Et tandem Armoricos Britonum sub lege colonos ; Merlini dolus. O mihi tum si vita supersit, Treantæ, Et Thamesis meus ante omnes, et fusca metallis Tamara, et extremis me discant Orcades undis. 180 Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. Hæc tibi servabam lenta sub cortice lauri, Hæc, et plura simul; tum quæ mihi pocula Mansus, Mansus, Chalcidicæ non ultima gloria ripæ, Bina dedit, mirum artis opus, mirandus et ipse, Et circum gemino cælaverat argumento: In medio rubri maris unda, et odoriferum ver, 185 Littora longa Arabum, et sudantes balsama sylvæ, Has inter Phoenix, divina avis, unica terris, 171 Brittonicum] First syllable long; see Lucret. vi. 1104; ver. 165 of this poem, Milton has made it short, 'Britonum.' 182 Chalcidica] A people called the 'Chalcidici' are said to have founded Naples. Virg. Ecl. x. 50. Chalcidico versu.' En. vi. 17. Warton. Cæruleum fulgens diversicoloribus alis, Auroram vitreis surgentem respicit undis; 191 Arma corusca faces, et spicula tincta pyropo; Tu quoque in his certe es, nam quo tua dulcis abiret Nec tibi conveniunt lacrymæ, nec flebimus ultra, Ite procul lacrymæ ; purum colit æthera Damon, Æthera purus habet, pluvium pede reppulit arcum; Heroumque animas inter, divosque perennes, 205 Æthereos haurit latices, et gaudia potat Ore sacro. 210 Quin tu, cœli post jura recepta, Dexter ades, placidusque fave quicunque vocaris, Seu tu noster eris Damon, sive æquior audis Diodatus, quo te divino nomine cuncti Cœlicolæ norint, sylvisque vocabere Damon. Quod tibi purpureus pudor, et sine labe juventus Grata fuit, quod nulla tori libata voluptas, 188 diversicoloribus alis] Eurip. Hippol. 1270, Cupid is termed #oikiλóπtтεрог. See too Aristoph. Av. 249. En etiam tibi virginei servantur honores; 215 JAN. 23, 1646. AD JOANNEM ROUSIUM OXONIENSIS ACADEMIE BIBLIOTHECARIUM.* De libro Poematum amisso, quem ille sibi denuo mitti postulabat, ut cum aliis nostris in Bibliotheca publica reponeret, Ode. STROPHE I. GEMELLE cultu simplici gaudens liber, Fronde licet gemina, Munditieque nitens non operosa; Quem manus attulit Juvenilis olim, Sedula tamen haud nimii poetæ ; 5 *This ode, in Milton's own hand writing, on one sheet of paper, is inserted between the Latin and English poems, in a copy which he sent to Rouse, and which is now in the Bodleian M. 168, Art. 8vo. Another small volume, containing some of his prose tracts, with an inscription to J. Rouse, in Milton's hand writing, is in the same library. F. 56, Th. See some observations on the structure of this Ode in Symmons's Life, p. 281, ed. second. 2 Fronde] 'Fronte' is perhaps a better reading. Warton. Dum vagus Ausonias nunc per umbras, Insons populi, barbitoque devius Indulsit patrio, mox itidem pectine Daunio Vicinis, et humum vix tetigit pede: ANTISTROPHE. Quis te, parve liber, quis te fratribus Subduxit reliquis dolo? Cum tu missus ab urbe, Docto jugiter obsecrante amico, Illustre tendebas iter Thamesis ad incunabula Cærulei patris, Fontes ubi limpidi Aonidum, thyasusque sacer, Temporum lapsus redeunte cœlo, STROPHE II. Modo quis deus, aut editus deo, Jam penc totis finibus Angligenum; Immundasque volucres, Unguibus imminentes, Figat Apollinea pharetra, 35 Phineamque abigat pestem procul amne Pegaseo? ANTISTROPHE Quin tu, libelle, nuntii licet mala Fide, vel oscitantia, Semel erraveris agmine fratrum, Seu quis te teneat specus, Seu qua te latebra, forsan unde vili Callo tereris institoris insulsi, Lætare felix: en iterum tibi Spes nova fulget, posse profundam STROPHE III. Nam te Roüsius sui Optat peculi, numeroque justo Sunt data virum monumenta curæ: Voluit reponi, quibus et ipse præsidet Quam cui præfuit lön, Clarus Erechtheides, 56 Tön] See the Ion of Euripides, 185, seq. 1146, seq. and Phoen. 228. Euripides calls Ion xpvropúλakя, 54. Warton. |