Rettulit Æolii vitam facundus Homeri."
Ergo ego te, Clius et magni nomine Phœbi,
Manse pater, jubeo longum salvere per ævum,
Missus Hyperboreo juvenis peregrinus ab axe.
Nec tu longinquam bonus aspernabere Musam,
Quæ nuper gelida vix enutrita sub Arcto,
Imprudens Italas ausa est volitare per urbes.
Nos etiam in nostro modulantes flumine cygnos
Credimus obscuras noctis sensisse per umbras,
Qua Thamesis late puris argenteus urnis
Oceani glaucos perfundit gurgite crines:
Quin et in has quondam pervenit Tityrus oras.

Sed neque nos genus incultum, nec inutile Phobo,
Qua plaga septeno mundi sulcata Trione
Brumalem patitur longa sub nocte Boöten.
Nos etiam colimus Phoebum, nos munera Phobo
Flaventes spicas, et lutea mala canistris,
Halantemque crocum, perhibet nisi vana vetustas,
Misimus, et lectas Druidum de gente choreas.
Gens Druides antiqua, sacris operata deorum,
Heroum laudes, imitandaque gesta, canebant;
Hinc quoties festo cingunt altaria cantu
Delo in herbosa, Graia de more puellæ,
Carminibus lætis memorant Corineida Loxo,"
Fatidicamque Upin, cum flavicoma Hecaërge,
Nuda Caledonio variatas pectora fuco.

Fortunate senex, ergo, quacunque per orbem
Torquati decus, et nomen celebrabitur ingens,
Claraque perpetui succrescet fama Marini:

Tu quoque in ora frequens venies, plausumque virorum,
Et parili carpes iter immortale volatu.

Dicetur tum sponte tuos habitasse penates
Cynthius, et famulas venisse ad limina Musas:

P Mycalen qui natus ad altam

Rettulit Eolii vitam facundus Homeri.

Plutarch, who wrote the "Life of Homer." He was a native of Boeotia, where Mycale is a mountain.-T. WARTON.

The learned translator of this poem into English verse, the Rev. Joseph Stirling, observes that Herodotus is here intended; and that Mr. Warton is mistaken in supposing Milton to allude to Plutarch: for, he adds, "a mountain of the name of Mycale in Boeotia will not be found either in Pausanias or Strabo: Mycale was in Asia Minor, the country of Herodotus. The epithet facundus' which Mr. Warton admires, is particularly applicable to the father of history; but I doubt whether it would be allowed to Plutarch on the banks of the Ilissus, though he is rich in biographical and moral reflections."-TODD.

Spenser.-HURD.

q Qua Thamesis, &c.

r Quin et in has quondam pervenit Tityrus oras.

"Like me too, Chaucer travelled into Italy." In Spenser's "Pastorals," Chaucer is constantly called Tityrus.-T. WARTON.

Our author converts the three Hyperborean nymphs, who sent fruits to Apollo in Delos, into British goldesses.-T. WARTON.

At non sponte domum tamen idem,t et regis adivit
Rura Pheretiadæ, cœlo fugitivus Apollo;
Ille licet magnum Alciden susceperat hospes :
Tantum ubi clamosos placuit vitare bubulcos,
Nobile mansueti cessit Chironis in antrum,
Irriguos inter saltus, frondosaque tecta,
Peneium prope rivum: ibi sæpe sub ilice nigra,
Ad citharæ strepitum, blanda prece victus amici,
Exilii duros lenibat voce labores.

Tum neque ripa suo, barathro nec fixa sub imo
Saxa stetere loco; nutat Trachinia rupes,
Nec sentit solitas, immania pondera, silvas;
Emotæque suis properant de collibus orni,
Mulcenturque novo maculosi carmine lynces.

Dis dilecte senex, te Jupiter æquus oportet
Nascentem, et miti lustrarit lumine Phoebus,
Atlantisque nepos; neque enim, nisi carus ab ortu
Dis superis, poterit magno favisse poetæ.
Hinc longæva tibi lento sub flore senectus
Vernat, et Esonios lucratur vivida fusos ;
Nondum deciduos servans tibi frontis honores,
Ingeniumque vigens, et adultum mentis acumen.
O, mihi si mea sors talem concedat amicum,
Phœbæos decorasse viros qui tam bene norit,
Siquando indigenas revocabo in carmina reges"
Arturumque etiam sub terris bella moventem!
Aut dicam invictæ sociali fœdere mensæ V
Magnanimos heroas; et, O, modo spiritus adsit,
Frangam Saxonicas Britonum sub Marte phalanges!
Tandem ubi non tacitæ permensus tempora vitæ,
Annorumque satur, cineri sua jura relinquam,
Ille mihi lecto madidis astaret ocellis;
Astanti sat erat si dicam, sim tibi curæ ;
Ille meos artus, liventi morte solutos,
Curaret parva componi mollitur urna :

Forsitan et nostros ducat de marmore vultus,

Nectens aut Paphia myrti aut Parnasside lauri
Fronde comas; at ego secura pace quiescam.

