And fresh inhale the spicy sighs That from the weeping buds arise. When revel reigns, when mirth is high, And Bacchus beams in every eye, Our rosy fillets scent exhale, And fill with balm the fainting gale. There's naught in nature bright or gay, Where roses do not shed their ray. When morning paints the orient skies, Her fingers burn with roseate dyes ;' Young nymphs betray the rose's huo, O'er whitest arms it kindles through. In Cytherea's form it glows, And mingles with the living snows. When, humid, from the silvery stream, The rose distils a healing balm, The beating pulse of pain to calm; Preserves the cold inurned clay," And mocks the vestige of decay:' An when, at length, in pale decline, Its florid beauties fade and pine, Sweet as in youth, its balmy breath Diffuses odor even in death !* Oh! whence could such a plant havo sprung? Listen,- for thus the tale is sung. ODE LVI.6 He, who instructs the youthful crew To bathe them in the brimmer's dew, * Wher 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, mapa twv dobuv. We see that poets were dignified in Greece with the title of sages: even the careless Anacreon, who lived but for love and volaptuousness, was called by Plato the wise Anacreon fait bæc sapientia quondam.". * 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 y. It may likewise regard the ancient practice of putting garlands of roses on the dead, as in Statins, Theb. lib. x. 762. -hi sertis, a veris honore soluto Accumulant artus, patriâque in sede reponunt Corpus odoratam. Where * veris honor," though it mean every kind of fiowers, may seem more particularly to refer to the rose, which our poet in another ode calls éapos usinua. We read, in the Hieroglyphics of Pierius, lib. Iv., 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 seprehral inscriptions to this purpose. • And mocks the restige of decay :) When he says that this flower prevails over time itself, he still alludes to its efficacy in embalmment, (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 daration the "nimium breves flores" of the rose. Philostratus compares this flower with love, and says, that they both defy the influence of time ; xpovov će ovre Epws, 2011 laća créer. Unfortunately the similitude lies not in their duration, but their transience. * Sweet es in youth, its balmy breath Difuses odor even in death!) Thus Casper Barlæus, in is Eiras Naptiarum : Ambrosium late rosa tunc quoque spargit odorem, When all its flushing beauties die; When wither'd by the solar eye. 6 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 labored luxuriance of a much later period) ascribes the tincture of the rose to the blood from the wound of Adonis rosa Fusæ aprino de cruoreaccording to the emendation of Lipsius. In the following epigram this hue is differently accounted for : Illa quidem studiosa suum defendere Adonim, Gradivus stricto quem petit ense ferox, Albaque divino picta cruore rosa est. On whom the jealous war-god rashes; The snowy flow'ret feels her blood, and blushes: o "Compare with this elegant ode the verses of Uz, lib. i. die Weinlese.'"-Degen. This appears to be one of the hymns which were sung at the anniversary festival of the vintage ; one of the rinviot óvor, as our poet himself terms them in the fifty-ninth ode. We cannot help feeling a sort of reverence for these classic relics of the religion of antiquity. Horace may be supposed to have written the nineteenth ode of his second book, and the twenty-firth of the third, for some bacchanalian celebration of this kind. And taste, uncloy'd by rich excesses, As aught on earthly wing can fly, nous form Then, when the ripe and vermil wine, Light as the leaf, that on the breeze ODE LVII.' Whose was the artist hand that spread Beneath their queen's inspiring glance, i Which, sparkling in the cup of mirth, And all that mystery loves to screen, Illuminate the sons of earth!] In the original torov Fancy, like Faith, adores unseen, &c.] The pict αστoνoν κυμιζων. Μadaine Dacier thinks that the poet here has all the delicate character of the semi-reduct: had the nepenthé of Homer in his mind. Odyssey, lib. iv. and affords a happy specimen of what the poetry of Th's nepenthe was a something of exquisite charm, infused ought to be-glowing but through a veil, and steali by Helen into the wine of her guests, which had the power the heart from concealment. Few of the ancier of dispelling every anxiety. A French writer, De Mere, attained this modesty of description, which, like th conjectures that this spell, which made the bowl so be cloud that hung over Jupiter and Juno, is imper guiling, was the charm of Helen's conversation. See Bayle, every beam but that of fancy. art. Heléne. 