40

Be warn'd; let none the jolly god offend, Lest screr penalties the wretch attend; Let none behold his rites with eyes impure; Age is not safe, nor blooming youth secure. For me, the works of righteousness I love, And may I grateful to the righteous prove! For this is pleasing to almighty Jove. The pious blessings on their sons derive; But can the children of the impious thrive? Hail Bacchus, whom the ruler of the sky, Great Jove, enclos'd, and foster'd in his thigh! Hail, with thy sisters, Semele renown'd! Offsprings of Cadmus, with bright praises crown'd, In hymns of heroines: let none defame This act; from Bacchus the incentive came : 'Tis not for man the decds of deities to blame. 50

IDYLLIUM XXVII.

Is by the commentators generally attributed to Moschus, and therefore I may well be excused from translating it as a work of Theocritus. Were that not the case, it is of such a nature that it cannot be admitted into this volume: Scaliger, Casaubon, and Dan. Heinsius, have left more notes upon it in proportion, than upon any of the other Idylliums. Creech has done it into English, but the spirit is evaporated, and nothing remains but a caput mortuum. Dryden generally improves and expatiates upon any subject that is ludicrous, and therefore the tenour of his translation will be found very different. The last five lines in Greek, he has expanded into fourteen.

IDYLLIUM XXVIII. THE DISTAFF.

ARGUMENT.

Theocritus going to visit his friend Nicias, the Milesian physician, to whom he has addressed the 11th and 13th Idylliums, carries an ivory distaff as a present for Theugenis, his friend's wife, and accompanies it with these verses, in which he modestly commends the matron's industry and virtue.

O DISTAFF, friend to warp and woof,
Minerva's gift in man's behoof,
Whom careful housewives still retain,
And gather to their households gain;

Пevena, provou, which arising from the similarity of the words Tanpa and Hana, cannot be kept up in the translation.

45. Jove, enclos'd, &c.] Ovid mentions the same thing, Met. b. 3. 310.

Imperfectus adhuc infans genetricis ab alvo Eripitur, patrioque tener (si credere dignum) Insuitur femori, maternaque tempora complet. 46. Semele] She was the mother of Bacchus, and sister to Ino, Agavé, and Autonoe.

50. Tis not, &c.] There is a similar thought in Bion, Idyl. 6.

Κρίνειν εκ επέοικε θεμία έργα βροτοισι.

It ill becomes frail mortals to define
What's best and fittest of the works divine.
F.F.

With me repair, no vulgar prize,
Where the fam'd towers of Nileus rise,
Where Cytherea's swayful power
Is worshipp'd in the reedy bower.
Thither, would Jove kind breezes send,
I steer my course to meet my friend,
Nicias, the Graces, honour'd child,
Adorn'd with sweet persuasion mild;
That I his kindness may requite,
May be delighted, and delight.
Thee, ivory distaff, I provide,
A present for his blooming bride.
With her thou wilt sweet toil partake,
And aid her various vests to make.
For Theugenis, the shepherds shear
The sheep's soft fleeces twice a year.
So dearly industry she loves,
And all that wisdom points approves.
I ne'er design'd to bear thee hence
To the dull house of Indolence:
For in that city thou wert fram'd
Which Archias built, Corinthian fam'd,
Fair Syracuse, Sicilia's pride,
Where troops of famous men abide.
Dwell thou with him whose art can cure
Each dire disease that men endure;
Thee to Miletus now I give,
Where pleasure-crown'd Ionians live,
That Theugenis by thee may gain
Fair honour with the female train;,
And thou renew within her breast
Remembrance of her muse-charm'd guest.
Admiring thee each maid will call
The favour great, the present smail;
For love the smallest gift commends,
All things are valued by our friends.

IDYLLIUM XXIX. THE MISTRESS.

ARGUMENT.

