Why should we breathe the sigh of fear, And eyes that sparkle, eyes that weep, In search of thorns, from pleasure's way;' Which Bacchus loves, which Bacchus gave; ODE XLVI.2 BEHOLD, the young, the rosy Spring, Now the earth prolific swells With leafy buds and flowery bells; Gemming shoots the olive twine, Clusters ripe festoon the vine; 1 Then let us never vainly stray, In search of thorns, from pleasure's way; &c.] I have thus endeavoured to convey the meaning of τι δε τον βιον πλανώμαι ; 8cording to Regnier's paraphrase of the line : E che val, fuor della strada Del piacere alma e gradita, Vaneggiare in questa vita? 2 The fastidious affectation of some commentators has denounced this ode as spurious. Degen pronounces the four last lines to be the patch-work of some miserable versificator, and Brunck condemns the whole ode. It appears to me, on the contrary, to be elegantly graphical; full of delicate expressions and luxuriant imagery. The abruptness of 18ε πως «αρος φανέντος is striking and spirited, and has been imitated rather languidly by Horace :Vides ut alta stet nive candidum Soracte The imperative de is infinitely more impressive; as in Shakspeare, But look, the morn, in russet mantle clad, Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill. There is a simple and poetical description of Spring, in Catullus's beautiful farewell to Bithynia. Carm. 44. Barnes conjectures, in his life of our poet, that thisode was written after he had returned from Athens, to settle in his paternal seat at Teos: where, in a little villa at some distance from the city, commanding a view of the Egean Sea and the islands, he contemplated the beauties of nature, and enjoyed the felicities of retirement. All along the branches creeping, ODE XLVII. 'Tis true, my fading years decline, Yet can I quaff the brimming wine, As deep as any stripling fair, Whose cheeks the flush of morning wear; I'm call'd to wind the dance's clue, Let those, who pant for Glory's charms, With blushes borrow'd from my wine, Vide Barnes, in Anac. Vita, § xxxv. This supposition, however unauthenticated, forms a pleasing association, which renders the poem more interesting. Chevreau says, that Gregory Nazianzenus has paraphrased somewhere this description of Spring; but I cannot meet with it. See Chevreau, Œuvres Mêlées. "Compare with this ode (says Degen) the verses of Hagedorn, book fourth, der Frühling,' and book fifth, 'der Mai.'" 3 While virgin Graces, warm with May, Fling roses o'er her dewy way.] De Pauw reads, Xaperac boða Bpvovou," the roses display their graces." This is not uningenious; but we lose by it the beauty of the personification, to the boldness of which Regnier has rather frivolously objected. 4 The murmuring billows of the deep Have languish'd into silent sleep; &c.] It has been justly remarked, that the liquid flow of the line avaluverai yakņum is perfectly expressive of the tranquillity which it describes. 5 And cultur'd field, and winding stream, &c.] By Sperme enya "the works of men" (says Baxter), he means cities, tempies, and towns, which are then illuminated by the beams of the sun. 6 But brandishing a rosy flask, &c.] Aoxo; was a kind of leathern vessel for wine, very much in use, as should seem by the proverb ασκος και θυλακος, which was applied to those who were intemperate in eating and drinking. This proverb is mentioned in some verses quoted by Athenæus, from the Hesiope of Alexis. 7 The only thyrsus ere I'll ask!] Phornutus assigns as a reason for the consecration of the thyrsus to Bacchus, that inebriety often renders the support of a stick very necessary. ODE XLVIII. WHEN my thirsty soul I steep, ODE XLIX.3 WHEN Bacchus, Jove's immortal boy, The rosy harbinger of joy, Who, with the sunshine of the bowl, Thaws the winter of our soul ‘—— 1 Iny leaves my brow entwining, &c.] "The ivy was consecrated to Bacchus (says Montfaueon), because he formerly lay hid under that tree, or, as others will have it, because its leaves resemble those of the vine." Other reasons for its consecration, and the use of it in garlands at banquets, may be found in Longepierre, Barnes, &c. &c. Armye, arm ye, men of might, Hasen to the sanguine fight;] I have adopted the interpretation of Regnier and others: Altri segua Marte fero; Che sol Bacco è 'l mio conforto. 