of Nisus' purple hairs,
From thence the straits of Corinth passes o'er,
And hears the billows break on either shore.
Now Phoebus, conscious of exhausted light,
Resigns his empire to succeeding night,
And rising Cynthia thro' the realms above
Her dew-bespangled car in silence drove.
All things were hush'd: sleep quits the fields of air,
And steals upon the watchful miser's care: 470
No future toils alarm his peaceful breast,
Steep'd in oblivion, and consign'd to rest.
Yet no red cloud, edg'd with a golden ray,
Foretold the glad approach of hast'ning day,
No faint reflection of the Sun invades

The night, or glimmers on the less'ning shades:
From Earth ascending, thicker vapours roll,
Form one black mnist, and darken either pole.
The winds arise, and with tumultuous rage
The gath'ting horrours of the storm presage; 480
And whilst in Heav'n superior sway they claim,
Earth labours, and resounds the starry frame.
But Auster chiefly checks the breaking light,
In clouds encircled, and renews the night;
Then opes the sluices of the pregnant sky,
And bids the tempest from each quarter fly,
Which the fierce north, ere finish'd was its course,
Congeals to show'rs of hail with wond'rous force.
The thunder rolls, with lightning ether glows,
And bursting clouds unweary'd fires disclose. 490
Now Nemea, now Arcadia's cloud-capt hills
Pour on the subject vales their murm'ring rills.

456. And slaughter'd] Pentheus was the son of Echion and Agave; and torn to pieces by his mo ther and sisters, for despising the rites of Bacchus. 455. Now Phoebus] This is an imitation of that fine description in the fourth book of Virgil's Eneid, v. 522.

Nox erat, & placidum carpebant fessa soporem
Corpora per terras, silvæque & sæva quierant
Equora; cum medio volvuntur sidera lapsu,
Cum tacet omnis ager; pecudes, pictaque volucres,
Quæque lacus late liquidos, quæque aspera dumis
Rura tenent, somno positæ sub nocte silenti,
Lenibant curas, & corda oblita laborum.
But the curis inserpit somnus avaris, is a circum-
stance which Virgil has not taken notice of, and
highly worth our attention.

477. From Earth ascending] The art of the poet in working up this description deserves our greatest applause. We are led step by step from one degree of horrour to another, till all the elements are put in action, and the storm is arrived at its greatest height.

VOL. XX.

500

Then show'r-fed rivers from the mountain's height
Strike his quick ear, and fill his soul with fright.
Yet not more slow, unknowing where he strays,
The madding youth thro' dark and trackless ways
Pursues his course: Fear follows close behind, 511
And his stern brother's image haunts his mind.
As fares a mariner, when storms arise,
And clouded Phoebe quits th' unwilling skies,
Nor shines the Northern Wain: amid the strife
Of Heav'n and ocean, thoughtful for his life,
And doubtful, whether to expect his death
From storms above, or dangers underneath,
Starts at the thunder, which around him rolls,
Or dreads destruction from the neighb'ring shoals.
Not less perplex'd, the Theban warrior roves 521
Thro' shadowy thickets, and surrounding groves.
In vain the brambles his huge shield oppose,
His courage to his toils superior rose;
Till now he views, where from Larissa's brow
The shelving walls with light reflected glow;
Thither he posts, and from Prosymna's plain
Surveys the sacred grove, and Juno's fane;
And on the right fam'd Lerna's lake beheld,
Where fierce Alcides the fierce hydra quell'd. 550
At length he pass'd the gates, which open lay,
And to the royal dome pursu'd his way;
O'er the cold marble then his limbs he threw,
And sought in sleep his vigour to renew.
Adrastus o'er fair Argos sway maintain'd,
And long in peace the hoary prince had reign'd;
He drew his birth on both sides from above,
And claim'd alliance with almighty Jove.
Fate would not with a manly offspring crown
His nuptial bed. Two daughters heir'd his throne.
To him Apollo, monstrous to relate!
Disclos'd the secrets of unerring fate,
And said: "Expect thy sons on Argos' shore,
A tawny lion, and a bristling boar."
Long this revolv'd within his tender breast,
Engross'd his thoughts, and broke his nightly rest;
Long sage Amphiaraus essay'd in vain
This seeming menace of the gods t'explain,
At length perceiv'd the pow'rs' superior will,
And fate oppos'd to his predicting skill.
Here Tydens, by resistless fortune led,
From Caledon's suspected vengeance fled,
And strove, too conscious of his brother slain,
His people's love by absence to regain.
Long sought the toiling chief a safe retreat
From the rough storm, till chance directs his fect

