Page images
PDF
EPUB

THE EGLANTINE.

Hard thinkers were they, those old men,
And patient too, I ween:
Loud words and knotty questions then

But made our fathers keen.

I doubt me if their sons would hear

Such lengthy sermons year by year.

Ay, pull them down, as well ye may,

Those altars stern and old: They speak of those long passed away, Whose ashes now are cold.

Few, few are now the strong-armed men Who worshipped at our altars then.

And they reproach you with their might,

The pious, proud and free,
The wise in council, strong in fight,

Who never bowed the knee;
And those gray churches only stand
As emblems of that hardy band.

Then pull them down and rear on high

New-fangled, painted things,
For those but mock the modern eye,

The past around them brings.
Then pull them down, and upward rear
A pile which suits who worship here.

[blocks in formation]

For its bloom and fragrance only:
Is not all its beauty past
When at last

On the stem 'tis hanging lonely?

Maidens are like garden-bowers
Filled with flowers

Which are springtime's choicest treasure:
While the budding leaves they bear
Flourish there

They will be a source of pleasure;

But whene'er the lovely Spring

Spreads her wing,

And the rose's charms have fleeted, Nor those lately-valued flowers,

Nor the bowers,

Shall with former praise be greeted.

While love's beam in woman's eyes
Fondly lies,

All the heart's best feelings telling,
Love will come--a welcome guest—
And her breast

Be his own ecstatic dwelling.

But when envious Time takes arms 'Gainst her charms,

All her youthful graces spurning, Love, who courted Beauty's ray, Steals away,

Never thinking of returning.

Maidens who man's suit deride,
And whose pride

Scorns the hearts that bow before ye,
From my song this lesson learn:

Be not stern

To the lovers who adore ye.

Translation of HARRY S. VAN DYK

279

SAP

SAPPHO.

APPHO, who flourished about 600 B. C., was a native of Mitylene, a town in the isle of Lesbos, in the Egean Sea. The name of her father is said to have been Scamandronymos; that of her mother, Cleis. She was married to Cercolas, a wealthy inhabitant of the isle of Andros, by whom she had a daughter called Cleis, and who left her a widow.

Sappho, according to the custom of her age, combined the professions of minstrel and poetess, and was the first who touched the lyre with a quill. She was, also, the inventress of her own metre. Her talent was not confined to amatory subjects: she composed a variety of odes, elegies and monodies, nine books of which were extant in the time of Horace. She was called "the tenth Muse," and the Lesbians struck a coin with her image.

[ocr errors]

ODE TO VENUS.

FROM THE GREEK OF SAPPHO.

Venus, immortal child of Jove,
Who sitt'st on painted throne above,
Weaver of wiles, oh let not Love

Inflict this torturing flame!
But haste, if once my passion's cry
Drew thee to listen, hasten nigh.
From golden palaces on high

Thy harnessed chariot came ; O'er shadowy earth, before my sight. Thy dainty sparrows wheeled their flight; Their balanced wings, in ether's light,

Were quivering to and fro.

The birds flew back; thou, blessed queen, Didst smile with heavenly brow serene, And ask what grief the cause had been That summoned thee below

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

A

H! what availed the public breath

Of favor, and the assembled people's shout,

And years all full of honors? What availed
An age expended in the sacred arts
Of learning and philosophy? One day
Has snatched the glory of the citizen:
The tongue of Latian eloquence is mute,
Grief-smitten. He of anxious Romans erst
The guard and safety; he, his country's heal.
The Senate's champion; he, the public voice
Of right and law, the forum's oracle,
And organ of the gown,-is silent now,
Now dumb for ever through the assassin's
steel,

Those features now convulsed, that hoary hair
Dashed impiously with blood, those sacred

hands

That wrought such mighty deeds now spurned beneath

A Roman's haughty feet, and trampled on In triumph.

Translation of JABEZ HUGHLS

[graphic][subsumed][merged small][merged small][subsumed][ocr errors]

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX

TH DEN F NDATIONS

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

281

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

[graphic]

SIR JOHN SUCKLING. IR JOHN SUCKLING was born at Whitton, Middlesex, February 10, 1608-9, and was baptized at Twickenham church. He was the son of Sir John Suckling, a native of Norwich, whose father, Robert Suckling, had been alderman and mayor of that city. Sir John, the poet's father, settled at Whitton, and became one of the secretaries of state in 1622. He was likewise comptroller of the household to James I. and Charles I. He died in 1627, when his son was nineteen years of age.

From his childhood the poet exhibited that talent which has made him known not only as an accomplished courtier, but also as a sound scholar. At five years of age he spoke Latin, and could write it elegantly at nine. He was easily taught and quick in acquiring knowledge, but, together with this, he was at all times volatile, thoughtless and exhibited great vivacity of disposition. In his father's house he associated with the most distinguished men of his day, and thereby acquired an ease and elegance of address and manner which qualified him for his future career as a courtier. Suckling does not appear to have entered either of the universities. At an early period of his life he commenced his travels on the Continent, where, it has been said, he acquired "a little

too much of the French air." He joined the service of the famous Gustavus Adolphus, and was present at various battle and sieges. The period is fixed by a letter still in existence, dated Leyden, November 18, 1629.

was

When Suckling returned to England, he associated with the wits of the period. Into their circle he was received with marked favor and esteem; for, although he exhibited such levity of disposition, it was compounded with great ability in argument and especial conversational power. We are not surprised, therefore, to find among Suckling's intimate friends such a distinguished scholar as "the ever-memorable John Hales" of Eton, and such noted men as Lord Falkland, Ben Jonson, Davenant, Digby and Carew. Suckling sealed of the tribe of Ben," and one of the famous Apollo Club. In the midst of his gayety the dark clouds of rebellion were gathering around the throne of Charles I. Suckling's loyalty constrained him to offer his services to the king. He raised and equipped at his own expense a troop of cavalry, consisting of a hundred men. They were so splendidly mounted and caparisoned that it is said Sir John expended twelve thousand pounds over their equipment. The conduct of this glittering band exposed Suckling to much ridicule. In an engagement (1639) between the royal army and the Scotch, Sir John's troop was led into the fight and behaved in a cowardly way. There was not the smallest reason for questioning the bravery of Sir John himself; the occa

« PreviousContinue »