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HOMER'S BATRACHOMYOMACHIA, 
 
 HYMNS AND EPIGKAMS. 
 
 HESIOUS WORKS AND DAYS. 
 MUSJSUS' HERO AND LEANDER. 
 JUVENAL'S FIFTH SATIRE. 
 
 TRANSLATED 
 
 BY GEORGE CHAPMAN. 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, 
 
 BY RICHARD HOOPER, M.A., F.S.A. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JOHN RUSSELL SMITH, 
 
 SOHO SQUARE. 
 
 1858. 
 
<&& 
 
 
 % 
 
 V 
 
 <v 
 
TO 
 
 SAMUEL WELLER SINGER, ESQ. F.S.A. 
 
 THROUGH WHOSE LABOURS 
 
 THE EDITOR WAS INTRODUCED 
 
 TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF 
 
 GEORGE CHAPMAN AND HIS AVORKS, 
 THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED. 
 
::•". ;_T'.r:: y 
 
 ia. T in*- 
 
viii I XT ROD UCTION. 
 
 Translation of Homer, published by George Chapman 
 in the reigns of Q. Elizabeth and K. James, is one of 
 the greatest treasures the English language has to boast," 
 I confess I was inclined to demur; but when I attentively 
 read it, and marked the spirit, the roughness and sim- 
 plicity, the singular sweetness of the epithets, the 
 richness of the language in many of the lines, the grand- 
 eur of many of the scenes, and when I compared these 
 with Pope, Cowper, and Sotheby, and with the new 
 translation by Professor F. W. Xewinan (whose metre, 
 by the bye, however adapted for short passages, sadly 
 wearies in a long perusal*), I could not but be impressed 
 with the superiority of Chapman, and not only with 
 his work as a representation of the Homeric mind, but 
 as a most valuable contribution to our English poetry. 
 
 I am sometimes inclined to think that his readers are 
 not apt to realize (to use a modern term) the metre of 
 his Iliads, that it is in truth simply our common ballad- 
 metre. I am quite conscious that he has not a com- 
 plete mastery over it — such, for instance, as Arthur 
 G-olding has in his " Ovid's Metamorphoses" — but still 
 if we would read his long lines throughout as two — thus : 
 
 John Gilpin was a citizen, of credit and renown : 
 
 A trained-band Captain eke was he, of famous London town ; 
 
 the measure would soon accustom itself to our ear, and 
 we should see, with Lamb, that it is " capable of all 
 sweetness and grandeur," and that " Chapman gallops off 
 with you his own free pace, &c." That Chapman re- 
 quires study, I consider one of his merits. So do all our 
 old writers. It is this study that makes them 
 
 * Mr. Newman's version may be accurate and valuable, but 
 we can hardly call it poetical. 
 
INTRODUCTION, ix 
 
 valuable, that instils into us their nerve and vigour, that 
 enables us to draw from them freshness and health in 
 ideas and language. But it must not be supposed that 
 I wish to offer an apology or defence for good old George. 
 He is perfectly able to defend himself; and the reader 
 must beware lest (as hearty Christopher Xorth warns 
 him) he rouse the ghost of Master Chapman, who will 
 assuredly call him •'•' a certain envious windsucker, that 
 hovers up and down, laboriously engrossing all the air 
 with his luxurious ambition, and buzzing into every ear 
 my detraction" — and again, •• a castrill with too hot a 
 liver, and lust after his own glory, and, to devour all 
 himself, discouraging all appetites to the fame of an- 
 other/'* But as I have spoken so much on this sub- 
 ject in the " Introductions" to the Iliad and Odyssey, it 
 is time to return to the present volume. 
 
 It is a bibliographical curiosity, inasmuch as all the 
 pieces in it are of more or less rarity. Chapman seems 
 to have been determined to translate every possible, or 
 probable, portion of Homer. Hence, having finished 
 the Iliad and Odyssey, he published " The Croivne of 
 all Homers Wbrlces, Batrachomyomachia ; or the 
 Battaile of Frogs and Mise. His Hymnes and Epi- 
 grams. Translated according to the originall, by 
 George Chapman. London. Printed by John Bill, 
 his Maiestie's Printer "-f This very rare volume is a 
 thin folio, the contents of which are here presented to 
 the reader. It has an exquisitely engraved title, by 
 William Pass ; of which we have endeavoured to give a 
 
 * See Preface to Iliads, pp. lxvii-vih. 
 f He considers it his destiny, — 
 
 ••' The work that I was* born to do is done 1" 
 
i INTRODUCTION. 
 
 facsimile. It is not necessary to inquire into the authent- 
 icity of the (so-styled) Homeric Hymns. It will be 
 sufficient to inform the reader that Chapman is the only 
 writer who has translated the ivliole of the works ascribed 
 to Homer. 
 
 The original folio has been entirely followed in the 
 present edition. Copies are now only to be purchased 
 by those who can indulge in the luxuries of literature, 
 if books of extreme rarity may be so called. Of this 
 folio, a large paper copy is in the Archiepiscopal 
 Library at Lambeth ; the only one I have seen. Messrs. 
 Boone of Bond Street, whose collection of fine books is 
 as well known as the liberality with which they com- 
 municate information on them, have permitted me to 
 transcribe a dedication, in Chapman's autograph, from 
 a beautiful copy in their possession (since sold). It is 
 as follows : — " In love § honor of y e Righte virtuouse 
 and ivorthie Gent: 2T Henry Reynolds, and to croivne 
 all his deservings ivith eternall memorie, Geo. Chapman 
 formes this Croivne Sf conclusion of all the Homericall 
 meritts u ,th his accomplisht Inprovements ; advising 
 that if at first sighte he seeme darcTce or too fierie, He 
 will yet holde him fast (like Proteus) till he appere in 
 his jpropper similitude, and he will then sheive himself e 
 
 — vatem egregium, cui non sit publica vena, 
 Qui nihil expositum soleat deducere ; nee qui 
 Communiferiat carmen triviale monetdj'* 
 
 This book has been wrongly described in a former 
 " Introduction/' as having a presentation Sonnet. Chap- 
 man has with his pen made an alteration in his portrait, 
 as possessing too much beard ; and in the Preface, in 
 
 * Juvenal. Sat. vn. 53. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 the passage u all for devouring a mouse/' he writes 
 drowning ; and in the final Poem (line 17) for 
 
 All is extuberance and excretion all, 
 
 he reads " and tumor all.*' 
 
 The date of the folio is probably about 1624. In the 
 year 1818, my friend AEr. Singer* (to whom I dedicate 
 this volume with the sincerest gratification) published 
 an elegant edition of these Hymns, ifcc. at Chiswick. It 
 contained two fine original poems by Chapman (first 
 primed 1594) entitled " The Shadowe of Night : con- 
 taining two poetical hymnes, devised by G. C, Gent." 
 It formed one of Mr. Singer's series of " Select Early 
 English Poets," and has long since been numbered 
 amongst scarce books, as but a limited impression was 
 given. The original edition of " The Shadowe of Night" 
 is very rare. 
 
 The version of the a Georgics of Hesiod" was so dif- 
 ficult to find in Warton's time, that he doubted its ex- 
 istence, (see Hist, of English Poetry, m. 360. ed. 1840,) 
 although he discovered its entry in the Stationers' Ke- 
 gisters. It is a small 4to. of 40 pp. As may be pre- 
 sumed from its extreme rarity, its price is usually very 
 
 * I avail myself of this opportunity of congratulating 
 this veteran in Elizabethan Literature on his having lived to 
 see the day when all Chapman's Translations have been re- 
 published. His many reprints of early books (all testifying, 
 by the eagerness with which they are sought, to his ability and 
 accuracy) led the public to look back to our sterling old writers. 
 Xor should we forget that Mr. Singer was the associate of Sir 
 Egerton Brydges, Haslewood, and others, who loved these 
 writers when they were comparatively unknown. Mr. Singer 
 expressed a wish in the preface to the above-cited work, " that 
 sufficient encouragement might be given to print Chapman's 
 entire translation of Homer in a compressed and unostentatious 
 portable form." 
 
x'i INTR OD UCTION. 
 
 great. A good copy may be worth ten guineas ; it has 
 reached eighteen. The largest I have seen is that in 
 the Malone Collection in the Bodleian. There is a fair 
 one in the General Library of the British Museum ; 
 that in the Grenville (as has my own) has been much 
 injured by the binder cutting into the notes, which are 
 in the margin. Of this work, which is sadly misprinted 
 in the original 4to., the present edition is the first reprint; 
 and I have spared no pains to make it as accurate as 
 possible. Its value as a Translation has been acknow- 
 ledged by our best Translator of Hesiod, Elton. I 
 trust, both from its rarity, and its intrinsic merits, it will 
 be found an acceptable addition to the present volume. 
 The title is a facsimile of the original edition. 
 
 The "Hero and Leander" of Musseus is perhaps one of 
 the rarest books in the ivhole range of English Literature. 
 I have never heard of any copy but that in the Bodleian 
 Library at Oxford; and I presume it to be unique. 
 Dr. Bliss has given a full account of this very diminutive 
 volume in vol. n. col. 9. of his edition of Wood's 
 " Athenae Oxonienses." It is about two inches long, 
 and one broad. I most carefully transcribed it, and 
 twice visited Oxford to ensure the accuracy of this re- 
 print. Chapman, it will be remembered, had continued 
 Marlow's poem on the same subject ; but this is a trans- 
 lation from the Greek of (the so-called) Musseus. The 
 original edition being so extremely small, the lines are 
 printed thus : — 
 
 " Goddess, relate 
 
 The witnesse-bearing light 
 Of loves, that would not beare 
 
 A human sight. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 The sea-man 
 
 That transported marriages, 
 Shipt in the night. 
 
 His bosom ploughing the seas." 
 
 The title prefixed to this present edition is a facsimile 
 (in a larger size) of the original. 
 
 The translation of the Fifth Satire of Juvenal is ap- 
 pended to "A Justification of a Strange action of Nero 
 in burying with a solemne Funerall one of the cast 
 hay res of his Mistress Poppcea ; also a just Reproofe 
 of a Romane Smellfeast, being the fifth Satyre of Juve- 
 nalV 4to. 1629. The Tract was not worth reprint- 
 ing. The Juvenal has been given to complete Chapman's 
 Classical Translations. It is very scarce, and fetches 
 a high price. 
 
 Thus, reader, are you presented with this Chapmannic 
 garland of rarities. In your hands I leave them. 
 
 An error or two in the " Introductions'' to the 
 former volumes may be corrected. 
 
 Introduct. to Iliad, p. x. line 2, read " finical and 
 exact spruceness." P. xxi. line 21, for elasped read 
 elapsed. Iliad n. line 5, note, read " a sleeping giant" 
 
 Introduct. to Odyssey, p. xii. line 6, read : — 
 
 -" What may I reckon thee, 
 
 Whose heavenly look showes not, nor voice sounds, man ?" 
 
 P. xxx. line 9 from the bottom, for Grecians read 
 Graians. 
 
 By the usual kindness of J. Payne Collier, Esq. I am 
 
xiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 enabled to give a copy of the Sonnet to Sir Thomas 
 Walsingham, prefixed to one or two copies of Chap- 
 man's " All Fools." (See Odyssey, p. xxn.) It is 
 printed verbatim. 
 
 TO MY LONG LOU'D AND HONOURABLE FRIEND, 
 SIR THOMAS WALSINGHAM, KNIGHT. 
 
 Should I expose to euery common eye, 
 
 The least allow'd birth of my shaken braine ; 
 And not entitle it perticulerly 
 
 To your acceptance, I were wurse then vaine. 
 And though I am most loth to passe your sight 
 
 with any such light marke of vanitie, 
 Being markt with Age for Aimes of greater weight, 
 
 and drownd in darke Death- vshering melancholy, 
 Yet least by others stealth it be imprest, 
 
 without my pasport, patcht with others wit, 
 Of two enforst ills I elect the least ; 
 
 and so desire your loue will censure it ; 
 
 Though my old fortune keepe me still obscure, 
 The light shall still bewray my ould loue sure. 
 
 The reader is requested to correct the following 
 " Faults escaped/' before perusing the volume. 
 
 White Waltham, Berks, 
 January, 1858. 
 
FAULTS ESCAPED. 
 
 Hymn to Venus, 1. 121, place comma after past, and destroy 
 it after beast in next line. P. 136, L 10, destroy comma after 
 nostrorum. 
 
 Hesiod, p. 172, notes, 1. 2, read partum ; p. 178, 1. 1, after 
 hir'd place semicolon; p. 184, notes, 1. 5, for bother r. brother ; 
 p. 186, 1. 5, after Hellenians place semicolon ; p. 188, 1. 6, put 
 comma after observing, and destroy it after remain ; p. 189, 1. 4, 
 destroy comma after beds ; p. 191, 1. 4, r. seasons 9 . 
 
 Messrs, in title put full-stop after originall ; 1. 29, then Love, 
 is the true reading' in the original, therefore destroy note ; 198, 
 r. earthly ; 234, for should speed, r. shall ; 244, r. " At last this 
 sweet voice past, and out did break 5" 259, for loose to scandal, 
 r. friend ; annotations, p. 235, last line but two, r. tarn for Jaw. 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTES. 
 
 Batrachomyomachia, line 100, for thither the true reading 
 is doubtless th' other, notwithstanding the authority of the folio. 
 
 Hymn to Hermes, 442, shrouds, i. e. recesses, see line 695. 
 
 Hesiod. In consequence of Chapman's own notes beino- so 
 numerous, I was unwilling to interpolate explanations of words 
 (save here and there), but the following may be noted. 
 
 Drayton's Introd. Poem, line I, fraught, i. e. freight. 5, I 
 print travel I, as it is in the original, as it may bear either 
 meaning of travail or travel. Bk. 1. 570, rode, I do not remember 
 the word, but, if genuine, it would appear to mean supply. 
 Bk. 11. Ill, clanges ; the original 4to. has changes, but Chapman 
 twice uses the word clanges for the cry of the crane, see Iliad, 
 III. 5, x. 244. 310, horned house-bearer — snail. 382, imp — add 
 to, assist. A term in falconry, when a new feather is inserted 
 in place of a broken one. 
 
 In Chapman's Iliad, v. 498-9, occur the words dites and diters 
 in reference to winnowing. Nares gives them in his Glossary 
 citing Chapman as the only authority. It will be found, how- 
 ever, that the word is nothing more than dights. See Hesiod, 
 Georgics, Bk. 11. 343, and Days, 67. 
 
TABLE OF COXTEXTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 ^ PISTLE Dedicatory xxi 
 
 Trie Biurachoniyomachia 1 
 
 Z|J£ Hymn to Apollo IS 
 
 Hymn to Hermes 46 
 
 First Hymn to Venus 79 
 
 Second Hymn to Venus 95 
 
 Bacchus or the Pirates 96 
 
 Hymn to Mars 100 
 
 to Diana 101 
 
 Third Hymn to Venus 
 
 Hymn to Pallas 102 
 
 to Juno IU3 
 
 to Ceres 103 
 
 toCybele 103 
 
 to Hercules 104 
 
 to JEseulapius 105 
 
 Cut r and Pollux 105 
 
 to Mercury 106 
 
 to Pan 106 
 
 to Vulcan 109 
 
 to Phoebus HO 
 
 to Neptune 110 
 
 to Jove Ill 
 
 to Vesta ,.111 
 
 to the Muses and Apollo 112 
 
 to Bacchus 112 
 
 to Diana 113 
 
 to Pallas H-i 
 
 to Vesta and Mercury 115 
 
 to Earth 1 1 
 
 b 
 
xviii CONTENTS. 
 
 Pare 
 
 Hymn to the Sun 118 
 
 to the Moon 119 
 
 to Castor and Pollux 120 
 
 to Men of Hospitality 121 
 
 EPIGRAMS AND OTHER FOEMS. 
 