541

550

To the same place, where, stretch'd upon the ground,

560

570

The Theban warrior a like shelter found.
But Discord, ever fond of human blood,
Forbids the chiefs to plan each other's good;
Nor suffers them beneath one roof to share
A common shelter from th' inclement air.
Awhile harsh words, and mingled threats delay
Th' alternate labours of the bloody fray:
Then, of their garments strip'd, they both engage,
And mutual blows succeed to mutual rage.
With youth and stature flush'd, the Theban glows,
And on his lowly rival deals his blows;
But valiant Tydeus, though his dwarfish size
Could promise little to the partial eyes,
With greater confidence arose to fight,
And courage that disown'd superior might.
With swift repeated strokes their hands fly round
Their heads and cheeks; their crackling jaws re-
Thick as in war an iron tempest flies, [sound:
Or hail, that quits in rattling show'rs the skies.
Thus, when the trumpet's clanging sound proclaims
The wish'd renewal of th' Olympic games,
When clouds of dust from ev'ry part ascend,
And equal chance suspends th' impatient friend,
The diff'rent clamours of the pit engage
The list'ning rivals, and provoke their rage,
While from afar each partial mother eyes
The contest, and foredooms her son the prize.
Thus hatred, not desire of praise provokes
The sprightly chiefs, and arms their beavy strokes.
Their eyes start inward from beneath each blow,
And from their faces bloody currents flow.
Now had each vig'rous candidate for fame
With flaming sword renew'd his double claim, 590
And the proud Theban, stretch'd beneath the hand
Of Tydeus, dy'd with gore a foreign strand;
But old Adrastus, who with cares oppress'd,
Sigh'd for the distant joys of balmy rest,
With wonder heard th' unwonted clamours rise,
And deep-fetch'd groans, that echo'd through the
But when, Aurora bringing back the day, [skies.
Through the wide op'ning gates he took his way,
And saw their manly features rough with blood,
And their gash'd cheeks emit a crimson flood, 600
He thus exclaims.- "Say, what provokes your

rage,

581

O foreign youths, and why you thus engage? (For sure my subjects would not dare to stain My courts with blood, and Cynthia's rule profane.)

559. But Discord] We are now entering upon that part which has done Statius so much hurt in the eyes of the critics, and where we must leave him without offering a single word in his defence. He has undoubtedly erred very much in the choice of this episode: not that the picce itself, detached from the rest of the poem, is destitute of merit, but because it should not have had a place in the epoporia, and especially at this juncture. It is remarkable, that Mr. Pope has omitted the whole in his translation of this book: in my opinion, the strongest proof of its unseasonable insertion.

569. Though his dwarfish size] The dwarfish size and stature of Tydeus are taken notice of also by Homer, in Minerva's speech to Diomede.

Il. b. 5. v. 800.

Η ὀλιγὸν οἱ παῖδα ἐοικότα γείνατο Τυδεύς, Τυδεύς του μικρὸς μὲν ἔην δέμας, ἀλλὰ μαχητής.

