The lifeless troops, in glittering ranks display'd;
She ask'd the wily sylvan to explain
The various motions of the splendid train;

With eager heart she caught the winning lore,
And thought e'en Mars less hateful than before:
"What spell (said she) deceived my careless mind?
The god was fair, and I was most unkind."

She spoke, and saw the changing faun assume
A milder aspect, and a fairer bloom;
His wreathing horns, that from his temples grew,
Flow'd down in curls of bright celestial hue;
The dappled hairs, that veil'd his loveless face,
Blazed into beams, and show'd a heavenly grace;
The shaggy hide, that mantled o'er his breast,
Was soften'd to a smooth transparent vest,
That through its folds his vigorous bosom show'd,
And nervous limbs, where youthful ardour glow'd:
(Had Venus view'd him in those blooming charms
Not Vulcan's net had forced her from his arms.)
With goatlike feet no more he mark'd the ground,
But braided flowers his silken sandals bound.

The Dryad blush'd; and, as he press'd her, smiled,
Whilst all his cares one tender glance beguiled."
He ends: To arms, the maids and striplings cry;
To arms, the groves and sounding vales reply.
Sirena led to war the swarthy crew,
And Delia those that bore the lily's hue.
Who first, O muse, began the bold attack;
The white refulgent, or the mournful black?
Fair Delia first, as favouring lots ordain,
Moves her pale legions toward the sable train:
From thought to thought her lively fancy flies,
Whilst o'er the board she darts her sparkling eyes.

At length the warrior moves with haughty strides;

Who from the plain the snowy king divides;
With equal haste his swarthy rival bounds;
His quiver rattles, and his buckler sounds :
Ah! hapless youths, with fatal warmth you burn;
Laws, ever fix'd, forbid you to return.

Then from the wing a short-lived spearman flies,
Unsafely bold, and see! he dies, he dies:
The dark-brow'd hero, with one vengeful blow,
Of life and place deprives his ivory foe.
Now rush both armies o'er the burnish'd field,
Hurl the swift dart, and rend the bursting shield.
Here furious knights on fiery coursers prance,
Here archers spring, and lofty towers advance.
But see! the white-robed Amazon beholds
Where the dark host its opening van unfolds:
Soon as her eye discerns the hostile maid,
By ebon shield, and ebon helm betray'd:
Seven squares she passes with majestic mien,
And stands triumphant o'er the falling queen,
Perplex'd, and sorrowing at his consort's fate,
The monarch burn'd with rage, despair, and hate;
Swift from his zone th' avenging blade he drew,
And, mad with ire, the proud virago slew.
Meanwhile, sweet smiling Delia's wary king
Retired from fight behind his circling wing.
Long time the war in equal balance hung;
Till, unforeseen, an ivory courser sprung,
And, wildly prancing, in an evil hour,
Attack'd at once the monarch and the tower:
Sirena blush'd, for, as the rules required,
Her injured sovereign to his tent retired;

And adds new glory to th' exulting knight.
At this, pale fear oppress'd the drooping maid,
And on her cheek the rose began to fade:
A crystal tear, that stood prepared to fall,
She wiped in silence, and conceal'd from all;
From all but Daphnis: he remark'd her pain,
And saw the weakness of her ebon train;
Then gently spoke: "Let me your loss supply,
And either nobly win, or nobly die;

Me oft has fortune crown'd with fair success,
And led to triumph in the fields of chess."
He said: the willing nymph her place resign'd,
And sat at distance on the bank reclined.

Thus, when Minerva call'd her chief to arms,
And Troy's high turret shook with dire alarms,
The Cyprian goddess, wounded, left the plain,
And Mars engaged a mightier force in vain.

Straight Daphnis leads his squadron to the field;
(To Delia's arms 'tis e'en a joy to yield.)
Each guileful snare and subtle art he tries,
But finds his art less powerful than her eyes;
Wisdom and strength superior charms obey:
And beauty, beauty, wins the long-fought day.
By this-a hoary chief, on slaughter bent,
Approach'd the gloomy king's unguarded tent:
Where, late, his consort spread dismay around,
Now her dark corse lies bleeding on the ground.
Hail, happy youth! thy glories not unsung
Shall live eternal on the poet's tongue;
For thou shalt soon receive a splendid change,
And o'er the plain with nobler fury range.
The swarthy leaders saw the storm impend,
And strove in vain their sovereign to defend:
Th' invader waved his silver lance in air,
And flew like lightning to the fatal square;
His limbs, dilated, in a moment grew
To stately height, and widen'd to the view;
More fierce his look, more lion-like his mien,
Sublime he moved, and seem'd a warrior queen.
As when the sage on some unfolding plant
Has caught a wondering fly, or frugal ant,
His hand the microscopic frame applies,
And lo! a bright-hair'd monster meets his eyes;
He sees new plumes in slender cases roll'd
Here stain'd with azure, there bedropp'd with gold;
Thus, on the alter'd chief both armies gaze,
And both the kings are fix'd with deep amaze.
The sword, which arm'd the snow-white maid
before,