 ToCuma 122 
 
 In his Eeturn to Cuma 122 
 
 Upon the Sepulchre of Mid us 123 
 
 Cuma, refusing -to eternize their State, &c 123 
 
 An Essay of his begun Iliads 125 
 
 To Thestor's Son inquisitive about the Causes of Things . 125 
 
 To Neptune .125 
 
 To the City of Erythrsea 126 
 
 To Mariners 126 
 
 The Pine 12? 
 
 ToG!aucus 128 
 
 Against the Samian Ministress or Nun ...... 1 28 
 
 Written on the Council Chamber 129 
 
 The Furnace called in to sing by Potters 129 
 
 Eiresiune, or the Olive Branch 131 
 
 To certain Fisher-Boys pleasing him with Piddles . .132 
 The Translator's Epilogue 133 
 
 END OF THE TRANSLATIONS OF HOMER. 
 
 The Georgics of Hesiod 137 
 
 Hesicd's Book of Days 201 
 
 The Hero and Leander of Musa^us 207 
 
 The Fifth Satire of Juvenal • . . . 237 
 
THE 
 
 CROWNE of all HOMER'S WORKES, 
 Batrachomyomachia ; 
 
 OR, 
 
 The Battaile of Frogs and Mife. 
 
 HIS HYMNES AND EPIGRAMS. 
 
 Tranjlated according toj e Original! 
 By George Chapman. 
 
 London : 
 Printed by Iohn Bill, bis MAIESTJE'S Printer. 
 
TO MY EVER MOST-WORTHY-TO-BE-MOST 
 
 HONOURED LORD, 
 
 THE EARL OF SOMERSET, &c. 
 
 OT forc'd by fortune, but since your free 
 
 mind 
 {Made by affliction) rests in choice re- 
 signed 
 
 To calm retreat, laid quite beneath the wind 
 Of grace and glory, I Well know, my Lord, 
 You would not be entitled to a word i 
 
 That might a thought remove from your repose, 
 To thunder and spit flames, as greatness does, 
 For all the trumps that still tell where he goes. 
 Of which trumps Dedication being one, 
 Methinks I see you start to hear it blown. 10 
 
 But this is no such trump as summons lords 
 'Gainst Envy's steel to draw their leaden swords, 
 Or 'gainst hare-lipp \l Detraction, Contempt, 
 All which from all resistance stand exempt, 
 It being as hard to sever wrong from merit, 15 
 
 As meat-indu'd from blood, or blood from spirit. 
 Nor in the sj^irit's chariot rides the soul 
 In bodies chaste, with more divine control, 
 
xxii THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 
 
 Nor virtue shines more in a lovely face, 
 
 TJian true desert is stuck off with disgrace. 20 
 
 And therefore Truth itself, that had to bless 
 
 The merit of it all, Almightiness, 
 
 Would not protect it from the bane and ban 
 
 Of all moods most distraught and Stygian; 
 
 As counting it the crown of all desert, 25 
 
 Borne to heaven, to take of earth, no part 
 
 Of false joy here, for joys-there-endless troth, 
 
 Nor sell his birthright for a mess of broth. 
 
 But stay and still sustain, and his bliss bring, 
 
 Like to the hatching of the blackthorn's spring, 30 
 
 With bitter frosts, and smarting hailstorms, forth. 
 
 Fates love bees' labours ; only Pain crown's Worth. 
 
 This Dedication culls no greatness, then, 
 
 To patron this greatness-creating pen, 
 
 Nor you to add to your dead calm a breath, 35 
 
 For those arm'd angels, that in spite of death 
 
 Inspir'd those flow' rs that ivrought this Poet's wreath, 
 
 Shall keep it ever, Poesy's steepest star, 
 
 As in Earth' s flaming walls, Heaven's sevenfold Car, 
 
 From all the wilds of Neptune's wat'ry sphere, 40 
 
 For ever guards the Erymanthian bear. 
 
 Since then your Lordship settles in your shade 
 A life retir'd, and no retreat is made 
 But to some strength, {for else 'tis no retreat, 
 But rudely running from your battle's heat) 45 
 
 I give this as your strength ; your strength, my Lord, 
 In counsels and examples, that afford 
 More guard than whole hosts of corporeal pow' r , 
 And more deliverance teach the fatal hour. 
 
 Turn not your med'cine then to your disease, 50 
 
THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY, xxiii 
 
 By your too set and slight repulse of these, 
 The adjuncts of your matchless Odysses ; 
 Since on that wisest mind of man relies 
 Refuge from all life's infelicities. 
 
 Nor sing these such division from them, 55 
 
 But that these spin the thread of the same stream 
 From one self distaff's stuff; for Poesy's pen, 
 Through all themes, is t' inform the lives of men ; 
 All whose retreats need strengths of all degrees ; 
 Without which, had you even Herculean Jcnees, 60 
 
 Your foes 7 fresh charges would at length prevail. 
 To leave your noblest sufferance no least sail. 
 Strength then the object is of cdl retreats ; 
 Strength needs no friends'' trust ; strength your foes 
 
 defeats. 
 Retire to strength, then, of eternal things, 65 
 
 And if are eternal; for our knowing springs 
 Flow into those things that we truly lenow, 
 Which being eternal, we are rendered so. 
 And though your high-fix' d light pass infinite far 
 TO! adviceful guide of my still -trembling star, to 
 
 Yet hear what my discharged piece must foretel, 
 Standing your poor and perdue sentinel. 
 Kings may perhaps wish even your beggar 's- voice 
 To their eternities, how scorn 9 d a choice 
 Soever now it lies ; and (dead) I may 75 
 
 Extend your life to lights extremest ray. 
 If not, your Homer yet past doubt shall malce 
 Immortal, like himself, your bountfs stake 
 Put in my hands, to propagate your fame ; 
 Such virtue reigns in such united name. so 
 
 Retire to him then for advice, and skill, 
 
xxiv THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 
 
 To know tilings calVd worst, best ; and best, most ill. 
 
 Which known, truths best choose, and retire to still. 
 
 And as our English general, (whose name 
 
 Shall equal interest find in M house of fame BR 
 
 With all Earth's great' st commanders.) in retreat 
 
 To Belgian Gant, stood cdl Spain s armies' heat 
 
 By Parma led, though but one thousand strong ; 
 
 Three miles together thrusting through the throng 
 
 Of tit enemy's horse, still pouring on their fall 90 
 
 Twixt him and home, and thunder' d through them all ; 
 
 The Gallic Monsieur standing on the wall, 
 
 And woncVring at his dreadful discipline, 
 
 Fird with a valour that spit spirit divine ; 
 
 In five battallions ranging all his men, 95 
 
 BristVd with pile es, andflanVd with flankers ten; 
 
 Gave fire still in his rear ; retird., and wrought 
 
 Down to hisfiafd strength still ; retird and fought ; 
 
 All the battallions of the enemy's horse 
 
 Storming upon him still their fieriest force ; 100 
 
 Cliarge upon charge laid fresh ; he, fresh as day, 
 
 JRepulsing cdl, and forcing glorious way 
 
 Into the gates, that gasp 'd, (as swoons for air.) 
 
 And toolc their life in, with untouched repair: — 
 
 So fight out, sweet Earl, your retreat in peace ; 10.5 
 
 No ope-war equals that where privy precise 
 
 Of never -number' d odds of enemy, 
 
 Arm'd cdl by envy, in blind ambush lie, 
 
 To rush out lilce an opening threat ning slcy, 
 
 Brolce all in meteors round about your ears. 110 
 
 84 A simile illustrating the most renowned service of General 
 Xorris in his retreat before Gant, never before made sacred to 
 memory. — Chapman. 
 
THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY, xxv 
 
 'Gainst which, though far from hence, through all your 
 
 rears, 
 Have fires prepar'd ; wisdom with wisdom fiank, 
 And all your forces range in present rank ; 
 Retiring as you now fought in your strength, 
 From all the force laid, in time's utmost length, us 
 To charge, and basely come on you behind. 
 The doctrine of all which you here shall find, 
 And in the true glass of a human mind. 
 Your Odysses, the body letting see 
 All his life past, through infelicity, 120 
 
 And manage of it all. In which to friend, 
 The full Muse brings you both the prime and end 
 Of all arts ambient in the orb of man ; 
 Which never darkness most Cimmerian 
 Can give eclipse, since, blind, he all things saw, 125 
 And to cdl ever since liv'd lord and law. 
 And though our mere-leam \l men, and modern wise, 
 Taste not poor Poesy's ingenuities, 
 Being crusted with their covetous leprosies, 
 But hold her pains ivorse than the spiders' work, 130 
 And lighter than the shadow of a cork, 
 Yet th' ancient learn' d, heat with celestial fire, 
 Affirms her flames so sacred and entire, 
 That not without God's greatest grace she can 
 Fall in the wid'st capacity of man. 13.5 
 
 If yet the vile soul of this verminous time 
 Love more the sale-muse, and the squirrel's chime, 
 Than this full sphere of poesy's sweetest prime, 
 Give them unenvied their vain vein and vent, 
 
 135 Ut non sine maximo favore Dei comparari queat. 
 
 Platonis IB Ione. 
 
mi THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY, 
 
 And rest your wings in his approve! ascent ho 
 
 That yet was never reach' cl, nor ever fell 
 Into affections bought with things tliat sell, 
 Being the sun's flow' r, and wrapt so in his sky 
 He cannot yield to every candle's eye. 
 
 Whose most worthy discoveries, to your Lordship's 
 judicial perspective, in most subdue humility 
 submitteth, 
 
 GEORGE CHAPMAN. 
 
 XOTE. 
 
 On this Epistle Dedicatory, Coleridge remarks : " Chap- 
 man's identification of his fate with Homer's, and his complete 
 forgetfulness of the distinction between Christianity and idol- 
 atry, under the general feeling of some religion, is very in- 
 teresting. It is amusing to observe, how familiar Chapman's 
 fancy has become with Homer, his life and circumstances, 
 though the very existence of any such individual, at least with 
 regard to the Iliad and Hymns, is more than problematic. v 
 
THE OCCASION OF THIS IMPOSED 
 CBOWNE. 
 
 FTEK this not only Prime of Poets, but 
 Philosophers, had written his two great 
 poems of Iliads and Odysses ; which (for 
 their first lights horn before all learning) 
 were worthily called the Sun and Moon of the Earth ; 
 finding no compensation, he writ in contempt of men 
 this ridiculous poem of Vermin, giving them nobility of 
 birth, valorous elocution not inferior to his heroes. At 
 which the Gods themselves, put in amaze, called councils 
 about their assistance of either army, and the justice of 
 their quarrels, even to the mounting of Jove's artillery 
 against them, and discharge of his three-forked flashes ; 
 and all for the drowning* of a mouse. After which 
 slight and only recreative touch, he betook him seriously 
 to the honour of the Gods, in Hymns resounding all 
 their peculiar titles, jurisdictions, and dignities; which 
 he illustrates at all parts, as he had been continually 
 conversant amongst them; and whatsoever authentic 
 Poesy he omitted in the episodes contained in his Iliads 
 and Odysses, he comprehends and concludes in his 
 
 * This is Chapman's MS. correction for devouring in the fuiio. 
 
Hymns and Epigrams. All his observance and honour 
 of the Gods, rather moved their envies against him, than 
 their rewards, or respects of his endeavours. And so 
 like a man verecundi ingenii (which he witnesseth of 
 himself) he lived unhonoured and needy till his death ; 
 and yet notwithstanding all men's servile and manacled 
 miseries, to his most absolute and never- equalled merit, 
 yea even bursten profusion to imposture and impiety, 
 hear our ever-the-same intranced, and never-sleeping, 
 Master of the Muses, to his last accents, incomparably 
 singing. 
 
BATRACHOMYOMACHIA. 
 
 NT'KING the fields, first let my vows 
 call on 
 The Muses' whole quire out of Helicon 
 Into my heart, for such a poem's sake, 
 As lately I did in my tables take, 
 And put into report upon my knees. 5 
 
 A fight so fierce, as might in all degrees 
 Fit Mars himself, and his tumultuous hand, 
 Glorying to dart to th' ears of every land 
 Of all the voice -divided ; and to show 
 How bravely did both Frogs and Mice bestow 10 
 
 In glorious fight their forces, even the deeds 
 Daring to imitate of Earth's Giant Seeds. 
 Thus then men talk'd ; this seed the strife begat : 
 
 The Mouse once dry, and 'scaped the dangerous cat, 
 Drench'd in the neighbour lake her tender beard, 15 
 To taste the sweetness of the wave it rear'd. 
 
 9 Intending men : being divided from all other creatures by 
 the voice ; /xepo^/, being a periphrasis, signifying voce divisus, 
 of fxeipit) (/x€ipo/tat) divido, and o\p, 07r6g, vox. — Chapman. 
 
 The notes marked C. are Chapman's. 
 
2 BATE A C HO MYOMA CHI A. 
 
 The far-famed Fen-aifecter, seeing him, said : 
 " Ho, stranger ! What are you, and whence, that tread 
 This shore of ours ? Who brought you forth ? Reply 
 What truth may witness, lest I find you lie. 20 
 
 If worth fruition of my love and me, 
 Til have thee home, and hospitality 
 Of feast and gift, good and magnificent, 
 Bestow on thee ; for all this confluent 
 Resounds my royalty ; my name, the great 25 
 
 In blown-up-count'nances and looks of threat, 
 a Physio;nathus, adored of all Frogs here 
 All then- days' durance, and the empire bear 
 Of all their beings ; mine own being begot 
 By royal b Peleus, niix'd in nuptial knot so 
 
 With fair c Hydromedusa, on the bounds 
 Near which Eridanus his race resounds. 
 And thee mine eye makes my conceit inclined 
 To reckon powerful both in forni and mind, 
 A sceptre -bearer, and past others far 35 
 
 Advanc'd in all the fiery fights of war. 
 Come then, thy race to my renown commend." 
 
 The Mouse made answer : " Why inquires my friend ? 
 For what so well know men and Deities, 
 And all the wing'd affecters of the skies ? 40 
 
 d Psicharpax I am calPd ; e Troxartes' seed, 
 Surnamed the Mighty-minded. She that freed 
 Mine eyes from darkness was f Lichomyle, 
 
 27 *$v<jiyva6oc, Genas et buccas inflans. C. 
 
 30 h Yli]\evc, qui ex luto nascitur. C. 
 
 31 ct Ycpo}xicovGa. Aqiiarum regina. C. 
 » The river Po, in Italy. C 
 
 41 A ¥ixapTra£. Gatker-crum, or ravish-crum. C. 
 «' «Shear-crust. C. 43 f Lick-mill. C. 
 
BA TEA CHOMYOMA CHI A. 3 
 
 King a Pternotroctes ? daughter, showing me, 
 
 Within an aged hovel, the young light, 45 
 
 Fed me with figs and nuts, and all the height 
 
 Of varied viands. But unfold the cause, 
 
 Why, 'gainst similitude's most equal laws 
 
 Observed in friendship, thou niak'st me thy friend ? 
 
 Thy life the waters only help t ? extend ; 50 
 
 Mine, whatsoever men are used to eat, 
 
 Takes part with them at shore ; their purest cheat, 
 
 Thrice boulted, kneaded, and subdued in paste, 
 
 In clean round kymnels, cannot be so fast 
 
 From my approaches kept but in I eat ; 55 
 
 Xor cheesecakes full of finest Indian wheat, 
 
 That crusty-weeds wear, large as ladies' trains ; 
 
 Liverings, white-skinn'd as ladies ; nor the strains 
 
 Of press'd milk, renneted ; nor collops cut 
 
 Fresh from the flitch ; nor junkets, such as put 60 
 
 Palates divine in appetite ; nor any 
 
 Of all men's delicates, though ne'er so many 
 
 Their cooks devise them, who each dish see deckt 
 
 With all the dainties all strange soils affect. 
 
 Yet am I not so sensual to fly 65 
 
 Of fields embattled the most fiery a 
 
 44 a Bacon-flitch-devourer, or gnawer. C. 
 " Cheat — the second sort of wheaten bread, according to 
 Halliwell, who has well illustrated the word. See also Xares. 
 54 Kymnels — household tubs. Chaucer has kemelin. 
 
