And eke the Graces-] The Graces were at the wedding of Cadmus, and they fung Οτι καλὸν, φίλον ἐσί· τὸ δ' ἐ καλὸν, ὦ φίλον ἐσίν. Theog. v. 14. The usual burthen of the nuptial fong was, Iö Hymen, Hymenaee. Homer in the description of the shield of Achilles mentions this nuptial fong, πολὺς δ ̓ Υμέναιος ορώρει, Hom. σ. 493. And Milton copied from the fhield of Achilles in the vifion fhewn to Adam, Parad. L. xi. 590. They light the nuptial torch, and bid invoke Hymen, then firft to marriage rites invok'd. But if Hymen then was firft invoked, how, comes it that he fays, B. IV. v. 710. Here in clofe recefs Efpoufed Eve deck'd firft her nuptial bed; and liberality: the former is literally and ftrictly to be taken, not fo the latter. 'Twas usual likewise at their weddings to ftrow flowers, and hang garlands at their doors; and at their fefhang garlands at their doors; and at their feftivals to crown themselves with ivy, which was facred to Bacchus: hence he adds, Whilft fresheft Flora her with yvie garland crown'd. L. He thought have fain her in his fierce defpight.] So the first and fecond editions in quarto. But the Humi cadere. -nec ifta fas irrita CAN T O CANTO I. Y this the northerne wagoner had fet B' His evenfold teeme, behind the stedfast starre, That was in ocean waves yet never wet; Tempus erat, quo cun&ta filent, interque triones *Αρκιον θ', ἂν καὶ ἅμαξαν ἐπίκλησιν καλεῦσιν "Οιη δ ̓ ἄμμορός ἐσι λοετρῶν ὠκεανοῖο. "Om-The chiefly obferved far that was never yet wet in ocean waves; or, the only conftellation here by Homer enumerated. Ovid, Met. xiii. 293. Immunemque aequoris arEton. And Virgil, G. i. 246. in the plural number, meaning the greater and leffer bear, Arctos oceani metuentes aequore tingi. 'Twas a vulgar, and almost established opinion, that the ocean ran round the earth as an horizon, and divided the upper from the lower i.emifphere: hence oceanus, aequor &c. are often by aftronomical writers used for the horizon.-By the ftedfaft Starre, Spenfer means the pole ftar, or the ftar in the tail of the leffer bear, called Cynofura, vάurnow ȧpiwy. See Cicer. Nat. Deor. ii. 41. with the notes of Davis. and Manil. i. 309. 1bid. And chearefull chaunticlere with his note fbrill Ardua prima via eft; et qua vix mane recentes The poets frequently exprefs themselves as Ημος δ' ήέλιος μέσον ἐρανὸν ἀμφιβεβήκει. VOL. II. : Cum fol medium caelum confcenderat. II. Hom. Il. 9' 68. Who all in rage to fee his skilfull might Deluded fo, gan threaten hellifh paine-] Nothing is more common in the account of ancient enchantments, than for the conjurers to threaten the Spirits, as if they held them in the moft fervile obedience by the power of their spells; fo Tirefias threatens the infernal fpirits in Statius, and in Seneca; so the witch Erictho in Lucan; fo Ifmeno in Taffo, xiii. 10. So Profpero threatens Ariel, If thou more murmureft, I will rend an oak, IV. Shak. Temp. Act. i. Rife, rife, unhappy Swaine, That here wax OLD in fleepe, whiles wicked wights Have knit themselves in Venus fhameful chaine.] The Magician having decked out one phantom like to Una, now forms another like a young Squire: these visionary idols he puts to bed together, and then awakens the red-croffe knight, and tells him that he here waxes OLD-how this can be spoken with any degree of propriety I can't determine the fenfe leads him to fay, that he lies alone, whilft two wicked creatures are in bed together. There is no writer that has fo many latin idioms in his poem as Spenfer; fome of thefe I fhall point out to the reader, many more I fhall leave to his own finding out: for 'tis tedious and irksome to dwell on fubjects, that require only to be now and then properly hinted at; and fome compliment is to be paid to the reader's understanding. The paffage now before us, Y y feems feems to require this fenfe, namely, that the i. e. I should not have WAXED COLD, by lying Frigida deferta nocte jacebis anus. Which Jonfon thus tranflates in his Epicene, Other poets too have the fame expreffion. Poft infana caprae fidera, FRIGIDAS the other. So that the mistake was easy, as the Nor that fage Pylian fyre, which did furvive i. e. Cold nights, because he lay alone. Contemnuntque favos, et frigida tecta relinquunt. frigida, i. e. deserted. Virg. G. iv. 104. Radix ftultitiae cui frigida fabbata cardi. Rutil. Itin. i. 389. Rutgerfius feems to me to have very rightly explain'd Horace according to this fenfe, -O Puer, ut fis Vitalis metuo, et [lego, aut] majorum ne quis amicus race. Vide fis ne majorum tibi forte Limina frigefcant. As frigefcere