He now assumes, and hurls the spear no more;
Then springs indignant on the dark-robed band,
And knights and archers feel his deadly hand.
Now flies the monarch of the sable shield,
His legions vanquish'd, o'er the lonely field.
So when the morn, by rosy coursers drawn,*
With pearls and rubies sows the verdant lawn,
Whilst each pale star from heaven's blue vault

retires,

Still Venus gleams, and last of all expires.

IMITATIONS.

Medio rex æquore inermis Constitit amissis sociis: velut æthere in alto Expulit ardentes flammas ubi lutea bigis Luciferis Aurora, tuus pulcherrimus ignis Lucet adhuc, Venus, et cælo mox ultimus exit.

Vida, ver. 604. Check the deep vales, and Check the woods

rebound :

No place remains: he sees the certain fate,

And yields his throne to ruin, and check-mate.
A brighter blush o'erspreads the damsel's cheeks,
And mildly thus the conquer'd stripling speaks:
"A double triumph, Delia, hast thou won,
By Mars protected, and by Venus' son;
The first with conquest crowns thy matchless art,
The second points those eyes at Daphnis' heart."
She smiled; the nymphs and amorous youths arise,
And own, that Beauty gain'd the nobler prize.
Low in their chest the mimic troops were laid,
And peaceful slept the sable hero's shade.*

SOLIMA.

AN ARABIAN ECLOGUE.

"YE maids of Aden! hear a loftier tale
Than e'er was sung in meadow, bower, or dale.
-The smiles of Abelah, and Maia's eyes,
Where beauty plays, and love in slumber lies;
The fragrant hyacinths of Azza's hair,
That wanton with the laughing summer-air;
Love-tinctured cheeks, whence roses seek their
bloom,

And lips, from which the zephyr steals perfume;
Invite no more the wild unpolish'd lay,
But fly like dreams before the morning ray.
Then farewell, love! and farewell, youthful fires!
A nobler warmth my kindled breast inspires.
Far bolder notes the listening woods shall fill;
Flow smooth, ye rivulets; and, ye gales, be still.
"See yon fair groves that o'er Amana rise,
And with their spicy breath embalm the skies;
Where every breeze sheds incense o'er the vales,
And every shrub the scent of musk exhales!
See through yon opening glade a glittering scene,
Lawns ever gay, and meadows ever green;
Then ask the groves, and ask the vocal bowers,
Who deck'd their spiry tops with blooming flowers,
Taught the blue stream o'er sandy vales to flow,
And the brown wild with liveliest hues to glow?
Fair Solima! the hills and dales will sing;
Fair Solima! the distant echoes ring.t
But not with idle shows of vain delight,
To charm the soul or to beguile the sight;
At noon on banks of pleasure to repose,
Where bloom entwined the lily, pink, and rose;
Not in proud piles to heap the nightly feast,
Till morn with pearls has deck'd the glowing east;
Ah! not for this she taught those bowers to rise,
And bade all Eden spring before our eyes :
Far other thoughts her heavenly mind employ
(Hence, empty pride! and hence, delusive joy!)
To cheer with sweet repast the fainting guest;
To lull the weary on the couch of rest;

• A parody of the last line in Pope's translation of the Iliad:

"And peaceful slept the mighty Hector's shade." ↑ It was not easy in this part of the translation to avoid a turn similar to that of Pope in the known de. scription of the Man of Ross.