10

20

30

40

This is an expostulation with his mistress for her inconstancy in love. In the original it is called Haidina: I have taken the liberty to make a

6. The towers of Nileus] That is, Miletus, a famous city of Ionia, lying south of the river Mæander on the sea-coast; it was founded, according to Strabo, by Nileus the son of Codrus, king of Athens, when he first settled in that part of Asia. See Universal History. The fine garments made of Milesian wool were in great esteem with the Roman ladies: Horace has, Mileti textam chlamydem, b. 1. ep. 17. and Virgil, Milesia vellera, Geor. 3.

25. In that city] Syracuse, once the metropolis of all Sicily, and a most flourishing commonwealth, was, according to Tully, the greatest and most wealthy of all the cities possessed by the Greeks. Thucydides equals it to Athens, when that city was at the height of its glory; and Strabo calls it one of the most famous cities of the world for its advantageous situation, the stateliness of its buildings, and the immense wealth of its inhabitants. It was built by Archias, one of the Heraclidæ, who came from Corinth into Sicily, in the second year of the eleventh Olympiad. Univ. Hist. 38. Inest sua gratia parvis.

change in the application of it, which renders it far more obvious and natural.

WINE, lovely maid, and truth agree;
I'm mellow-learn this truth from me;
And hear my secret thoughts; I find,
"You love me not with all your mind."
Your beauty life and vigour gives,
In you my half-existence lives,
The other half has sadly sped,
The other half, alas! is dead.
Whene'er you smile auspicious love,
I'm happy as the gods above;

Whene'er your frowns displeasure show,
I'm wretched as the fiends below.
Sure 'tis unmeet with cold disdain
To torture thus a love-sick swain:

But could my words your thoughts engage,
Experience is the boast of age,

Take counsel, and when crown'd with store
Of blessings, then you'l praise me more.
"Build in one tree a single nest,
Which no curst reptile can infest."
Fond and unfix'd you wander now
From tree to tree, from bough to bough.
If any youth your charms commends
You rank him with your faithful friends,
Your first true lovers set aside;
This looks like vanity and pride.
Would you live long and happy too,
Love some fond equal that loves you.
This will esteem and favour gaiu,
Such love will never give you pain;
This wins all hearts, and will control
The stubborn temper of my soul.
If with my counsel you agree,
Give me sweet kisses for my fee.

IDYLLIUM XXX*.

THE DEATH OF ADONIS.

ARGUMENT.

10

20

30

The boar that had her lover slain,
The cause of all her grief and pain.
Swift as the pinion'd birds they rove
Through every wood, through every grove;
Aud when the guilty boar they found,
With cords they bound him, doubly bound; 10
One with a chain secure and strong,
Hau'd him unwillingly along;

One pinch'd his tail to make him go,
Another beat him with his bow:

The more they urg'd, the more they dragg'd,
The more reluctantly he lagg'd.

Guilt in his conscious looks appear'd;

He much the angry goddess fear'd.
To Venus so on the boar they led-
"O cruel, cruel beast!" she said,
"Durst thou that thigh with blood distain?
Hast thou my dearest lover slain?"
Submissive be replies; "I swear
By thee, fair queen; by all that's dear;
By thy fond lover; by this chain;
And by this numerous hunter-train;
I ne'er design'd with impious tooth,
To wound so beautiful a youth:
No; but with love and frenzy warm,
(So far has beauty power to charm!)
I long'd, this crime I'll not deny,
To kiss that fair, that naked thigh.
These tusks then punish, if you please,
These are offenders, draw out these.
Of no more use they now can prove
To me, the votaries of love!

My guilty lips, if not content,
My lips shall share the punishment."
These words, so movingly exprest,
Infus'd soft pity in her breast;
The queen relented at his plea,
And bad her Cupids set him free:
But from that day he join'd her train,
Ner to the woods return'd again;
And all those teeth he burnt with fire,
Which glow'd before with keen desire.

20

30

30

40

Bion has a most

but the measure of his verse. beautiful Idylium on the same subject. Longepierre says of this ode of Theocritus, Cette petite piéce in' a toujours paru si jolie, que je croy qu'on ine pardonnera aisément si j'en donne icy une traduction.

