Εγω δε τας κομας μεν Ειτ' εισιν, ειτ' απήλθον Ουκ οίδα. Florentes dum forte vagans mea Hyella per hortos And Longepierre has adduced from Catullus Texit odoratis lilia cana rosis, Ecce rosas inter latitantem invenit Amorem Et simul annexis floribus implicuit. As fair Hyella, through the bloomy grove This epigram of Naugerius is imitated by Lodovico Dolce, in a poem beginning: Mentre raccoglie hor uno, hor altro fiore what he thinks a similar instance of this simplicity of manner: Ipse quis sit, utrum sit, an non sit, id quoque nescit. Longepierre was a good critic, but perhaps the line which he has selected is a specimen of a carelessness not very elegant; at the same time, I confess that none of the Latin poets have ever appeared to me so capable of imitating the graces of Anacreon as Catullus, if he had not allowed a depraved imagination to hurry him so often into vulgar licentiousness. Pontanus has a very delicate thought upon the subject of old age: Quid rides, Matrona? senem quid temnis amantem ? Quisquis amat nullâ est conditione senex. Why do you scorn my want of youth, That he who loves cannot be old. 5 The German poet Lessing has imitated this ode. Vol. i. p. 21.'-Degen. Gail de Editionibus. the occasion of our poet's returning the money Baxter conjectures that this was written upon to Polycrates, according to the anecdote in Stobæus. 6 There is a fragment of Archilochus in Plutarch, De tranquillitate animi,' which our poet has very closely imitated here: it begins, 2 Alberti has imitated this ode, in a poem be- Ov μoι та TvуEW TOV TOXνXρVσOv μeλeɩ.—Barnes. ginning, Nisa mi dice e Clori Tirsi, tu se' pur veglio. Henry Stephen very justly remarks the elegant negligence of expression in the original here: In one of the monkish imitators of Anacreon we find the same thought: Ψυχην εμην ερωτω, I envy not the monarch's throne, Let us the festal hours beguile May come when least we wish him And beckon to the sable shore, ODE IX.2 I PRAY thee, by the gods above, Alcmæon once, as legends tell, ODE X.3 TELL me how to punish thee, Triplicato furore, Ritratti del Cavalier Marino. Însanire dulce, Et sapidum furere furorem. 1 On account of this idea of perfuming the Hæc mihi cura, rosis et cingere tempora myrto, This be my care to twine the rosy wreath, And drench my sorrows in the ample bowl: To let my beard the Assyrian unguent breathe, And give a loose to levity of soul! 2 The poet here is in a frenzy of enjoyment, and it is, indeed,' amabilis insania.' Furor di poesia, Di lascivia, e di vino, 3 This ode is addressed to a swallow. I find from Degen and from Gail's index, that the German poet Weisse has imitated it, Scherz. Lieder, lib. ii. carm. 5; that Ramler also has imitated it, Lyr. Blumenlese, lib. iv. p. 335; and some others. We are referred by Degen to that stupid book, the Epistles of Alciphron, tenth epistle, third book, where Iophon complains to Eraston of being wakened, by the crowing of a cock, from his vision of riches. 4 The loquacity of the swallow was proverbialized; thus Nicostratus: Ει το συνεχώς και πολλα και ταχέως λαλειν For they prattle much faster than wc. Or, as Tereus did of old1 (So the fabled tale is told), Shall I tear that tongue away, Tongue that uttered such a lay? How unthinking hast thou been! Long before the dawn was seen, When I slumbered in a dream, (Love was the delicious theme!) Just when I was nearly blest, Ah! thy matin broke my rest! ODE XI.2 'TELL me, gentle youth, I pray thee, What in purchase shall I pay thee For this little waxen toy, Image of the Paphian boy?' Thus I said, the other day, To a youth who passed my way. 'Sir' (he answered, and the while Answered all in Doric style), 'Take it, for a trifle take it; Think not yet that I could make it ; Pray believe it was not I; No-it cost me many a sigh, And I can no longer keep Little gods who murder sleep!' Here, then, here,' I said, with joy, . 'Here is silver for the boy : He shall he my bosom guest, Idol of my pious breast!' Little Love! thou now art mine, Warm me with that torch of thine; Make me feel as I have felt, Or thy waxen frame shall melt. I must burn with warm desire, Or thou, my boy, in yonder fire! Modern poetry has confirmed the name of Philomel upon the nightingale; but many very respectable ancients assigned this metamorphose to Progne, and made Philomel the swallow, as Anacreon does here. 2 It is difficult to preserve with any grace the narrative simplicity of this ode, and the humour of the turn with which it concludes. I feel that the translation must appear very vapid, if not ludicrous, to an English reader. 