But she, 'midst other cities, rears her head Melibœus. And why to visit Rome was you inclin'd? Tityrus. 'Twas there I hoped my liberty to find. Melibæus. Why Amaryllis pined, and pass'd away In lonely shades the melancholy day; Why to the gods she breathed incessant vows; For whom her mellow apples press'd the boughs So late, I wonder'd-Tityrus was gone, And she (al luckless maid!) was left alone. Your absence every warbling fountain mourn'd, Tityrus. What could I do? to break th' enslaving chain All other efforts had (alas!) been vain; The refinements of Taubmannus, De La Cerda, and others, whe will have Amaryliis to signify Rome, and Galatea to signify Mantua, have perplexed this passage not a little; if the literal meaning be admitted, the whole becomes obvious and natural. Nor durst ny hopes presume, but there, to find To whom our altars monthly incense yield: My suit he even prevented, while he spoke, Happy old man! then shall your lands remain, Extent sufficient for th' industrious swain! Though bleak and bare yon ridgy rocks arise, And lost in lakes the neighbouring pasture lies. Your herds on wonted grounds shall safely range, And never feel the dire effects of change. No foreign flock shall spread infecting bane To hurt your pregnant dams, thrice happy swain! You by known streams and sacred fountains laid Shall taste the coolness of the fragrant shade, Beneath yon fence, where willow-boughs unite, And to their flowers the swarming bees invite, Oft shall the lulling hum persuade to rest, And balmy slumbers steal into your breast; While warbled from this rock the pruner's lay In deep repose dissolves your soul away; High on yon elm the turtle wails alone, And your loved ring doves breathe a hoarser moan, Tityrus. The nimble harts shall graze in empty air, And seas retreating leave their fishes bare, The German dwell where rapid Tigris flows, The Parthian, banish'd by invading foes, Shall drink the Gallic Arar, from iny breast Ere his majestic image be effaced. * Augustus Cæsar. Melibœus. But we must travel o'er a .ength of lands, From all the world removed, are doom'd to mourn. My dear paternal lands, and dear abode, These lands, these harvests must the soldier share! For rude barbarians lavish we our care! Behold you from afar the cliffs ascend, While on the thyme you feed, and willow's wholesome shoot. Tityrus. This night at least with me you may repose N II.* ALEXIS. YOUNG Corydon for fair Alexis pined, But hope ne'er gladden'd his desponding mind; I felt from Amaryllis' fierce disdain ? *The chief excellency of this poem consists in its delicacy and plicity. Corydon addresses his favourite in such a purity of sentiment as one would think might effectually discountenance the prepossessions which generally prevail against the subject of this eclogue. The nature of his affection in easily be ascertained from his ideas of the happiness which he hopes to enjoy in the company of his beloved Alexis. O tantum libeat O deign at last amid these lonely fields, &c. It appears to have been no other than that friendship, which was encour ged by the wisest legislators of ancient Greece, as a noble incentive to virtue, and recommended by the example even of Agesilaus, Pericles, and Socrates: an affection wholly distinct from the infamous attachments that prevailed among the licentious. The reader will find a full and satisfy ng account of this generous passion in Dr. Potter's Antiquities of Greece, Book iv. chap. 9. Mons Bayle in his Dictionary, at the article Virgile, has at great length vindicated our poet from the charge of immorality which the critics have grounded upon this pas toral. The scene of this pastoral is a grove interspersed with beech-trees; the season, harvest. Easier Menalcas' cold neglect to bear, Black though he was, though thou art blooming fair? Yet be relenting, nor too much presume, O beauteous boy, on thy celestial bloom; The sable violet* yields a precious die, While useless on the field the withering lilies lie. No thoughts of thine regard thy wretched swain. O deign at last, amid these lonely fields, To roam the woods, to shoot the bounding hind; Pan taught the jointed reed its tuneful strain, So oft hath stain'd the roses of thy lip: How did Amyntas strive thy skill to gain! How grieve at last to find his labour vain! Of seven unequal reeds a pipe I have, The precious gift which good Damœtas gave; Vaccinium (here translated violet) yielded a purple colour used in dying the garments of slaves, according to Plin. l. xvi. c. 28. .T |