14. Another beat him with his bow:] Thus Ulysses drives the horses of Rhesus with his bow, I. b. 10.

Ulysses now the snowy steeds detains,
And leads them, fasten'd by the silver reins;
These, with his bow unbent, he lash'd along,
Pope.

23. 1 swear by thee, fair Venus, &c.] Thus Sinon in Virgil,

Vos, æterni ignes, &c.

You, the eternal splendours, he exclaims, And you divine inviolable flames,

Ye fatal swords, and altars, which I fled,
Ye wreaths, which circled this devoted head;
All, all attest.

45. And all those teeth, &c.] Εκαι, πως εξωτας, exussit amores, dentes.

Pitt.

The Greek is,

i.

e. amatorios

1

For thy rude hand ne'er pluck'd the lovely rose.
That on the mountain of Pieria blows. F. F.
I. 5. Virgil and Horace bave something similar:
Ullius aram
Sæpe tener nostris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus.
Ecl. 1.

Voveram album Libero caprum. B. 3. O. 8. II. 1. Daphnis] This Daphnis was probably the son of Mercury, the same whose story is sung in the first Idyllium: Diodorus Siculus supposes him to be the author of bucolic poetry; and agrecable to this, Theon, an old scholiast on Theocritus, in his note on the first Idyllium, ver. 141, mention ing Daphnis, says, Καθο πρωτος εύρατο Βοκολικήν, Inasmuch as he was the inventor of bucolics; however that be, probably this Daphnis was the first subject of bucolic songs.

III. 6. Gold ivy's leaves, &c.] The Greek is, XOETA XICCO: This is probably the pallens, or alba hedera of Virgil, on which Dr. Martyn observes, (see his notes on Ecl. 7. ver. 38.) it is most likely that sort of ivy with yellow berries, which was used in the garlands with which poets used to be crowned, and Ecl. 8. ver. 13. The poetical ivy is that sort with golden berries, or hedera baccis

aureis.

SAY wilt thou warble to thy double flute,
And make its melody thy music suit?
Then, by the Nymphs I swear, I'll snatch the quill,
And on the rural lyre essay iny skill:
The herdsman, Daphnis, on his reed shall play,
Whose sprightly numbers make the shepherds gay:
Fast by yon rugged oak our stand we'll keep,
And rob th' Arcadian deity of sleep.

VI.

THYRSIS HAS LOST HIS KID.

WHAT profit gain you, wretched Thyrsis, say,
Thus, thus to weep and languish life away?
Lost is your favourite kid; the wolf has tore
His tender limbs, and feasted on his gore:
Your very dogs exclaim, and cry, "What gain,
When neither bones, nor ashes now remain?"

VII.

ON THE STATUE OF ÆSCULAPIUS.
AT fam'd Miletus, Pæon's son the wise

Arriv'd, with learned Nicias to advise,
Who to his shrine with daily offerings came,
And rais'd this cedar statue to his fame;

IV. 2. Of fig-tree] The ancients often bewed the image of Priapus out of a fig-tree.

Olim truncus eram ficulnus, &c.

Hor. Sat. 8. b. 1. 14. That Daphne, &c.] I have taken the liberty to address this epigram to Daphne, instead of Daphnis, puellæ et non pastori.

15. Grant this, &c.] Here I follow the ingenious interpretation of Dan. Heinsius.

V. 8. And rob, &c.] In the first Idyllium the shepherds are afraid of disturbing the Arcadian god's repose. See ver 20.

VII. 1. Pæon's son] Esculapius, the son of Apollo, was called Pæon or II, because of his art in asswaging and curing diseases.

The cedar statue by Eëtion wrought,
Illustrious artist! for large sums he bought;
The work is finish'd to the owner's will,
For here the sculptor lavish'd all his skill.

VIII.

ORTHON'S EPITAPH.

To every toping traveller that lives,
Orthon of Syracuse this warning gives;
With wine o'erbeated, and deprived of light,
Forbear to travel on a winter's night;
This was my fate; and r my native land
I now lie buried on a foreign strand.

IX.

ON THE FATE OF CLEONICUS.

