196 MILO. 30 Ye Muses, sweetly let the numbers flow! Yet these in crowns ambrosial odours shed, 40 20. A grizzle grasshopper, &c.] Heinsius observes, that a grasshopper, here called paris, is the same that was called yeaus: digipos yeaus was a proverbial expression, and equal to anus quæ in virginitate consenuit: metaphora sumpta est a sylvestri locustâ, quam vocant you Mavriv. Suid. Milo therefore humorously laughs at Battus for falling in love with an old virgin. Charming Bombyce, you my numbers greet; 46. How lovely, fair, and beautiful your feet!] Thus in Solomon's Song, ch. 7. 1. we read, How beautiful are thy feet with shoes! On which Mr. Percy observes, " Or more exactly within thy san dals." The Hebrew women were remarkably nice in adorning their sandals, and in having them fit neatly, so as to display the fine shape of the foot: Vid. Clerici Comment. Judith's sandals are mentioned along with the bracelets and other ornaments of jewels, with which she set off her beauty when she went to captivate the heart of HoloferAnd it is expressly said, that nes, chap. 10. 4. her sandals ravished his eyes, chap. 16. 9. 51. A beard so long!] A long beard was looked on as a mark of wisdom; see Hor. sat. 3. b. 2. ver 35. Sapientem pascere barbam. that 52. Lytierses] Lytierses was a bastard son of Midas, king of Phrygia; the poets tell us, in a trial of skill in music between Apollo and Pan, Midas gave sentence in favour of the latter, whereupon Apollo clapt a pair of asses ears on his head. On the other hand, Conon, in his first narration (apud Phot, biblioth.) tells us, that Midas had a great many spies dispersed up and down the country, by whose information he knew whatever his subjects did or said; thus he reigned His knowing by in peace and tranquillity to a great age, none daring to conspire against him. this means whatever his subjects spoke of him, occasioned the saying, that Midas had long ears; and as asses are said to be endowed with the sense of hearing to a degree of perfection above other 33. The Greek is, Kat To Lov μeday EVTI, xa a yganta vanirfos, which Virgil has literally trans-animals, he was also said to have asses ears; thus lated; -Quid tum si fuscus Amyntas? Et nigræ violæ sunt, & vaccinia nigra. Ecl. 10. 38. What if the boy's smooth skin be brown to view, Dark is the hyacinth and violet's hue. Warton. Virgil likewise has, Inscripti nomina regum flores. Ecl. 3. 106. 37. Torva leæna lupum sequitur, lupus ipse capellam; Florentemcytisum sequitur lasciva capella: 40. Nunc te marinoreum pro tempore fecimus: Si foetura gregem suppleverit, aureus esto. what was at first spoken in a metaphorical sense, This anecdote is taken from one of the tragedies of Sosibius, an ancient Syracusian poet, who, according to Vossius, flourished in the 166th Olympiad. As this passage is scarce, I shall take the liberty to lay it before the learned reader, exactly as the illustrious Casaubon has corrected and amended it, together with a translation: the Αιθ' οι Κελαιναι πατρίς, αρχαία πόλις T Τρις της βραχειας ημερας πινειθ' αμα, LYTIERSES. Celænæ, city fam'd in former years, Menander mentions this song in his Carchedonium; Adorra Altueron an' agiso Tws, Singing Lytierses soon after dinner. Heinsius very justly observes, that this Lytierses is only a set of formulary maxims, or old sayings, and as such I have distinguished them in distichs, as they are in the Greek. At rubicunda Ceres medio succiditur æstu, But cut the golden corn at mid-day's heat, beat. The ancients did not thresh or winnow their corn: in the heat of the day, as soon as it was reaped, they laid it on a floor, made on purpose, in the middle of the field, and then they drove horses and mules round about it, till they trod all the grain out. Benson. 66. Splitting of a bean] A sordid miser used formerly to be called xuponging, that is, a beansplitter. 1. No remedy, &c.] Ovid makes Apollo express the same sentiment as he is pursuing Daphne; Hei mihi, quod nullis Amorest medicabilis herbis! Nec prosunt domino, quæ prosunt omnibus, artes! Metam. b. 1. 523. To cure the pains of love no plant avails; Drydea. 