620

Say, is the day too scanty, or the night
Once sacred to repose, reserv'd for fight'
But come, your country, birth, and names relats,
Say, whither bound, and whence this mutual bate!
For such high spirit, and resentment shows
A breast, that with no common ardour glows, 610
And in that stream of honour we may trace
A gen'rous birth, and more than vulgar race."
Scarce had he spoke, when in a mingled din
The chiefs abash'd with mutual shame, begin:
"Useless are words, O king, when wounds display
The bloody labours of this casual fray."
In vain they strive, while mutual scoffs confound
Their diff'rent accents, and perplex the sound,
Till glowing with the prospect of relief,
Intrepid Tydeus thus imparts his grief.
"From fau'd Ætolia's monster-bearing plains
I stray'd an exile, till in your domains
The night my progress check'd: and shall he dare
Deny me shelter from th' inclement air,
Because he first obtain'd a safe retreat
Beneath this roof, and hospitable seat?
Shall man alone, by boasted reason led,
Refuse to share with man the social bed,
When fiercer Cyclops live in mutual peace,
And fights between the stabled Centaurscease? 630
E'en rav'ning brutes defend the common cause,
Nor deviate thus from Nature's sacred laws.
But why this flow of words? this fatal morn
Shall see my bloody spoils in triumph borne,
Or should my breast with equal vigour glow,
Nor my brisk blood forget, as erst, to flow,
This arm shall soon display my lineal fire,
And prove me worthy my celestial sire."
"Nor shall the want of martial heat disgrace,"
The Theban prince replies, "my godlike race,” 643
For conscious pride forbad him yet to own
His wretched sire, and claim the Theban crown.
To them the king." This causeless strife sar
ceas'd,

650

Advance, and with us share the solemn feast.
But first resign your threats, and rage of blood
To mutual love, and cares of mutual good;
And let your hands, in sacred union join'd,
Attest the fixt intentions of the mind.
For some mysterious cause was this decreed,
Nor are the gods unconscious of the deed.
Perhaps, when length of time has seal'd the row,
And your firm bearts with holy friendship glow,
With joy you may review the bloody fray,
Nor blush to trace this e'er-auspicious day."
Thus Jove's decree, unconscious he foreshows;
The sequel far transcends his warmest vous:

605. Say, is the day] To say that this part of Adrastus's conduct is copied from that of Evander on a similar occasion, is to tell the reader what be must know already. Both princes are engaged in performing their annual vows to the gods, wh give an account of the rise of the solemnities: the strangers arrive in their territories, and is th what I have advanced, the passages from Virci, if general observations should fail of conúng which I shall quote as they occur, will sufficiently justify it.

644. Advance, and with us] Evander invites Encas in like manner. Eneid, b. 8. v. 172. Interea sacra hæc, quando hue venistis, amici, Annua, quæ differre nefas, celebrate faventes Nobiscum, et jam nunc sociorum assuescite misis.

For him this annual sacrifice prepares,
While with incessant flames each altar glares..
Then thus the king." Perhaps these youths would
know,

What claims this strict observance of our vow;
And why the pious sons of Argos pay
Such special honours to the god of day.
No superstitious zeal our sires impell'd

770

780

To constitute these rites, which you've beheld:
But when and whence these solemn customs rose,
(So ye but lend attention,) I'll disclose.
When now the Python had by Phoebus bled,
And with his bulk the Delphic plain o'erspread,
(As hanging o'er the fair Castalian flood
He fills his turgid maw with noxious food)
To th' Argive court repair'd the victor-god,
And with his presence honour'd our abode.
The king Crotopus (as the fates decreed)
Was blest with no male issue to succeed:
A nymph, unmatch'd in manners as in face,
Was the sole product of his first embrace:
Thrice happy maid! had Phoebus fail'd to move
Her tender breast, nor kindled mutual love;
For by th' enamour'd god compress'd, she bore
A godlike son on Nemea's winding shore,
Ere the tenth moon had with her borrow'd light
Supply'd the want of day, and rul'd the night. 790
For this constrain'd to quit her native place,
And shun approaching vengeance and disgrace,
Among the rustic swains she seeks a friend,
To whom she might her precious charge commend.
The wretched babe, beneath an homely shed,
With bleating lambkius shares a common bed;.
While with the pipe his foster-father tries
To soothe his plaints, and close his infant eyes.
Hard was his lot, Yet still relentless fate
Forbad him to enjoy his poor retreat:

SCO

771. No superstitious] So Evauder in the eighth book of the Eneid, verse 185.

-Non hæc solennia nobis
Has ex more dapes, hanc tanti numinis aram,
Vana superstitio, veterumque ignara Deorum
Imposuit.