3 This, the preceding ode, and a few more of the same character, are merely chansons à boire ;- the effusions probably of the moment of conviviality, and afterwards sung, we may imagine, with rapture throughout Greece. But that interesting association, by which they ways recalled the convivial emotions that produced them, can now be Little felt even by the most enthusiastic reader; and much less by a phlegmatic grammarian, who sees nothing in them but dialects and particies. • Who, with the sunshine of the bowl, Thats the winter of our soul- &c.] Avasec is the title which he rives to Bacchus in the original. It is a curious circumstance that Plutarch mistook the name of Levi among the Jews for Aev (one of the bacchanal cries), and accordingly supposed that they worshipped Bacchus. Faber thinks this Ode spurious; but, I believe, he is singular in his opinion. It has all the spirit of our author. Like the wreath which he presented in the dream," it smells of Anacreon." The form of the original is remarkable. It is a kind of song of seven quatrain stanzas, each beginning with the line "Οτ' εγω πια τον οίνον. The first stanza alone is incomplete, consisting but of three lines. "Compare with this poem (says Degen) the verses of Hagedorn, lib. v., der Wein,' where that divine poet has wantoned in the praises of wine." 6 When wine I quaff, before my eyes Dreams of poetic glory rise;] "Anacreon is not the only one (says Longepierre) whom wine has inspired with poetry." We find an epigram in the first book of the Anthologia, which begins thus:Οίνος του χαριεντι μέγας πελει ίππος αοιδῳ, Υδωρ δε πινων, καλον ου τεκούς επος, If with water you fill up your glasses, ↑ And while we dance through vernal bowers. &c.] If some of the translators had observed Doctor Trapp's caution, with regard to wodvavdeow μ" ev avpaiç, “Cave ne cœlum intelligas," they would not have spoiled the simplicity of Anacreon's fancy by such extravagant conceptions as the following: Quand je bois, mon œil s'imagine Que, dans un tourbillon plein de parfums divers Bacchus m'emporte dans les airs, Rempli de sa liqueur divine. Or this: Indi mi mena Mentre lieto ebro, deliro, Baccho in giro Per la vaga aura serena. The lately ruffled wreath I spread That none but social spirits know, When, with young revellers, round the bowl ODE LI.2 FLY not thus my brow of snow, Though the wane of age is mine, 1 When, with young revellers, round the bowl, The old themselves grow young in soul!] Subjoined to Gail's edition of Anacreon, we find some curious letters upon the Lagos of the ancients, which appeared in the French Journals. At the opening of the Odeon in Paris, the managers of that spectacle requested Professor Gail to give them some uncommon name for their fêtes. He suggested the word "Thiase," which was adopted; but the literati of Paris questioned the propriety of the term, and addressed their criticisms to Gail through the medium of the public prints. 2 Alberti has imitated this ode; and Capilupus, in the following epigram, has given a version of it: Cur, Lalage, mea vita, meos contemnis amores? Oh! why repel my soul's impassion'd vow, See the rich garland cull'd in vernal weather, 3 See, in yonder flowery braid, Cull'd for thee, my blushing maid!] "In the same manner that Anacreon pleads for the whiteness of his locks, from the beauty of the colour in garlands, a shepherd, in Theocritus, endeavours to recommend his black hair: Και το τον μελαν εστι, καὶ ὁ γραπτα υακινθος, Still I'm doom'd to sigh for thee, ODE LII.1 AWAY, away, ye men of rules, They'd make me learn, they'd make me think, Fly, and cool my goblet's glow 4 "This is doubtless the work of a more modern poet than Anscreon; for at the period when he lived rhetoricians were not known." -Degen. Though this ode is found in the Vatican manuscript, I am much inclined to agree in this argument against its authenticity; for though the dawnings of the art of rhetoric might already have ap peared, the first who gave it any celebrity was Corax of Syracuse, and he flourished in the century after Anacreon. Our poet anticipated the ideas of Epicurus, in his aversion to the labours of learning, as well as his devotion to voluptuousness. Πάσαν παδειαν μακαριοι φεύγετε, said the philosopher of the garden it a letter to Pythocles. 