198 He gave no wreaths of roses to the fair, 30 11. He gave not wreaths of roses, &c.] The Greek is, Η ατο δ' ετι ρόδοις, ο μέλοις, εδε κικινοις ; which Heinsius has very properly corrected, and reads de ovos, nor with parsley-wreaths; and observes, that our author is never more entertaining than when he alludes to some old proverb, as in this place he does: your common lovers, such as were not quite stark staring mad, and not extravagantly profuse in their presents to their mistresses, were said, av μnhos, godos, to love with apples and roses; or, as others affirin, nous spavos, with apples and garlands, which were generally composed of roses and parsley. See Idyllium 3. ver. 35. Where rose-buds mingled with the ivy-wreath, And fragrant parsley, sweetest odours breath. 21. For on a steep, &c.] Bion imitates this passage, see his 7th Idyl. ver. 3. Such as the Cyclops, on a rock reclin'd, 25. Nerine Galatea, thymo mihi delcior Hyblæ, white. Warton. Are not our author's images far more natural, and consequently more adapted to pastoral than Virgil's? 27. Ovid has, Splendidior vitro; tenero lascivior hædo. Bighter than glass seems but a puerile senti ment. 31 Quem tu, cervus uti vallis in alterâ Then first I lov'd, and thence I date my fame, E'er since my tortur'd mind has known no rest; Yet you nor pity, nor relieve my pain Yes, yes I know the cause of your disdain; 40 For, stretcht from ear to ear with sbagged grace, My single brow adds horrour to my face; [fill, My single eye enormous lids enclose, 50 F.F. Whose rage thou fly'st, with trembling fear, 34. When here to gather hyacinths, &c.] 41. Stretcht from ear to ear with shagged grace,] Hirsutumque supercilium, prolixaque barba. Has not Virgil's wonderful judgment once more deserted him? Hirsutum supercilium, the shaggy eyebrow, being mentioned only as a single one, might suit a Cyclops with great propriety; it is indeed a translation of Theocritus's acia opgus. pisa piança; but can this horrid eye-brow, with any accuracy, come into the description of an Italian shepherd? 43. My single eye, &c.] Unum est in media Ovid. Metam. lumen mihi fronte. 45. Mille meæ Siculis errant in montibus agnæ: Lac mihi non æstate novum,non frigore desit. Ecl. 2. 21. 47. Cheese] Martyn thinks this rugos, or, as in Virgil, pressi copia lactis, means curd, from which the milk has been squeezed out, in order to make cheese. We find in the third Georgic, ver. 400, that the shepherds used to carry the curd, as soon as it was pressed, into the towns; or else salt it, and so lay it by for cheese against winter, Quod surgente die, &c. 53. Ten fawns, with collars, &c.] The Greek is, vse veew; Iasas avopogws, eleven young hinds, and all of them pregnant; which certainly, as Ca saubon observes, cannot be probable, viz. that young hinds should be pregnant: there is an old Roman edition of Theocritus, which elucidates this passage, for it reads nacas Mavropous, all bearing collars: and nothing is more manifest, than that the ancients, as well as moderns, were fond of ornamenting those animals which they brought up tame with such sort of appendages. 54. Four young bears, &c.] Ovid imitates Come, live with me; all these you may command, And change your azure ocean for the land: 70 And grapes, as sweet as honey, load my vines: 60 From grove-crown'd Ætna, rob'd in purest snow, Cool springs roll nectar to the swains below. Say, who would quit such peaceful scenes as these For blustering billows, and tempestuous seas? Though my rough form's no object of desire, My oaks supply me with abundant fire; My hearth unceasing blazes-though I swear By this one eye, to me for ever dear, Well might that fire to warm my breast suffice, That kindled at the lightning of your eyes. Had I, like fish, with fins and gills been made, Then might I in your element have play'd, With ease have div'd beneath your azure tide, And kiss'd your hand, though you your lips deny'd! Brought lilies fair, or poppies red that grow In summer's solstice, or in winter's snow; These flowers I could not both together bear That bloom in different seasons of the year. Well, I'm resolv'd, fair nymph, I'll learn to dive, If e'er a sailor at this port arrive, Then shall I surely by experience know What pleasures charm you in the deeps below. Energe, O Galatea! from the sea, And bere forget your native home like me. 80 O would you feed my flock, and milk my ewes, And ere you press my cheese the runnet sharp infuse! Theocritus, Inveni geminos, qui tecum ludere possunt, Villosæ catulos in summis montibus ursæ. Met. 13. 