A nightingale, foon hears him, and draws nigh In In keen and fhrilling ftrains the ftrings rebound Now with the hoarfe fonorous ftrains unite Emits; then fudden finks to strains profound The tuneful artift in confufion blush'd, Swift o'er the ftrings his agil fingers glance; Affumes, and reaffumes the dying lays : He ceas'd, expecting if the rival-bird With all her might ftrove to repeat the strain, } For For lab'ring to reverberate the fong, Impetuous, complicate, fublime, and ftrong, Th' inglorious disappointment pierc'd her heart; And on the victor's viol drops in death, As the dire inftrument her ruin wrought, * Thou cruel conqu'ror, fwathe in black thy lute, And let it lie for ever, ever mute; Or if the guilty strings are touch'd again, } The five laft lines are not in STRADA, but added by the Tranflator. Jam Sol à medio pronus deflexerat orbe Audiit hunc hofpes filvæ philomela propinquæ, At prope Senfit fe fidicen philomela imitante referri, Tunc fidicen per fila movens trepidantia dextram, Nunc Nunc carptim replicat, digitifqne micantibus urget Tam varium tam dulce melos; majoraque tentans Alternat mira arte fides; dum torquet acutas, Inciditque graves operofo verbere pulfat, Permifcetque fimul certantia rauca fonoris, Ceu refides in bella viros clangore laceffat. Hoc etiam philomela canit dumque ore liquenti Vibrat acuta fonum, modulifque interplicat æquis; Ex inopinato gravis intonat, & leve murmur Turbinat introrfus, alternantique fonore Clarat, & infufcat ceu martia claffica pulfet. Scilicet erubuit fidicen, iraque calente, Aut non hoc, inquit, referes citharistria filvæ, Aut fracta cedam cithara. Nec plura loquutus Non imitabilibus plectrum concentibus urget. Namque manu per fila volat, fimul hos, fimul illos Explorat numeros, chordaque laborat in omni, Et ftrepit, & tinnit, crefcitque fuperbius, & se Multiplicat relegens, plenoque choreumata plaudit. Tum ftetit expectans fi quid paret æmula contra. Illa autem, quamquam vox dudum exercita fauces Afperat, impatiens vinci fimul advocat omnes Nequidquam vires: nam dum difcrimina tanta Reddere tot fidium nativa & fimplice tentat Voce, canaliculifque imitari grandia parvis; Impar magnanimis aufis, imparque dolori Deficit, & vitam fummo in certamina linquens Victoris cadit in plectrum par nacta fepulcrum. Ufque adeò & tenues anima, ferit æmula virtus. STRADA Proluf. 6. lib. iii. in Style Claudiano. § 3. We may meet with feveral instances of the Enantiofis in the facred Writings. In the 29th and 30th chapters of Job we have the different pictures which JOB draws of himself in the season of his former prosperity, and in that of his present affliction, and how ftrong a contraft is there between them? In chap. xxix. 2, 7. and the following verses, he fays, "O! that I were as in " months past, as in the days when GoD preSs ferved me. When I went out to the gate through the city; when I prepared my seat in "the street. The young men faw me, and hid " themselves; and the aged arofe, and stood up. "The princes refrained talking, and laid their Ss hand on their mouth: the nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of $$ their mouth. When the ear heard me, then ss it blessed me; and when the eye faw me, it $$ gave witness unto me." But in the next chapter, he tells us, verse 1. " But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fa"thers I would have difdained to have fet with "the dogs of my flock." And verfe 9. and the following, SS And now am I their fong, yea, I Sam their by-word. They abhor me, they flee ss far from me, and spare not to spit in my face. " Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me; they have also let loose the bridle before "me. Upon my right-hand rife the youth they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their deftruction: they "mar my path; they fet forward my calamity; |