6 Her bosom, like the dew-wash'd rose, &c.] ? This ode is a very animated description of a picture of (says an anonymous annotator) is a whimsical ep Venus on a discus, which represented the goddess in her the bosom." Neither Catullus nor Gray have bee first emergence from the waves. About two centuries after opinion. The former has the expression, our poet wrote, the pencil of the artist Apelles embellished En hic in roseis latet pa pillis ; this subject, in his famous painting of the Venus Anadyo And the latter, mené, the model of which, as Pliny informs us, was the beautiful Campaspe, given to him by Alexander; though, Lo! where the rosy-bosom u pours, &c. according to Natalis Comes, lib. vii. cap. 16, it was Phryne Crottus, a modern Lativist, might indeed be cens who sat to Apelles for the face and breast of this Venus. too vague a use of the epithet “rosy," when he a There are a few blemishes in the reading of the ode be to the eyes :-"e roseis oculis." fore us, which have influenced Faber, Heyne, Brunck, &c. -young Desire, &c.] In the original to denounce the whole poem as spurious. But, “non ego who was the same deity with Jocus among the paucis offendar maculis." I think it is quite beautiful Aurelius Augurellus has a poem beginningenough to be authentic. Invitat olim Bacchus ad cænam suos 3 Whose was the artist hand that spread Comon, Jocuim, Cupidinem. Upon this disk the ocean's bed?) The abruptness of apa Which Parnell has closely imitated :TIS TOPEVOs hovTUV is finely expressive of sudden admiration, Gay Bacchus, liking Estcourt's wine, and is one of those beauties which we cannot but admire in A noble meal bespoke us; their source, though, by frequent imitation, they are now And for the guests that were to dine, become familiar and unimpressive. Brought Comus, Love, and Jocus, &c. 6 of the infidelity of his mistress, Lesbia: While, glittering through the silver waves, Away, deceiver! why pursuing Ceaseless thus my heart's undoing ? Sweet is the song of amorous fire, Sweet the sighs that thrill the lyre ; They wither'd Love's young wreathed smiles ; And o'er his lyre such darkness shed, I thought its soul of song was fled ! They dash'd the wine-cup, that, by him, Was fill'd with kisses to the brim." Go-fly to haunts of sordid men, But come not near the bard again. Thy glitter in the Muse's shade, Scares from her bower the tuneful maia; And not for worlds would I forego That moment of poetic glow, When my full soul, in Fancy's stream, Pours o'er the lyre its swelling theme. Away, away! to worldlings henco, Who feel not this disiner sense ; Give gold to those who love that pest,- But leave the poet poor and blest. RIPEN'd by the solar beam, Now the ruddy clusters teem, In osier baskets borne along By all the festal vintage throng I have followed Barnes's arrangement of this ode, which, Si sic omnia dixisset!--but the rest does not bear citathough deviating somewhat from the Vatican MS., appears tion. to me the more natural order. • They dash'd the wine-cup, that, by him, Was fill'd with kisses to the brim.) Original:- Φιληματων δε κεόνων, * Madame Dacier has already remarned; for Chrysos, which Πυθων κυπελλα κιρνης. . Bonifies gold, was also a frequent name for a slave. In one Horace has “Desiderique temperare poculum," not figuof Lacian's dialogues, there is, I think, a similar play upon ratively, however, like Anacreon, but importing the lovethe word, where the followers of Chrysippus are called philtres of the witches. By“ cups of kisses” our poet may Båden fishes. The puns of the ancients are, in general , allude to a favorite gallantry among the ancients, of drinkeven more vapid than our own; some of the best are those ing when the lips of their mistresses had touched the brim : " Or leave a kiss within the cup, And fies mae, (as he flies me ever,) &c.] Acc d', acı ve pev And I'll not ask for wine." yet . This grace of iteration has already been taken notice of Though sometimes merely a playful beauty, it is pecu As in Ben Jonson's