Quamque Stagyrites a generoso magnus alumno, Flammeus at signum ter viderat arietis Æthon ", Bisque novo terram sparsisti, Chlori, senilem Mulcentem gremio pignora cara suo: Forsitan aut veterum prælarga volumina patrum Grande salutiferæ religionis opus. Utque solet, multam sit dicere cura salutem, Dicere quam decuit, si modo adesset, herum. Hæc quoque, paulum oculos in humum defixa modestos, Hæc tibi, si teneris vacat inter prælia Musis, Sera quidem, sed vera fuit, quam casta recepit Ast ego quid volui manifestum tollere crimen, Tu modo da veniam fasso, veniamque roganti; 50 55 GO in Ovid's "Ibis,"'-"Cliniadæque modo," &c. v. 635. Alcibiades, the son of Clinias, was anciently descended from Eurysaces, a son of the Telamonian Ajax.-T. WARTON. a Aristotle, preceptor to Alexander the Great.-T. WARTON. b Qualis Amyntorides, qualis Philyrëius heros. Phoenix, the son of Amyntor, and Chiron, both instructors of Achilles. The instances are, of the love of scholars to their masters, in ancient history.—T. WARTON. Two years and one month; in which had passed three vernal equinoxes, two springs and two winters. Young, we may then suppose, went abroad in February, 1628, when Milton was about fifteen. But compare their prose correspondence, where Milton says, "quod autem plusquam triennio nunquam ad te scripserim."-T. WARTON. Sæpe sarissiferi a crudelia pectora Thracis Jamque diu scripsisse tibi fuit impetus illi, Nam vaga Fama refert, (heu, nuntia vera malorum !) In tibi finitimis bella tumere locis ; Teque tuamque urbem truculento milite cingi, Et jam Saxonicos arma parasse duces e. Te circum late campos populatur Enyo, Et sata carne virum jam cruor arva rigat; Creditur ad superas justa volasse domos. Siccine in externam ferrea cogis humum ? Quæ via post cineres ducat ad astra, docent? Sæpe sarissiferi. From the Macedonian "sarissa," or "pike;" whence soldiers were called "sarissophori." See Liv. ix. 19. And Ovid, "Met." xii. 466.-Todd. e Et jam Saxonicos arma parasse duces. About the year 1626, when this Elegy was written, the imperialists, under General Tilly, were often encountered by Christian, Duke of Brunswick, and the Dukes of Saxony, particularly Duke William of Saxe Weimar, and the Duke of Saxe Lauenberg, in Lower Saxony, of which Hamburg, where Young resided, is the capital. See v. 77. Germany in general, either by invasion or interior commotions, was a scene of the most bloody war, from the year 1618 till later than 1640. Gustavus Adolphus conquered the greater part of Germany about 1631.-T. WARTON. f Vivis et ignoto solus inopsque solo. These circumstances, added to others, leave us strongly to suspect that Young was a nonconformist, and probably compelled to quit England on account of his religious opinions and practice. He seems to have been driven back to England, by the war in the Netherlands, not long after this Elegy was written.-T. WARTON. Sede peregrina quæris egenus opem. Before and after 1630, many English ministers, puritanically affected, left their cures, and settled in Holland, where they became pastors of separate congregations; when matters took another turn in England, they returned, and were rewarded for their unconforming obstinacy in the new presbyterian establishment.-T. WART ON. Haud aliter vates terræ Thesbitidis olim At tu sume animos; nec spes cadat anxia curis, At nullis vel inerme latus violabitur armis, Namque eris ipse Dei radiante sub ægide tutus; Misit ab antiquis prisca Damascus agris ; ELEG. V. In Adventum Veris. IN se perpetuo Tempus revolubile gyro Jam revocat Zephyros vere tepente novos; h Sidoni dira. 100 105 110 115 120 125 Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. "Sidoni" is a vocative, from Sidonis, often applied by Ovid to Europa, the daughter of Agenor, king of Syria.-T. WARTON. i Talis et, horrisono laceratus membra flagello, &c. Whipping and imprisonment were among the punishments of the arbitrary Starchamber, the threats "regis Achabi," which Young fled to avoid.-T. WARTON. i Et tu (quod superest miseris), &c. From many obvious reasons, At tu is likely to be the true reading.-T. WARTON. k This wish, as we have seen, came to pass. He returned; and, when at length his party became superior, he was rewarded with appointments of opulence and honour.— T. WARTON. In point of poetry, sentiment, selection of imagery, facility of versification, and Latinity, this Elegy, written by a boy, is far superior to one of Buchanan's on the same subject, entitled "Maiæ Calendæ."-T. WARTON. Induiturque brevem Tellus reparata juventam, (Quis putet?) atque aliquod jam sibi poscit opus. Jam mihi mens liquidi raptatur in ardua cœli, Perque vagas nubes corpore liber eo; Perque umbras, perque antra feror, penetralia vatum, Intuiturque animus toto quid agatur Olympo, Jam, Philomela, tuos, foliis adoperta novellis, Est breve noctis iter, brevis est mora noctis opacæ, Jamque Lycaonius, plaustrum cœleste, Boötes Nam dolus, et cædes, et vis cum nocte recessit, Forte aliquis scopuli recubans in vertice pastor, Hac, ait, hac certe caruisti nocte puella, See v. 23. There is a notion that Milton could write verses only in the spring or summer, which perhaps is countenanced by these passages: but what poetical mind does not feel an expansion or invigoration at the return of the spring;-at that renovation of the face of nature, with which every mind is in some degree affected ?-T. WARTON. Et, tenues ponens radios, gaudere videtur Officium fieri tam breve fratris ope. 'Desere," Phœbus ait, "thalamos, Aurora, seniles ; Te manet Æolides n viridi venator in herba; Et cupit amplexus, Phoebe, subire tuos ; Atque Arabum spirat messes, et ab ore venusto Ah, quoties, cum tu clivoso fessus Olympo "Cur te," inquit, "cursu languentem, Phoebe, diurno 80 Quid tibi cum Tethy? Quid cum Tartesside lympha? Frigora, Phœbe, mea melius captabis in umbra; Huc ades, ardentes imbue rore comas. Mollior egelida veniet tibi somnus in herba; Te manet Eolides, &c. 85 90 Cephalus, with whom Aurora fell in love as she saw him hunting on Mount Hymettus. And Cephalus is "the Attick boy," with whom Aurora was accustomed to hunt, "Il Pens." v. 124.-T. WARTON. |
