He sings the Grecian fleet renown'd afar,
And great Achilles, bulwark of the war.
I bring the tribute of a feebler lyre,

Sweet warbling what the rapturous Nine inspire,
The best I may; verse to the gods belongs;
The gods delight in honorary songs.

IDYLLIUM XXIII*.

THE DESPAIRING LOVER.

ARGUMENT.

An unhappy lover, despairing to gain the affections of his mistress, by whom he is despised, makes Castor and Pollux, first in martial force, One bold on foot, and one renown'd for horse; My brothers these; the same our native shore, One house contaiu'd us, and one mother bore. Perhaps the chiefs, from warlike toils at ease, For distant Troy refus'd to sail the seas: Perhaps their swords some nobler quarrel draws,

Asham'd to combat in their sister's cause.”

So spoke the fair, nor knew her brothers' doom,

Wrapt in the cold embraces of the tomb; Adorn'd with honours in their native shore, Silent they slept, and heard of wars no more. 101. The Chian Muse] As Theocritus, both here and in the 7th Idyllium styles Homer the Chian bard Xlov Acidov, we have reason to conjecture, that Chios has the honour of being the place of his nativity: Simonides in his Epigram on Human Life, calls him the man of Chios; for quoting a verse of Homer he says,

Εν δε το καλλισον Χιος είπεν απο The Chians pleaded these ancient authorities for Homer's being born among them: they mention a race they had, called the Homeridæ, whom they accounted his posterity; they cast medals of him; they show to this day an Homerium, or temple of Homer, near Bolissus; and close their arguments with a quotation from the hymn to Apollo, (which is acknowledged for Homer's by Thucydides) where he calls himself, "The blind man that inhabits Chios." One cannot avoid being surprised at the prodigious veneration for his character, which could engage mankind with such eagerness in a point so little essential; that kings should send to oracles for the inquiry of his birth-place; that cities should be in strife about it; that whole lives of learned men should be employed upon it; that some should write treatises, others call up spirits about it; that thus, in short, Heaven, Earth and Hell, should be sought to, for the decision of a question which terminates in curiosity only. Thus far Mr. Pope in his essay on Homer: Yet though this point is not essential, and only matter of curiosity, we may observe, that these inquiries, disputes, and contentions, plead strongly in favour of the Muses, and set the character of a poet in the most eminent and exalted station.

The argument of this Idyllium is similar to the argument of Virgil's second eclogue, though this is more tragical; I have taken the liberty to make a general transformation, which renders it a thousand times more natural, decent, and gallant.

away with himself: the cruel fair is soon after killed by the image of Cupid that fell upon her as she was bathing..

AN amorous shepherd lov'd a cruel fair;

The haughty beauty plung'd him in despair:
She loath'd the swain, nor aught her breast could

move,

She scorn'd the lover, and the god of love;
Nor knew the puissance of his bow and darts,
To tame the stubbornness of human hearts.
With cold disdain she griev'd the shepherd sore,
The more he sigh'd, she scorn'd him still the more.
No solace she afforded, no soft look,
Nor e'er the words of sweet compassion spoke: 10
Her eye, her cheek ne'er glow'd, her flame to prove,
No kiss she gave the lenient balm of love:
But as a lion, on the desert plain,
With savage pleasure views the hunter train;
Thus in her scorn severe delight she took;
Her words, her eyes were fierce, and death was in
her look.

20

She look'd her soul; her face was pal'd with ire;
Yet she was fair; her frowns but rais'd desire.
At length, he could no more, but sought relief
From tears, the dumb petitioners of grief;
Before her gate he wept, with haggard look,
And, kissing the bare threshold, thus he spoke:
"Ah, savage fair, whom no entreaties move!
Hard heart of stone, unworthy of my love!
Accept this cord, 'tis now in vain to live,
This friendly gift, the last that I shall give;
I go where doom'd; my love, my life are o'er,
No more I grieve, and you are teas'd no more;
I go the last kind remedy to prove,
And drink below oblivion to my love.

30

And,

Te semper anteit sæva necessitas. B. 1. O. 35. Which elegant use of the word necessitas, he has taken from the Grecians; Pindar has, ex avayxa; and Euripides, dun avayan, which is exactly the dira necessitas of Horace, b. 3. 0.24. 21. Before her gate, &c.] Thus Ovid speaking of Iphis,

Non tulit impatiens longi tormenta doloris
Iphis, et ante fores hæc verba novissima dixit.
Met. b. 14.

30. And drink oblivion] Virgil says of souls that endure transmigration,

Lethæi ad fluminis undam
Securos latices, et longa oblivia potant.

En. b. 6.