 57 Tavv~E7r\oc. Extenso et promissopeploamictus. A metaphor 
 taken from ladies' veils, or trains, and therefore their names 
 are here added. C. 
 
 58 "RTraraXevKoxircora. Li vering puddings white-skinn'd. C. 
 Livering, i. e. made of liver. 
 
 60 Junkets — cheese pressed on rushes. Ital. giuncata. See 
 Odyssey, Bk. vi. 107. 
 
 04 UavToccnroiaiv. Whose common exposition is only variis, 
 when it properly signifies ex omni solo* C. 
 
4 BA TEA C HO MYOMA CHI A. 
 
 But rush out straight, and with the first in fight 
 
 Mix in adventure. No man with affright 
 
 Can daunt my forces, though his body be 
 
 Of never so immense a quantity, 70 
 
 But making up, even to his bed, access, 
 
 His fingers' ends dare with my teeth compress, 
 
 His feet taint likewise, and so soft seize both 
 
 They shall not taste th' impression of a tooth. 
 
 Sweet sleep shall hold his own in every eye 75 
 
 Where my tooth takes his tartest liberty. 
 
 But two there are, that always, far and near, 
 
 Extremely still control my force with fear, 
 
 The Cat, and Night-hawk, who much scathe confer 
 
 On all the outrays where for food I err. so 
 
 Together with the straits-still-keeping trap, 
 
 Where lurks deceitful and set-spleen'd mishap. 
 
 But most of all the Cat constrains my fear, 
 
 Being ever apt t' assault me everywhere ; 
 
 For by that hole that hope says I shall 'scape, So 
 
 At that hole ever she commits my rape. 
 
 The best is yet, I eat no pot-herb grass, 
 
 Nor radishes, nor coloquintidas, 
 
 Nor still-green beets, nor parsley ; which you make 
 
 Your dainties still, that live upon the lake.' r 90 
 
 The Frog replied : " Stranger, your boasts creep all 
 
 Upon their bellies ; though to our lives fall 
 
 Much more miraculous meats by lake and land, 
 
 Jove tend' ring our lives with a twofold hand, 
 
 Enabling us to leap ashore for food, 95 
 
 73 Taint — i. e. touch, assault. See Iliad, Bk. in. 374. 
 
 80 Outrays— see Iliad, Bk. v. 793. 
 
 61 'S.rovoEGGaV) of GTSVog, angustus. C. 
 
 88 Coloquintidas— pumpkins. 
 
BA TEA OHOMYOMA CHI A. 5 
 
 And hide us straight in our retreatful flood. 
 
 Which, if jour will serve, you may prove with ease. 
 
 I'll take you on my shoulders ; which fast seize, 
 
 If safe arrival at my house y' intend.'' 
 
 He stoop'd, and thither spritely did ascend, 100 
 
 Clasping his golden neck, that easy seat 
 
 Gave to his sally ; who was jocund yet, 
 
 Seeing the safe harbours of the king so near, 
 
 And he a swimmer so exempt from peer. 
 
 But when he sunk into the purple wave, 105 
 
 He niourn d extremely, and did much deprave 
 
 Unprofitable penitence ; his hair 
 
 Tore by the roots up, labour d for the air 
 
 With his feet fetch' d up to his belly close ; 
 
 His heart within him panted out repose, 110 
 
 For th' insolent plight in which his state did stand ; 
 
 Siglr d bitterly, and long'd to greet the land, 
 
 Forced by the dire need of his freezing fear. 
 
 First, on the waters he his tail did store, 
 
 Like to a stern ; then drew it like an oar, 115 
 
 Still praying the Gods to set him safe ashore ; 
 
 Yet sunk he midst the red waves more and more, 
 
 And laid a throat out to his utmost height ; 
 
 Yet in forced speech he made his peril slight, 
 
 And thus his glory with his grievance strove : ho 
 
 " Xot in such choice state was the charge of love 
 
 Borne by the bull, when to the Cretan shore 
 
 He swum Europa through the wavy roar, 
 
 As this Frog ferries me, his pallid breast 
 
 106 Depra re— vilify, abuse. See Iliad, Bk. vi. 564. 
 
 114 Stere — this is the old orthography for stir in Chapman, 
 but it may probably mean steer. 
 
 115 Stern — rudder. 
 
6 BATE A CHOMYOMA CHI A. 
 
 Bravely advancing, and his verdant crest 125 
 
 (Submitted to my seat) made my support, 
 
 Through his white waters, to his royal court." 
 
 But on the sudden did apparance make 
 
 An horrid spectacle, — a Water-snake 
 
 Thrusting his freckled neck above the lake. 130 
 
 Which seen to both, away Physignathus 
 
 Dived to his deeps, as no way conscious 
 
 Of whom he left to perish in his lake, 
 
 But shunn'd black fate himself, and let him take 
 
 The blackest of it ; who amidst the fen 135 
 
 Swum with his breast up, hands held up in vain, 
 
 Cried Peepe, and perish'd ; sunk the waters oft, 
 
 And often with his sprawlings came aloft, 
 
 Yet no way kept down death's relentless force, 
 
 But, full of water, made an heavy corse. uo 
 
 Before he perish'd yet, he threaten'd thus : 
 
 " Thou lurk'st not yet from heaven, Physignathus, 
 
 Though yet thou hid'st' here, that hast cast from thee, 
 
 As from a rock, the shipwrack'd life of me, 
 
 Though thou thyself no better was than I, 145 
 
 O worst of things, at any faculty, 
 
 Wrastling or race. But, for thy perfidy 
 
 In this my wrack, Jove bears a wreakful eye ; 
 
 And to the host of Mice thou pains shalt pay, 
 
 Past all evasion." This his life let say, 150 
 
 And left him to the waters. Him beheld 
 
 a Lichopinax, placed in the pleasing field, 
 
 Who shriek'd extremely, ran and told the Mice ; 
 
 Who having heard his wat'ry destinies, 
 
 126 Submitted— see Iliad, Bk. xix. 258. 
 152 a Lickdish. C. 
 
BA TEA CEO MYOMA CHI A. 7 
 
 Pernicious anger pierced the hearts of all, 155 
 
 And then their heralds forth they sent to call 
 
 A council early, at Troxartes' house, 
 
 Sad father of this fatal shipwrack'd Mouse ; 
 
 Whose dead corse upwards swum along the lake, 
 
 Nor yet, poor wretch, could be enforced to make 160 
 
 The shore his harbour, but the mid-main swum. 
 
 When now, all haste made, with first morn did come 
 
 All to set council ; in which first rais'd head 
 
 Troxartes, angry for his son, and said : 
 
 " O friends, though I alone may seem to bear 165 
 
 All the infortune, yet may all met here 
 
 Account it their case. But 'tis true, I am 
 
 In chief unhappy, that a triple flame 
 
 Of life feel put forth, in three famous sons.: 
 
 The first, the chief in our confusions, 170 
 
 The Cat, made rape of, caught without his hole : 
 
 The second, Man, made with a cruel soul, 
 
 Brought to his ruin with a new-found sleight, 
 
 And a most wooden engine of deceit, 
 
 They term a Trap, mere murth'ress of our Mice. 175 
 
 The last, that in my love held special price, 
 
 And his rare mother's, this Physignathus 
 
 (With false pretext of wafting to his house) 
 
 Strangled in chief deeps of his bloody stream. 
 
 Come then, haste all, and issue out on them, 180 
 
 Our bodies deck'd in our Dsedalean arms." 
 
 This said, his words thrust all up in alarms, 
 
 166 Infortune— Odyssey, Bk. xx. 119. 
 
 175 'OXsrajoa. Interfectrix, perditrix. C. Mere — see Odyssey, 
 Bk. vm. 115. 
 
 181 Dcedalean— simply variegated, (SaidaXeoKJi.) 
 
8 BA TEA CHOMYOMA CHI A. 
 
 And Mars himself, that serves the cure of war, 
 
 Made all in their appropriates circular. 
 
 First on each leg the green shales of a hcan 185 
 
 They closed for hoots, that sat exceeding clean ; 
 
 The shales they hroke ope, hoothaling hy night, 
 
 And ate the beans ; their jacks art exquisite 
 
 Had shown in them, being cats' skins, everywhere 
 
 Quilted with quills ; their fenceful bucklers were 190 
 
 The middle rounds of can' sticks ; but their spear 
 
 A huge Jong needle was, that could not bear 
 
 The brain of any but be Mars his own 
 
 Mortal invention ; their heads' arming crown 
 
 Was vessel to the kernel of a nut. 195 
 
 And thus the Mice their powers in armour put. 
 
 This the Frogs hearing, from the water all 
 Issue to one place, and a council call 
 Of wicked war ; consulting what should be 
 Cause to this murmur and strange mutiny. 200 
 
 While this was questioned, near them made his stand 
 An herald with a sceptre in his hand, 
 a Embasichytrus call'd, that fetch'd his kind 
 From b Tyroglyphus with tire mighty mind, 
 Denouncing ill-named war in these high terms : 205 
 " O Frogs ! the Mice send threats to you of arms, 
 
 184 Appropriates — proper arms. 
 
 186 e£ r > cMjKriGavTEQ) ab CLfTicku), elaborate concinno. C. 
 
 187 Boothaling — foraging for booty, plundering. Halliwell 
 has well explained it 5 but this is a good example. Probably 
 Chapman meant a pun on boots and &oo£-haling : they foraged 
 for booty to make boots, 
 
 188 Jacks— buff jerkins. See Chapman's Commentary on 
 Iliad, xiii. 637. 
 
 191 Can sticks — candlesticks. See Halliwell. 
 
 203 a Enter-pot, or search-pot. C. 
 
 204 b Cheese-miner. Qui caseum rodendo cavat. C.(Tyroglyphus.) 
 
BATE A CH MYOMA CHI A. 9 
 
 And bid me bid ye battle and fix'd fight ; 
 Their eyes all wounded with Psicharpax' sight 
 Floating your waters, whom your king hath kill'd. 
 And therefore all prepare for force of field, 210 
 
 You that are best born whosoever held." 
 This said, he sever'd ; his speech firing th' ears 
 Of all the Mice, but freez'd the Frogs with fears, 
 Themselves conceiting guilty ; whom the king- 
 Thus answer'd, rising, " Friends ! I did not bring 215 
 Psicharpax to his end ; he, wantoning 
 Upon our waters, practising to swim, 
 Aped us, and drown' d without my sight of him. 
 And yet these worst of vermin accuse me, 
 Though no way guilty. Come, consider we 220 
 
 How we may ruin these deceitful Mice. 
 For my part, I give voice to this advice, 
 As seeming fittest to direct our deeds : 
 Our bodies decking with our arming weeds, 
 Let all our pow'rs stand rais'd in steep'st repose 225 
 Of all our shore ; that, when they charge us close, 
 AVe may the helms snatch off from all so deckt, 
 Daring our onset, and them all deject 
 Down to our waters ; who, not knowing the sleight 
 To dive our soft deeps, may be strangled straight, 230 
 And we triumphing may a trophy rear, 
 Of all the Mice that we have slaughter'd here." 
 
 These words put all in arms ; and mallow leaves 
 They drew upon their legs, for arming greaves. 
 Their curets, broad green beets ; their bucklers were 
 Good thick-leaved cabbage, proof 'gainst any spear ; 236 
 
 218 Mifxovnevog. Aping, or imitating us. C. 
 224 Weeds — i. e. garments 5 a very common word. 
 * 34 Boots of war. C. 
 
10 BA TEA CHOMYOMA CHI A. 
 
 Their spears sharp bulrushes, of which were all 
 
 Fitted with long ones ; their parts capital 
 
 They hid in subtle cockleshells from blows. 
 
 And thus all arm'd, the steepest shores they chose 240 
 
 T' encamp themselves ; where lance with lance they lined, 
 
 And brandish' d bravely, each Frog full of mind. 
 
 Then Jove calPd all Gods in his flaming throne, 
 And show'd all all this preparation 
 For resolute war ; these able soldiers, 245 
 
 Many, and great, all shaking lengthful spears, 
 In show like Centaurs, or the Giants' host. 
 When, sweetly smiling, he inquired who, most 
 Of all th' Immortals, pleased to add their aid 
 To Frogs or Mice ; and thus to Pallas said : 250 
 
 " O Daughter ! Must not you needs aid these Mice, 
 That, with the odours and meat sacrifice 
 Used in your temple, endless triumphs make, 
 And serve you for your sacred victuals' sake ?" 
 
 Pallas replied: " O, Father, never I 255 
 
 Will aid the Mice in any misery. 
 So many mischiefs by them I have found, 
 Eating the cotton that my distaffs crown'd, 
 My lamps still haunting to devour the oil. 
 But that which most my mind eats, is their spoil 260 
 Made of a veil, that me in much did stand, 
 On which bestowing an elaborate hand, 
 A fine woof working of as pure a thread, 
 Such holes therein their petulancies fed 
 That, putting it to darning, when 'twas done, 265 
 
 The darner a most dear pay stood upon 
 
 236 p ar f S capital — heads. 
 
 258 ^Ertfifiara, Lanas, eo quod colus cingant seu coronent. Which 
 our learned sect translate eating the crowns that Pallas wore. C. 
 
BA TEA CHOMYOMA CHI A. 11 
 
 For his so dear pains, laid down instantly ; 
 
 Or, to forbear, exacted usury. 
 
 So, borrowing from my fane the weed I wove, 
 
 I can by no means th' usurous darner move 270 
 
 To let me have the mantle to restore. 
 
 And this is it that rubs the angry sore 
 
 Of my offence took at these petulant Mice. 
 
 Nor will I yield the Frogs' wants my supplies, 
 
 For their infirm minds that no confines keep ; 275 
 
 For I from war retired, and wanting sleep, 
 
 All leap'd ashore in tumult, nor would stay 
 
 Till one wink seized mine eyes, and so I lay 
 
 Sleepless, and pain'd with headache, till first light 
 
 The cock had crow'd up. Therefore, to the fight 2S0 
 
 Let no God go assistant, lest a lance 
 
 AVound whosoever offers to advance, 
 
 Or wishes but their aid, that scorn all foes, 
 
 Should any God's access their spirits oppose. 
 
 Sit we then pleased to see from heaven their fight." 285 
 
 She said, and all Gods join'd in her delight. 
 And now both hosts to one field drew the jar, 
 Both heralds bearing the ostents of war. 
 And then the wine-gnats, that shrill trumpets sound, 
 Terribly rung out the encounter round ; 290 
 
 Jove thund'red ; all heaven sad war's si^n resounded. 
 
 And first a Hypsiboas b Lichenor wounded, 
 Standing th' impression of the first in fight. 
 His lance did in his liver's midst alight, 
 Along his belly. Down he fell ; his face 295 
 
 268 Tgkoq, Partus, et id quod partu edidit mater. 3Ietap. hie 
 appellator fcenus quod ex usurd ad 7ios redit. C. 
 
 289 Kwvujip' Culex vinarius. C ® 2 a Loud-mouth. C. 
 
 292 b Kitchen-vessel licker. C. 
 
1 2 BA TEA CH MYOMA CHI A. 
 
 His fall on that part sway'd, and all the grace 
 Of his soft hair fiTd with disgraceful dust. 
 
 Then a Troglodytes his thick javelin thrust 
 In b Pelion's bosom, hearing him to ground, 
 Whom sad death seized ; his soul flew through his wound. 
 
 c Seutla?us next Emhasichytros slew, 301 
 
 His heart through-thrusting. Then d A.rtophagus threw 
 His lance at e Polyphon, and struck him quite 
 Through his mid- helly ; down he fell upright, 
 And from his fair limbs took his sold her flight. 305 
 
 f Limnocharis, beholding Polyphon 
 Thus done to death, did, with as round a stone 
 As that the mill turns, Troglodytes wound, 
 Near his mid-neck, ere he his onset found ; 
 Whose eyes sad darkness seized. § Lichenor cast 3io 
 A flying dart off, and his aim so placed 
 Upon Limnocharis, that sure he thought 
 The wound he wish'd him ; nor untruly wrought 
 The dire success, for through his liver flew 
 The fatal lance ; which when h Crambophagus knew, 315 
 Down the deep waves near shore he, diving, fled ; 
 But fled not fate so ; the stern enemy fed 
 Death with his life in diving ; never more 
 The air he drew in ; his vermilion gore 
 Stain' d all the waters, and along the shore 320 
 
 298 a Hole-dweller. Qui foramina subit. C . Chapman, as is 
 constantly the case, has altered the quantity of the word. 
 
