means uncongenial with that language.' The Anacreontics of Scaliger, however, scarcely deserve the name; as they glitter all over with conceits, and, though often elegant, are always labored. The beautiful fictions of Angerianus preserve more happily than any others the delicate turn of those allegorical fables, which, passing so frequently through the mediums of version and imitation, have generally lost their finest rays in the transmission. Many of the Italian poets have indulged their fancies upon the subjects, and in the manner of Anacreon. Bernardo Tasso first introduced the metre, which was afterwards polished and enriched by Chabriera and others.3 To judge by the references of Degen, the German language abounds in Anacreontic imitations; and Hagedorn is one among many who have assumed him as a model. La Farre, Chaulieu, and the other light poets of France, have also professed to cultivate the muse of Téos; but they have attained all her negligence with little of the simple grace that embellishes it. In the delicate bard of Schiras we find the kindred spirit of Anacreon: some of his gazelles, or songs, possess all the character of our poet. We come now to a retrospect of the editions of Anacreon. To Henry Stephen we are indebted for having first recovered his remains from the obscurity in which, so singularly, they had for many ages reposed. He found the seventh ode, as we are told, on the cover of an old book, and communicated it to Victorius, who mentions the circumstance in his "Various Readings." Stephen was then very young; and this discovery was considered by some critics of that day as a literary imposition. In 1554, however, he gave Anacreon to the world,' accompanied with annotations and a Latin version of the greater part of the odes. The learned still hesitated to receive them as the relics of the Teian bard, and suspected them to be the fabrication of some monks of the sixteenth century. This was an idea from which the classic muse recoiled; and the Vatican manuscript, consulted by Scaliger and Salmasius, confirmed the antiquity of most of the poems. A very inaccurate copy of this MS. was taken by Isaac Vossius, and this is the authority which Barnes has followed in his collation. Accordingly he misrepresents almost as often as he quotes; and the subsequent editors, relying upon his authority, have spoken of the manuscript with not less confidence than ignorance. The literary world, however, bas at length been gratified with this curious memorial s the poet, by the industry of the Abbé Spaletti, who published at Rome, in 1781, a fac-simile of those pages of the Vatican manuscript which contained the odes of Anacreon. A catalogue has been given by Gail of all the different editions and translations of Anacreon. Finding their number to be much greater than I could possibly have had an opportunity of consulting, I shall here content myself with enumerating only those editions and versions which it has been in my power to collect; and which, though very few, are, I believe, the most important. The edition by Henry Stephen, 1554, at Paris— the Latin version is attributed by Colomesius to John Dorat. The old French translations, by Ronsard and Belleau-the former published in 1555, the latter in 1556. It appears from a note of Muretus upon one of the sonnets of Ronsard, that Henry Stephen com Thus too Albertus, a Danish poet:- Fidii t ninister Litare thure mulso; Gaudebo semper illum Laudare pumilillis See the Danish Poets collected by Rotsgaard. These pretty littlenesses defy translation. A beautiful Anacreontic by Hugo Grotius, may be found Lib. i. Farraginis. • To Angerianus Prior is indebted for some of his happies! mythological subjects. 1 See Crescimbeni, Historia della Volg. Poes. 4 "L'aimable Hagedorn vaut quelquefois Anacréon."Derat, Idée de la Poësie Allemande. * See Toderini on the learning of the Turks, as translated by de Cournard. Prince Cantemir has made the Russians acquainted with Anacreon. See his Life, prefixed to a translation of his Satires, by the Abbé de Guasco, • Robortellus, in his work "De Ratione corrigendi," prosonaces these verses to be the triflings of some insipid Græcist. 8 This manuscript, which Spaletti thinks as old as the tenth century, was brought from the Palatine into the Vatican library; it is a kind of anthology of Greek epigrams, and in the 676th page of it are found the 'Happßia Evμmoσiaka of Anacreon. "Le même (M. Vossius) m'a dit qu'il avoit possédé un Anacreon, où Scaliger avoit marqué de sa main, qu'Henri Etienne n'étoit pas l'auteur de la version Latine des odes de ce poëte, mais Jean Dorat."