The young to cherish, to support the old ;
The sad to comfort, and the weak protect;
The poor to shelter, and the lost direct :-
These are her cares, and this her glorious task;
Can Heaven a nobler give, or mortals ask?
Come to these groves, and these life-breathing

glades,

Ye friendless orphans, and ye dowerless maids;
With eager haste your mournful mansions leave,
Ye weak, that tremble; and, ye sick, that grieve :
Here shall soft tents, o'er flowery lawns display'd,
At night defend you, and at noon o'ershade;
Here rosy health the sweets of life will shower,
And new delights beguile each varied hour.
Mourns there a widow, bathed in streaming tears?
Stoops there a sire beneath the weight of years?
Weeps there a maid, in pining sadness left,
Of tender parents and of hope bereft?
To Solima their sorrows they bewail;
To Solima they pour their plaintive tale.
She hears; and, radiant as the star of day,
Through the thick forest gains her easy way;
She asks what cares the joyless train oppress,
What sickness wastes them, or what wants distress,
And, as they mourn, she steals a tender sigh,
Whilst all her soul sits melting in her eye:
Then with a smile the healing balm bestows,
And sheds a tear of pity o'er their woes,
Which, as it drops, some soft-eyed angel bears
Transform'd to pearl, and in his bosom wears.

roves

"When chill'd with fear, the trembling pilgrim [groves, Through pathless deserts and through tangled Where mantling darkness spreads her dragon wing, And birds of death their fatal dirges sing, While vapours pale a dreadful glimmering cast, And thrilling horror howls in every blast; She cheers his gloom with streams of bursting light,

By day a sun, a beaming moon by night;
[ray,
Darts through the quivering shades her heavenly
And spreads with rising flowers his solitary way.

"Ye heavens, for this in showers of sweetness shed

Your mildest influence o'er her favour'd head! Long may her name, which distant climes shall praise,

Live in our notes, and blossom in our lays!
And, like an odorous plant, whose blushing flower
Paints every dale, and sweetens every bower,
Borne to the skies in clouds of soft perfume
For ever flourish, and for ever bloom!

These grateful songs, ye maids and youths, renew,
While fresh blown violets drink the pearly dew;
O'er Azib's banks while love-lorn damsels rove,
And gales of fragrance breathe from Hagar's
grove."

So sung the youth, whose sweetly-warbled strains Fair Mena heard, and Saba's spicy plains. Sooth'd with his lay, the ravish'd air was calm, The winds scarce whisper'd o'er the waving palm; The camels bounded o'er the flowery lawn, Like the swift ostrich, or the sportful fawn; Their silken bands the listening rose-buds rent, And twined their blossoms round his vocal tent:

He sung, till on the bank the moonlight slept, And closing flowers beneath the night-dew wept;

Then ceased, and slumber'd in the lap of rest Till the shrill lark had left his low-built nest. Now hastes the swain to tune his rapturous tales In other meadows, and in other vales.

AN ODE IN IMITATION OF ALCÆUS.

Ου λίθοι, έδε ξυλα, υδε

Τέχνη τεκτονων αἱ πολεις εισιν Αλλ' όπε ποτ' αν ωσιν ΑΝΔΡΕΣ

Αύτως σωζειν είδότες,

Ενταύθα τείχη και πόλεις.

Alc. quoted by Aristides.

WHAT constitutes a state?

Not high-raised battlement or labour'd mound,
Thick wall or moated gate;

Not cities proud with spires and turrets crown'd;
Not bays and broad-arm'd ports,

Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride;

Not starr'd and spangled courts,
Where low-brow'd baseness wafts perfume to pride.
NO:-Men, high-minded men,

With powers as far above dull brutes endued
In forest, brake, or den,

As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude;
Men, who their duties know,

But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain,
Prevent the long-aim'd blow,

And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain:
These constitute a state;

And sovereign law, that state's collected will,
O'er thrones and globes elate

Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill:
Smit by her sacred frown

The fiend, discretion, like a vapour sinks,
And e'en th' all dazzling crown

Hides his faint rays, and at her bidding shrinks.

Such was this heaven-loved isle, Than Lesbos fairer and the Cretan shore!

No more shall freedom smile?

Shall Britons languish, and be men no more?
Since all must life resign,

Those sweet rewards, which decorate the brave, '"Tis folly to decline,

And steal inglorious to the silent grave.

Abergavenny, March 31, 1781.

Thus, Harmodius! shone thy blade;
Thus, Aristogiton! thine:
Whose, when BRITAIN sighs for aid,
Whose shall now delay to shine?
Dearest youths, in islands bless'd,

Not, like recreant idlers dead,
You with fleet Pelides rest,
And with godlike Diomed.
Verdant myrtle's branchy pride
Shall my thirsty blade entwine:
Such, Harmodius! deck'd thy side;
Such, Aristogiton! thine.

They the base Hipparchus slew
At the feast of Pallas crown'd:
Gods!-how swift their poniards flew.
How the monster tinged the ground!
Then in Athens all was peace,

Equal laws and liberty:

Nurse of arts, and age of Greece! People valiant, firm, and free!