 299 b Mud-born. C. 3U1 'Beet-devourer. C. 
 
 302 <i 'p ne g rea t bread eater. C. 
 
 303 e Uo\v(f)U)vov, The great-noise-maker, shrill or big- 
 voiced. C. 305 f The lake-lover. C. 
 
 310 s Qui lambit culinaria vasa, C. 
 
 312 TiTVGKOfJLai intentissime dirigo ut certum ictum inferam, C. 
 
 a15 h The cabbage-eater. C. 
 
BATRACHOMYOMACHIA. 13 
 
 He laid extended ; his fat entrails lay 
 (By his small guts' impulsion) breaking way 
 Out at his wound. a Limnisius near the shore 
 Destroyed Tyroglyphus. Which frighted sore 
 The soul of b Calaminth, seeing coming on, 325 
 
 For wreak, c Pternoglyphus ; who got him gone 
 With large leaps to the lake, his target thrown 
 Into the waters. d Hydrocharis slew 
 King e Pternophagus, at whose throat he threw 
 A huge stone, strook it high, and beat his brain 330 
 Out at his nostrils. Earth blush'd with the stain 
 His blood made on her bosom. For next prise, 
 Lichopinax to death did sacrifice 
 f Borboroccetes' faultless faculties ; 
 His lance enforced it ; darkness closed his eyes. 33o 
 On which when g Prassophagus cast his look, 
 h Cnissodioctes by the heels he took, 
 Dragg'd him to fen from off his native ground, 
 Then seized his throat, and soused him till he drown'd. 
 But now Psicharpax wreaks his fellows' deaths, 340 
 And in the bosom of 'Pelusius sheaths, 
 In centre of his liver, his bright lance. 
 He fell before the author of the chance ; 
 His soul to hell fled. Which k Pelobates 
 Taking sad note of, wreakfully did seize 346 
 
 His hand's gripe full of mud, and all besmear'd 
 
 323 a Paludis incola. Lake-liver. C. 
 
 325 b Qui in calamintha, herbd palustri, habitat. C. 
 
 326 c Bacon-eater. C. 328 d Qui aquis delectatur. C. 
 329 e Collup-devourer. C. Another of Chapman's false 
 
 quantities. 334 f Mud-sleeper. C. 
 
 336 s Leek or scallion lover. C. A similar error. 
 
 337 h Kitchin-smell haunter, or hunter. C. 
 
 341 iFenstalk. C. 344 k Qui per lutum it. C. 
 
14 BA TEA CEO MYOMA CHI A. 
 
 forehead with it so, that scarce appear d 
 The light to him. "Which certainly incensed 
 His fiery spleen ; who with his wreak dispensed 
 X point of time, but rear d with his strong hand 350 
 »ne so massy it oppressed the land, 
 I hurTd it at him ; when below the knee 
 :*>k his right leg so impetuously 
 It piecemeal brake it ; he the dust did seize, 
 
 .ids everted. But * Graugasides 
 Bevenged his death, and at his enemy 
 Discharged a dart that did his point imply 
 In his mid-belly. All the sharp-piTd spear 
 Got after in, and did before it hear 
 His universal entrails to the earth, 
 Soon as his sworn hand gave his javlin birth. 
 
 - S:: ."■ ■"_■.." _'."^. \t"_ -!:::_ :i: -:. '. ~i_i;:. 
 Set on the shore, went halting from the fight, 
 
 j from extreme fete, leapM into the lake. 
 Troxartes strook, in th* instep's upper part, 
 Physignathus ; who (privy to the smart 
 His wound imparted) with his utmost haste 
 Leap'd to the lake, and fled. Troxartes east 
 His eye upon the foe that fell before, 
 And, seeing him hatf-li ved. longM again to gore 
 
 jtless bosom ; and, to kill him quite, 
 Ban fiercely at him. TVTiieh c Prassseus' sight 
 Took instant note of, and the first in fight 
 7. : .:-: 7~- 7:.:: ~:r~ 7„ :.:_;7. :l-: : jl^ lis kv-3- *::;{ 
 Off at Troxartes; whose shield tunfd th' advance sis 
 
 » •Vociferate: - : Zi: :m C. 
 
BA TEA CE 031 TO 31 A CHI A. 15 
 
 The sharp head made, and checked the mortal chance. 
 
 Amongst the Mice fought an egregious 
 Young springall, and a ciose-encount'ring Mouse. 
 Pure a Artepibulus's dear descent : 380 
 
 A prince that Man himself show'd where he went, 
 (Call'd b Meridarpax,) of so huge a might, 
 That only he still domineered in fight 
 Of all the Mouse-host. He advancing close 
 Up to the lake, past all the rest arose 
 In glorious object, and made vaunt that he 
 Came to depopulate all the progeny 
 Of Frogs, affected with the lance of war. 
 And certainly he had put on as far 
 As he advanced his vaunt, he was endu'd 390 
 
 With so unmatch'd a force and fortitude, 
 Had not the Father both of Gods and men 
 Instantly known it, and the Frogs, even then 
 Given up to ruin, rescued with remorse. 
 Who, his head moving, thus began discourse : 395 
 
 *• No mean amaze affects me, to behold 
 Prince Meridarpax rage so uncontrolled, 
 In thirst of Frog-blood, all along the lake. 
 Come therefore still, and all addression make, 
 Despatching Pallas, with tumultuous Mars, 400 
 
 Down to the field, to make him leave the wars, 
 How potently soever he be said 
 Where he attempts once to uphold his head.'' 
 
 Mars answer'd : " O Jove, neither She nor I, 
 With both our aids, can keep depopulacy 40.5 
 
 380 a Bread-betrayer. C. (Artepibulus.) 
 b Scrap, or broken-meat-eater. C. 
 kpaTcpjg, validus aeu pctens in rttinendo. C. 
 
16 BA TEA C1I01IY0MA CHI A. 
 
 From off the Frogs ! And therefore arm we all, 
 
 Even tliv lanee letting brandish to his call 
 
 From off the field, that from the field withdrew 
 
 The Titanois, the Titanois that slew. 
 
 Though most exempt from match of all earth's Seeds. 
 
 So great and so inaccessible deeds 411 
 
 It hath proclaimed to men ; bound hand and foot 
 
 The vast Enceladus ; and rac d by tk' root 
 
 The race of upland Giants." This speech past. 
 
 Satnrnius a smoking lightning cast 415 
 
 Amongst the armies, thund'ring then so sore, 
 
 That with a rapting circumflex he bore 
 
 All huge heaven over. But the terrible ire 
 
 Of his dart, sent abroad, all wrapt in fire, 
 
 ("Which certainly his very finger was) 420 
 
 Amazed both ^lice and Frogs. Yet soon let pass 
 
 Was all this by the Mice, who much the more 
 
 Burn'd in desire t' exterminate the store 
 
 Of all those lance-loved soldiers. Which had been. 
 
 If from Olympus Jove's eye had not seen 425 
 
 The Frogs with pity, and with instant speed 
 
 Sent them assistants. Who, ere any heed 
 
 Was given to their approach, came crawling on 
 
 With anvils on their backs, that, beat upon 
 
 Never so much, are never wearied yet ; 430 
 
 Crook-paw'd, and wrested on with foul cloven feet, 
 
 Tongues in their mouths, brick-back'd, all over bone. 
 
 414 Upland is constantly used in Chapman for rough, rude : 
 up-land i. e. from the country, as distinguished from the 
 civilization of the town. 
 
 A-£) ^bJTQLK}.LOvec. Incudes ferentes, or anvil-backed. "Acicw. 
 Incus, dicta per syncopen quasi nullis ictibus fatigetur. C. 
 
 As2 ^aXiCooarixoQ, Forcipem in ore habens. C. 
 
BATRACHOMYOMACHIA. 17 
 
 Broad shoulder'd, whence a ruddy yellow shone, 
 Distorted, and small- thigh' d ; had eyes that saw 
 Out at their hosoms ; twice four feet did draw 435 
 
 About their bodies ; strong-neck'd, whence did rise 
 Two heads ; nor could to any hand be prise ; 
 They call them lobsters ; that ate from the Mice 
 Their tails, their feet, and hands, and wrested all 
 Their lances from them, so that cold appall uo 
 
 The wretches put in rout, past all return. 
 And now the Fount of Light forbore to burn 
 Above the earth ; when, which men's laws commend, 
 Our battle in one day took absolute end. 
 
 THE END OF HOMER S BATTLE OF FEOGS AND MICE. 
 
ALL THE HYMNS OF HOMER. 
 
 A HYMX TO APOLLO. 
 
 WILL remember and express the praise 
 Of heaven's Far-darter, the fair King of 
 
 days, 
 Whom even the Gods themselves fear 
 when he goes 
 Through Jove's high house ; and when his goodly bows 
 He goes to bend, all from their thrones arise, s 
 
 And cluster near, t' admire his faculties. 
 Only Latona stirs not from her seat 
 Close by the Thund'rer, till her Son's retreat 
 From his dread archery ; but then she goes, 
 Slackens his string, and shuts his quiver close, 10 
 
 And (having taken to her hand his bow, 
 From off his able shoulders) doth bestow 
 Upon a pin of gold the glorious tiller, 
 The pin of gold fix'd in his father's pillar. 
 
 Then doth She to his throne his state uphold, is 
 
 Where his great Father, in a cup of gold, 
 
 13 Tiller— bow. 
 
A HYMN TO APOLLO. 19 
 
 Serves him with nectar, and shows all the grace 
 
 Of his great son. Then th' other Gods take place ; 
 
 His gracious mother glorying to bear 
 
 So great an archer, and a son so clear. 20 
 
 All hail, blest Latona ! to bring forth 
 An issue of such all-out-shining worth, 
 Royal Apollo, and the Queen that loves 
 The hurls of darts. She in th' Ortygian groves, 
 And he in cliffy Delos, leaning on 25 
 
 The lofty Oros, and being built upon 
 By Cynthus' prominent, that his head rears 
 Close to the palm that Inops' fluent cheers. 
 
 How shall I praise thee, far being worthiest praise, 
 O Phoebus ? To whose worth the law of lays 30 
 
 In all kinds is ascrib'd, if feeding flocks 
 By continent or isle. All eminent'st rocks 
 Did sing for joy, hill- tops, and floods in song 
 Did break their billows, as they flow'd along 
 To serve the sea ; the shores, the seas, and all 35 
 
 Did sing as soon as from the lap did fall 
 Of blest Latona thee the joy of man. 
 Her child-bed made the mountain Cynthian 
 In rocky Delos, the sea-circled isle, 
 On whose all sides the black seas brake their pile, 40 
 And overflow 'd for joy, so frank a gale 
 The singing winds did on their waves exhale. 
 
 Here born, all mortals live in thy commands, 
 "Whoever Crete holds, Athens, or the strands 
 Of th' isle iEgina, or the famous land 45 
 
 For ships (Eubcea), or Eresia, 
 Or Peparethus bord'ring on the sea, 
 23 Viz. Diana. 
 
20 A HYMN TO APOLLO. 
 
 2Egas, or Athos that doth Thrace divide 
 
 And Macedon ; or Pelion, with the pride 
 
 Of his high forehead ; or the Samian isle, so 
 
 That likewise lies near Thrace ; or Seyms' soil ; 
 
 Ida's steep tops ; or all that Phocis fill ; 
 
 Or Autocanes, with the heaven-high hill ; 
 
 Or populous Imber ; Lemnos without ports ; 
 
 Or Lesbos, fit for the divine resorts ; 55 
 
 And sacred soil of blest ^Eolion ; 
 
 Or Chios that exceeds comparison 
 
 For fruitfulness ; with all the isles that lie 
 
 Embraced with seas ; Mimas, with rocks so high ; 
 
 Or lofty- crown' d Corycius ; or the bright 60 
 
 Charos ; or ^Esagseus' dazzling height ; 
 
 Or watery Samos ; Mycale, that bears 
 
 Her brows even with the circles of the spheres ; 
 
 Miletus ; Cous, that the city is 
 
 Of voice-divided-choice humanities ; 65 
 
 High Cnidus ; Carpathus, still strook with wind ; 
 
 Naxos, and Paros ; and the rocky-min'd 
 
 Rugged Rhenaea. Yet through all these parts 
 
 Latona, great-grown with the King of darts, 
 
 Travell'd ; and tried if any would become 70 
 
 To her dear birth an hospitable home. 
 
 All which extremely trembled, shook with fear, 
 
 Xor durst endure so high a birth to bear 
 
 In their free states, though, for it, they became 
 
 Xever so fruitful ; till the reverend Dame 75 
 
 Ascended Delos, and her soil did seize 
 
 With these wing'd words : " Delos ! Wouldst thou 
 
 please 
 To be my son Apollo's native seat, 
 53 Autocanes. 
 
A WTMB TO APOLLO. 21 
 
 And build a wealthy fane to one so great, 
 
 Xo one shall blame or question thy kind deed. 5: 
 
 Xor think I, thou dost sheep or oxen feed 
 
 In any such store, or in vi fd, 
 
 Xor bring'st forth such innumerable plan 
 
 Which often make the rich inhabitants 
 
 Careless of Deity. If thou then shouldst rear 
 
 A fane to Phcebus. all men would confer 
 
 Whole hecatombs of be 
 
 and to thee would rise 
 1 unmeasur'd odours, shouldst thou long 
 Xourish thy King thus : and from foreign wrong 90 
 The Gods would guard thee ; which thine own address 
 Can never compass for thy barrenn- 
 
 She said, and Delos jojM, replying thus: 
 •• Most happy si-: 
 
 Hy would with all means entertain H 
 
 The Xing your son. being now despised of men, 
 
 :ould be honoured with the _ :lien. 
 
 Yd this I fear, nor will conceal from th 
 Your so: v. will author mL 
 
 In many kinds, as being to sustain 100 
 
 A mighty empire over Gods and men. 
 Upon the holy-gif:- _ th. 
 
 And I tear that, when his birth 
 
 - him the sight of my so barren a 
 ill contemn, and give me up to spoil, 105 
 
 Enforce the sea to me. that ever will 
 Oppress my heart with many a wat'ry hill. 
 And therefore let him choose some other land, 
 Where he shall please, to build at his command 
 Temple and grove, set thick with many a tree. 110 
 
22 A HYMN TO AT' 
 
 For wretched polyposes breed in me 
 Retiring chambers, and bla< >es den 
 
 In my poor soil, for penury of men. 
 And yet. Goddess, wouldst thou pit vear 
 
 The G at oath to me. before thou I 
 
 Thy blessed son here, that thou wilt t 
 A fane to him. to render the eft 
 Of men's demands to them before they fall, 
 Then will thy general, 
 
 Men will his name in such variety call. ::■: 
 
 And I shall then be glad his birth to bear." 
 This said, the G a nth she thus did swear : 
 
 '• Know this. O Earth ! broad heaven's inferior sphere, 
 And of black Styx the most infernal lake, 
 (Which is the g rods can take) us 
 
 That here shall ever rise to Phoebus' name 
 An odorous fane and altar ; and thy fame 
 Honour, past all ud :ini empIoyM." 
 