translation from Philostratus; and Lularly expressive of impassioned sentiment, and we may cian has a conceit upon the same idea, «Ινα και πινης άμα easily believe that it was one of the many sources of that kat didns," " that you may at once both drink and kiss." energetie sensibility which breathed through the style of Sappho. See Gyrald. Vet. Poet. Dial. 9. It will not be 6 The title Envios úuvos, which Barnes has given to this eeld that this is a mechanical ornament by any one who can ode, is by no means appropriate. We have already had one els charm in those lines of Catullus , where he complains cage ; and the title eis oivov, which it bears in the Vatican of those hymns, (ode 56,) but this is a description of the vin MS., is more correct than any that have been suggested. Cæli, Lesbia nostra, Lesbia illa, Degen, in the true spirit of literary skepticism, doubts that Ilta Lesbia, quam Catullus unam, this ode is genuine, without assigning any reason for such a Plus quam se atque suos amavit omnes, suspicion ;-"non amo te, Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare." But this is far from being satisfactory criticism. ODE LIX.5 recorded of Diogenes. Nunc, &c. Which, tremblingly, my lips repeat, Send echoes from thy chord as sweet. 'Tis thus the swan, with fading notes, Down the Cayster's current floats, While amorous breezes linger round, And sigh responsive sound for sound. Muse of the Lyre ! illume my dream, Thy Phæbus is my fancy's theme; And hallow'd is the harp I bear, And hallow'd is the wreath I wear, Hallow'd by him, the god of lays, Who modulates the choral maze. I sing the love which Daphne twined Around the godhead's yielding mind; I sing the blushing Daphne's flight From this ethereal son of Light; And how the tender, timid maid Flew trembling to the kindly shade," Resign'd a form, alas, too fair, And grew a verdant laurel there; Whose leaves, with sympathetic thrill, In terror seem'd to tremble still ! The god pursued, with wing'd desire; And when his hopes were all on firo, And when to clasp tre nymph he thought, A lifeless tree was all he caught; And, stead of sighs that pleasure heaves, Heard but the west-wind in the leaves ! But, pause, my soul, no more, no mora Enthusiast, whither do I soar? This sweetly-madd’ning dream of soul Hath hurried me beyond the goal. Why should I sing the mighty darts Which fly to wound celestial hearts, When ah, the song, with sweeter tone, Can tell the darts that wound my own? Still bo Anacreon, still inspire The descant of the Teian lyre : Of rosy youths and virgins fair, When he, whose verging years decline ODE LX." Awake to life, my sleeping shell, i Those well acquainted with the original nced hardly be reminded that, in these few concluding verses, I have thought right to give only the general meaning of my author, leaving the details untouched. ? This hynın to Apollo is supposed not to have been written by Anacreon; and it is undoubtedly rather a sublimer flight than the Teiap wing is accustomed to soar. But, in a poet of whose works so small a proportion has reached us. diversity of style is by no means a safe criterion. If we knew Horace but as a satirist, should we easily believe there could dwell such animation in his lyre? Suidas says that our poet wrote hymns, and this perhaps is one of them. We can perceive in what an altered and imperfect state his works are at present, when we find a scholiast upon Horace citing an ode from the third book of Anacreon. 3 And how the tender, timid maid Flew trembling to the kindly shade, &c.] Original : Το μεν εκπεφευγε κεντρον, , φυσεως δ' αμειψε μορφην. I find the word Kevt pov here has a double force, &: signifies that "omnium parentem, quam sanctus Nu &c." (See Martial.) In order to confirm this impor word here, those who are curious in new reading place the stop after ovocws, thus: Το μεν εκπεφευγε κεντρον Φυσεως, δ' αμειψε μορφην. 