Then o'er the posts, once hung with wreathes, he throws The ready cord, and fits the fatal noose, Garth. Ver. 79. Mofchus, Idyl. 6. has nearly the fame thought. Ταυτα λέγω πασιν, κ. τ. λ. Ye fcornful nymphs and fwains, I tell This truth to you; pray mark it well: "If to your lovers kind you prove, "You'll gain the hearts of thofe you love." F. F. The fate of this fcornful beauty is fimilar to that of a youth who was killed by the ftatue of his stepmother falling upon him. See Callimachus, Epig. 11. thus tranflated by Mr. Duncombe. A youth, who thought his father's wife The ftatue on her tomb-ftone plac'd; IDYLLIUM XXIV. THE YOUNG HERCULES. THE ARGUMENT. T: Idyllium is entirely narrative: it first of all gives an account how Hercules, when only ten months old, flew two monftrous ferpents which Juno had fent to devour him; then it relates the prophecy of Tirefias, and afterwards defcribes the education of Hercules, and enumerates his several preceptors. The conclufion of this poem is loft. Fondly the babes the view'd, and on each head 20 And rife refresh'd with the fair rifing day." She spoke, and gently rock'd the mighty fhield; Obfequious flumbers foon their eye-lids feal'd. But when at midnight funk the bright-ey'd Bear, And broad Orion's fhoulder 'gan appear, Stern Juno, urg'd by unrelenting hate, Sent two fell ferpents to Amphitryon's gate, Charg'd with fevere commiffion to destroy The young Alcides, Jove-begotten boy : Horrid and huge, with many an azure fold, Fierce through the portal's opening valves they roll'd; TRANS. II. Then on their bellies prone, high fwoln with gore, They ftrove to 'fcape the deathful gripe in vain. K 60 Which, on a glittering nail above his head, 90 Full many Grecian maids, for charms renown'd, While merrily they twirl the fpindle round, Till day's decline thy praifes fhall proclaim, And Grecian matrons celebrate thy fame. So great, fo noble will thy offspring prove, "The most gigantic of the gods above, [fway, "Whofe arm, endow'd with more than mortal Shall many men and many monfters flay: "Twelve labours paft, he fhall to heav'n afpire, His mortal part first purified by fire, "And fon-in-law be nam'd of that dread power "Who fent thefe deadly ferpents to devour "The flumbering child: then wolves fhall rove "the lawns, ICO "And ftrike no terror in the pafturing fawns. "But, O great queen! be this thy inftant care, "On the broad nearth dry faggots to prepare, Afpalathus, or prickly brambles, bind, #Or the tall thorn that trembles in the wind, "And at dark midnight burn (what time they 66 came "To flay thy fon) the ferpents in the flame. 110 "Next morn, collected by thy faithful maid, "Be all the afhes to the flood convey'd, [wind, "And blown on rough rocks by the favouring "Thence let her fly, but caft no look behind. "Next with pure fulphur purge the house, and "bring 130 140 - ཀ་ །ཤཱ་ ། !, 21 "The pureft water from the freshest spring; 151 160 The conclufion of this Idyllium is wanting in the original. NOTES ON IDYLLIUM XXIV. Ver. 7. Virgil fays nearly the fame thing of the coat of mail which was taken from Demoleus, Loricam quam Demoleo detraxerat ipfe Victor apad rapidum Simoenta fub llio alto. Æn. B. 5.260. By obferving the use this fhield is put to, we have an agreeable picture prefented to the mind: it is an emblem of the peace and tranquillity which always fucceed the tumults of war; and likewife a prognoftic of the future greatness of this mighty champion in embryo. Et trepida matres preffere ad pectora natos. Ver. 84. Thus Achilles fays to Calchas, Il. B. 1. Ver. 19. Pindar, in his first Nemean Ode, tells Speak what thou know'st, and speak without con this fame ftory, which, as it may be a satisfaction to the curious to fee how different writers manage the fame fubject, I fhall take the liberty to give in Mr. Welt's translation. Then glowing with immortal rage, Bade her vindictive serpents haste. Ver. 27. The Greek is, ar' optarμwr de nanov της Ερχόμενος λαμπεσκε; "a pernicious flame shot from their eyes as they approached:" Pierfon, (fee his Verfimilia) reads with much more elegance and propriety Agxousvos, " looking very keenly," as the eyes of ferpents are always reprefented: Hefiod, fpeaking of dragons, ufes the fame word twice, sx xizλwv mug naujo digxopesvors. Theog. ver. 828. and in the fhield of Hercules, Ver. 145, λapTopivo dogs. He brings like wife the authorities of Homer, Æfchylus and Oppian, to fupport this reading. Virgil has, Ardentefq; oculi fuffecti fanguine et igni, tibila lambebant linguis vibrantibus ora. En. B. 2. 210. troul. Fix'd is the term to all the race of earth, And fuch the hard condition of our birth : No force can then refift, no flight can fave; All fink alike, the fearful and the brave. Pope. Ver. 96. The words of Theocritus are aro sigv πλατος ήρως, "the broad-breafted hero;" I am in doubt how it fhould be rendered: Creech has tranflated it, "The nobleft burden of the bending fky." In Homer's Odyffey, B. 11. Hercules is thus reprefented among the fhades below, Now I the ftrength of Hercules behold, A towering spectre of gigantic mould; A fhadowy form! for high in heaven's abodes Himself refides, a god among the gods. Pope On which Mr. Pope obferves, 'The ancients imagined, that immediately after death, there was a partition of the human compofition into three parts, the body, image, and mind, the body is buried in the earth; the image, or sidaλov, defcends into the regions of the departed; the mind, or gn, the divine part, is received into heaven; thus the body of Hercules was confumed in the flames, his image is in hell, and his foul in 'heaven.' Ver. 1oo. The Greek is, θνητα δε παντα πυρα Tearvios, "The Trachinian pyre will confunie his mortal part." Trachin was a city of Theffaly built by Hercules, and the place to which he fent to Dejanira for the fhirt which proved fatal to him, and was the occafion of throwing himself into the fire that confumed him; hence therefore, probably, Theocritus calls it the Trachinian pyre. Ver. 103. Virgil has, "Nec lupus infidias pecori," &c. Both authors feem to have borrowed from Ifaiah, chap. ii. ver. 6. "The wolf fhall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard fhall lie down Ver. 41. Thus Virgil, speaking of the ferpents with the kid." that devoured Laocoon's fons, -Parva duorum Corpora natorum, &c. En. B. 2. 