-Paulus Colomesius, Particularités. Colomesius, however, seems to have relied too implicitly on Vossius-almost all these Particularités begin with "M. Vossius m'a dit." municated to this poet his manuscript of Anacreon, before he promulgated it to the world.' The edition by Le Fevre, 1660. The edition by Madame Dacier, 1681, with a prose translation.2 The edition by Longepierre, 1684, with a translation in verse. The edition by Baxter; London, 1695. A French translation by la Fosse, 1704. "L'Histoire des Odes d'Anacreon," by Gaçon; Rotterdam, 1712. A translation in English verse, by several hands, 1713, in which the odes by Cowley are inserted. The edition by Barnes; London, 1721. The edition by Dr. Trapp, 1733, with a Latin version in elegiac metre. A translation in English verse, by John Addison, 1735. A collection of Italian translations of Anacreon, published at Venice, 1736, consisting of those by Corsini, Regnier, Salvini, Marchetti, and one by several anonymous authors." A translation in English verse, by Fawkes and Doctor Broome, 1760.* Another, anonymous, 1768. The edition by Spaletti, at Rome, 1781; with the fac-simile of the Vatican MS. The edition by Degen, 1786, who published also a German translation of Anacreon, esteemed the best. A translation in English verse, by Urquhart, 1787. 1 "La fiction de ce sonnet, comme l'auteur même m'a dit, est prise d'une ode d'Anacréon, encore non imprimée, qu'il❘ a depuis traduit, Συ μεν φιλη χελίδων.” 2 The author of Nouvelles de la Répub. des Lett. bestows on this translation much more praise than its merits appear | to me to justify. 3 The notes of Regnier are not inserted in this edition; but they must be interesting, as they were for the most part communicated by the ingenious Menage, who, we may perceive, from a passage in the Menagiana, bestowed some research on the subject. "C'est aussi lui (M. Bigot) qui s'est donné la peine de conférer des manuscrits en Italie dans le tems que je travaillois sur Anacréon.”—Menagiana, seconde partie. 4 I find in Haym's Notizia de' Libri rari, Venice, 1670, an Italian translation by Cappone, mentioned. 5 This is the most complete of the English translations. This ode is the first of the series in the Vatican manuscript, which attributes it to no other poet than Anacreon. They who assert that the manuscript imputes it to Basilius, have been misled by the words Του αυτού βασιλικώς in the margin, which are merely intended as a title to the following ode. Whether it be the production of Anacreon or not, it has all the features of ancient simplicity, and is a beautiful imitation of the poet's happiest manner. Sparkled in his eyes of fire, Through the mist of soft desire.] "How could he know The edition by Gail, at Paris, 1799, with translation. ODES OF ANACREON." JDE I. I SAW the smiling bard of pleasure, at the first look (says Baxter) that the poet was There are surely many tell-tales of this propensity following are the indices, which the physiognom describing a disposition perhaps not unlike that of A Οφθαλμοι κλυζόμενοι, κυμαινοντες εν αύτοις, εις αφρ ευπάθειαν επτοηνται ούτε δε αδικοι, ούτε κακουρ voews pavλns, ovre aμovooi.—Adamantius. that are humid and fluctuating show a propensity t and love; they bespeak too a mind of integrity a cence, a generosity of disposition, and a genius for Baptista Porta tells us some strange opinions o cient physiognomists on this subject, their reasons were curious, and perhaps not altogether fancif Physiognom. Johan. Baptist. Porta. 8 I took the wreath, whose inmost twine Breathed of him, &c.] Philostratus has the sam in one of his Eprika, where he speaks of the garla he had sent to his mistress. Ει δε βούλει τι φιλα θαι,τα λείψανα αντιπέμψον, μηκετι πνεοντα ῥόδων με και σου. "If thou art inclined to gratify thy lover, back the remains of the garland, no longer breathin only, but of thee!" Which pretty conceit is bor the author of the Observer remarks) in a well-kn song of Ben Jonson's: "But thou thereon didst only breathe Since when it looks and smells, I swea I hung it o'er my thoughtless brow ODE II. GIVE me the harp of epic song, And when the cluster's mellowing dews Flashing around such sparks of thought, As Bacchus could alone have taught. Then, give the harp of epic song, Which Homer's finger thrill'd along; But tear away the sanguine string, For war is not the theme I sing. ODE III.3 LITEN to the Muse's lyre, Sketch'd in painting's bold display, 1 And ah! I feel its magic now :] This idea, as Longepierre remarks, occurs in an epigram of the seventh book of the Anthologia. Έξοτε μοι πίνοντι συνεσταουσα Χαρικλώ While I unconscious quaff'd my wine, Which since has madden'd all my soul. * Proclaim the laws of festal rite.] The ancients prescribed cerata laws of drinking at their festivals, for an account of which see the commentators. Anacreon here acts the symarch, or master of the festival. I have translated accordto three who consider væ¿Àλa Sεopov as an inversion of δημος κυπελλων. La Fosse has thought proper to lengthen this poem by VULCAN! hear your glorious task; I do not from your labors ask I care not for the glitt'ring wain, Its blushing tendrils round the bowl, And flights of Loves, in wanton play, Wing through the air their winding way; While Venus from her harbor green, Looks laughing at the joyous scene, considerable interpolations of his own, which he thinks are indispensably necessary to the completion of the description. 