Not less glorious was thy deed, Wentworth! fix'd in virtue's cause; Not less brilliant be thy meed, Lenox! friend to equal laws. High in freedom's temple raised, See Fitz-Maurice beaming stand, For collected virtues praised, Wisdom's voice, and Valour's hand! Ne'er shall Fate their eyelids close. They, in blooming regions bless'd, With Harmodius shall repose:

With Aristogiton rest.

No, bless'd chiefs! a hero's crown

Let th' Athenian patriots claim:
You less fiercely won renown;
You assumed a milder name.

They through blood for glory strove,
You more blissful tidings brings;
They to death a tyrant drove,
You to fame restored a king.
Rise, BRITANNIA! dauntless rise!
Cheer'd with triple harmony,
Monarch good, and nobles wise
People valiant, firm, and free'

THE FIRST NEMEAN ODE OF PINDAR

CALM breathing-place of Alpheus dead, Ortygia, graceful branch of Syracuse renown'd, Young Dina's rosy bed,

Sister of Delos, thee, with sweet, yet lofty, sound Bursting numbers call, to raise

Of tempest-footed steeds the trophies glorious (Thus Etnean Jove we praise ;)

While Chromius' car invites, and Nemea's plain, For noble acts victorious

To weave the encomiastic strain.

From prospering gods the song begins;

Next hails that godlike man and virtue's holy meeds:

This ode is translated word for word with the original; those epithets and phrases only being necessarily added, which are printed in italic letters.

See Argument of the Hymns to Pacriti

deeds

Every muse delights to sing.

Now wake to that fair isle the splendid story,
Which the great Olympian king,

Jove, gave to Proserpine, and waved his locks
Vowing, that, supreme in glory,

Famed for sweet fruits, and nymph-loved rocks,

Sicilia's full nutritious breast

With tower'd and wealthy cities he would crown.
Her the son of Saturn bless'd

With suitors brazen-arm'd for war's renown
By lance and fiery steed; yet oft thy leaves,
Olympic olive! bind their hair

In wreathy gold. Great subjects I prepare:
But none th' immortal verse deceives.

Oft in the portals was I placed

She, from agonizing pain

Yet weak, unsandall'd and unmantled rush'd,
And her loved charge defended,
Whilst he the fiery monsters crush'd.

Swift the Cadmean leaders ran

In brazen mail precipitately bold:
First Amphitryon, dauntless man,

Bared his raised falchion from its sheathing gold,
While grinding anguish pierced his fluttering breast;
For private woes most keenly bite
Self-loving man; but soon the heart is light,
With sorrow not its own oppress'd.

Saw the valour of his child:

strain,

Where becoming dainties graced

His hospitable board; for ne'er with efforts vain
Strangers to his mansion came:

And thus the virtuous, when detraction rages,
Quench with liberal streams her flame.

Let each in virtue's path right onward press,
As each his art engages,

And, urged by genius, win success.

Laborious action strength applies,
And wary conduct, sense: the future to foresee
Nature gives to few, the wise.
Agesidamus' son, she frankly gave to thee
Powerful might and wisdom deep.
I see not in dark cells the hoarded treasure
Grovelling with low care to keep,

But, as wealth flows, to spread it, and to hear
Loud fame, with ample measure
Cheering my friends, since hope and fear

Assail disastrous men. The praise
Of Hercules with rapture I embrace
On the heights, which virtues raise,

The rapid legend old his name shall place;
For, when he brook'd no more the cheerless gloom,
And burst into the blaze of day,

The child of Jove with his twin brother lay,
Refulgent from the sacred womb.

Not unobserved the godlike boy

By Juno golden-throned the saffron'd cradle press'd;
Straight heaven's queen with furious joy

Bade hideous dragons fleet th' unguarded floor infest:
They, the portals opening wide,

Roll'd through the chamber's broad recess tremen

dous,

And in jaws fire-darting tried

The slumbering babe to close. He, starting light, Rear'd his bold head stupendous,

And first in battle proved his might.

With both resistless hands he clasp'd

Both struggling horrid pests, and clothed their

necks with death;

They expiring, as he grasp'd,

Pour'd from their throats compress'd, the foul

their course,

stain,

hasting,

As gems are taught by patient art In sparkling ranks to beam,

With manners thus he forms the heart, And spreads a general gleam.

What soft, yet awful dignity!

What meek, yet manly grace! What sweetness dances in his eye, And blossoms in his face!

So shines our prince! A sky-born crowd
Of virtues round him blaze:
Ne'er shall oblivion's murky cloud
Obscure his deathless praise.

