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Sure thou wilt weep-and woes unutter'd feel,
When on the pile thou feeft thy lover laid!
For well I know, nor flint, nor ruthlefs fteel,
Can arm the breaft of fuch a gentle maid. 100
From the fad pomp, what youth, what pitying
Returning flow can tender tears refrain? [fair,
O Delia, fpare thy cheeks, thy treffes fpare,

Nor give my ling'ring fhade a world of pain.
But now while fmiling hours the fates beflow,

Let love, dear maid, our gentle hearts unite! Soon death will come and strike the fatal bow;

Unfeen his head, and veil'd in shades of night. Soon creeping age will bow the lover's frame,

And tear the myrtle chaplet from his brow: With hoary locks ill fuits the youthful flaine, III The foft perfuafion, or the ardent vow.

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NOTES ON ELEGY I.

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Et teneat culti jugera magna foli :

The firft, however, is the preferable reading, being beft fupported by MSS. Befides, had it been deftitute of that authority, it would ftill merit that distinction, as Tibullus muft either have been unacquainted with agriculture (every Roman acre being two hundred and forty feet long, and as many broad), had he applied magna to acres; or have used a fuperfluous epithet. Vulp. But Brockhufius, although he reads multa, has yet proved, that Tully and Valerius Flaccus have ufed that adjective at least once in the fenfe of

magna.

obferved, that he abounds in alliterations, and give the original of this line as an instance of it, Me mea paupertas, &c.

Nor is Tibullus fingular in this; the best poes and orators of the Auguftan age were fond of them; and hence thefe gentlemen conclude, contrary to the opinion of many of the moderns, that allite rations are beautiful in poetry. A fparing cit of them, no doubt, adds to the melody of num bers; accordingly Pope, and the best English ports, practife alliteration.

Though Pontanus and others have wrotend on the fubject of alliteration, they have naz tempted to give a reafon for its pleafing the ear. When the fame letters begin fucceeding words, thefe run more finoothly off the tongue, as the organs of speech are fubjected to a smaller change in pronouncing them. Other caufes may perhaps be afligned, but this appears to be the principal. Ver. 7. The original of this line is varioully read by the annotators.

Dum meus affiduo luceat igne focus

is maintained by Broekhufius, &c. while Scaliger and others fubftitute exiguo in the room of efide; both readings are fupported by MS. authority; that, however of Scaliger's is retained as the mof poetical.

Ver. 9. The goddefs Hope had many temples and public gardens at Rome, for which the reader may confult Alexander Donatus, L. r. Roma C. 9. L. 2. C. 25. L. 3. C. 13, 18, 23.

Boiard has given an elegant figure of the fer ruftica, T. 4. Ant. P. 130.

Ver. 6. The word paupertas in the original fig. nifies, a mediocrity of fortune; for fo Porphyrio interprets it in his Commentary on Horace, L. ii. Ep. 5. And, indeed, it is evident from Cicero, that this was the meaning impofed upon paupertas in the Auguftan age. From this word, then, thofe who maintain, that our poet had spent his eftate, Ver. 17. Calphurnius, a Sicilian poet of fome and was obliged to retire to the country, can de- merit, has a good natured precept fomewhat fimis rive no fupport; as indeed the whole of this ele-lar to this thought of our poet's gy contradicts that affertion.

Te quoque non pudent, cum ferus ovilia vifes, Almoft all the commentators on Tibullus have Si qua jacebit ovis partu refoluta recenti,

anc humeris portare tuis, natosque repenti erre finu tremulos, et nondum ftare paratos. Ecl. v. ver. 39. Humanity to brute creatures is the certain indiion of a good mind. See an excellent paper this fubject in the Adventurer.