5 Teach me this, and let me twine Some fond, responsive heart to mine.] By xoven; Adpečerne here, I understand some beautiful girl, in the same manner that he is often used for wine. "Golden" is frequently an epithet of beauty. Thus in Virgil, "Venus aures;" and in Propertius, "Cynthis aurea." Tibullus, however, calls an old woman" golden.” The translation d'Autori Anonimi, as usual, wantons on this passage of Anacreon: E m' insegni con pin rare Il bel cinto d' onestade. 6 And there's an end—for ah, you know They drink but little wine below! Thus Mainard:- Nous ont enfermés une fois Ma science ne trouve pas Des cabarets en l'autre monde. From Mainard, Gombauld, and De Cailly, old French poets, sme of the best epigrams of the English language have been borrowed. ODE LIII. WHEN I behold the festive train And wings me lightly through the dance. Cull the flower and twine the braid; Burn upon my forehead's snows;' Bid the bish of summer's rose Burn upon my forehead's snows; &c.] Licetus, in his Hiero, quoting two of our poet's odes, where he calls to his attendants for garlands, remarks," Constat igitur floreas coronas poetis et potantibus in symposio convenire, non autem sapientibus et philochiam affectantibus.""It appears that wreaths of flowers were adapted for poets and revellers at banquets, but by no means became te who had pretensions to wisdom and philosophy." on this Principle, in his 152nd chapter, he discovers a refinement in Virgil, Gerbing the garland of the poet Silenus, as fallen off; which distinguishes, he thinks, the divine intoxication of Silenus from that ef common drunkards, who always wear their crowns while they drink. Such is the "labor ineptiarum" of commentators! He still can kiss the goblet's brim; &c.] Wine is prescribed by Gen, as an excellent medicine for old men; "Quod frigidos et humoribus expletos calefaciat, &c.;" but Nature was Anacreon's There is a proverb in Eriphus, as quoted by Athenæus, which says, "that wine makes an old man dance, whether he will or not." Λόγος εστ' αρχαίος, ου κακώς έχων, 1" This ode is written upon a picture which represented the rape of Europa."-Madame Dacier. It may probably have been a description of one of those coins, which the Sidonians struck off in honour of Europa, representing a an carried across the sea by a bull. Thus Natalis Comes, lib. vis. cap. 23. "Sidonii numismata cum fœmina tauri dorso insidente mare transfretante cuderunt in ejus honorem." In the little treatise upon the goddess of Syria, attributed very falsely to Lucian, there is mention of this coin, and of a temple dedicated by the SiGrans to Astart, whom some, it appears, confounded with Europa. The poet Moschus has left a very beautiful idyl on the story of Europa. • No: he descenda from climes above, He looks the God, he breathes of Jove! Thus Moschus:- ODE LIV.3 METHINKS, the pictur'd bull we see He looks the God, he breathes of Jove!' ODE LV.5 WHILE we invoke the wreathed spring, 5 This ode is a brilliant panegyric on the rose. "All antiquity (says Barnes) has produced nothing more beautiful." From the idea of peculiar excellence, which the ancients attached to this flower, arose a pretty proverbial expression, used by Arigtophanes, according to Suidas, poða „' cipneas, “You have spoken roses," a phrase somewhat similar to the "dire des fleurettes" of the French. In the same idea of excellence originated, I doubt not, a very curious application of the word sodov, for which the inquisitive reader may consult Gaulminus upon the epithalamium of our poet, where it is introduced in the romance of Theodorus. Muretus, in one of his elegies, calls his mistress his rose: Jam te igitur rursus teneo, formosula, jam te Eleg. 8. This, like most of the terms of endearment in the modern Latin poets, is taken from Plautus; they were vulgar and colloquial in his time, but are among the elegancies of the modern Latinists. Passeratius alludes to the ode before us, in the beginning of his poem on the Rose: Carmine digna rosa est; vellem caneretur ut illam 6 Resplendent rose! to thee we'll sing:] I have passed over the line συν εταιρει αύξει μέλπην, which is corrupt in this original reading, and has been very little improved by the annotators. I should suppose it to be an interpolation, if it were not for a line which occurs afterwards: φερε δη φυσιν λέγωμεν. 