20

She spoke, and gently rock'd the mighty shield;
Obsequious slumbe s soon their eye-lids seal'd.
But when a midnight sunk the bright-ey'd Bear,
And broa Orion's shoulder 'gan appear;
Stern Juno, urg d by unrelenting hate,
Sent two fell serpents to Amphitryon's gate,
Charg d with severe commission to destroy
The young Alcides, Jove-begotten boy:
Horrid and huge, with many an azure fold,
Fierce through the portal's opening valves they
roll'd;

Then on their bellies prone, high swoln with gore,
They glided smooth along the marble floor:
Their fiery eye-balls darted sanguine flame,
And from their jaws destructive poison came.
Alcmena's sons, when near the serpents prest
Darting their forked tongues, awoke from rest; 30
All o'er the chamber shone a sudden light,
For all is clear to Jove's discerning sight.
When on the shield his foes Iphiclus saw,
And their dire fangs that arm'd each horrid jaw,

By observing the use this shield is put to, we have an agreeable picture presented to the mind: it is an emblem of the peace and tranquillity which always succeed the tumults of war; and likewise a prognostic of the future greatness of this mighty champion in embryo.

19. Stern Juno, &c.] Pindar in his first Nemean Ode tells this same story, which, as it may be a satisfaction to the curious to see how different wri

ters manage the same subject, I shall take the liberty to give in Mr. West's translation.

Then glowing with immortal rage,
The gold-enthroned empress of the gods,
Her eager thirst of vengeance to asswage,
Straight to her hated rival's curs'd abodes

Bad her vindictive serpents haste.
They through the opening valves with speed
On to the chamber's deep recesses past,
To perpetrate their murderous deed:
And now, in knotty mazes to enfold
Their destin'd prey, on curling spires they
roll'd,

His dauntless brow when young Alcides rear'd,
And for their first attempt his infant arms
prepar'd,

Fast by their azure necks he held, And grip'd in either hand his scaly foes; Till from their horrid carcasses expell'd, At length the poisonous soul unwilling flows. 27. Their fiery eye-balls, &c.] The Greek is, απ' οφθαλμον δε κακόν πυρ Ερχομενοις λαμπεσκε; 2 pernicious flame shot from their eyes as they approached: Pierson (see his Verisimilia) reads with much more elegance and propriety Axv, looking very keenly, as the eyes of serpents are always repr sented: Hesiod, speaking of dragons, uses the same word twice, εκ κεφαλών πυρ και το Spool. Theog. ver. 828, and in the shield of Hercules, ver. 145. dupwopievosoi dedopxos. He brings Jikewise the authorities of Homer, Eschylus, and Oppian, to support this reading. Virgil has,

| Aghast he rais'd his voice with bitter ery,
Threw off the covering, and prepar'd to fly:
But Hercules stretch'd out his arins to clasp
The scaly monsters in his iron grasp;
Fast in each hand the venom'd jaws he prest
Of the curst serpents, which ev'n gods detest. 40
Their circling spires, in many a dreadful fold,
Around the slow-begotten babe they roll'd,
The babe unwean'd, yet ignorant of fear,
Who never utter'd cry, nor shed a tear.
At length their curls they loos'd, for rack'd with
pain

50

They strove to 'scape the deathful gripe in vain.
Alcmena first o'er-heard the mournful cries,
And to her husband thus: "Amphitryon, rise;
Distressful fears my boding soul dismay;
This instant rise, nor for thy sandals stay:
Hark, how for help the young Iphiclus calls!
A sudden splendour, lo! illumes the walls!
Though yet the shades of night obscure the
skies;

Some dire disaster threats; Amphitryon, rise."

She spoke; the prince obedient to her word, Rose from the bed, and seiz'd his rich-wrought sword,

Which, on a glittering nail above his head,
Hung by the baldric to the cedar bed.
Then from the radiant sheath, of lotos made,
With ready hand he drew the shining blade; 60
Instant the light withdrew, and sudden gloom
Involv'd again the wide-extended room:
Amphitryon call'd his train that slumbering lay,
And slept secure the careless hours away.
"Rise, rise, my servants, from your couches
Bring lights this instant, and unbar the gate.”
straight,
He spoke; the train obedient to command,
Appear'd with each a flambeau in his hand;
Rapt with amaze, young Hercules they saw
Grasp two fell serpents close beneath the jaw: 70
The mighty infant show'd them to his site,
And smil'd to see the wreathing snakes expire;
He leap'd for joy that thus his foes he slew,
And at his father's feet the scaly monsters threw.
With tender care Alcmena fondly prest,
Half-dead with fear, Iphiclus to her breast,

While o'er his mighty son Amphitryon spread
The Lamb's soft fleece, and sought again his bed.
When thrice the cock pronounc'd the morning

near,

Alcmena call'd the truth-proclaiming seer, 80
Divine Tiresias; and to him she told

This strange event, and urg'd him to unfold
Whate'er the adverse deities ordain;

"Fear not," she cry'd, "but Fate's whole will explain;