O STRANGER! spare thy life so short and frail,
Nor, but when times are seasonable, sail.
Poor Cleonicus, innocent of guile,
From Syria hasten'd to rich Thaso's isle;
The Pleiads sunk as he approach'd the shore;
With them he sunk, to rise, alas! no more.

X.

ON A MONUMENT ERECTED TO THE MUSES.

HERE Xenocles hath rais'd this marble shrine,
Skill'd in sweet music, to the tuneful Niue:
He from his art acquires immortal fame,

And grateful owns the fountain whence it came.

XI.

EPITAPH ON EUSTHENES THE PHYSIOGNOMIST.
To Eusthenes, the first in wisdom's list,
Philosopher and physiognomist,

This tomb is rais'd: he from the eye could scan
The cover'd thought, and read the very man.
By strangers was his decent bier adorn'd,
By strangers honour'd, and by poets mourn'd:
Whate'er the Sophist merited he gain'd,
And dead, a grave in foreign realms obtain'd.
XII.

ON A TRIPOD DEDICATED TO BACCHUS BY
DEMOTELES.

DEMOTELES, who near this sacred shrine
This tripod plac'd, with thee, O god of wine!

VIII. 5. And for my native land, &c.] I here follow the ingenious emendation of Heinsius.

IX. In all the editions of Theocritus in the original, there is only the first distich of this epigram, but in Pierson's Verisimilia, I find two more added from a MS. in the Palatine library, which was collated by D. Ruhnkenius; as I have translated, I likewise take the liberty to transcribe, the whole. Ανθρωπε, ζωής περιφείδεο, μηδε παρ ως αν Ναυτίλος ισθό, ως ο πολύς ανδρι βιος. Δείλατε Κλεόνικε, συ δ' εις λιπαρήν Θασον ελθειν Ηπειγες κοίλης εμπορος εκ Συρίης. Εμπορος, ο Κλεονικό, δύσιν δ' από πλειάδος αυτήν, Ποντοπόρων αυτηι πλειαδε συγκατεδυς. 4. Thasos] An island near Thrace, formerly famous for gold, marble, and wine.

XI. Heinsius has rendered this epigram intelligible, whose emendations I follow.

XII. 6. And fair the tenour, &c.] The Greek is,
Και το καλον, και το προσήκον όρων.

Thus Horace,

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

ON THE SAME.

THE style is Doric; Epicharmus he,
The poet who invented comedy:
This statue, Bacchus, sacred stands to you;
Accept a brazen image for the true.
The finish'd form at Syracuse is plac'd,
And, as is meet, with lasting honours grac'd.
Far-fam'd for wisdom, the preceptive bard
Taught those who gave the merited reward:
Much praise he gains who form'd ingenuous
youth,
And show'd the paths to virtue, and to truth.

XIII. 1. Venus, not the vulgar,. &c.] Plato in Convivio says, there were two Venuses, one was the daughter of Calus, which we call ugaviay, or celestial; the other the daughter of Jupiter and Dione, which we call wavdnov, or popular.

XVII. 1. Epicharmus] Was brought to Sicily when an infant from the island of Cos, and is there

XVIII.

EPITAPH ON CLITA, THE NURSE OF MEDEUS. MEDEUS rais'd, inspir'd by grateful pride, This tomb to Clita by the high-way side: We still commend her for her fostering care; And praise the matron when we praise the heir. XIX.

ON ARCHILOCHUS.

ARCHILOCHUS, that ancient bard, behold!
Arm'd with his own iambics keen and bold;
Whose living fame with rapid course has run
Forth from the rising to the setting Sun.
The Muses much their darling son approv'd,
The Muses much, and much Apollo lov'd;
So terse his style, so regular bis fire,
Composing verse to suit his sounding lyre.

XX.