Ver. 21. Pales was the goddefs of thepherds; he called her Magna Mater, and others Vefta. e feftival inftituted in her honour obtained the ne of Palilia, or Parilia, and was celebrated on eleventh or twelth of the calends of May, the that Reme was fuppofed to have been foundAt this folemnity the thepherds, leaping obonfires of ftraw, &c. placed at regular difes, offered to their goddefs milk and cakes of let for the health of their flocks. This cerey is thus defcribed by Ovid in that wonderffort of poetical genius his Fasti.

or, oves faturas ad prima crepufcula lustra,
da prius fpargat, virgaque verrat humum.
idibus, et fixis decorentur ovilia ramis :
t teat ornatas longa corona fores.
ulei fiant vivo de Suphure fumi;
actaque fumanti fulphure balet Ovis.
maris rores, tædamque, herbafque fabinas;
t crepet in mediis laurus adufta focis.
ique de Milio Milii fifcella fequatur:
uftica præcique quo dea leta cibo eft.

e dapes, mulctramque fuas: dapibufque refectis

Ivicolam tepido la&e precare palen. ule, dic, pecori pariter, pecorifque magiftris : fugiat ftabulis noxa repulfa meis.

L. iv. v. 735. hus we fee that the fumigations ufed upon occafion were fovereign for difeafes of the

r. 22. The original of this line has greatly led the commentators: fome of them underling by "Paftorem meum," Pan, and others, pollo nomius." The true interpretation, how,feems to be that which is given in the tranfD. See notes to El. v. b. 2.

er. 23. We fee from this paffage, that a kind loration was paid to a ftone, or a trunk of a which divided the Roman lands. They perd them with effences, crowned them with ers, and facrificed round them in the month

ebruary. They were fhaped into odd figures, called "Panes Agreftes;" as those which ted out the road had the name of " Compita

bestowed on them.

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they meet with, provided it has any thing extraordinary in its figure. Thefe people probably have neither painters nor ftatuaries among them.

Ver. 26. Commentators are not a little divided in their opinions, who the "Deus Agricola" of the original was. According to Broekhufius the poet meant Vertumnus; and, it must be confessed, the husband of Pomona has a better right to this place than any other of the fylvan gods, whom

the critics have recommended. See a beautiful defcription of this ancient Tuscan deity in Propertius, Lib. iv. El. 2.

Ver. 29. For Priapus, any of the common books of mythology may be confulted.

Ver. 30. Gebhardus, on MS. authority, (for what abfurdities have not librarians committed?) reads,

Terreat ut fcavas falce Priapes aves.

Which he interprets by birds of bad omen; not reflecting, that birds of good omen were no lefs deftructive to fine fruit (the keeping of which was the province particularly affigned to Priapus), than his "aves finiftræ."

Ver. 32. The Lares were the offspring of the nymph Lara, whom Mercury ravifhed as he was conducting her to the Stygian lake, whither Jupiter had banished her for blabbing his amours. Fitque gravis, Geminofque parit qui compita fer

vant,

Et vigiles noftra femper in Æde Lares.

Faft.

They therefore had worship paid them in the houfes, particularly of hufbandmen and in the highways; and their feftival was called "Compitalitii, Compitalitia," or "Compitalia." At thefe, the images of men and women made of wool were there were flaves in the family, and as many "fifufpended, with as many balls alfo of wool, as mulacra perfecta" as there were children. By this hanging in effigy, the ancients imagined, the Lares would be bribed (so true is it, that fear is the parent of Polytheism) to spare the living.

These deities were made of wood, ftone, or marble, according to the wealth or fuperftition of the votary; and were either public or private. The former were thofe that watched over the fafety of the whole, while the private only fuperintend ed a family. Both were clothed in a dog's skin, and fometimes had the head of a dog clapped upon human shoulders. Their common figure, however, was a grotesque "caricatura" of a man's countenance. Vid. Boxhorn's Queft. Romanæ, P. 31. The place where the household gods ftood was called Lararium. At first the only offerings made them were fruits, wine, and frankincense, but in time both lambs and hogs were facrificed to them. They generally wore a chaplet of flowers; and when young gentlemen put on the toga virilis" they dedicated to them their "bullæ ;"

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Bullaque fuccinctis laribus donata pependit.

Ver. 41. This fimplicity in the worship of the gods, which Numa introduced, and which fuited

the poverty of the primæval times, continued in practice till Paganism was loft in Christianity.