 Her oath thus took and ended, Delos joy 
 In mighty measure that she should become uo 
 
 To fa:— h : Phcebus' birth the famous home. 
 Latona then nine days and nights did fall 
 In hopeless labour ; at whose birth were all 
 Heaven's: ; me and Idesaes, 
 
 Dione, Rhsea. and us 
 
 Themis, and Amphitrite that will be 
 Pursu d with sighs still : I eity, 
 
 Except the snowy- wristed wife of Jc 
 Who held her moods aloft, and would not mo 
 Only Lucina ( to whose virtue vows l-io 
 
 h childbirth patient) heard not of her throes, 
 113 Den — i. e. make dens. 
 
A HYMN TO APOLLO. 23 
 
 But sat, by Juno's counsel, on the brows 
 Of broad Olympus, wrapp'd in clouds of gold. 
 Whom Jove's proud wife in envy did withhold, 
 Because bright-lock'd Latona was to bear 145 
 
 A son so faultless and in force so clear. 
 The rest Thaumantia sent before, to bring 
 Lucina to release the envied king, 
 Assuring her, that they would straight confer 
 A carcanet, nine cubits long, on her, 150 
 
 All woven with wires of gold. But charged her, then, 
 To call apart from th' ivory-wristed Queen 
 The childbirth-guiding Goddess, for just fear 
 Lest, her charge utter'd in Saturnia's ear, 
 She, after, might dissuade her from descent. 155 
 
 When wind-swift-footed Iris knew i\\ intent 
 Of th' other Goddesses, away she went, 
 And instantly she passed the infinite space 
 'Twixt earth and heaven ; when, coming to the place 
 Where dwelt th' Immortals, straight without the gate 
 She gat Lucina, and did all relate 161 
 
 The Goddesses commanded, and inclin'd 
 To all that they demanded her dear mind. 
 And on their way they went, like those two doves 
 That, walking highways, every shadow moves 165 
 
 Up from the earth, forc'd with their natural fear. 
 When ent'ring Delos, She, that is so dear 
 To dames in labour, made Latona straight 
 Prone to delivery, and to wield the weight 
 Of her dear burthen with a world of ease. 170 
 
 When, with her fair hand, she a palm did seize, 
 And, staying her by it, stuck her tender knees 
 147 Thaumantia — Iris. 
 
24 A HTMX TO APOLLO. 
 
 Ami -mile beneath 
 
 Her na q cd labour : and the child did breathe 
 The air in th* instant. All the Goddess - 
 Brake in kind 
 
 :hee. O archer Phoebus, with w» 
 Wftfih'd sweetly over, swaddled with sincere 
 And spotless swathbands ; and made then to flow 
 About thy breast a mantle, white as snow, 
 Fine, and new made ; and cast a veil of gold 
 r thy forehead. 2s rth did hold 
 
 Thy mother for thy food her golden breast, 
 But Themis, in supply of it, address 
 Lovely Ambrosia, and drunk off to thee 
 A bowl of nectar, interchangeably 
 With her immortal fingers serving thine. 
 And when, O Phoebus, that eternal wine 
 Thy taste had relish'd, and that food divine, 
 No golden swathband longer could contain :,o 
 
 Thy panting bosom ; all that would constrain 
 Thy soon-eas*d Goolhead, every feeble chain 
 Of earthy child-rites, flew in sunder all. 
 And then dhdst thou thus to the Deities call : 
 
 •• Let rhere be given me my lov*d lute and bow, 195 
 I'll prophesy to men, and make them know 
 
 'a perfect counsels. 9 ' This said, up did fly 
 From broad-wayM Earth the unshorn Do: 
 -shot Apollo. All th' Immortals stood 
 In steep amaze to see Latona's brood. : : 
 
 All Delos, looking on him, all with gold 
 
 raight, and joy'd to be extolTd 
 By great Latona so, tha eed 
 
 " : > ;::--_ — •■.::;-.-.::-.::-.::::.".: '..::.-.: L :■.-.:" Scr.s-f. 
 
A HYMN TO APOLLO. 25 
 
 Her barrenness should bear the friutful'st seed 
 
 Of all the isles and continents of earth, 205 
 
 And lov'd her from her heart so for her birth. 
 
 For so she flourished, as a hill that stood 
 
 Crown'd with the flow'r of an abundant wood. 
 
 And thou, O Phcebus, bearing in thy hand 
 
 Thy silver bow, walk'st over every land, 210 
 
 Sometimes ascend'st the rough-hewn rocky hill 
 
 Of desolate Cynthus, and sometimes tak'st will 
 
 To visit islands, and the plumps of men. 
 
 And many a temple, all ways, men ordain 
 
 To thy bright Godhead ; groves, made dark with trees, 
 
 And never shorn, to hide the Deities, 316 
 
 All high-lov'd prospects, all the steepest brows 
 
 Of far-seen hills, and every flood that flows 
 
 Forth to the sea, are dedicate to thee. 
 
 But most of all thy mind's alacrity 220 
 
 Is rais'd with Delos ; since, to fill thy fane, 
 
 There flocks so many an Ionian, 
 
 With ample gowns that flow down to their feet, 
 
 With all their children, and the reverend sweet 
 
 Of all their pious wives. And these are they 225 
 
 That (mindful of thee) even thy Deity 
 
 Render more spritely with their champion fight, 
 
 Dances, and songs, perforni'd to glorious sight, 
 
 Once having publish'd, and proclahn'd their strife. 
 
 And these are acted with such exquisite life 230 
 
 That one would say, " Xow, the Ionian strains 
 
 213 Plumps — crowds, collection. A common old word. 
 
 224 Sweet — so spelt in the folio ; but the word is doubtless suite, 
 attendance, retinue. Todd gives an example of suite from Sir 
 Philip Sydney. 
 
 227 Champion fight — irvy\ia\i-Q, boxing. 
 
 231 Strains — families, descent. See Odyssey, Bk. 1. 344. 
 
2(3 A HYMN TO APOLLO. 
 
 Are tuniM Immortals, nor know what age means. " 
 
 His mind would take such pleasure from his eye, 
 
 To see them serv'd by all mortality, 
 
 Their men so human, women so well grac'd, 235 
 
 Their ships so swift, their riches so increas'd, 
 
 Since thy observance, who, being all before 
 
 Thy opposites, were all despis'd and poor. 
 
 And to all these this absolute wonder add, 
 
 Whose praise shall render all posterities glad : 240 
 
 The Delian virgins are thy handmaids all, 
 
 And, since they serv'd Apollo, jointly fall 
 
 Before Latona, and Diana too, 
 
 In sacred service, and do therefore know 
 
 How to make mention of the ancient trims 245 
 
 Of men and women, in their well-made hymns, 
 
 And soften barbarous nations with their songs, 
 
 Being able all to speak the several tongues 
 
 Of foreign nations, and to imitate 
 
 Their musics there, with art so fortunate 250 
 
 That one would say, there every one did speak, 
 
 And all their tunes in natural accents break, 
 
 Their songs so well composed are, and their art 
 
 To answer all sounds is of such desert. 
 
 But come, Latona, and thou King of flames, 255 
 
 With Phcebe, rect'ress of chaste thoughts in dames, 
 Let me salute ye, and your graces call 
 Hereafter to my just memorial. 
 
 And you, Delian virgins, do me grace, 
 When any stranger of our earthy race, 260 
 
 Whose restless life affliction hath in chace, 
 Shall hither come and question you, who is, 
 To your chaste ears, of choicest faculties 
 
A HYMN TO APOLLO. 27 
 
 In sacred poesy, and with most right 
 
 Is author of your absolutist delight, 265 
 
 Ye shall yourselves do all the right ye can 
 
 To answer for our name : — u The sightless man 
 
 Of stony Chios. All whose poems shall 
 
 In all last ages stand for capital." 
 
 This for your own sakes I desire, for I 270 
 
 Will propagate mine own precedency 
 
 As far as earth shall well-built cities bear, 
 
 Or human conversation is held dear, 
 
 2sot with my praise direct, but praises due, 
 
 And men shall credit it, because 'tis true. 275 
 
 However, I'll not cease the praise I vow 
 To far-shot Phcebus with the silver bow, 
 Whom lovelv-hair'd Latona o-ave the lio-ht. 
 O King ! both Lycia is in rule thy right, 
 Fair Mceony, and the maritimal 230 
 
 Miletus, wislr d to be the seat of all. 
 
 But chiefly Delos, girt with billows round, 
 Thy most respected empire doth resound. 
 Where thou to Pythus went'st, to answer there, 
 As soon as thou wert born, the burning ear 
 Of many a far-come, to hear future deeds, 
 Clad in divine and odoriferous weeds, 
 And with thy golden fescue play'dst upon 
 Thy hollow harp, that sounds to heaven set gone. 
 
 Then to Olympus swift as thought he flew, 290 
 
 288 Fescue — the lexicographers give the derivation from the 
 Latin festuca, a young shoot or stalk. It was generally used 
 for a stick for pointing to the letters in teaching children to 
 read. The word in this sense occurs in Dry den and Swift. 
 Here it seems to be an instrument (the plectrum) with which 
 Apollo touched the strings of his harp 5 a sense which does not 
 seem to have been noted as occurring elsewhere. 
 
28 A ETMN TO APOLLO. 
 
 To Jove's high house, and had a retinue 
 
 Of Gods t' attend him ; and then straight did fall 
 
 To study of the harp, and harpsical, 
 
 All th 7 Immortals. To whom every Muse 
 
 "With ravishing voices did their answers use, 295 
 
 Singing th' eternal deeds of Deity, 
 
 And from their hands what hells of misery 
 
 Poor humans suffer, living desperate quite, 
 
 And not an art they have, wit, or deceit, 
 
 Can make them manage any act aright, soo 
 
 Nor find, with all the soul they can engage, 
 
 A salve for death, or remedy for age. 
 
 But here the fair-hair' d Graces, the wise Hours, 
 Harmonia, Hebe, and sweet Yenus' pow'rs, 
 Danc'd, and each other's palm to palm did cling. soo 
 And with these danc'd not a deformed tiling, 
 Xo forespoke dwarf, nor downward witherling, 
 Eut all with wond'rous goodly forms were deckt, 
 And mov'd with beauties, of unpriz'd aspect. 
 
 Dart-dear Diana, even with Phoebus bred, 310 
 
 Danc'd likewise there ; and Mars a march did tread 
 With that brave bevy. In whose consort fell 
 Argicides, th' ingenious sentinel. 
 Phoebus -Apollo touch' d his lute to them 
 Sweetly and softly, a most glorious beam 315 
 
 Casting about him, as he danc'd and play'd, 
 And even his feet were all with rays array'd ; 
 His weed and all of a most curious trim 
 With no less lustre grac'd and circled him. 
 
 By these Latona, with a hair that shin'd 320 
 
 298 Humans — mortals. 
 
 307 Forespoke— see Iliad, Bk. xvi. 792; xvil. 32. 
 
A ET3IX TO APOLLO. 29 
 
 Like burnish'd gold, and, with tlie mighty mind, 
 Heaven's counsellor, Jove, sat with delightsome eyes. 
 To see their son new rank'd with Deities. 
 
 How shall I praise thee, then, that art all praise ? 
 Amongst the "brides shall I thy Deity raise ? 388 
 
 Or being in love, when sad thou went'st to woo 
 The virgin Aza, and didst overthrow 
 The even-with-Gods, Elation's mighty seed, 
 That had of goodly horse so brave a breed, 
 And Phorbas, son of sovereign Trioptis, 330 
 
 Valiant Leucippus, and Ereutheus, 
 And Triopus himself with equal tall. 
 Thou but on foot, and they on horseback all ? 
 
 Or shall I sing thee, as thou first didst grace 
 Earth with thy foot, to find thee forth a place 
 Fit to pronounce thy oracles to men ? 
 First from Olympus thou alightedst then 
 Into Pieria, passing all the land 
 Of fruitless Lesbos, chok'd with drifts of sand, 
 The Magnets likewise, and the Perrha?bes ; 340 
 
 And to Iolcus variedst thy access, 
 Census' tops ascending, that their base 
 Make bright Eubcea, being of ships the grace, 
 And fix'd thy fail stand in Lelantus' field, 
 That did not yet thy mind's contentment yield 345 
 
 To raise a fane on, and a sacred grove. 
 Passing Euripus then, thou mad'st remove 
 Up to earth's ever-green and holiest hill. 
 Yet swiftly thence, too, thou transcendedst still 
 To Mycalessus, and didst touch upon 350 
 
 Teumessus, apt to make green couches on. 
 And flowery field-beds. Then thy progress found 
 
30 A HYMN TO APOLLO. 
 
 Thebes out, whose soil with only woods was crown'd. 
 
 For yet was sacred Thebes no human seat, 
 
 And therefore were no paths nor highways beat 355 
 
 On her free bosom, that flows now with wheat, 
 
 But then she only wore on it a wood. 
 
 From hence (even loth to part, because it stood 
 
 Fit for thy service) thou putt'st on remove 
 
 To green Onchestus, Neptune's glorious grove, 360 
 
 TVliere new-tarn' d horse, bred, nourish nerves so rare 
 
 That still they frolic, though they travell'd are 
 
 Never so sore, and hurry after them 
 
 Most heavy coaches, but are so extreme 
 
 (In usual travel) fiery and free, 365 
 
 That though their coachman ne'er so masterly 
 
 Governs their courages, he sometimes must 
 
 Forsake his seat, and give their spirits their lust, 
 
 When after them their empty coach they draw, 
 
 Foaming, and neighing, quite exempt from awe. 370 
 
 And if their coachman guide through any grove 
 
 Unshorn, and vow'd to any Deity's love, 
 
 The lords encoach'd leap out, and all their care 
 
 Use to allay their fires, with speaking fair 
 
 Stroking and trimming them, and in some queach, 375 
 
 Or strength of shade, within their nearest reach, 
 
 Reining them up, invoke the deified King 
 
 Of that unshorn and everlasting spring, 
 
 And leave them then to her preserving hands, 
 
 Who is the Fate that there the God commands. sso 
 
 And this was first the sacred fashion there. 
 
 From hence thou went'st, O thou in shafts past peer, 
 
 375 Queach — bushy place. See note on Odyssey, Bk. xix. 
 610. Hymn to Pan, 12. 
 
HYMN TO APOLLO. 31 
 
 And found'st Cephissus with thy all-seeing beams. 
 
 Whose flood affects so many silver stream 
 
 And from Liheus pours so brigh: 
 
 I ;>rth thy foot flew, and thy fair eyes gave 
 
 The view of Ocale the rich in to^ 
 
 Then to Amartus that abounds in flo" 
 
 Then to Delphusa putt st thy progress on, 
 
 Whose blessed soil nought harmful breeds upon ; 390 
 
 And there thy pleasure would a fane adorn. 
 
 And nourish woods whose shades should ne'er be shorn. 
 
 Where this thou told'st her, standing to her d 
 
 •• Delphusa. here I entertain su] ■• 
 
 To build a far-fani'd temple, and ordain 
 
 An oracle t' inform the minds of men, 
 
 Who shall for ever offer to my love 
 
 Whole hecatombs : even all the men that move 
 
 In rich Peloponnesus, and all those 
 
 v.: rope, and the isles the seas eno -100 
 
 Whom future search of acts and beings brin_ 
 To whom I'll prophesy the truths of thi;:_~ 
 In that rich temple where my oracle sings." 
 
