TRANSLATION Of part of the Dialogue between Hector and Andromache. FROM THE SIXTH BOOK OF HOMER'S ILIAD. SHE ceas'd: then godlike Hector answer'd kind, (His various plumage sporting in the wind) That post, and all the rest, shall be my care; But shall I then forsake the unfinish'd war? How would the Trojans brand great Hector's name! Acquir'd by wounds and battles bravely fought! That Priam's house, and Priam's self shall bleed: Whose blood shall quench some Grecian's thirsty rage, Nor my brave brothers that have bit the ground, Their souls dismiss'd through many a ghastly wound, Can in my bosom half that grief create, As the sad thought of your impending fate; When some proud Grecian dame shall tasks impose, TO MISS **** On her playing upon a Harpsichord in a Room hung with Flower-pieces of her own painting. WHEN Stella strikes the tuneful string Where beauty lavishes her powers And pleasure propagates around But shun, rash youth, the gay alcove, When charms thus press on every sense, What thought of flight or of defence? Deceitful hope and vain desire, For ever flutter o'er her lyre, Might truth intrude with daring flight, How passion's well accorded strife, Thy pictures shall thy conduct frame, Consistent still, though not the same; Thy music teach the nobler art, EVENING, AN ODE. TO STELLA. EVENING now from purple wings Sheds the grateful gifts she brings; Brilliant drops bedeck the mead, Cooling breezes shake the reed; Shake the reed, and curl the stream Silver'd o'er with Cynthia's beam; Near the chequer'd, lonely grove, Hears, and keeps thy secrets, love. Stella, thither let us stray! Lightly o'er the dewy way. Phœbus drives his burning car, Let us now in whisper'd joy, Evening's silent hours employ, Silence best, and conscious shades, Please the hearts that love invades ; L Other pleasures give them pain, Lovers all but love disdain. TO THE SAME. WHETHER Stella's eyes are found, Conscious worth or soft distress, Still we love, and still approve. Vain the casual transient glance, Which alone can please by chance, Beauty, which depends on art, Changing with the changing art, |