7 And Venus, in its fresh-blown leaves, &c.] Belleau, in a note upon an old French poet, quoting the original here aḍpodioiwv ↑ abupua, translates it," comme les délices et mignardises de Venus." 8 Oft hath the poet's magic tongue The rose's fair luxuriance sung; &c.] The following is a fragment of the Lesbian poetess. It is cited in the romance of Achilles Tatius, who appears to have resolved the numbers into prose. El tuss ανθεσιν ήθελεν ὁ Ζευς επιθείναι βασιλέα, το ρόδον αν των ανθέων εβασίλευε. γης εστί κόσμος, φυτών αγλάισμα, οφθαλμος ανθέων, λείμωνος ερυθημα, κάλλος And long the Muses, heavenly maids, When revel reigns, when mirth is high, And fill with balm the fainting gale. The rose distils a healing balm, αστραπτου. Έρωτος πνει, Αφροδίτην προξενεί, ευειδεσι φύλλοις κομα, ευκινη τοις πεταλοις τρυφα, το πεταλον τῷ Ζεφυρῳ γελά. If Jove would give the leafy bowers 1 When morning paints the orient skies, Her fingers burn with roseate dyes; &c.] In the original here, he enumerates the many epithets of beauty, borrowed from roses, which were used by the poets, wapa rav σogov. We see that poets were dignified in Greece with the title of sages: even the careless Anacreon, who lived but for love and voluptuousness, was called by Plato the wise Anacreon-"fuit hæc sapientia quondam." 2 Preserves the cold inurned clay, &c.] He here alludes to the use of the rose in embalming; and, perhaps (as Barnes thinks), to the rosy unguent with which Venus anointed the corpse of Hector. Homer's, Iliad, . It may likewise regard the ancient practice of putting garlands of roses on the dead, as in Statius, Theb. lib. x. 782. hi sertis, hi veris honore soluto Accumulant artus, patriaque in sede reponunt Where "veris honor," though it mean every kind of flowers, may seem more particularly to refer to the rose, which our poet in another ode calls tapos menua. We read, in the Hieroglyphics of Pierius, lib. lv. that some of the ancients used to order in their wills, that roses should be annually scattered on their tombs, and Pierius has adduced some sepulchral inscriptions to this purpose. 3 And mocks the vestige of decay:] When he says that this flower Preserves the cold inurned clay,2 Oh! whence could such a plant have sprung? prevails over time itself, he still alludes to its efficacy in embalment (tenera poneret ossa rosa. Propert. lib. i. eleg. 17.), or perhaps to the subsequent idea of its fragrance surviving its beauty: for he can scarcely mean to praise for duration the "nimium breves flores" of the rose. Philostratus compares this flower with love, and says, that they both defy the influence of time; Xpoor be our Epart, cute doda videv. Unfortunately the similitude lies not in their duration, but their transience. 4 Sweet as in youth, its balmy breath Diffuses odour even in death!] Thus Casper Barlaus, in his Ritus Nuptiarum : Ambrosium late rosa tunc quoque spargit odorem, Nor then the rose its odour loses, 5 With nectar drops, a ruby tide, The sweetly orient buds they dyed, &c.] The author of the "Pervigilium Veneris" (a poem attributed to Catullus, the style of which appears to me to have all the laboured luxuriance of a much later period) ascribes the tincture of the rose to the blood from the wound of Adonis Fuse aprino de cruore according to the emendation of Lipsius. In the following epigram this hue is differently accounted for : Illa quidam studiosa suum defendere Adonin While the enamour'd queen of joy On whom the jealous war-god rushes, And while the wound with crimson flows, |