3 I have adopted the accentuation which Elias Andreas gives to Cybele: In montibus Cybèlen Magno sonans boatu, 4 This fountain was in a grove, consecrated to Apollo, and situated between Colophon and Le ODE XII. THEY tell how Atys, wild with love, And you sit blushing by my side, bedos, in Ionia. The god had an oracle there. Scaliger has thus alluded to it in his Anacreon. tica: Semel ut concitus œstro, Quo plus canunt, plura volunt. Arthologia, in which the poet assumes Reason as 5 Longepierre has quoted an epigram from the the armour against Love: Ώπλισμαι προς ερωτά περι στερνοισι λογισμον, Assumed the corslet, shield, and spear, And now his arrows all were shed- Thus fighting his godship, I'll ne'er be dismayed But if Bacchus should ever advance to his aid, Alas! then, unable to combat the two, Unfortunate warrior! what should I do? This idea of the irresistibility of Cupid and Bacchus united, is delicately expressed in an Italian poem, which is so very Anacreontic, that I may be pardoned for introducing it. Indeed, it is an imitation of our poet's sixth ode: Lavossi Amore in quel vicino fiume Sarei, piu che non sono ebro d'Amore. The urchin of the bow and quiver I found this flattering, young desire ? 1 Dryden has parodied this thought in the following extravagant lines: Vain, vain is every outward care, My foe's within, and triumphs there. ODE XIV.2 COUNT me, on the summer trees, Anacreontic, of which the following is a translation: Tell the foliage of the woods, I was but a moment's lover; 8 This figure is very frequently made use of in poetry. The amatory writers have exhausted a world of imagery by it, to express the infinity of kisses which they require from the lips of their mistresses: in this Catullus led the way. -quam sidera multa, cum tacet nox, Vesano satis, et super Catullo est: Possint, nec mala fascinare lingua.-Carm. 7. As through the silent waste of night, You may reckon just a score ; Rhodes a pretty swarm can boast; Sum these all-of brown and fair 'Corinth was very famous for the beauty and the number of its courtezans. Venus was the deity principally worshipped by the people, and prostitution in her temple was a meritorious act of religion. Conformable to this was their constant and solemn prayer, that the gods would increase the number of their courtezans. 2 With justice has the poet attributed beauty to the women of Greece.'-Degen. 3 The Gaditanian girls were like the Baladières of India, whose dances are thus described by a French author: Les danses sont presque toutes des pantomimes d'amour; le plan, le dessin, les attitudes, les mesures, les sons, et les cadences de ces ballets, tout respire cette passion et en exprime les voluptés et les fureurs.'-Histoire du Commerce des Europ. dans les deux Indes.Raynal. The music of the Gaditanian females had all the voluptuous character of their dancing, as appears from Martial: Cantica qui Nili, qui Gaditana susurrat. -Lib. iii. epig. 63. Lodovico Ariosto had this ode of our bard in his mind, when he wrote his poem ' De diversis amoribus.' See the Anthologia Italorum. ODE XV. TELL me why, my sweetest dove,1 The dove of Anacreon, bearing a letter from the poet to his mistress, is met by a stranger, with whom this dialogue is imagined. The ancients made use of letter-carrying pigeons, when they went any distance from home, as the most certain means of conveying intelligence back. That tender domestic attachment, which attracts this delicate little bird through every danger and difficulty, till it settles in its native nest, affords to the elegant author of The Pleasures of Memory a fine and interesting exemplification of his subject. Led by what chart, transports the timid dove The wreaths of conquest, or the vows of love? See the poem. Daniel Heinsius has a similar sentiment, speaking of Dousa, who adopted this method at the siege of Leyden : Quo patriæ non tendit amor? Mandata referre Postquam hominem nequiit mittere, misit avem. Fuller tells us that, at the siege of Jerusalem, the Christians intercepted a letter tied to the legs of a dove, in which the Persian Emperor promised assistance to the besieged. See Ful ler's Holy War, cap. 24, book i. 5 This passage is invaluable, and I do not think that anything so beautiful or so delicate |