 This said, the All-bounds-reaeher, with his bow. 
 The fane's divine foundations did foresh 
 Ample they were, and did huge length impart, 
 With a continuate tenour, full of art. 
 But when Delphusa look'd into his end, 
 Her heart orrew ansn*v, and did thus extend 
 Itself to Phoebus : ,; Phoebus, since thy mind 
 
 : :r-fam'd fane hath in itself desiirn'd 
 To bear an oracle to men in me, 
 That hecatombs may put in fire to thee, 
 This let me tell thee, and impose for b 
 
32 A HYMN TO APOLLO. 
 
 Upon thy purpose : Th' inarticulate neigh 415 
 
 Of fire-hov'd horse will ever disobey 
 
 Thy numerous ear, and mules will for their drink 
 
 Trouble my sacred springs, and I should think 
 
 That any of the human race had rather 
 
 See here the hurries of rich coaches gather, 420 
 
 And hear the haughty neighs of swift-hov'd horse, 
 
 Than in his pleasure's place convert recourse 
 
 T'a mighty temple ; and his wealth bestow 
 
 On pieties, where his sports may freely flow, 
 
 Or see huge wealth that he shall never owe. 425 
 
 And, therefore, wouldst thou hear my free advice, — 
 
 Though mightier far thou art, and much more wise, 
 
 O king, than I, thy pow'r being great'st of all 
 
 In Crissa, underneath the bosom's fall 
 
 Of steep Parnassus, — let thy mind be given 430 
 
 To set thee up a fane, where never driven 
 
 Shall glorious coaches be, nor horses' neighs 
 
 Storm near thy well-built altars, but thy praise 
 
 Let the fair race of pious humans bring 
 
 Into thy fane, that Io-pseans sing, 435 
 
 And those gifts only let thy deified mind 
 
 Be circularly pleas'd with, being the kind 
 
 And fair burnt-offerings that true Deities bind." 
 
 With this his mind she altered, though she spake 
 
 Xot for his good, but her own glory's sake. 440 
 
 From hence, O Phoebus, first thou mad'st retreat, 
 And of the Phlegians reached the walled seat, 
 Inhabited with contumelious men, 
 Who, slighting Jove, took up their dwellings then 
 Within a large cave, near Cephissus' lake. 445 
 
 425 Q we — own# Odyssey, Bk. 11. 190. 
 
A BTMN TO APOLLO. 33 
 
 Hence, swiftly moving*, thou all speed didst make 
 
 Up to the tops intended, and the ground 
 
 Of Crissa, under the-with-snow-still-crown'd 
 
 Parnassus, reach'd, whose face affects the West : 
 
 Above which hangs a rock, that still seems prest 450 
 
 To fall upon it, through whose breast doth run 
 
 A rocky cave, near which the King the Sun 
 
 Cast to contrive a temple to his mind, 
 
 And said, u Xow here stands my conceit inclin'd 
 
 To build a famous fane, where still shall be 65 
 
 An oracle to men, that still to me 
 
 Shall oifer absolute hecatombs, as well 
 
 Those that in rich Peloponnesus dwell 
 
 As those of Europe, and the isles that he 
 
 "WalTd with the sea, that all their pains apply 460 
 
 F employ my counsels. To all which will I 
 
 True secrets tell, by way of prophecy, 
 
 In my rich temple, that shall ever be 
 
 An oracle to all poster: 
 
 This said, the fane's form he did straight present, 465 
 
 Ample, and of a length of great eitent ; 
 
 In which Trophonius and Agamede, 
 
 Who of Erginus \^re the famous seed, 
 
 Imposed the stony 4 entry, and the heart 
 
 Of every God Bad for their excellent art. 4:0 
 
 About the temple dwelt of human name 
 Unnumber'd nations, it acquired such fame, 
 Being all of stone, built for eternal date. 
 And near it did a fountain propagate 
 A fair stream far away ; when Jove's bright seed, 475 
 The King Apollo, with an arrow, freed 
 
 450 Prest — ready. Frequently used in the Odyssey. 
 
34 A HT3IX TO APOLLO. 
 
 1 the Dragoness 
 That wonder nourished, being o: :ess 
 
 In size, and horridness of monstrous shape, 
 That on the forc'd earth she wrought many a rape, 4S0 
 Many a spoil made on it, many an ill 
 On crook-haunch'd herds brought, being impurpled still 
 With blood of all sorts ; having undergone 
 The charge of Juno, with the golden throne, 
 To nourish Typhon, the abhorr'd affright 
 And bane of mortals, whom into the light 
 Saturnia brought forth, being incensed with J< 
 Because the most renown'd fruit of his lore 
 (Pallas) he got, and shook out of his brain. 
 
 : which majestic Juno did complain tan 
 
 In this kind to the BlessM Court of the skies : 
 u Know all ye sex-distiiiguislrd Dei:i~ . 
 That Jove, assembler of the cloudy throng, 
 Begins with me first, and affects with wrong 
 My right in him, made by himself his wife, 
 That knows and does the honoured marriage life 
 All honest offices ; and yet hath he 
 Unduly got, without my company, 
 Blue-eyed Minerva, who of all the sky 
 Of blest Immortals is the absolute gr:. i*oo 
 
 Where I have brought into the Heavenly Kaee 
 A son, both taken in his feet and head, 
 So ugly, and so far from worth my bed, - 
 That, ravish'd into hand, I took and threw 
 Down to the vast sea his detested vi-r 505 
 
 Where Xereus' daught^: a, who her 
 
 With silver feet makes, and the fair array 
 Of her brigL 1, and took to guard. 
 
A HYMN TO APOLLO. 35 
 
 But, would to heaven, another yet were spared 
 
 The like grace of his godhead ! Crafty mate, 510 
 
 "What other scape canst thou excogitate ? 
 
 How could thy heart sustain to get alone 
 
 The grey-eyed Goddess ? Her conception 
 
 Nor bringing forth had any hand of mine, 
 
 And yet, know all the Gods, I go for thine 515 
 
 To such kind uses. But I'll now employ 
 
 My brain to procreate a masculine joy, 
 
 That 'mongst th' Immortals may as eminent shine, 
 
 With shame affecting nor my bed nor thine. 
 
 Nor will I ever touch at thine again, 520 
 
 But far fly it and thee ; and yet will reign 
 
 Amongst th' Immortals ever." This spleen spent 
 
 (Still yet left angry) far away she went 
 
 From all the Deathless, and yet pray'd to all, 
 
 Advanced her hand, and, ere she let it fall, 525 
 
 Used these excitements : " Hear me now, O Earth ! 
 
 Broad Heaven above it, and beneath, your birth, 
 
 The deified Titanois, that dwell about 
 
 Vast Tartarus, from whence sprung all the rout 
 
 Of Men and Deities ! Hear me all, I say, 530 
 
 With all your forces, and give instant way 
 
 T' a son of mine without Jove, who yet may 
 
 Nothing inferior prove in force to him, 
 
 But past him spring as far in able limb 
 
 As he past Saturn." This pronounced, she strook 535 
 
 Life-bearing Earth so strongly, that she shook 
 
 Beneath her numb'd hand. Which when she beheld, 
 
 Her bosom with abundant comforts swell'd, 
 
 In hope all should to her desire extend. 
 
 Erom hence the year, that all such proofs gives end, 
 
36 A HYMN TO APOLLO. 
 
 Grew round ; yet all that time the bed of Jove 541 
 
 She never touch'd at, never was her love 
 
 Enflam'd to sit near his Daedalian throne, 
 
 As she accustomed, to consult upon 
 
 Counsels kept dark with many a secret skill, 545 
 
 But kept her vow-frequented temple still, 
 
 Pleas' d with her sacrifice ; till now, the nights 
 
 And days accomplish'd, and the year's whole rights 
 
 In all her revolutions being expired, 
 
 The hours and all run out that were required 550 
 
 To vent a birth-right, she brought forth a son, 
 
 Like Gods or men in no condition, 
 
 But a most dreadful and pernicious thing, 
 
 Call'd Typhon, who on all the human spring 
 
 Conferr'd confusion. Which received to hand 555 
 
 By Juno, instantly she gave command 
 
 (111 to ill adding) that the Dragoness 
 
 Should bring it up ; who took, and did oppress 
 
 With many a misery (to maintain th' excess 
 
 Of that inhuman monster) all the race 560 
 
 Of men that were of all the world the grace, 
 
 Till the far- working Phoebus at her sent 
 
 A fiery arrow, that invoked event 
 
 Of death gave to her execrable life. 
 
 Before which yet she lay in bitter strife, 565 
 
 With dying pains, grovelling on earth, and drew 
 
 Extreme short respirations ; for which flew 
 
 A shout about the air, whence no man knew, 
 
 But came by power divine. And then she lay 
 
 Tumbling her trunk, and winding every way 570 
 
 543 Daedalian — variegated, 7ro\vda'ida\ov. 
 654 Spring — race. 
 
A HYMN TO APOLLO. 37 
 
 About her nasty nest, quite leaving then 
 
 Her murderous life, embrued with deaths of men. 
 
 Then Phoebus gloried, saying : " Thyself now lie 
 On men-sustaining earth, and putrefy. 
 Who first of putrefaction was inforni'd. 575 
 
 Now on thy life have death's cold vapours storm'd, 
 That storm'dst on men the earth-fed so much death, 
 In envy of the offspring they made breathe 
 Their lives out on my altars. Xow from thee 
 Not Typhon shall enforce the misery 5so 
 
 Of merited death, nor She, whose name implies 
 Such scathe (Chimsera), but black Earth make prise 
 To putrefaction thy immanities, 
 And bright Hyperion, that light all eyes shows, 
 Thine with a night of rottenness shall close." 585 
 
 Thus spake he glorying. And then seiz'd upon 
 Her horrid heap, with putrefaction, 
 Hyperion's lovely pow'rs ; from whence her name 
 Took sound of Python, and heaven's Sovereign Flame 
 Was surnam'd Pythius, since the sharp-eyed Sun 590 
 Affected so witli putrefaction 
 The hellish monster. And now Phoebus' mind 
 Gave him to know that falsehood had strook blind 
 Even his bright eye, because it could not find 
 The subtle Fountain's fraud ; to whom he flew, 595 
 
 Enflamed with anger, and in th' instant drew 
 Close to Delphusa, using this short vow : 
 
 u Delphusa ! You must look no longer now 
 To vent your frauds on me ; for well I know 
 Your situation to be lovely, worth 600 
 
 A temple's imposition, it pours forth 
 
 575 Informed — made, formed out of. A common word. 
 
A HT3IX TO APOLLO. 
 
 So defied :n. But year renown 
 
 Shall now no longer shine here, bur mine own." 
 
 This said, he thrust her promontory down. 
 
 And daniru'd her fountain up with niighn 605 
 
 A temple giving c mfl 
 
 In woods adjoining. And in this fane all 
 
 On him. bv surname of Delphusius. call, 
 
 Because Detphosa's sacred flood and fame 
 
 His wrath afi\ and hid in shame. 610 
 
 And then thought Phoebus wh: : of men 
 
 To be his ministers he should retain. 
 To do in stony Pytl - 
 To which his mind contending, his quick eyes 
 
 ud beheld 615 
 
 A ship, on whose m la that win_ 
 
 In which were m-: rr d, many and good, 
 
 That in Minoian Cncssus ate their food, 
 And were C who now are tih 
 
 That all the sacrificing dues dispose, BJO 
 
 And all the laws deliver to a word 
 Oi Day's great King, that wears the golden sword. 
 And it of his Delphian tree 
 
 That shrouds her fair arms in the cavity 
 Beneath Parnassus* mount) pronounce to men. G8S 
 
 These now his | is merchants then, 
 
 In traffics and pecuniar;, rates, 
 
 sandy Pylos and the Pylian si 
 Wen under -ail. But now encounter d them 
 Phoebus- Apollo, who into the stream 630 
 
 himself headlong, and the strange 
 k of a dolphin of a goodly si. 
 Like which he leaped into their ship, and lay 
 
A HYMN TO APOLLO. 39 
 
 As an ostent of infinite dismay. 
 
 For none with any strife of mind eonld look 635 
 
 Into the omen, all the ship -masts shook, 
 
 And silent all sat with the fear they took, 
 
 Arm'd not, nor strook they sail, hut as before 
 
 Went on with full trim, and a foreright blore, 
 
 Stiff, and from forth the south, the ship made fly. 6-40 
 
 When first they stripped the Malean proniont'ry. 
 
 Touched at Laconia's soil, in which a town 
 
 Their ship arrived at, that the sea doth crown, 
 
 Called Tenarus, a place of much delight 
 
 To men that serve Heaven's Comforter of sight. 645 
 
 In which are fed the famous flocks that hear 
 
 The wealthy fleeces, on a delicate lair 
 
 Being fed and seated. Where the merchants fain 
 
 Would have put in, that they might out again 
 
 To tell the miracle that chanced to them, 650 
 
 And try if it would take the sacred stream, 
 
 Rushing far forth, that he again might hear 
 
 Those other fishes that abounded there 
 
 Delightsome company, or still would stay 
 
 Aboard their dry ship. But it fail'd t' obey, 655 
 
 And for the rich Peloponnesian shore 
 
 Steer' d her free sail ; Apollo made the blore 
 
 Directly guide it. That obeying still 
 
 Reach'd dry Arena, and (what wish doth fill) 
 
 Fair Argyphaea, and the populous height 660 
 
 Of Thryus, whose stream, siding her, doth wait 
 
 639 Blore— gale. 
 641 Stripped — passed rapidly. 
 
 645 Heaven's Comforter of sight — the Sun ; TepipifiPporov 
 rjekioio. 
 655 ItfaiVd V obey—i. e. the ship would not obey the rudder. 
 
40 A EYMS TO APOLLO. 
 
 With safe pass on Alpha?us. Pylos* sands. 
 
 And Pylian dwellers : keeping by the strands 
 
 On which th* inhabitants of Crunins dwell, 
 
 And Helida set opposite to hell ; ns 
 
 Chalcis and D ynies reach'd. and happily 
 
 Hade sail by Pheras ; all being over 
 
 With that frank gale that Jore himself employed. 
 
 And then amongst the clouds they might descry 
 
 The hill, that far-seen Ithaca calls h 
 
 DuKchius, Sanios, and, with timber graced, 
 
 Shady Zacynthus. But when now they past 
 
 Peloponnesus all, and then when showd 
 
 The infinite Tale of Crissa, that doth shroud 
 
 All rich Morea with her liberal bre^ K5 
 
 S: :::.::k ji »ilf ym-i £v" :: ;: :lr VT t , : 
 
 As all the sky discoTerd; 'twas so great. 
 
 And blew so from the Tery council seat 
 
 Of JoTe himself, that Quickly it might send 
 
 The ship through full seas to her journey's end. 
 
 From thence they sail'd, Quite opposite, to the East, 
 And to the region where Light leaves his rest. 
 The light himself being sacred pilot there. 
 And made the sea-trod ship arrive them near 
 The grapeful Crissa, where he rest doth take 
 dose to her port and sands. And then forth brake 
 The far-shot King, like to a star that strows 
 
 That all in sparkles did his state attire, 
 Whose lustre leap'd up to the sphere of fire. 
 
 II, ::. " •■-■:-.-::-: n: ■■".•;■- :; -■■'.. in.: lir::-: :Lv i..v;-e 
 That of his sacred tripods held the grace, 
 *• Arrim — L e. cause to arrire. 
 
A HT1IX TO APOLLO. 41 
 
 In which he lighted such a fluent flame 
 
 _ilt all Crissa : in which every dame. 
 And dame's fair daughter, cast out vehement cries 695 
 At those fell fires of Phoebus* prodig: 
 That shaking fears through all their fancies tin 
 Then, like the mind's swift light, again he flew 
 Back to the ship, shaped like a youth in height 
 
 all his graces, shoulders broad and straight. 700 
 
 And all his hair in golden curls enwrapp'd : 
 And to the merchants thus his speech he shapd : 
 
 "Ho ! Strangers ! What are vou? And from wha: i 
 Sail ye til - rhat salt and water sweat ? 
 
 To traffic justly ? Or use vagrant scapes 705 
 
 Void of all rule, conferring wrongs and i\v 
 Like pirates, on the men ye ne 
 With minds project exempt from list or law ? 
 Why sit ye here so stupefied, nor take 
 Land while ye may. nor deposition make 710 
 
 Of naval arms, when this the fashion is 
 Of men industrious, who (their faciL' 
 Wearied at sea ) leave ship, and use the land 
 For food, that with their healths and stomachs stand?" 
 