775. When now the Python] The Python was a huge serpent, so called from Hubav, to rot; because he was reported to arise from the rottenness of the earth after the deluge. Juno sent him to vex Latona, who was then with child by Jupiter: but the goddess flying to Asteria, her sister, was protected till Apollo grew up; who killed the monster; for which the Macedonians instituted the Pythian games.

775. When now] This a very fine episode, and, in my opinion, superior to that of Cacus in the eighth book of the Æneid. When I say superior, I would not be understood to mean, that this of Statius is better executed: but that it abounds with a greater variety of matter, and conscquently requires less art of the poet to render it complete. The description of Psamathe and her child's unhappy fate, and the patriotic behaviour of Cho robus are master-pieces in their kind, and cannot fail of affording the reader the highest satisfaction. Give me leave to add, that when the subject is so circumstanced as in the present case, though the poet's art should be equal, yet that episode, which contains the greatest variety of incidents, will always have the preference.

8:0

For while abandon'd to blind Fortune's care,
Beneath the shade he breathes the morning air,
The furious dogs his tender carcase tore,
And fed luxurious on the recent gore.
But when the tidings reach'd the mother's ears,
Unmindful of her former shame and fears,
She raves, the palace fills with piercing cries,
Nor shuns her father's once-avoided eyes:
Then hears, impatient of her vital breath,
The fatal sentence, and demands her death.
But Phoebus, mindful of his stol'n embrace,
Prepares t' avenge her suffrings and disgrace,
And bids ascend, to plague the guilty Earth,
A horrid monster of infernal birth:
Her face and breast a female form disclose,
But from her head a crested serpent rose,
Whose hideous length disparts her livid brows,
And from afar with dreadful splendour glows.
When fav'ring night the busy world o'erspreads,
She roams the streets, or haunts the children's beis,
Consigns to Pluto, and a sudden night, 821
Those new-born babes, who scarce had seen the
light,

[woe

And, unresisted by the heartless foe,
Thrives, and collects fresh strength from public
With grief Chorobus ey'd the wasteful pest,

850

| And gen'rous rage inflam'd his patriot breast;
To some few chosen youths, who life disclaim,
And think it oversold to purchase fame,
He pleads his country's cause, and undismay'd
Extorts a promise of united aid.
These soon descry'd her, fir'd with vengeful bate,
Where the broad path, divided, fronts the gate:
Two infants, borne from some unguarded dome,
Hang at her side, unconscious what's to come,
Till her sharp claws explore their inner parts,
And seek the nearest passage to their hearts,
So sad a sight Chorobus could not bear,
But buried in her breast his rushing spear.
The springs of life emit their crimson store,
And thro' the gap, discharg'd in issuing gore, S40
Her soul revisits the Tartarian coast,
And native Styx,—a lonely dreaded ghost.
Eager they press to view the monster's eyes
Livid in death, her womb's enormous size,
And breasts more filthy with the clotted blood
Of Grecian babes. The youths of Argos stood
In wonder lost; and to their recent tears
Great joys succeed, but joys appall'd with fears,
Their sole vexation now remains to find
Their rage exhausted, their revenge confin'd. §
Some seem'd displeas'd, they can no longer kill,
And wish their pow'r was equal to their will:
Whilst others mangling her detested corse
With furious zeal her limbs asunder force.
To distant roosts the birds of night repair,
And shriek, impatient of the scented air:
E'en hungry dogs, and monsters of the wood,
Start from the sight, and loathe the direful food

827. Who life disclaim] This expression is made use of by Virgil,

Est hic, est animus lucis contemptor, et istum
Qui vitâ bene credat emi, quò tendis, honore
Eneid, v. 206. B.9.

And by Tasso with little variation,
Ho core anch' io, che morte sprezza, e crede
Che ben si cambi con l'onor la vita.

Gierus. Lib. Canto 12. Stanza &,