THE VERBAL TRANSLATION.

BEHOLD yon reach of the river Kı;
Its green reeds how luxuriant! how luxuriant!
Thus is our prince adorn'd with virtues;
As a carver, as a filer of ivory,
As a cutter, as a polisher of gems

O how elate and sagacious! O how dauntless and composed!

How worthy of fame! How worthy of reverence!
We have a prince adorn'd with virtues,
Whom to the end of time we cannot forget."

A TURKISH ODE OF MESIHI.

HEAR! how the nightingales on every spray, Hail, in wild notes, the sweet return of May; -The gale that o'er yon waving almond blows, The verdant bank with silver blossoms strows: The smiling season decks each flowery glade. Be gay: too soon the flowers of spring will fade.

+ What gales of fragrance scent the vernal air! Hills, dales, and woods, their loveliest mantles

wear,

Who knows what cares await that fatal day,
When ruder gusts shall banish gentle May ?
E'en death, perhaps, our valleys will invade.
Be gay: too soon the flowers of spring will fade.

* The sparkling dew-drops o'er the lilies play,
Like orient pearls, or like the beams of day.
If love and mirth your wanton thoughts engage,
Attend, ye nymphs! a poet's words are sage;
While thus you sit beneath the trembling shade,
Be gay: too soon the flowers of spring will fade.

+ The fresh-blown rose like Zeineb's cheek ap pears,

When pearls, like dew-drops, glitter in her ears. The charms of youth at once are seen and past: And nature says, "They are too sweet to last." So blooms the rose; and so the blushing maid. Be gay: too soon the flowers of spring will fade

See! yon anemonies their leaves unfold,
With rubies flaming and with living gold.
-While crystal showers from weeping clouds de
scend,

Enjoy the presence of thy tuneful friend:
Now, while the wines are brought, the sofa's laid,
Be gay: too soon the flowers of spring will fade.

The plants no more are dried, the meadows dead,
No more the rose-bud hangs her pensive head:
The shrubs revive in valleys, meads, and bowers,
And every stalk is diadem'd with flowers;
In silken robes each hillock stands array'd.
Be gay: too soon the flowers of spring will fade.

|| Clear drops, each morn, impearl the rose's bloom,
And from its leaf the zephyr drinks perfume;
The dewy buds expand their lucid store:
Be this our wealth: ye damsels, ask no more.
Though wise men envy, and though fools upbraid,
Be gay: too soon the flowers of spring will fade.

The dew-drops sprinkled, by the musky gale,
Are changed to essence ere they reach the dale.
The mild blue sky a rich pavilion spreads,
Without our labour, o'er our favour'd heads.
Let others toil in war, in arts, or trade;-
Be gay too soon the flowers of spring will fade.

IMITATIONS.

"Again the dew glitters on the leaves of the lily, like the water of a bright cimeter. The dew-drops fall through the air on the garden of roses. Listen to me, listen to me, if thou desirest to be delighted. Be cheerful," &c.

IMITATIONS.

"Thou hearest the tale of the nightingale, 'that the vernal season approaches. The spring has spread a bower of joy in every grove, where the almond tree sheds its silver blossoms. Be cheerful; be full of mirth; for the spring passes soon away: it will not last."

"The groves and hills are again adorned with all sorts of flowers; a pavilion of roses, as the seat of pleasure, is raised in the garden. Who knows which of us will be alive when the fair season ends? Be cheer. ful," &c.

"The edge of the bower is filled with the light of Ahmed; among the plants the fortunate tulips represent his companions. Come, O people of Mohammed! this is the season of merriment. Be cheerful," &c.

† "The roses and tulips are like the bright cheeks of

of dew. Deceive not thyself, by thinking that these charms will have a long duration. Be cheerful," &c.

"Tulips, roses, and anemonies, appear in the gardens; the showers and the sunbeams, like sharp lancets, tinge the banks with the colour of blood. Spend this day agreeably with thy friends, like a prudent man. Be cheerful," &c.

§ "The time is passed in which the plants were sick, and the rose-bud hung its thoughtful head on its bosom The season comes in which mountains and rocks are coloured with tulips. Be cheerful," &c.

"Each morning the clouds shed gems over the rosegarden; the breath of the gale is full of Tartarian musk. Be not neglectful of thy duty through too great a love of the world. Be cheerful," &c.

"The sweetness of the bower has made the air so fragrant, that the dew, before it falls, is changed into rosewater. The sky spreads a pavilion of bright clouds over the garden. Be cheerful," &c.