 This said, with bold minds he their breast supplied. 
 And thus made answer the Cretensian guide : 
 1 anger ! Because you seem to us no - 
 Of any mortal, but celestial breed 
 For parts and person, joy your steps ensue. 
 And Gods make orood the bliss we think vour due. 
 Vouchsafe us true relation, on what land 
 We here arrive, and what men here command. 
 We were for well-known parts bound, and from Crete 
 (Our vaunted country) to the Pylian 1 
 
42 A ETMX TO APOLLO. 
 
 Vow'd our whole voyage : yet arrive we here. 735 
 
 Quite cross to those wills that our motions steer. 
 
 "\\ idling to make return some other way, 
 
 Some other course desirous to assay. 
 
 To pay our lost pains. But some God hath fill'd 
 
 Our frustrate sails, defeating what we will'd." :;:o 
 
 Apollo answer'd : M Strangers ! Though before 
 Ye dwelt in woody Cnossus. yet no more 
 "i e must be made jour own reciprocals 
 To your loved city and fair severals 
 Of wives and houses, but ye shall have here 7S5 
 
 My wealthy temple, honour'd far and near 
 Of many a nation : for myself am son 
 To Jove himself, and of Apollo won 
 The glorious title, who thus safely through 
 The sea's vast billows still have held your plough. 740 
 Xo ill intending, that will let ye make 
 My temple here your own, and honours take 
 Upon yourselves, all that to me are given. 
 And more, the counsels of the King of Heaven 
 Yourselves shall know, and with his will receive ;4o 
 Ever the honours that all men shall give, 
 Do as I say then instantly, strike sail, 
 Take down your tackling, and your vessel hale 
 Up into land ; your goods bring forth, and all 
 The instruments that into sailing fall ; 750 
 
 Make on this shore an altar, fire enflame. 
 And barley white cakes offer to my name ; 
 And then, environing the altar, pray. 
 And call me (as ye saw me in the day 
 When from the windy seas I brake swift way 755 
 
 Into your ship) Delphinius, since I took 
 
A HYlfX TO APOLLO. 43 
 
 A dolphin's form then. And to every look 
 
 That there shall seek it. that mv altar shall 
 
 Be made a Delphian memorial 
 
 Prom thence for ever. After this, ascend 760 
 
 Yonr swift black ship and sup, and then intend 
 
 Ingenuous offerings to the equal Gods 
 
 That in celestial seats make blest abodes. 
 
 "When, having stay'd your healthful hunger's sting. 
 
 Come all with me, and Io-pnana sing 7^5 
 
 All the way's length, till you attain the state 
 
 Where I your opulent fane have consecrate.*' 
 
 To this they gave him passing diligent ear, 
 And vow'd to his obedience all they were. 
 
 First, striking sail, their tacklings then theylosed, 770 
 And (with their gables stoop'd) their mast imposed 
 Into the mast -room. Forth themselves then went, 
 And from the sea into the continent 
 Drew up their ship ; which far up from the sand 
 They rais'd with ample rafters. Then in hand m 
 
 They took the altar, and in form \1 it on 
 The sea's near shore, imposing thereupon 
 White cakes of barley, lire made, and did stand 
 About it round, as Phoebus gave command, 
 Submitting invocations to his will. 750 
 
 Then sacrihVd to all the heavenly hill 
 Of powerful Godheads. After winch they eat 
 Aboard their ship, till with lit food replete 
 They rose, nor to their temple used delay. 
 Whom Phoebus usher d, and touch'd all the way 7S5 
 
 761 Intend— See Odyssey, Bk. 111. 648. 
 
 ' 79 Informed — supra, 575. 
 
 763 Food— the folio and Mr. Singer, foot. 
 
44 A HYMN TO APOLLO. 
 
 His heavenly lute with art above admired, 
 
 Gracefully leading them. When all were fired 
 
 With zeal to him, and followed wond'ring all 
 
 To Pythos ; and upon his name did call 
 
 With Io-pseans, such as Cretans use. 790 
 
 And in their bosoms did the deified Muse 
 
 Voices of honey-harmony infuse. 
 
 With never- weary feet their way they went, 
 And made with all alacrity ascent 
 Up to Parnassus, and that long'd-for place 795 
 
 Where they should live, and be of men the grace. 
 When, all the way, Apollo show'd them still 
 Their far-stretch' d valleys, and their two-topp'd hill, 
 Their famous fane, and all that all could raise 
 To a supreme height of their joy and praise. soo 
 
 And then the Cretan captain thus inquired 
 Of King Apollo : " Since you have retired, 
 O sovereign, our sad lives so far from friends 
 And native soil (because so far extends 
 Your dear mind's pleasure) tell us how we shall 805 
 Live in your service ? To which question call 
 Our provident minds, because we see not crown'd 
 This soil with store of vines, nor doth abound 
 In wealthy meadows, on which we may live, 
 As well as on men our attendance give." 8io 
 
 He smiled, and said : " O men that nothing know, 
 And so are follow'd with a world of woe, 
 That needs will succour care and curious moan, 
 And pour out sighs without cessation, 
 Were all the riches of the earth your own ! 815 
 
 Without much business, I will render known 
 802 Eetired — i. e. caused to retire. 
 
A HYMN TO APOLLO. 45 
 
 To your simplicities an easy way 
 
 To wealth enough : Let every man purvey 
 
 A skeane, or slaughtering steel, and his right hand, 
 
 Bravely bestowing, evermore see mann'd S20 
 
 With killing sheep, that to my fane will flow 
 
 From all far nations. On all which bestow 
 
 Good observation, and all else they give 
 
 To me make you your own all, and so live. 
 
 For all which watch before my temple well, 825 
 
 And all my counsels, above all, conceal. 
 
 If any give vain language, or to deeds, 
 
 Yea or as far as injury, proceeds, 
 
 Know that, at losers' hands, for those that gain, 
 
 It is the law of mortals to sustain. 830 
 
 Besides, ye shall have princes to obey, 
 
 "Which still ye must, and (so ye gain) ye may. 
 
 All now is said ; give all thy memory's stay." 
 
 And thus to thee, Jove and Latona's son, 
 Be given all grace of salutation ! S35 
 
 Both thee and others of th' Immortal State 
 My song shall memorize to endless date. 
 
 819 Skeane — generally used as a sword. A Celtic word. See 
 Nares. 
 
 THE EXD OF THE HYMN TO APOLLO. 
 
A HYMN TO HEKMES. 
 
 ■ EBMES, the son of Jove and Maia, sing, 
 O Muse, th' Arcadian and C jllenian king, 
 They rich in flocks, he heaven enriching 
 still 
 
 In messages returned with all his will. 
 Whom glorious Maia, the nymph rich in hair, 5 
 
 Mixing with Jove in amorous affair, 
 Brought forth to him, sustaining a retreat 
 From all th' Immortals of the blessed seat, 
 And living in the same dark cave, where Jove 
 Informed at midnight the effect of love, 10 
 
 Unknown to either man or Deity, 
 Sweet sleep once having seized the jealous eye 
 Of Juno deck'd with wrists of ivory. 
 But when great Jove's high mind was consummate, 
 The tenth month had in heaven confined the date 15 
 Of Maia's labour, and into the sight 
 She brought in one birth labours infinite ; 
 For then she bore a son, that all tried ways 
 Could turn and wind to wish'd events assays, 
 A fair tongu'd, but false-hearted, counsellor, 20 
 
 Hector of ox-stealers, and for all stealths bore 
 10 Inform d — Hymn to Apollo, 575. 
 
A HYMN TO HERMES. 47 
 
 A varied finger ; speeder of night's spies, 
 
 And guide of all her dreams' obscurities ; 
 
 Guard of door-guardians ; and was born to be, 
 
 Amongst th' Immortals, that wing'd Deity 25 
 
 That in an instant should do acts would ask 
 
 The powers of others an eternal task. 
 
 Born in the morn, he form'd his lute at noon, 
 
 At night stole all the oxen of the Sun ; 
 
 And all this in his birth's first day was done, 30 
 
 Which was the fourth of the increasing moon. 
 
 Because celestial limbs sustain'd his strains, 
 
 His sacred swath-bands must not be his chains, 
 
 So, starting up, to Phoebus' herd he stept, 
 
 Foundstraight the high-roof 'd cave where they werekept, 
 
 And th' entry passing, he th' invention found 36 
 
 Of making lutes ; and did in wealth abound 
 
 By that invention, since he first of all 
 
 Was author of that engine musical, 
 
 By this means moved to the ingenious work : 40 
 
 Near the cave's inmost overture did lurk 
 
 A tortoise, tasting th' odoriferous grass, 
 
 Leisurely moving ; and this object was 
 
 The motive to Jove's son (who could convert 
 
 To profitablest uses all desert 45 
 
 That nature had in any work convey'd) 
 
 To form the lute ; when, smiling, thus he said : 
 
 " Thou mov'st in me a note of excellent use, 
 
 Which thy ill form shall never so seduce 
 
 T' avert the good to be inform'd by it, 50 
 
 In pliant force, of my form-forging wit." 
 
 Then the slow tortoise, wrought on by his mind, 
 41 Overture — hidden recess. 
 
48 A HYMN TO HERMES. 
 
 He thus saluted : "All joy to the kind 
 Instinct of nature in thee, born to be 
 The spiriter of dances, company 55 
 
 For feasts, and following banquets, graced and blest 
 For bearing light to all the interest 
 Claim'd in this instrument ! From whence shall spring 
 Play fair and sweet, to which may Graces sing. 
 A pretty painted coat thou putt'st on here, 60 
 
 O Tortoise, while thy ill-bred vital sphere 
 Confines thy fashion ; but, surprised by me, 
 I'll bear thee home, where thou shalt ever be 
 A profit to me ; and yet nothing more 
 Will I contemn thee in my merited store. 65 
 
 Goods with good parts got worth and honour gave, 
 Left goods and honours every fool may have, 
 And since thou first shalt give me means to live, 
 I'll love thee ever. Virtuous qualities give 
 To live at home with them enough content, 70 
 
 Where those that want such inward ornament 
 Fly out for outward, their life made their load. 
 'Tis best to be at home, harm lurks abroad. 
 And certainly thy virtue shall be known, 
 'Gainst great-ill-causing incantation 75 
 
 To serve as for a lance or amulet. 
 And where, in comfort of thy vital heat, 
 Thou now breath' st but a sound confus'd for song, 
 Expos'd by nature, after death, more strong 
 Thou shalt in sounds of art be, and command so 
 
 Song infinite sweeter." Thus with either hand 
 He took it up, and instantly took flight 
 Back to his cave with that his home delight. 
 Where (giving to the mountain tortoise vents 
 84 A Chapmannic periphrasis for killing the tortoise. 
 
A HYMN TO HERMES. 49 
 
 Of life and motion) with fit instruments 85 
 
 Forged of bright steel he straight inform'd a lute, 
 
 Put neck and frets to it, of which a suit 
 
 He made of splitted quills, in equal space 
 
 Impos'd upon the neck, and did embrace 
 
 Both back and bosom. At whose height (as gins 90 
 
 T' extend and ease the strings) he put in pins. 
 
 Seven strings of several tunes he then applied, 
 
 Made of the entrails of a sheep well-dried, 
 
 And throughly twisted. Next he did provide 
 
 A case for all, made of an ox's hide, 95 
 
 Out of his counsels to preserve as well 
 
 As to create. And all this action fell 
 
 Into an instant consequence. His word 
 
 And work had individual accord, 
 
 All being as swiftly to perfection brought 100 
 
 As any worldly man's most ravish'd thought, 
 
 Whose mind care cuts in an infinity 
 
 Of varied parts or passions instantly, 
 
 Or as the frequent twinklings of an eye. 
 
 And thus his house-delight given absolute end, 105 
 He touch'd it, and did every string extend 
 (With an exploratory spirit assayed) 
 To all the parts that could on it be play'd. 
 It sounded dreadfully ; to which he sung, 
 As if from thence the first and true force sprung 110 
 That fashions virtue. God in him did sing. 
 His play was likewise an unspeakable thing, 
 Yet, but as an extemporal assay, 
 Of what show it would make being the first way, 
 It tried his hand ; or a tumultuous noise, 115 
 
 Such as at feasts the first-flower d spirits of boys 
 
 E 
 
50 A RTMN TO HER31ES. 
 
 Pour out in mutual contumelies still, 
 
 As little squaring with his curious will, 
 
 Or was as wanton and untaught a store. 
 
 Of Jove, and Maia that rich shoes still wore, 120 
 
 He sung ; who suffer' d ill reports before, 
 
 And foul stains under her fair titles bore. 
 
 But Hermes sung her nation, and her name 
 
 Did iterate ever ; all her high-flown fame 
 
 Of being Jove's mistress ; celebrating all 125 
 
 Her train of servants, and collateral 
 
 Sumpture of houses ; all her tripods there, 
 
 And caldrons huge, increasing every year. 
 
 All which she knew, yet felt her knowledge stung 
 
 "With her fame's loss, which (found) she more wish'd sung. 
 
 But now he in his sacred cradle laid 131 
 
 His lute so absolute, and straight convey'd 
 
 Himself up to a watch -tow'r forth his house, 
 
 Eich, and divinely odoriferous, 
 
 A lofty wile at work in his conceit, 135 
 
 Thirsting the practice of his empire's height. 
 
 And where impostors rule (since sable night 
 
 Must serve their deeds) he did his deeds their right. 
 
 For now the never-resting Sun was turn'd 
 
 For th' under earth, and in the ocean burn'd ho 
 
 His coach and coursers ; when th' ingenious spy 
 
 Pieria's shady hill had in his eye, 
 
 Where the immortal oxen of the Gods 
 
 In air's flood solaced then select abodes, 
 
 And earth's sweet green flow'r, that was never shorn. 
 
 Fed ever down. And these the witty-born, ut 
 
 Argicides, set serious spy upon, 
 
 Severing from all the rest, and setting gone 
 
A HYMN TO HERMES. 51 
 
 Full fifty of the violent bellowers. 
 
 AYhicli driving through the sands, he did reverse 150 
 
 (His birth's-craft straight rememVring) all their hoves, 
 
 And them transpos'd in opposite removes, 
 
 The fore behind set, the behind before, 
 
 T' employ the eyes of such as should explore. 
 
 And he himself, as sly-pac ? d, cast away 155 
 
 His sandals on the sea sands ; past display 
 
 And unexcogitable thoughts in act 
 
 Putting, to shun of his stol'n steps the tract, 
 
 Mixing both tamrisk and like-tamrisk sprays 
 
 In a most rare confusion, to raise 160 
 
 His footsteps up from earth. Of which sprays he 
 
 (His armful gathering fresh from off the tree) 
 
 Made for his sandals ties, both leaves and ties 
 
 Holding together ; and then fear d no eves 
 
 That could affect his feet's discoveries. 166 
 
 The tamrisk boughs he gathered, making way 
 Back from Pieria, but as to convey 
 Provision in them for his journey fit, 
 It being long and. therefore, needing it. 
 
 An old man, now at labour near the field no 
 
 Of green Onchestus, knew the verdant yield 
 Of his fair arniful ; whom th' ingenious son 
 Of Maia, therefore, salutation 
 Did thus begin to : " Ho, old man ! that now 
 Art crooked grown with making plants to grow, 175 
 
 Thy nerves will far be spent, when these boughs shall 
 To these then' leaves confer me fruit and all. 
 But see not thou whatever thou dost see, 
 Nor hear though hear, but all as touching me 
 Conceal, since nought it can endamage thee." iso 
 
52 A HYMN TO HERMES. 
 
 This, and no more, lie said, and on drave still 
 His broad-brow'd oxen. Many a shady hill, 
 And many an echoing valley, many a field 
 Pleasant and wishful, did his passage yield 
 Their safe transcension. But now the divine iso 
 
 And black-brow' d Night, his mistress, did decline 
 Exceeding swiftly ; Day's most early light 
 Fast hasting to her first point, to excite 
 Worldlings to work ; and in her watck-tow'r shone 
 King Pallas-Megamedes' seed (the Moon) ; 190 
 
 When through th' Alphaean flood Jove's powerful son 
 Phoebus-Apollo's ample-foreheaded herd 
 (Whose necks the lab'ring yoke had never sphered) 
 Drave swiftly on ; and then into a stall 
 (Hilly, yet pass'd to through an humble vale 105 
 
 And hollow dells, in a most lovely mead) 
 He gather'd all, and them divinely fed 
 With odorous cypress, and the ravishing tree 
 That makes his eaters lose the memory 
 Of name and country. Then he brought withal aoo 
 Much wood, whose sight into his search let fall 
 The art of making fire ; winch thus he tried : 
 He took a branch of laurel, amplified 
 Past others both in beauty and in size, 
 Yet lay next hand, rubb'd it, and straight did rise 205 
 A warm fume from it ; steel being that did raise 
 (As agent) the attenuated bays 
 To that hot vapour. So that Hermes found 
 Both fire first, and of it the seed close bound 
 In other substances ; and then the seed 210 
 
 He multiplied, of sere-wood making feed 
 198 The lotus. 
 