831. These bears are highly in character, and welladapted presents from Polyphemus to his mistress. 55. Huc ades, O Galatea! quis est nam ludus in undis? [cum Hic ver purpureum, varios hic flumina cirFundit humus flores; hic candida populus antro Imminet, & lente texunt umbracula vites. O lovely Galatea! hither haste! Here, o'er the grotto, the pale poplar weaves Let the vext ocean's billows idly roar. Warton. 69. I here follow the interpretation of Heinsius. 75. Lilies and poppies.] Tibi lilia plenis Ecce ferunt nymphæ calathis: tibi candida Naïs [pens. Pallentes violas, & summa papavera carEcl. 2. 45. 85. O tantum libeat mecum tibi sordida rura, Atque humiles habitare casas, & figere cerVOS, My mother is my only foe I fear; 90 She never whispers soft things in your ear, Ah, Cyclops, Cyclops, where's your reason fled!-- Or, ev'n wove baskets, you would seem more wise; Me gamesome girls to sport and toy invite, 100 Thus Cyclops learn'd love's torments to endure, And calm'd that passion which he could not cure. More sweetly far with song he sooth'd his heart, Than if his gold had brib'd the doctor's art. IDYLLIUM XII. AITES. ARGUMENT. This piece is in the Ionic dialect, and supposed not to have been written by Theocritus. The word Aites is variously interpreted, being taken for a person beloved, a companion, a man of probity, a cohabitant, and fellow-citizen: see the argument. The amoroso addresses his friend, and wishes an union of their souls, a perpetual friendship, and that, after death, posterity may celebrate the affection and harmony that subsisted between them. He then praises the Megarensians for the divine honours they paid to Diocles, who lost his life in the defence of his friend. SAY, are you come? but first three days are told; Some welcome shade may this glad message (Ev'n in Elysium would such tidings cheer) If right he'll grant, if wrong reject my prayer. 30 10 And though keen sarcasms your sharp words im- 20. With gold] The Greek is, xEUCCIOL avages, which Heinsius takes to mean something amiable and delightful; thus Horace, Qui nunc te fruitur credulus aureâ: Auream and amabilem he looks upon as synonymous: The Greeks have xevon Appo♪ion, and Virgil, Venus aurea, Aureus hanc vitam in terris Saturnus agebat. 22. Exempt from age] aynpw, thus in the Odyssey, b. 5. Calypso says of Ulysses, She promis'd (vainly promis'd) to bestow Pope. 24. Six thousand years] The Greek is, Arve Jinxcoinow, two hundred ages: an age, according to the common computation, is thirty years; thus Mr. Pope understands the word yeve in the first book of the Iliad, speaking of the age of Nestor, Two generations now had pass'd away, To Diocles the lover and the friend: IDYLLIUM XIII*. HYLAS. If the severity of critics will not allow this piece the title of a pastoral, yet as the actions of gods and heroes used to be sung by the ancient herdsmen, we may venture to affirm that our author intended it as such. It contains a relation of the rape of Hylas by the Nymphs, when he went to fetch water for Hercules, and the wandering of that hero, and his extreme grief for the loss of him. LOVE, gentle Nicias, of celestial kind, 32. A blister raise] See Idyl. 9. ver. 48, and the note. 40. To Diocles] At Megara, a city of Achaia, between Athens and the Isthmus of Corinth, was an annual festival held in the spring in memory of the Athenian hero Diocles, who died in the defence of a certain youth whom he loved: whence there was a contention at his tomb, wherein a garland was given to the youth who gave the Potter's Arch. ch. 20. sweetest kiss. the eleventh, to his friend Nicias, a Milesian phyTheocritus addresses this Idyllium, as he did sician. 1. Love, &c.] Omne adeo genus in terris hominum, &e. Geor. S. 242. Thus man and beast, the tenants of the flood, The herds that graze the plain, the feathery brood, |