means to be deferted, to be left alone, to wax COLD: fo fervere, is to be frequented, to wax WARM. Opere omnis femita fervet, i. e. is full and frequent, waxes warm. Virg. Aen. iv. 407. I could bring more inftances, if I pleafed, but the reader muft guess, that I believe Spenfer's original reading was, Rife, rife, unhappy fwaine, [wights That here WAX COLD in fleepe, whiles wicked Have knit themselves in Venus shamefull chaine. Perhaps 'twas written in Spenfer's copy was cold, one of the strokes of the x being separated from Where be through fatal error long was led. Other paffages will be mentioned in their pro- The eye of reafon was with rage yblent.] i. e. Eth. L. i. C. 6. VI. Returning to his bed in torment great, Mi fili, quoufque lugens et moerens tuum edes cor. remained remained in folitude, or Jupir xaridor, ipfe fuum cor edens. I1.201. Pythagoras ordered his difciples, not to eat the heart. [Laërt. viii. 17.] i. e. not to difquiet themselves with heart-eating cares. The Latin poets are fond of the expreffion, -Si quid Eft animum, differs curandi tempus in annum? Eft dolor. Was readie oft his own hart to devoure. At laft faire Hefperus in highest skie -Fubar aequore tollit Candida, Lucifero praeveniente, dies? Jamque jugis fummae furgebat LUCIFER Idae Ducebat diem, i. e. brought onward, introduced, &c. our poet's very expreffion. 'Tis likewife the very etymology of Lucifer, qwopógos. Cicero, Nat. Deor. ii. 20. Stella Veneris, quae quoqógos Graecè, Lucifer Latinè dicitur, cum antegreditur folem: cum fubfequitur autem, Hefperos. However as Venus from her appearance is named Lucifer and Hesperus, poetical liberty may perhaps excuse the inaccuracy; she being differently named according to her different appearance: to which Milton alludes, V. 166. Fairest of Stars, laft in the train of Night, VII. Now when the rofy-fingred Morning faire, Had fpred her purple robe through deawy aire, There are none of Virgil's tranflators, that have fo faithfully expreffed his meaning as Spenfer. Even Dr. Trap, who profeffes a more litteral verfion, and is not fettered with rhime, thus leaves his author's fenfe, and puts in fomething of his own, Soon as to-morrow's Sun his rifing beams extends. hang up; refige, to take down, &c. But tego is to cover; retego, to discover: figo, to And as Night with her dark mantle is described to have covered the face of the earth; fo the fun takes off the mantle, and difcovers the beauties of nature. I thought this fhort obfervation not unneceffary, if only to fhew the inaccuracy, not to give it a harfher name, of our present tranflators of poets. VIII. And like a Perfian mitre on her bed Arift. Eth. Nicom. L. ii. C. 6. And like a Perfian mitre on her head B. i. C. 7. St. 4. i. e. what refembled a garland. See toe B. i. C. 10. St. 12.. Her Perfian mitre, he fays, was garnished with crowns and owches, which her lavish lovers gave, i. e. the Roman emperors, the Gothic kings, her devotees, &c.-Conftantine in particular.I cannot help obferving, that at the coronation of the Pope, two cardinal deacons take off his mitre and place on his head the tiara, which is a high-raised cap, encircled with three CROWNS AND ORNAMENTED WITH JEWELS ;-with crowns and owches garnished. This tiara or triple crown emblematically, they fay, reprefents his three-fold authority, viz. high priest, judge, and legiflator of all chriftians. The reader may think I refine too much, if 1 imagine that Spenfer alludes to this three-fold affumed character of the Pope: when he (in defcribing, Orgoglio, THE MAN OF SIN, who takes Dueffa for his leman, and compleats the picture of the fcarlet whore) thus defcribes him, -His fature did exceed The hight of THREE the tallest fonnes of mortal feed. B. i. C. 7. St. 8. But however as I am got now in the midst of mystery, I cannot help tranfcribing a note from Scaliger on Revelat. xvii. 5. And upon her head was a name written MYSTERY. Feu Monfieur de Montmorency eftant à Rome du temps qu'on parloit librement et du S. Petre et du S. Siege, apprit d' homme digne de foy, qu'à la veritè le TIARE pontifical avoit efcrit au frontal en lettres d'or MYSTERIUM: et que depuis le tiare ayant efte refait par Jules, au As when two rams, flird with ambitious pride, As two fierce bulls, that frive the rule to get B. iv. C. 4. St. 18. And it seems to be imaged from the following poets. Αψ δ' αυτις συνόρεσαν ἐναντίοι, οΰτε τάυρω - Ac velut ingenti Sila fummove Taburno Non aliter fortes vidi concurrere tauros, Ovid, Met. ix. 46.. Non fic ductores gemini gregis horrida tauri among |