ON THE STATUE OF PISANDER, WHO WROTE A
POEM STYLED, THE LABOURS OF HERCULES.
THIS statue fam'd Pisander's worth rewards,

Born at Camirus, first of famous bards
Who sung of Hercules, the son of Jove,
How with the lion he victorious strove,
And all the labours of this hero bold
The faithful bard in lofty numbers told.
The state regardful of the poet's name,
Hath rais'd this brazen statue to his famne.

fore called a Sicilian; he was the disciple of Pythagoras, and said to be the first inventor of comedy. Plautus imitated him, according to Horace,

Plautus ad exemplar Siculi properare Epicharini. B. 2. Ep. 1. 58. Even Plato himself borrowed many things from him. He presented fifty-five, or as some say, thirty-five plays, which are all lost. He lived, according to Lucian, 97 years. Laertius has preserved some verses which were inscribed on one of his statues, which, as they are a testimony of the high esteem antiquity had for his worth, 1 shall transcribe.

Ει τι παραλλάσσει φαεθων μέγας αλιός άφρων,
Και ποντος πόταμων μείζον εχει δυναμιν
Φαμι τοσέτον εγώ σοφια προέχειν Επιχάρμου,
Οι πατείς εσεφανωσ ̓ αδε Συρακοσίων.

As the bright Sun outshines the starry train,
And streams confess the empire of the main;
We first in wisdom Epicharmus own,
On whom fam'd Syracuse bestow'd the crown.
9. Much praise, &c.] The Greek is,

Πολλά γαρ ποτταν ζώων τοις παισιν είπε χρησιμα.
Μεγάλα χαρις αυτώ.

Mr. Upton, in his observations on Shakespeare, instead of avoiy children, reads ac all mankind; which is plausible, for the philosophic comedian spoke what was useful for all mankind to know, and fitting for common life; and then the translation may run,

Much praise, much favour he will ever find,
Whose useful lessons mended all mankind.

XIX. 1. Archilochus] He was a Greek poet, born at Paros, in the third Olympiad. His invectives

XXI.

EPITAPH ON THE POET HIPPONAX. OLD Hipponax the satirist lies here; If thou'rt a worthless wretch, approach not near: But if well bred, and from all evil pure, Repose with confidence, and sleep secure. XXII.

THEOCRITUS ON HIS OWN WORKS.

A SYRACUSIAN born, no right I claim
To Chios, and Theocritus my name:
Praxagoras' and fam'd Philina's son;
All praise I scorn'd but what my numbers won.

against Lycambes (who after having promised his daughter in marriage, gave her to another) were so keen and severe, that they made him hang himself. He is said to have been the inventor of iambic verse. Thus Horace,

Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo.

XX. Pisander was a native of Camirus, a city of Rhodes; he is mentioned by Strabo and Macrobius, as the author of a poem styled Heraclea, which comprehended in two books all the exploits of Hercules: he is said to have been the first that

represented Hercules with a club.

mus,

Univ. Hist. b. 2. ch. 1.

XXI. Hipponax was a witty poet of Ephesus, but so deformed, that the painters drew hideous pictures of him; particularly Bupalus and Anthertwo brothers, eminent statuaries, made his image so ridiculous, that in resentment he dipped his pen in gall, and wrote such bitter iambics against them, that, it is said, they dispatched themselves: at least they left Ephesus upon the occasion. Horace calls Hipponax, Acer hostis Bupalo, Epod. 6.

Alcæus on Hipponax. Anthol. b. 3. ch. 25. No vines the tomb of this old bard adorn With lovely clusters, but the pointed thorn, And spiry brambles that unseen will tear The

eyes of passengers that walk too near: Let travellers that safely pass request,' That still the bones of Hipponax may rest.

Leonidas on the same. Ibid.

Softly this tomb approach, a cautious guest,
Lest you should rouse the hornet in his nest:
Here sleeps at length old Hipponax's ire,
Who bark'd sarcastic at his harmless sire.
Beware; stay not on this unhallow'd ground;
His fiery satires ev'n in death will wound.

Another on the same. Ibid.

Fly, stranger, nor your weary limbs relax
Near the tempestuous tomb of Hipponax,
Whose very dust, deposited below,
Stings with iambics Bupaius his foe.
Rouse not the sleeping hornet in his cell;
He loads his limping lines with satires fell;
His anger is not pacified in hell.