Tum quoque, si qua fides, si præmia certa bonorum,
Ipse ego cœlicolum semotus in æthera divum,
Quo labor et mens pura vehunt, atque ignea virtus,

95

t At non sponte domum tamen idem, &c.

Apollo, being driven from heaven, kept the cattle of king Admetus in Thessaly, who had entertained Hercules: this was in the neighbourhood of the river Peneus, and of mount Pelion, inhabited by Chiron.-T. WARTON.

Siquando indigenas revocabo in carmina reges, &c.

The "indigenæ reges" are the ancient kings of Britain.-T. WARTON.

▾ Sociali fœdere mensæ, &c.

The knights, or associated champions, of King Arthur's round table, as Mr. Warton observes.-TODD.

Secreti hæc aliqua mundi de parte videbo,
Quantum fata sinunt; et, tota mente serenum
Ridens, purpureo suffundar lumine vultus,
Et simul æthereo plaudam mihi lætus Olympo.

EPITAPHIUM DAMONIS.

ARGUMENTUM.

100

Thyrsis et Damon, ejusdem vicinia pastores, eadem studia secuti, a pueritia amici erant, ut qui plurimum. Thyrsis animi causa profectus perege de obitu Damonis nuncium accepit. Demum postea reversus, et rem ita esse comperto, se, suamque solitudinem hoc carmine deplorat. Damonis autem sub persona hic intelligitur Carolus Deodatus, ex urbe Hetruriæ Luca paterno genere oriundus, cætera Anglus; ingenio, doctrina, clarissimisque cæteris virtutibus, dum viveret, juvenis egregius.

HIMERIDES nymphæ, (nam vos et Daphnin, et Hylan,

Et plorata diu meministis fata Bionis)

Dicite Sicelicum Thamesina per oppida carmen;
Quas miser effudit voces, quæ murmura Thyrsis,
Et quibus assiduis exercuit antra querelis,

Fluminaque, fontesque vagos, nemorumque recessus;
Dum sibi præreptum queritur Damona, neque altam
Luctibus exemit noctem, loca sola pererrans.
Et jam bis viridi surgebat culmus arista,
Et totidem flavas numerabant horrea messes,
Ex quo summa dies tulerat Damona sub umbras,
Necdum aderat Thyrsis; pastorem scilicet illum
Dulcis amor Musa Tusca retinebat in urbe :
Ast ubi mens expleta domum, pecorisque relicti
Cura vocat, simul assueta seditque sub ulmo;
Tum vero amissum tum denique sentit amicum,
Cœpit et immensum sic exonerare dolorem :-

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni.
Hei mihi! quæ terris, quæ dicam numina coelo,
Postquam te immiti rapuerunt funere, Damon!
Siccine nos linquis, tua sic sine nomine virtus
Ibit, et obscuris numero sociabitur umbris?
At non ille, animas virga qui dividit aurea,

10

15

20

20

Charles Deodate's father, Theodore, was born at Geneva, of an Italian family, in 1574. He came young into England, where he married an English lady of good birth and fortune: he was a doctor in physic; and, in 1609, appears to have been physician to Prince Henry and the Princess Elizabeth, afterwards queen of Bohemia. He lived then at Brentford, where he performed a wonderful cure by phlebotomy; as appears by his own narrative of the case, in a letter dated 1629. One of his descendants, Mons. Anton. Josué Diodati, who has honoured me with some of these notices, is now the learned librarian of the republic of Geneva. Theodore's brother, Giovanni Deodati, was an eminent theologist of Geneva; with whom Milton, in consequence of his connexion with Charles, contracted a friendship during his abode at Geneva, and whose annotations on the Bible were translated into English by the puritans. The family left Italy on account of religion.-T. WARTON.

x Himerides nymphæ.

Himera is the famous bucolic river of Theocritus, who sung the death of Daphnis. and the loss of Hylas. Bion, in the next line, was lamented by Moschus.-T. WARTON. y Thyrsis, or Milton, was now at Florence.-T. Warton.

Ista velit, dignumque tui te ducat in agmen,
Ignavumque procul pecus arceat omne silentum.

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni.
Quicquid erit, certe, nisi me lupus ante videbit,
Indeplorato non comminuere sepulcro,
Constabitque tuus tibi honos, longumque vigebit
Inter pastores: illi tibi vota secundo

Solvere post Daphnin, post Daphnin dicere laudes,
Gaudebunt, dum rura Pales, dum Faunus amabit;
Si quid id est, priscamque fidem coluisse, piumque,
Palladiasque artes, sociumque habuisse canorum.