213. And firf in curling fiery volumes bound Ver. 105. Archbishop Potter obferves, 'Sometimes the ominous thing was burnt with ligna infelicia, that is, fuch fort of wood as was in • tutelâ inferûm deorum avertentiumque, facred to the gods of hell, and those which averted evil omens, being chiefly thorns and fuch other trees as " were fit for no other ufe than to be burned. Sometimes the prodigy, when burnt, was caft into the water, and particularly into the fea, as Theocritus has defcribed.' Chap. xvii. Ver Io7. A plant called the Rofe of Jerufalem, or our Lady's Thorn. yobnfon's Dia. The Greek is παλιέρος, paliuros," which Martyn fays, is most probably the plant which is cultivated in our gardens under the name of Chrift's Thorn, and is fuppofed to be the thorn, of which the crown was made, that was put upon our Saviour's head. Notes on Virg. Ecl. 5. Ver. 108. The Greek is didou v axredov, or the dry acherdus which is agitated by the wind:" it is uncertain what plant will anfwer to the acherdus of the ancients: Homer in the Odyssey, B. 14. ver. 1 has fenced the fylvan lodge of Eumous with acherdus, kas ilgiyewors axsday The wall was ftone, from neighb'ring quarries borne, Encircled with a fence of native thorn. Pope. Ver. 111. The moft powerful of all incantations was to throw the ashes of the facrifice backward into the water. Thus Virgil," Fer cineres, Amarylli, foras; rivoq fluenti." Tranfque caput jace; ne refpexeris. Ecl. 8. Ver 124. Theocritus has borrowed this from Homer, II. B. 18. Thetis, fpeaking of her fon, fays, Τον μεν εγω βρέψασα, φυτόν ως γενῳ αλωής. Like fome fair plant, beneath my careful hand, Ver. 140. Virgil fays of Dares, Pope. Nec quifquam ex agmine tanto En. B. 5. Ver. 144. In the chariot-race, the greatest care was to be taken to avoid running against the goal; Neftor, in the 23d book of the Iliad, very particularly cautions his fon in regard to this point; and Horace fays, Metaque fervidis Evitata rotis. Ver. 154. The Greek is, Κατορ ισταλίδας εδαι», φυγας Αργεος ελθων, "These accomplishments Caftor, skilled in horfe My fire from Calydon expell'd On which Euftathius obferves; "This is a very Ver. 164. A coarfe bread like thofe cakes IDYLLIUM XXV. HERCULES THE LION-SLAYER. THE ARGUMENT. HERCULES having occafion to wait upon Augéas king of Elis, meets with an old herdfman, by whor he is introduced to the king, who, with his fon Phyleus, had come into the country to take a of his numerous herds: afterwards Hercules and Phylcus walk together to the city; in the way, ti prince admiring the monstrous lion's fkin which Hercules wore, takes occafion to inquire where bi had it; this introduces an account how Hercules flew the Nemaan lion. The beginning is wanting. THE good old herdfman laid his work afide, Whate'er you afk, O ftranger, I'll impart. Whate'er you wish, and with a cheerful heart For much I venerate the fon of May, Who ftands rever'd in every public way z Thofe moft he hates of all the gods on high • The numerous flocks your eyes behold around, Augeas owns; o'er various walks they spread, In different meads, in different pastures fed; Some on the banks of Elifuntus ftray, Some where divine Alphëus winds his way, Some in Buprafium, where rich wines abound, And fome in this well-cultivated ground. And though exceeding many flocks are told, Each feparate flock enjoys a feparate fold. 'Here, though of oxen numerous herds are feen, Yet fprings the herbage ever fresh and green 20 In the aoift marsh of Menius: every mead, And vale irriguous, where the cattle feed, Produce fweet herbs, embalm'd in dewy tears, Whole fragrant virtue fattens well the steers. Behold that ftall beyond the winding flood, Which to the right appears by yonder wood, Where the wild olive, and perennial plane, 'Grow, fpread, and flourish, great Apollo's fate, To which the hinds, to which the fhepherds bow, And deem him greatest deity below! 30 Next are the ftalls of fwains, whofe labours bring 'Abundant riches to the wealthy king; 'Four times each year the fertile foil they plough, And gather thrice the harvests which they fow ; 'The lab'ring hinds, whofe hands the vineyards ' drefs, Whofe feet the grapes in purple autumn press, To king Augéas, whom these realms obey; 50 * Conduct me to fome honourable fwain, By wife attention they augment their store. 7 This faid, he walk'd before his royal gueft, The watchful dogs, as near the ftalls they went, Perceiv'd their coming by their tread and fcent, With open mouths from every part they run, And bay'd inceffant great Amphitryon's fon; But round the fwain they wagg'd their tales and play'd, 89 And gently whining secret joy betray'd. sheep. Though numerous flaves ftand round of every kind, Some tie the cow's hind legs, to make her ftand To fee what ftores in herds and flocks abound; |