Vid. Valer. Maxim. L. iv. C. 4. at the end. Ver. 52 Scaliger reads,

et folo membra levare toro.

Suppofing that our poet had only one bed left him, Solum fibi fupereffe torum." But however exactly this circumftance may correfpond with many of the modern inhabitants of Parnaffus, yet the whole of this elegy fhows, that our Roman knight was by no means fo reduced; and indeed, as Broekhufius remarks, all the MSS. and best editions, read,

Solito membra levare toro.

Not a cafual bed, fuch as campaigners must often put up with, but an accustomed fixed place of reft; fuch as the poet of Verona describes in the following beautiful lines, addressed, upon his return from Bithynia, to the Peninsula Sirmio, on which he had a villa.

O quid folutis eft heatius curis?

Quum mens onus reponit, ac peregrino
Labore fefli venimus larem ad noftrum,
Defideratoque adquiefcimus lecto.

Hoc eft, quod unum eft, quo laboribus tantise.
Cat. Carm. 29.

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Tam procul ignotis igitur moriemur in oris,
Et fient ipfo triftia fata loco?

Nec mea confueto languefcent corpora lecto?
Depofitum nec me, qui fleat, uilus erit?
Trif. L. iii. El. ;
1. 3. Broekhufius.

Quam juvat, &c.] The tranflator finding this paffage fo well rendered by the late Mr. Hammond, has taken the liberty to adopt it. The commentators fay, that Tibullus borrowed this thought of rain affifting flumber from Sophocles; but could not our poet have obferved, that rain, falling on the roof of a house, would compose to fleep, without having been obliged to that tragic poet for the obfervation? Antonius Mufa, who did fuch honour to phyfic at Rome, cured Macenas of a three years watchfulness by the falling of water; and phyficians at this day experience the foporific qualities of fuch a device; or of the fea breaking at a distance upon the fhore.

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Nor dainties force his pall'd defire, Nor chant of birds, nor vocal lyre,

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To him can fleep afford;
Heart-foothing fleep, which not difdains
The rural lot, or humbler fwains,

And fhady rivers fair;

Or Tempe's ever-blooming fpring,
Where zephyrs wave the balmy wing,
And fan the buxom air.

"Ut præclare Horatius nofter, ille op certiffimus vivendi magifter. Hanc fil vendi rationem fequendam Tibullus pr quiflimo animo relinquens beatæ fumum firepitumque Romæ, qua quidem vita h venientius fapientiæ fludiofis, et mufarum iame tibus, bonæque mentis candidatis." But this nion of Brockhufius may be difputed; for, thu a country folitude is necessary for the perfect works of genius, yet the town is the best i for those who would excel in defcriptions c. do man life.

Ver. 69. Meala.] This great foldier, patric an critic (of whom fo much has been faid in Th lus's Life) was in a high degree of favour Tully; and though Mecenas has been praifed by the poets than Meffala, the bifhond fhow us, that our poet's friend was both a gr and better man than the favourite of Augus See the notes to El. 3. and El. 8. of the firft box If the authority of Virgil is to be dept upon, the Romans derived the custom of ad

Ver. 60. After the original of this line, Scali-ing their houses with hoftile fpoils from the ger and Brockhufius place,

Quem labor affiduus vicino terreat hofte:

Martia cui fomnos claffica pulfa fugent.

Which they explain by the extraordinary duties, especially in the night-time, that foldiers undergo

moteft antiquity. Æn. 7. ver. 183. And inder is natural to imagine, where the tradition chief fpring from which the first unlettered i tions drew their knowledge of paft events, thefe marks of conqueft were the beft author for the oral historian.

When a Roman fold a house adorned with hoftile spoils. either won by himself or his anceftors, the purchaser was not permitted to avail himself of the honour they bestowed, but obliged to take them down.