4 This ode, Aulus Gellius tells us, was performed at an entertainment where he was present. While many a rose-lipp'd bacchant maid, &c.] I have availed myself here of the additional lines given in the Vatican manuscript, which have not been accurately inserted in any of the ordinary editions: Ποιησον αμπελους μοι ODE V.1 SCULPTOR, wouldst thou glad my soul, Themes of heav'n and themes of love. Let Love be there, without his arms," Vegnan li vaghi Amori Senza fiammelle, ò strali, A train of naked Cupids came, And thus in the Pervigilium Veneris : Ite nymphæ, posuit arma, feriatus est amor. But ah! if there Apollo toys, 1 tremble for the rosy boys.] An allusion to the fable, that Apollo had killed his beloved boy Hyacinth, while playing with him at quoits. "This (says M. La Fosse) is assuredly the sense of the text, and it cannot admit of any other." The Italian translators, to save themselves the trouble of a note, have taken the liberty of making Anacreon himself explain this fable. Thus Salvini, the most literal of any of them : Ma con lor non giuochi Apollo; Che in fiero risco Col duro disco A Giacinto fiaccò il collo. 4 This beautiful fiction, which the commentators have attributed to Julian, a royal poet, the Vatican MS. pronounces to be the genuine offspring of Anacreon. It has, indeed, all the features of the parent: While rosy boys disporting round, ODE VI.4 As late I sought the spangled bower et facile insciis Noscitetur ab omnibus. Where many an early rose was weeping, 1 found the urchin Cupid sleeping.] This id imitated in the following epigram by Andreas Florentes dum forte vagans mea Hyella p As fair Hyella, through the bloomy grove Mentre raccoglie hor uno, hor altro ODE VII.1 THE women tell me every day That all my bloom has pass'd away. Behold," the pretty wantons cry, "Behold this mirror with a sigh; The locks upon thy brow are few, And, like the rest, they're withering too!" But oh! be mine the rosy wreath, With mantling cup and cordial smile; For Death may come, with brow unpleasant, ODE VIII.4 I CARE not for the idle state Of Persia's king, the rich, the great: I envy not the monarch's throne, 1 Alberti has imitated this ode in a poem, beginning Nisa mi dice e Clori Tirsi, tu se' pur veglio. Whether decline has thinn'd my hair, I'm sure I neither know nor care;] Henry Stephen very jastly remarks the elegant negligence of expression in the original here: Εγω δε τας κόμας μεν, Ειτ εισιν, είτ' απήλθον, Ουκ οίδα. And Longepierre has adduced from Catullus, 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 be has selected is a specimen of a carelessness not very commendable. 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 mere vulgar Dicentiousness. "That still as death approaches nearer, The joys of life are sweeter, dearer ;] Pontanus has a very delicate thought upon the subject of old age: Quid rides, Matrona? senem quid temnis amantem? Why do you scorn my want of youth, That he who loves cannot be old. "The German poet Lessing has imitated this ode. Vol. p. 24" Degen. Gail de Editionibus. Barter conjectures that this was written upon the occasion of our poet's returning the money to Polycrates, according to the anecdote in Stobæus. ⚫ Itare not for the idle state Of Persia's king, &c.] "There is a fragment of Archilodin Plutarch, De tranquillitate animi,' which our poet has very closely imitated here; it begins, ψυχην εμην ερωτω, Be mine the rich perfumes that flow, To cool and scent my locks of snow.] In the original, pvpotσε καταβρέχειν ύπηνην. On account of this idea of perfuming the beard, Cornelius de Pauw pronounces the whole ode to be the spurious production of some lascivious monk, who was nursing his beard with unguents. But he should have known, that this was an ancient eastern custom, which, if we may believe Savary, still exists: "Vous voyez, Monsieur, (says this traveller,) que l'usage antique de se parfumer la tête et la barbe,* célébré par le prophète Roi, subsiste encore de nos jours." Lettre 12. Savary likewise cites this very ode of Anacreon. Angerianus has not thought the idea inconsistent, having introduced it in the following lines: Hæc mihi cura, rosis et cingere tempora myrto, Et curas multo delapidare mero. Hæc mihi cura, comas et barbam tingere succo This be my care, to wreathe my brow with flowers, 7 The poet is here in a phrensy of enjoyment, and it is, indeed, "amabilis insania;" Furor di poesia, Di lascivia, e di vino, Triplicato furore, Baccho, Apollo, et Amore. Ritratti del Cavalier Marino. This is truly, as Scaliger expresses it, -Insanire dulce Et sapidum furere furorem "Sicut unguentum in capite quod descendit in barbam Aaronia, Pseaume cxxxiii." |