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IMITATION

OF

AN ITALIAN SONNET

OF SIGNIOR ABBATE BUONDELMONTE 2.

LUSIT amicitiæ interdum velatus amictu,
Et benè compositâ veste fefellit Amor.
Mox iræ assumpsit cultus, faciemque minantem,
Inque odium versus, versus et in lacrymas:
Ludentem fuge, nec lacrymanti, aut crede furenti
Idem est dissimili semper in ore Deus.

SPESSO Amor sotto la forma
D'amistà ride, e s'asconde :
Poi si mischia, e si confonde
Con lo sdegno, e col rancor.
In Pietade ci si trasforma ;
Par trastullo, e par dispetto;
Mà nel suo diverso aspetto
Sempr' egli, è l' istesso Amorb.

a See Sect. II. Letter xxx.

b The above song was imitated in English by Mr. Walpole,

in his Letters to West, (vol. iv. of his Works,) and since by Rogers; see his Poems.

ALCAIC ODE,

WRITTEN IN THE ALBUM OF THE GRANDE CHAR

TREUSE, IN DAUPHINY, AUGUST, 1741a.

OH Tu, severi Religio loci,

Quocunque gaudes nomine (non leve

Nativa nam certè fluenta

Numen habet, veteresque sylvas;

Præsentiorem et conspicimus Deum
Per invias rupes, fera per juga,
Clivosque præruptos, sonantes

Inter aquas, nemorumque noctem ;

Quàm si repostus sub trabe citreâ
Fulgeret auro, et Phidiacâ manu)
Salve vocanti rite, fesso et

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a See Sect. II. Letter xxx.

We saw in the eighth and eleventh letters of the second Section how much Mr. Gray was struck with the awful scenery which surrounds the Chartreuse, at a time his mind must have been in a far more tranquil state than when he wrote this excellent Ode. It is marked, I think, with all the finest touches of his melancholy Muse, and flows with such an originality of expression, that one can hardly lament he did not honour his own language by making it the vehicle of this noble imagery and pathetic sentiment.-MASON.

Da placidam juveni quietem. Quod si invidendis sedibus, et frui Fortuna sacrâ lege silentii

Vetat volentem, me resorbens

In medios violenta fluctus: Saltem remoto des, Pater, angulo Horas senectæ ducere liberas ;

Tutumque vulgari tumultu

Surripias, hominumque curis.

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GREEK EPIGRAMa

Αζόμενος πολυθηρον ἐκηβόλου ἄλσος ἀνάσσας,

Τᾶς δεινᾶς τεμένη λεῖπε κυναγὲ θεᾶς,

Μοῦνοι ἄρ ̓ ἔνθα κύνων ζαθέων κλαγγεῦσιν ὑλάγμοι,
̓Ανταχεῖς Νυμφᾶν ἀγροτερᾶν κελάδῳ.

a See Sect. III. Letter x.

In the twelfth letter of the first section, Mr. Gray says of his
friend's translation of an Epigram of Posidippus, "Græcam
illam αφελειαν mirifce sapit.” The learned reader, I imagine,
will readily give this tetrastic the same character.—Mason.

PART OF

AN HEROIC EPISTLE

FROM SOPHONISBA TO MASINISSA a.

EGREGIUM accipio promissi Munus amoris,
Inque manu mortem, jam fruitura, fero:
Atque utinam citius mandasses, luce vel una;
Transieram Stygios non inhonesta lacus.
Victoris nec passa toros, nova nupta, mariti,
Nec fueram fastus, Roma superba, tuos.
Scilicet hæc partem tibi, Masinissa, triumphi
Detractam, hæc pompæ jura minora suæ
Imputat, atque uxor quòd non tua pressa catenis,
Objecta et sævæ plausibus orbis eo:

Quin tu pro tantis cepisti præmia factis,

Magnum Romanæ pignus amicitia!

Scipiada excuses, oro, si tardius utar

Munere. Non nimiùm vivere, crede, velim.

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Parva mora est, breve sed tempus mea fama requirit : Detinet hæc animam cura suprema meam.

a See Sect. III. Letter x.

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