Ver. 81. The perfon alluded to in this paffage was C. S fius, who being Prætor when the civil var broke out, was afterwards fent by M Anhony to command in Syria and Cilicia, when he irft fubdued the Aradians; and then Antigonus, aving formerly butchered a Roman garrifon fled, fter his defeat, to Jerufalem, which Sofius f on fter took; and ufing the Jews with no lefs cruelty an avarice, he bettowed their kingdom on Heod of Afcalon Neither did Antigonus efcape the onqueror, who not only whipped, but crucified ad beheaded him. Thefe actions of barbarity, though they difgrace victory, yet procure Sofius le honour of a triumph at Rome, A. U C. 719. Brockbufius. Ver. 89. We fee, from this inftance and many ch occur in our poet), that elegy, as well as coedy, fometimes raifes her voice, and if Tibullus's negyric had not come down to us, critics, no oubt, would have hence conj-&tured, that his geus was no lefs fuited to the lofty than the tender bjects of poefy

Ver 93. This pathetic circumftance Ovid has plied to Nemefis in his fine elegy on the death our poet.

Ver. 98 For the funerals of the ancients, fee tes to El ii. book 3

was entreated, with loud and earnest exclamations, not to compel them to do a deed which for ever muft deftroy their peace of mind! So justly, adds the hiftorian, does Pindar call custom the fovereign of all. vouer avtar Carthia. Herod. Thal. C. 38.

Ver. 103. Those who indulged an immoderate grief for their deceased friends, were fuppofed by the ancients to injure their manes, and therefore Cornelia entreats her husband, Paulus the cenfor, Define, Pauli, meum lacrymis urgere jepuicrum.

Propert. L. 4. E. 11.

And Lucian, in his excellent difcourfe on mourning (≈ipi wivéeus), makes a departed youth thus anfwer the frantic forrowings of his father, ω και κεδαίμον ανθρωπε σε κεκραγας, &c. Unhappy mortal why do you thus lament aloud? Why do you caufe me fo much pain? Ceafe to tear your hair and wound your face, I am far more fortunate than you. Why then do you call me name, and term me wretched?

Ver. 194. Turnebus was the first who explained this paffage. The poet, though an enemy to ex ravagant grief, expected that Delia would fhow a tender concern when he died. Brockbufius.

Ver. 111. That pleasant verfifier Malherbe, thus addreffes the mufes,

Quand le Sang bouillant en mes veines
Me donnoit de jeunes defires
Tantot vous foup riez mes peines
Tantoi voufchantiez mes plaifirs:
Mais aujouràhui que mes années
Vers leur fin s'en vont terminées,
Sercit il bien a mes ecrits

D' Ennuyer les races futures
Des ridicules avantures

D'un Amoureux en cheveux gris?

Of all the methods practifed by different nations their difpofal of the dead, the custom of the Caan Indians, as Herodotus relates it, is the most raordinary. Darius, fays that elegant hiftorian, ving one day afked tome of his Grecian fubjects, at fum would induce them to eat their deceafed Επίς (τους πατέρας αποθνήσκοντας κατασιτέεσθαι), y inftantly replied, that no bribe fhould ever The reader may fee the miferies of an old man's ke them do fo horrid an action. Upon this, the falling in love well defcribed in the elegies comne monarch, in the prefence of the Greeks too,monly imputed to Virgil's friend, the famous Cormanding, by an interpreter of fome Calatian dians, how much money they would take not eat, for that was their custom (Tous yovers la physician. Tibove), but to burn their dead parents; he

nelius Gallus.

Thefe elegies are a modern compfition, the work of one Longinus Maximian

ELEGY II.

VITH wine, more wine, my recent pains deceive, | May forky thunders, hurl'd by Jove's red hand,

ill creeping flumber fend a foft reprieve :
fleep, take heed no whisper ftirs the air,
or wak'd, my boy, I wake to heart-felt care.
How is my Delia watch'd by ruthless spies,
and the gate, bolted, all accefs denies."
elentlefs gate! may ftorms of wind and rain,
With mingled violence avenge my pain!

Burft every bolt, and shatter every band!
Ah no! rage turns my brain; the curfe recal;
On me, devoted, let the thunder fall!
Then recollect my many wreaths of yore,
How oft you've feen me weep, infenfate door
No longer then our interview delay,
And as you open let no noise betray.