4 Still be Anacreon, still inspire The descant of the Teian lyre :) The original is? ακρεοντα μιμου. I have translated it under the sup that the hymn is by Anacreon; though, I fear, în very line, that his claim to it can scarcely be support Tov Avarpcovta muov," Imitate Anacreon." Suc lesson given us by the lyrist; and if, in poetry, a sim gance of sentiment, enriched by the most playful feii Still let the nectar'd numbers float, Time has shed its sweetest bloom, ODE LXII. ODE LXI. Fill mo, boy, as deep a draught, fabey, be a charm which invites or deserves imitation, where Singula de nobis anni prædantur euntes ; shall we find such a guide as Anacreon? In morality, too, Eripuere jocos, venerem, convivia, ludum. with some little reserve, we need not blush, I think, to follow The wing of every passing day in his footsteps. For, if his song be the language of his Withers some blooming joy away; heart, though luxurious and relaxed, he was artless and be And wafts from our enamor'd arms befolent; and who would not forgive a few irregularities, The banquet's mirth, the virgin's charms. when atoned for by virtues so rare and so endearing ? When we think of the sentiment in those lines : 4 Dreary is the thought of dying, &c.] Regnier, a libertine French poet, has written some sonnets on the approach of Away! I hate the sland'rous dart, death, full of gloomy and trembling repentance. Chaulien, Which steals to wound th' unwary heart, however, supports more consistently the spirit of the Epicuhow many are there in the world, to whom we would wish rean philosopher. See his poem, addressed to the Marquis to say, Τον Ανακρέοντα μιμου! de Lafare2 Here ends the last of the odes in the Vatican MS., whose Plus j'approche du terme et moins je le redoute, &o. suthority helps to confirm the genuine antiquity of them all, 6 And, when once the journey's o'er, though a few have stolen among the number, which we may Ah! we can return no more!) Scaliger, upon Catullus's besimte in attributing to Anacreon. In the little essay pre well-known lines, “Qui nunc it per iter, &c." remarks that fied to this translation, I observed that Barnes has quoted Acheron, with the same idea, is called avețodos by Theocrithis manuseript incorrectly, relying upon an imperfect copy tus, and dvoekopojos by Nicander. of it which Isaac Vossius had taken. I shall just mention * This ode consists of two fragments, which are to be found two or three instances of this inaccuracy-the first which occur to me. In the ode of the Dove, on the words II Tepoiol in Athenæus, book x., and which Barnes, from the similarity vyravo, he says, “ Vatican MS. ovokiagov, etiam Pris of their tendency, has combined into one. I think this a very caso invito :* but the MS. reads ovvka vw, with ovokiaOW justifiable liberty, and have adopted it in some other frag ments of our poet. Interlined. Degen too, on the same line, is somewhat in error. In the twenty-second ode of this series, line thir Degen refers us here to verses of Uz, lib. iv., “der Trinteenth, the Ms. has revin with an interlined, and Barnes imprebes to it the reading of revon. In the fifty-seventh, line 7 But let the water amply flow, twelfth, he professes to have preserved the reading of the To cool the grape's intemperate glow ; &c.] It was AmVS. Alalruern & Ex' avrn, while the latter has ada,nuevos phictyon who first taught the Greeks to mix water with their Tatra. Almost all the other annotators have trans wine; in commemoration of which circumstance they erectplanted these errors from Barnes. ed altars to Bacchus and the nymphs. On this mythological * The intrusion of this melancholy ode, among the careless allegory the following epigram is founded : levities of our poet, reminds us of the skeletons which the Ardentem ex utero Semeles lavêre Lyæum Egyptians used to hang up in their banquet-rooms, to incul Naiades, extincto fulminis igne sacri; cate a thought of mortality even amidst the dissipations of Cum nymphis igitur tractabilis, at sine nymphis wurth. If it were not for the beauty of its numbers, the Candenti rursus fulmine corripitur. Tean Muse should disown this ode. "Quid habet illius, PIERIUS VALERIANUI. las que spirabat amores ?” Which is, non verbum verbo, To Stobens we are indebted for it. While heavenly fire consumed his 'Theban dame, * Bloomy graces, dalliance gay, A Naiad caught young Bacchus from the flame, 4Xl the flowers of life decay.) Horace often, with feeling And dipp'd him burning in her purest lymph; und elegance, deplores the fugacity of human enjoyments. Hence, still he loves the Naiad's crystal urn, See book il. ode 11; and thus in the second epistle, book And when his native fires too fiercely burn, Seeks the cool waters of the fountain-nymph. ker." |
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