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni.
Hæc tibi certa manent, tibi erunt hæc præmia, Damon;
At mihi quid tandem fiet modo? quis mihi fidus
Hærebit lateri comes, ut tu sæpe solebas
Frigoribus duris, et per loca foeta pruinis,
Aut rapido sub sole, siti morientibus herbis?
Sive opus in magnos fuit eminus ire leones,
Aut avidos terrere lupos præsepibus altis;
Quis fando sopire diem, cantuque, solebit?

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30

35

40

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni.

Pectora cui credam? quis me lenire docebit
Mordaces curas, quis longam fallere noctem
Dulcibus alloquiis, grato cum sibilat igni

45

Molle pyrum, et nucibus strepitat focus, et malus Auster
Miscet cuncta foris, et desuper intonat ulmo?

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat agni.
Aut æstate, dies medio dum vertitur axe,
Cum Pan æsculea somnum capit abditus umbra,
Et repetunt sub aquis sibi nota sedilia nymphæ,
Pastoresque latent, stertit sub sepe colonus;
Quis mihi blanditiasque tuas, quis tum mihi risus,
Cecropiosque sales referet, cultosque lepores?

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni.
At jam solus agros, jam pascua solus oberro,
Sicubi ramosæ densantur vallibus umbræ;
Hic serum expecto; supra caput imber et Eurus
Triste sonant, fractæque agitata crepuscula silvæ.

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni.
Heu, quam culta mihi prius arva procacibus herbis
Involvuntur, et ipsa situ seges alta fatiscit!
Innuba neglecto marcescit et uva racemo,
Nec myrteta juvant; ovium quoque tædet; at illæ
Morent, inque suum convertunt ora magistrum.

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni.
Tityrus ad corylos vocat, Alphesibous ad ornos,
Ad salices Egon, ad flumina pulcher Amyntas;
"Hic gelidi fontes, hic illita gramina musco,
Hic Zephyri, hic placidas interstrepit arbutus undas."
Ista canunt surdo; frutices ego nactus abibam.

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni.

Mopsus ad hæc, nam me redeuntem forte notarat,

(Et oallebat avium linguas et sidera Mopsus)

"Thyrsi, quid hoc?" dixit, "quæ te coquit improba bilis?
Aut te perdit amor, aut te male fascinat astrum:
Saturni grave sæpe fuit pastoribus astrum,
Intimaque obliquo figit præcordia plumbo."

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni.
Mirantur nymphæ, et, "Quid te, Thyrsi, futurum est?
Quid tibi vis?" aiunt; "non hæc solet esse juventæ
Nubila frons, oculique truces, vultusque severi:
Illa choros, lususque leves, et semper amorem
Jure petit bis ille miser quis serus amavit."

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agui.
Venit Hyas, Dryopeque, et filia Baucidis Ægle,
Docta modos, citharæque sciens, sed perdita fastu;
Venit Idumanii Chloris vicina fluenti:
Nil me blanditiæ, nil me solantia verba,
Nil me, si quid adest, movet, aut spes ulla futuri.

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni.
Hei mihi! quam similes ludunt per prata juvenci,
Omnes unanimi secum sibi lege sodales!
Nec magis hunc alio quisquam secernit amicum
De grege; sic densi veniunt ad pabula thoes,
Inque vicem hirsuti paribus junguntur onagri:
Lex eadem pelagi; deserto in littore Proteus
Agmina phocarum numerat, vilisque volucrum
Passer habet semper quicum sit, et omnia circum
Farra libans volitat, sero sua tecta revisens ;
Quem si sors leto objecit, seu milvus adunco
Fata tulit rostro, seu stravit arundine fossor,
Protinus ille alium socio petit inde volatu.
Nos durum genus, et diris exercita fatis
Gens homines, aliena animis, et pectore discors;
Vix sibi quisque parem de millibus invenit unum;
Aut si sors dederit tandem non aspera votis,
Illum inopina dies, qua non speraveris hora,
Surripit, æternum linquens, in sæcula damnum.

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni.
Heu quis me ignotas traxit vagus error in oras,
Ire per aëreas rupes, Alpemque nivosam!
Ecquid erat tanti Romam vidisse sepultam,
(Quamvis illa foret, qualem dum viseret olim,
Tityrus ipse suas et oves et rura reliquit)
Ut te tam dulci possem caruisse sodale!
Possem tot maria alta, tot interponere montes,
Tot silvas, tot saxa tibi, fluviosque sonantes!
Ah, certe extremum licuisset tangere dextram,

The river Chelmer in Essex is called "Idumanium fluentum," near its influx into Blackwater-bay. Ptolemy calls this bay "portus Idumanius."-T. WARTON,