20

30

In vain I plead-Dare then my Delia rife! Love aids the dauntless, and will blind your fpies! Those who the godhead's soft behefts obey, Steal from the pillows unobferv'd away; On tiptoe traverse unobferv'd the floor; The key turn noiseless, and unfold the door : In vain the jealous each precaution take, Their fpeaking fingers affignations make. Nor will the god impart to all his aid; Love hates the fearful, hates the lazy maid; But through fly windings, and unpractis'd ways, His bold night-errants to their with conveys: For those whom he with expectation fires, No ambush frightens, and no labour tires; Sacred the dangers of the dark they dare, No robbers ftop them, and no bravoes scare. Though wint'ry tempefts howl, by love fecure, The howling tempefl I with ease endure: No watching hurts me, if my Delia smile, Soft turn the gate, and beckon me the while. She's mine. Be blind, ye ramblers of the night, Left angry Venus fnatch your guilty fight: The goddess bids her votaries joys to be From every cafual interruption free: With prying steps alarm us not, retire, Nor glare your torches, nor our names inquire : Or if ye know, deny, by Heaven above, Nor dare divulge the privacies of love. From blood and feas vindictive Venus sprung, And fure destruction waits the blabbing tongue!

40

Nay, fhould they prate, you, Delia, need not fer
Your lord (a forcerefs fwore), fhould give no er
By potent fpells fhe cleaves the facred ground,
And fhuddering spectres wildly roam around! ;
I've seen her tear the planets from the sky!
Seen lightning backward at her bidding fly!
She calls! from blazing pyres the corfe
fcends,

And, re-enliven'd, clasps his wondering friends
The fiends the gathers with a magic yell,
Then with afperfions frights them back to hell'
She wills,-glad fummer gilds the frozen pole
She wills,-in fummer wint'ry tempefts roll'
She knows ('tis true), Medea's awful spell!
She knows to vanquish the fierce guards of hell
To me she gave a charm for lovers meet,
("Spit thrice, my fair, and thrice the charms
peat.")

Us, in foft dalliance fhould your lord furprik;
By this impos'd on he'd renounce his eyes!
But bless no rival, or th' affair is known;
This incantation me befriends alone.
Nor ftopp'd fhe here; but fwore, if I'd agree,
By charms or herbs to fet thy lover free.
With dire luftrations fhe began the rite!
(Serenely fhone the planet of the night)
The magic gods the call'd with hellish found
A fable facrifice difdain'd the ground-
I ftopp'd the fpell: I must not, cannot part:
I begg'd her aid to gain a mutual heart.

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NOTES ON ELEGY II.

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Meantime excluded, and expos'd to cold,
The whining lover ftands before the gates,
And there with humble adoration waits;
Crowning with flow'rs the threshold and the floor,
And printing kisses on th' obdurate door.

Dryd. The Romans decked their doors with garlands upon many public and private occafions. Ver. 24. The best comment on all this paffage, is that elegy of Ovid's which begins Me fpecta, nutusque meos, &c.

Ver. 32. The civil wars, as they introduced a general diffolutenefs of manners, fo they also in

| creafed the number of robbers; and we fical authority for afferting, that Romt, age of Cæfar, was as much infested with ad as modern Italy. Propertius has thus impr upon this paffage of our author: Nec tamen eft quifquam facros qui lædit amas Scyronis media fic licet ire Via: Quifquis Amator erit, Scythicis licet ambulet Nemo adeo ut noceat, barbarus effe potef Luna miniftrat iter, demonftrant Aftra falebro Ipfe Amor accenfas percutit ante faces Lib. i. E.

Yet, after all, the thoughts of Tibullus ap′′ more juft. Mr. Prior has given us the fam: timent, but in a different manner, ufing an logy with more addrefs than even moft ef ancients.

For love, fantastic power, that is afraid

To ftir abroad till watchfulness be laid;
And leads his votaries fafe through pathicis way
Undaunted then through cliffs and valleys drum
Not Argus with his hundred eyes fhall find
Where Cupid goes, though he, poor guide,
blind.
Henry and En

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