Et, tenues ponens radios, gaudere videtur Officium fieri tam breve fratris ope. "Desere," Phoebus ait, "thalamos, Aurora, seniles; Te manet Æolides viridi venator in herba; Et cupit amplexus, Phoebe, subire tuos; Atque Arabum spirat messes, et ab ore venusto Aspice, Phœbe; tibi faciles hortantur amores, Ah, quoties, cum tu clivoso fessus Olympo "Cur te," inquit, "cursu languentem, Phoebe, diurno Quid tibi cum Tethy? Quid cum Tartesside lympha? Frigora, Phoebe, mea melius captabis in umbra; Mollior egelida veniet tibi somnus in herba; ■ Te manet Eolides, &c. Cephalus, with whom Aurora fell in love as she saw him hunting on Mount Hymettus. And Cephalus is "the Attic boy," with whom Aurora was accustomed to hunt, "Il Pens." v. 124.-T. WARTON. Cum tu, Phoebe, tuo sapientius uteris igni ; Matris in exemplum cætera turba ruunt: Triste micant ferro tela corusca novo: Marmoreas juvenes clamant Hymenæe! per urbes ; Cultior ille venit, tunicaque decentior apta, Puniceum redolet vestis odora crocum. Egrediturque frequens, ad amoni gaudia veris, Votum est cuique suum, votum est tamen omnibus unum, Ut sibi, quem cupiat, det Cytherea virum ; Nunc quoque septena modulatur arundine pastor, Navita nocturno placat sua sidera cantu, Delphinasque leves ad vada summa vocat: Qua potes, et sensim tempora veris eant; 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 35 140 More wisely than when you lent your chariot to Phaeton, and when I was consumed "by the excess of your heat." He alludes to the speech or complaint of Tellus, in the story of Phaeton. See "Metam." ii. 272.-T. Warton. ELEG. VI. Ad CAROLUM DEODATUM ruri commorantem, qui cum Idibus Decemb. scripsisset, et sua carmina excusari postulasset si solito minus essent bona, quod inter lautitias, quibus erat ab amicis exceptus, haud satis felicem operam Musis dare se posse affirmabat, hoc habuit responsum : MITTO tibi sanam non pleno ventre salutem, At tua quid nostram prolectat Musa Camœnam, Carmine scire velis quam te redamemque colamque; Quam bene solennes epulas hilaremque Decembrem, Haustaque per lepidos Gallica musta focos! Naso Corallæis mala carmina misit ab agris; Quid nisi vina, rosasque, racemiferumque Lyæum, Addimus his artes, fusumque per intima Phœbum › Haustaque per lepidos Gallica musta focos. 5 10 15 25 80 Deodate had sent Milton a copy of verses, in which he described the festivities of Christmas.-T. WARTON. a Teumesius Euan. Teumesus is a mountain of Boeotia, the district in which Thebes was situated; and its inhabitants were called Teumesii. Milton here puzzles his readers with minute and unnecessary learning. The meaning of the line is this:-"The Theban god Bacchus inspires the numbers of his congenial Pindar, the Theban poet."-T. WARTON. Nunc quoque Thressa tibi cælato barbitos auro Et revocent, quantum crapula pellit iners. Crede mihi, dum psallit ebur, comitataque plectrum Percipies tacitum per pectora serpere Phoebum, Perque puelleres oculos, digitumque sonantem, Namque Elegia levis multorum cura deorum est, Liber adest elegis, Eratoque, Ceresque, Venusque, Sæpius et veteri commaduisse mero. At qui bella refert, et adulto sub Jove cœlum, Et nunc sancta canit superum consulta deorum, Additur huic scelerisque vacans, et casta juventus, Qualis, veste nitens sacra, et lustralibus undis, Et lare devoto profugum Calchanta, senemque Et r Nunc quoque Thressa tibi, &c. The Thracian harp. Orpheus was of Thrace.-T. WARTON. • Auditurque chelys suspensa tapetia circum, &c. Mr. Warton has observed, that here is a reference to the mode of furnishing halls or state-apartments with tapestry, which had not ceased in Milton's time. Compare "Comus," v. 324.-TODD. At qui bella refert, &c. Ovid, Anacreon, Pindar, and Horace indulged in convivial festivity; and this also is an indulgence which must be allowed to the professed writer of elegies and odes: but the epic poet, who has a more serious and important task, must live sparingly, according to the dictates of Pythagoras. Milton's panegyrics on temperance both in eating and drinking, resulting from his own practice, are frequent.-T. WARTON. u Et per monstrificam Perseia Phœbados aulam. Circe was the daughter of the Sun, and, as some say, of Hecate.-T. Warton. Perque tuas, rex ime, domos, ubi sanguine nigro Qui suprema suo cum Patre regna colit; 75 80 Stelliparumque polum, modulantesque æthere turmas, 85 Et subito elisos ad sua fana deos. Dona quidem dedimus Christi natalibus illa, Te quoque pressa manent patriis meditata cicutis;▾ ELEG. VII. ANNO ETATIS 19. NONDUM, blanda, tuas leges, Amathusia, noram, Atque tuum sprevi, maxime, numen, Amor. Aut de passeribus timidos age, parve, triumphos; genus humanum quid inania dirigis arma? In Non valet in fortes ista pharetra viros. Non tulit hoc Cyprius, neque enim deus ullus ad iras 00 10 Ver erat, et summæ radians per culmina villæ At mihi adhuc refugam quærebant lumina noctem, Astat Amor lecto, pictis Amor impiger alis; ▾ Te quoque pressa manent patriis meditata cicutis. 15 20 His English "Ode on the Nativity." This he means to submit to Deodate's inspection. "You shall next have some of my English poetry." The transitions and connexions of this Elegy are conducted with the skill and address of a master, and form a train of allusions and digressions productive of fine sentiment and poetry. From a trifling and unimportant circumstance, the reader is gradually led to great and lofty imagery.-T. WARTON. At mihi adhuc refugam quærabant lumina noctem, Here is the elegance of poetical expression: but he really complains of the weakness of his eyes, which began early. He has "light unsufferable."-"Ode Nativ." v. 8.T. WARTON. |