117. Thus Telemachus expresses his surprise to Pisistratus at the magnificent furniture of Menalaus'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.
Velut si

124. They live, they move] Re vera 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,

Εσ' αγαθα σιβας κ. τ. λ.

Idyl. 1. 69.

154. You stun us, &c.] A citizen of Alexandria finds fault with the Syracusian gossips for opening their mouths so wide when they speak; the good women are affronted, and tell him, that as they are Dorians, they will make use of the Doric dialect: hence we may observe, that the pronunciation of the Dorians was very coarse and broad, and sounded harsh in the ears of the politer Grecians. Martyn's Pref. to Virgil. 145. Here I entirely follow the ingenious interpretation of Heinsius.

151. Sperchis] A celebrated singer.

153. Golgos] Golgos was a small but very aneient town in Cyprus, where Venus was worshipped. Catullus has translated this verse of Theocritus,

sum.

And now in due return, O heavenly born!
Whose honour'd name a thousand fanes adorn,
Arsinoe pays the pompous rites divine,

Rival of Helen, at Adonis' shrine;

All fruits she offers that ripe autumn yields,
The produce of the gardens, and the fields;
All herbs and plants which silver baskets hold;
And Syrian unguents flow from shells of gold. 170
With finest ineal sweet paste the women make,
Oil, flowers and honey, mingling in the cake:
Earth and the air afford a large supply

Of animals that creep, and birds that ily.
Green bow'rs are built with dili sweet-smelling
crown'd,

And little Cupids hover all around;

164. A thousand fanes, &c.] This is similar to the beginning of Sappho's first ode,

Ποικιλόθρον κ. τ. λ.

F. F.

Venus bright goddess of the skies, To whom unnumber'd tempies rise. 169. All herbs and plants, &c.] The Greek is amaha xanı, soft gardens; Archbishop Potter observes, that at the feast of Adonis, there were carried shells filled with earth, in which grew several sorts of herbs, especially lettuces, in memory that Adonis was laid out by Venus on a bed of lettuces: these were called xl, gardens; whence Αδωνίδος κηποί are proverbially applied to things unfruitful, or fading, because those herbs were only sown so long before the festival, as to sprout forth, and be green at that time, and afterwards cast in the water. See Antiquit, vol. 1.

Nam quotcunque ferunt campi, quos Thessala magnis Montibus ora creat. Catull. & de Pel. & Thet. 176. Thus Bion, Αμφι δε μιν κ. τ. λ.

Epit. Adon.

GORGO.

O, fam'd for knowledge in mysterious things! How sweet, Praxinoë, 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 Idyllium 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 ingratitude 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,
Bat 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 prophet Ezekiel saw the women at Jerusalem lament

ing Tammuz, ch. 8. ver. 14. "He brought me to the door 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 bunger 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 K7, or THE GRACES. Hiero, 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 years 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]

In like manner Horace says,

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

Quem Deum?

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 men 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 gold;
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 ve 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.

Sat. 7. Last, crush'd by age, in poverty ye pine, And sighing curse the unavailing Nine.

Bur. Greene. 17. To their mean breasts, &c.] Illiberal persons were said to hold their hands in their bosoms. 20. Close is my shirt, &c.] The Greek is, awww n yoru xvapa, My leg is further off than my knee. I could not recollect an English proverb more correspondent to the original than what 1 have substituted; the Romans have one similar,

Tunica pallio proprior,

My waistcoat is nearer than my cloak, 23. Homer's the prince of poets-]

Priores Mæonius tenet
Sedes Homerus.

25. What profit, &c.]

B. 1. Ode 12.

What man, what hero shall inspire

My Clio's fife with sprightly lays?

Or will she choose to strike the lyre
Devoted to the gods in hymns of praise?

5. Quis tibi Mecenas? quis nunc erit aut Proculeius.

Aut Fabius? quis Cotta iterum? quis Lentulus alter? Juv Sat. 7. 94 All these great men were celebrated for their geperosity and liberaly to the Muses.

VOL. XX.

Plaut.

Hor. b. 4. O. 9.

Nullus argento color est, avaris

Abditæ terris inimice 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 quis, quam 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 wit 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, specd 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 called demensum; 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 ferruginea subvectat corpora cymbâ. Æp. 6. 304.

32. To other heirs, &c.]

Linquenda tellus, et domus, et placens
Uxor-
Hor. b. 2. O. 14.
-Omnes illachrymabiles
Urgentur, &c.

53. And these, &c.]

Hor. b. 4. O. 9.

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' gloomy cell,
And quick descended to the realms of Hell:
Philotius 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 turn 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 poet, 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 Ægéan sea. He was a moving and a passionate writer, and succeeded chiefly in elegies: he gained as much honour as he gave by his poems on the four celebrated battles at Marathon, Thermopyleæ, 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 neatherd Philæetius. Sée Homer's Odyssey. 73. All human fame, &c.] Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori. Hor. b. 4. O. 8. 74. And heirs, &c.] -Extructis in altum Divitiis potietur hæres. Hor. b. 2. 0.3. 75. 'Tis an easier task, &c.] Virgil seems to have imitated this passage. Quem qui scire velit, &c. Geor. b. 2. 105. Or tell the billows, as they beat the shores, When all th' Ionian sea with raging Boreas Wartun.

roars.