For well thou know'st, O! venerable seer,
Those ills which Fate determines, man must bear."
She spoke; the holy augur thus reply'd;
"Hail, mighty queen, to Perseus near ally'd;
Parent of godlike chiefs: by these dear eyes,
Which never more shall view the morning rise, 90
Full many Grecian maids, for charms renown'd,
While merrily they twirl the spindle round,
Till day's decline thy praises shall proclaim,
And Grecian matrons celebrate thy fame.
So great, so noble, will thy offspring prove,
The most gigantic of the gods above.
Whose arm, endow'd with more than mortal sway,
Shall many men, and many monsters slay:
Twelve labours past, he shall to Heav'n aspire,
His mortal part first purified by fire,

And son-in-law be nam'd of that dread power
Who sent these deadly serpents to devour

100

119

And strike no terrour in the pasturing fawns.
But, O great queen! be this thy instant care,
On the broad hearth dry faggots to prepare,
Aspalathus, or prickly brambles bind,
Or the tall thorn that trembles in the wind,
And at dark midnight burn (what time they came
To slay thy son) the serpents in the flame.
Next morn, collected by thy faithful maid,
Be all the ashes to the flood convey'd,
And blown on rough rocks by the favouring wind,
Thence let her fly, but cast no look behind.
Next with pure sulphur purge the house, and bring
The purest water from the freshest spring,
This, mix'd with salt, and with green olive crown'd,
Will cleanse the late contaminated ground.
Last let a boar on Jove's high altar bleed,
That ye in all achievements may succeed."
Thus spoke Tiresias, bending low with age,
And to his ivory car retir'd the reverend sage.
Alcides grew beneath his mother's care,
Like some young plant, luxuriant, fresh, and fair,

103. Then wolves, &c.] Virgil has,

Nec lupus insidias pecori, &c.

120

control.

From thy inmost soul Speak what thou know'st, and speak without Pope. 86. Those ills, &c.] Homer puts a sentiment similar to this in the mouth of Hector, b. 6. which is finely translated by Mr. Pope;

Fix'd is the term to all the race of Earth, And such the hard condition of our birth: No force can then resist, no flight can save, All sink alike, the fearful and the brave. 96. The most gigantic, &c.] The words of Theofritus are ano gvwv harus news, the broad-breasted hero; I am in doubt how it should be rendered; Creech has translated it, The noblest burthen of the bending sky. In Homer's Odyssey, b. 11. Hercules is thus represented among the shades below,

Now I the strength of Hercules behold, A towering spectre of gigantic mould; A shadowy form! for high in Heaven's abodes Himself resides a god among the gods. Pope. On which Mr. Pope observes, "The ancients imagined, that immediately after death, there was a partition of the human composition into three parts, the body, image, and mind: the body is buried in the earth; the image, or dwλov, descends into the regions of the departed; the mind, or the divine part is received into Heaven; thus the body of Hercules was consumed in the flames, his image is in Hell, and his soul in Heaven."

pyre

100. His mortal part first purified by fire] The Greek is, θνητα δε πάντα πυρά Τραχίνιος εξει, The Trachinian will consume his mortal part; Trachin was a city of Thessaly built by Hercules, and the place to which he sent to Dejanira for the shirt which proved fatal to him, and was the occasion of throwing himself into the fire that consumed him; hence therefore, probably, Theocritus calls it the Trachiniau pyre.

lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid." 105. But, O great queen, &c.] Archbishop Potter observes," sometimes the ominous thing was burnt with ligna infelicia, that is, such sort of wood as was in tuteiâ inferûm deorum avertentiumque, sacred to the gods of Hell, and those which averted evil omens, being chiefly thorns, and such other trees, as were fit for no other use than to be burned. Sometimes the prodigy, when burnt, was cast into the water, and particularly into the sea, as Theocritus has described." Chap. 17. 107. A spalatbus] A plant called the rose of Jerusalem, or our lady's thorn.

Johnson's Dict.

Prickly brambles] The Greek is, anos, paliurus; which Martyn says, is most probably the plant which is cultivated in our gardens under the name of Christ's thorn, and is supposed to be the thorn of which the crown was made, that was put upon our Saviour's head. Notes on Virgil, Ecl. 5.

108. Or the tall thorn, &c.] The Greek is, η ανεμω διδονημένον αυον αχερδον, or the dry acherdus which is agitated by the wind; it is uncertain what plant will answer to the acherdus of the ancients; Homer in the Odyssey, b. 14. ver. 10. has fenced the sylvan lodge of Eumæus with acherdus, Ka εθρίγκωσεν αχερίῳ,

The wall was stone, from neighb'ring quarries born,

Encircled with a fence of native thorn.

Pope.

111. Next morn, &c.] The most powerful of all incantatious was to throw the ashes of the sacrifice backward into the water; thus Virgil,

Fer cineres, Amarylli, foras; rivoq; fluenti Transque caput jace; ne respexeris. Ecl. 8. 124. Like some young plant, &c.] Theocritus has