A HYMN TO HERMES, 53 
 
 The apt heat of it, in a pile combined 
 
 Laid in a low pit, that in flames straight shined, 
 
 And cast a sparkling crack up to the sky, 
 
 All the dry parts so fervent were, and high 215 
 
 In their combustion. And how long the force 
 
 Of glorious Vulcan kept the fire in course, 
 
 So long was he in dragging from their stall 
 
 Two of the crook-haunch'd herd, that roar'd withal, 
 
 And raged for fear, t' approach the sacred fire, 220 
 
 To which did all his dreadful pow'rs aspire. 
 
 When, blust'ring forth their breath, he on the soil 
 
 Cast both at length, though with a world of toil, 
 
 For long he was in getting them to ground 
 
 After their through-thrust and most mortal wound. 225 
 
 But work to work he join'd, the flesh and cut, 
 
 Cover'd with fat, and, on treen broches put, 
 
 In pieces roasted ; but in th' intestines 
 
 The black blood, and the honorary chines, 
 
 Together with the carcases, lay there, 230 
 
 Caot on the cold earth, as no Deities' cheer ; 
 
 The hides upon a rugged rock he spread. 
 
 And thus were these now all in pieces shred, 
 
 And undistinguish'd from earth's common herd, 
 
 Though born for long date, and to heaven endear'd, 235 
 
 And now must ever live in dead event. 
 
 But Hermes, here hence having his content, 
 
 Cared for no more, but drew to places even 
 
 The fat- works, that, of force, must have for heaven 
 
 Their capital ends, though storn, and therefore were 210 
 
 In twelve parts cut, for twelve choice Deities' cheer, 
 
 By this devotion. To all which he gave 
 
 227 Treen hroches — branches of trees. 
 
54 A HYMN TO HERMES. 
 
 Their several honours, and did wish to have 
 
 His equal part thereof, as free and well 
 
 As tli' other Deities ; but the fatty smell 215 
 
 Afflicted him, though he Immortal were, 
 
 Playing mortal parts, and being like mortals here. 
 
 Yet his proud mind nothing the more obey'd 
 
 For being a God himself, and his own aid 
 
 Having to cause his due, and though in heart 250 
 
 He highly wish'd it ; but the weaker part 
 
 Subdued the stronger, and went on in ill. 
 
 Even heavenly pow'r had rather have his will 
 
 Than have his right ; and will's the worst of all, 
 
 When but in least sort it is criminal, 255 
 
 One taint being author of a number still. 
 
 And thus, resolved to leave his hallow'd hill, 
 
 First both the fat parts and the fleshy all 
 
 Taking away, at the steep -entried stall 
 
 He laid all, all the feet and heads entire, 260 
 
 And all the sere-wood, making clear with fire. 
 
 And now, he leaving there then all things done, 
 
 And finish' d in their fit perfection, 
 
 The coals put out, and their black ashes thrown 
 
 From all discovery by the lovely light 265 
 
 The cheerful moon cast, shining all the night, 
 
 He straight assumed a novel voice's note, 
 
 And in the whirl -pit- eating flood afloat 
 
 He set his sandals. When now, once again 
 
 The that-morn-born Cyllenius did attain 270 
 
 His home's divine height ; all the far-stretch'd way 
 
 No one bless'd God encount'ring his assay, 
 
 Nor mortal man ; nor any dog durst spend 
 
 His born-to-bark mouth at him ; till in th' end 
 
A HYMN TO HERMES. 55 
 
 He reach' d his cave, and at the gate went in 275 
 
 Crooked, and wrapt into a fold so thin 
 
 That no eye could discover his repair, 
 
 But as a darkness of th' autumnal air. 
 
 When, going on fore-right, he straight arrived 
 
 At his rich fane ; his soft feet quite deprived 2so 
 
 Of all least noise of one that trod the earth, 
 
 They trod so swift to reach his room of birth. 
 
 Where, in his swath-bands he his shoulders wrapt, 
 
 And (like an infant, newly having scap't 
 
 The teeming straits) as in the palms he lay 235 
 
 Of his loved nurse. Yet instantly would play 
 
 (Freeing his right hand) with his bearing cloth 
 
 About his knees wrapt, and straight (loosing both 
 
 His right and left hand) with his left he caught 
 
 His most-loved lute. His mother yet was taught 290 
 
 His wanton wiles, nor could a God's wit lie 
 
 Hid from a Goddess, who did therefore try 
 
 His answer thus : " Why, thou made-all-of-sleight, 
 
 And whence arriv'st thou in this rest of night ? 
 
 Improvident impudent ! In my conceit 295 
 
 Thou* rather shouldst be getting forth thy gate, 
 
 With all flight fit for thy endanger'd state, 
 
 (In merit of th' inevitable bands 
 
 To be impos'd by vex'd Latona's hands, 
 
 Justly incens'd for her Apollo's harms) 300 
 
 Than lie thus wrapt, as ready for her arms, 
 
 To take thee up and kiss thee. Would to heaven, 
 
 In cross of that high grace, thou hadst been given 
 
 Up to perdition, ere poor mortals bear 
 
 Those black banes, that thy Father Thunderer 305 
 
 Hath planted thee of purpose to confer 
 
5(5 A HYMN TO HERMES. 
 
 On them and Deities !" He returned reply : 
 u As master of the feats of policy, 
 Mother, why aim you thus amiss at me, 
 As if I were a son that infancy 3io 
 
 Could keep from all the skill that age can teach, 
 Or had in cheating but a childish reach, 
 And of a mother's mandates fear'd the breach ? 
 I mount that art at first, that will be best 
 "When all times consummate their cunningest, 315 
 
 Able to counsel now myself and thee, 
 In all things best, to all eternity. 
 We cannot live like Gods here without gifts, 
 No, nor without corruption and shifts, 
 And, much less, without eating ; as we must 320 
 
 In keeping thy rules, and in being just, 
 Of which we cannot undergo the loads. 
 'Tis better here to imitate the Gods, 
 And wine or wench out all time's periods, 
 To that end growing rich in ready heaps, 325 
 
 Stored with revenues, being in corn-field reaps 
 Of infinite acres, than to live enclosed 
 In caves, to all earth's sweetest air exposed. 
 I as much honour hold as Phoebus does ; 
 And if my Father please not to dispose 330 
 
 Possessions to me, I myself will see 
 If I can force them in ; for I can be 
 Prince of all thieves. And, if Latona's son 
 Make after my stealth indignation, 
 I'll have a scape as well as he a search, 335 
 
 And overtake him with a greater lurch ; 
 For I can post to Pythos, and break through 
 336 Lurch— deceit, falsehood. 
 
A HYMN TO HERMES. 57 
 
 His huge house there, where harbours wealth enough, 
 Most precious tripods, caldrons, steel, and gold, 
 Garments rich wrought, and full of liberal fold. 3i0 
 
 All which will I at pleasure own, and thou 
 Shalt see all, wilt thou but thy sight bestow." 
 
 Thus changed great words the Goat-hide- wearer's son, 
 And Maia of majestic fashion. 
 
 And now the air-begot Aurora rose 34.5 
 
 From out the Ocean great-in-ebbs-and-flows, 
 When, at the never-shorn pure-and-fair grove 
 (Onchestus) consecrated to the love 
 Of round-and-long-neck'd Neptune, Phoebus found 
 A man whom heavy years had press'd half round, s^o 
 And yet at work in plashing of a fence 
 About a vineyard, that had residence 
 Hard by the highway ; whom Latona's son 
 Made it not strange, but first did question, 
 And first saluted : " Ho you ! aged sire, 355 
 
 That here are hewing from the vine the briar, 
 For certain oxen I come here t' inquire 
 Out of Pieria ; females all, and rear'd 
 All with horns wreath'd, unlike the common herd ; 
 A coal-black bull fed by them all alone ; soo 
 
 And all observ'd, for preservation, 
 Through all their foody and delicious fen 
 With four fierce mastiffs, like one-minded men. 
 These left their dogs and bull (which I admire) 
 And, when was near set day's eternal fire, 365 
 
 343 Goat-hide-wearer — Jupiter. 
 
 351 Plashing — to plash a fence is still used for half-cutting 
 down the saplings and loftier branches of a hedge, and entwin- 
 ing them horizontally. 
 
 364 Which I admire— which I am astonished at. 
 
58 A HYMN TO HERMES. 
 
 From their fierce guardians, from their delicate fare, 
 Made clear departure. To me then declare, 
 
 old man, long since horn, if thy grave ray 
 Hath any man seen making stealthful way 
 
 With all those oxen." Th' old man made reply : 370 
 " 'Tis hard, O friend, to render readily 
 Account of all that may invade mine eye, 
 For many a traveller this highway treads, 
 Some in much ills search, some in nohle threads, 
 Leading their lives out ; but I this young day, 375 
 
 Even from her first point, have made good display 
 Of all men passing this abundant hill 
 Planted with vines, and no such stealthful ill 
 Her light hath shown me ; but last evening, late, 
 
 1 saw a thing that show'd of childish state 3so 
 To my old lights, and seem'd as he pursued 
 
 A herd of oxen with brave heads endued, 
 Yet but an infant, and retain'd a rod ; 
 Who wearily both this and that way trod, 
 His head still backwards turn'd." Tins th' old man spake ; 
 "Which he well thought upon, and swiftly brake 386 
 Into his pursuit with abundant wing, 
 That strook but one plain, ere he knew the thing 
 That was the thief to be th' impostor born; 
 WTiom Jove yet with his son's name did adorn. 390 
 In study and with ardour then the King 
 (Jove's dazzling son) placed his exploring wing 
 On sacred Pylos, for his forced herd, 
 His ample shoulders in a cloud enspher'd 
 Of fiery crimson. Straight the steps he found 395 
 
 Of his stol'n herd, and said : " Strange sights confound 
 368 Ray — vision, eye. 
 
A ETMN TO HERMES. 59 
 
 My apprehensive powers, for here I see 
 
 The tracks of oxen, but aversively 
 
 Converted towards the Pierian hills, 
 
 As treading to their mead of daffodils ; 400 
 
 But nor mine eye men's feet nor women's draws, 
 
 Nor hoary wolves', nor bears', nor lions', paws, 
 
 Nor thick-neck'd bulls, they show. But he that does 
 
 These monstrous deeds, with never so swift shoes 
 
 Hath pass'd from that hour hither, but from hence 405 
 
 His foul course may meet fouler consequence." 
 
 With this took Phoebus wing ; and Hermes still, 
 
 For all his threats, secure lay in his hill 
 
 Wall'd with a wood ; and more, a rock, beside, 
 
 TVhere a retreat ran, deeply multiplied 410 
 
 In blinding shadows, and where tlr endless Bride 
 
 Bore to Saturnius his ingenious son ; 
 
 An odour, worth a heart's desire, being thrown 
 
 Along the heaven-sweet hill, on whose herb fed 
 
 Eich flocks of sheep, that bow not where they tread 415 
 
 Their horny pasterns. There the Light of men 
 
 (Jove's son. Apollo) straight descended then 
 
 The marble pavement, in that gloomy den. 
 
 On whom when Jove and Maia's son set eye, 
 
 "Wroth for his oxen, on then, instantly, 420 
 
 His odorous swath-bands flew ; in which as close 
 
 Th' impostor lay. as in the cool repose 
 
 Of cast-on ashes hearths of burning coals 
 
 Lie in the woods hid, under the controls 
 
 Of skilful colliers ; even so close did lie 425 
 
 Inscrutable Hermes in Apollo's eye, 
 
 Contracting his great Godhead to a small 
 
 411 Endless — immortal, iij-icrj dn^pcuij]. 
 
60 A HYMN TO HERMES. 
 
 And infant likeness, feet, hands, head, and all. 
 And as a hunter hath been often view'd, 
 From chase retired, with both his hands embrued 430 
 In his game's blood, that doth for water call 
 To cleanse his hands, and to provoke withal 
 Delightsome sleep, new-wash' d and laid to rest ; 
 So now lay Hermes in the close-compress'd 
 Chace of his oxen, his new-found-out lute 435 
 
 Beneath his arm held, as if no pursuit 
 But that prise, and the virtue of his play, 
 His heart affected. But to Phoebus lay 
 His close heart open ; and he likewise knew 
 The brave hill-nymph there, and her dear son, new- 
 Born, and as well wrapt in his wiles as weeds. 441 
 All the close shrouds too, for his rapinous deeds, 
 In all the cave he knew ; and with his key 
 He open'd three of them, in which there lay 
 Silver and gold -heaps, nectar infinite store, 445 
 And dear ambrosia ; and of weeds she wore, 
 Pure white and purple, a rich wardrobe shined, 
 Fit for the bless'd states of Pow'rs so divined. 
 All which discover'd, thus to Mercury 
 He offer'd conference : " Infant ! You that lie 450 
 Wrapt so in swath-bands, instantly unfold 
 In what conceal' d retreats of yours you hold 
 My oxen stol'n by you ; or straight we shall 
 Jar, as beseems not Pow'rs Celestial. 
 For I will take and hurl thee to the deeps 455 
 Of dismal Tartarus, where ill Death keeps 
 His gloomy and inextricable fates, 
 And to no eye that light illuminates 
 435 Chace — enclosure for cattle, like the Latin saltus. 
 
A HYMN TO HER1IES. 61 
 
 Mother nor Father shall return thee free, 
 
 But under earth shall sorrow fetter thee, 460 
 
 And few repute thee their superior." 
 
 On him replied craft's subtlest Counsellor : 
 " What cruel speech hath past Latona's care ! 
 Seeks he his stoFn wild-cows where Deities are ? 
 I have nor seen nor heard, nor can report 465 
 
 From others' mouths one word of their resort 
 To any stranger. Nor will I, to gain 
 A base reward, a false relation feign. 
 Nor would I, could I tell. Eesemble I 
 An ox-thief, or a man ? Especially 470 
 
 A man of such a courage, such a force 
 As to that labour goes, that violent course ? 
 No infant's work is that. My pow'rs aspire 
 To sleep, and quenching of my hunger's fire 
 With mother's milk, and, 'gainst cold shades, to arm 
 With cradle-cloths my shoulders, and baths warm, 476 
 That no man may conceive the war you threat 
 Can spring in cause from my so peacefid heat. 
 And, even amongst th' Immortals it would bear 
 Event of absolute miracle, to hear 4S0 
 
 A new-born infant's forces should transcend 
 The limits of his doors ; much less contend 
 "With untam'd oxen. This speech nothing seems 
 To savour the decorum of the beams 
 Cast round about the air Apollo breaks, 4S5 
 
 Where his divine mind her intention speaks. 
 I brake but yesterday the blessed womb, 
 My feet are tender, and the common tomb 
 Of men (the Earth) lies sharp beneath their tread. 
 But, if you please, even by my Father's head 490 
 
62 A HYMN TO HERMES, 
 
 I'll take the great oath, that nor I protest 
 
 Myself to author on your interest 
 
 Any such usurpation, nor have I 
 
 Seen any other that feloniously 
 
 Hath forced your oxen. Strange thing ! What are those 
 
 Oxen of yours ? Or what are oxen ? Knows 496 
 
 My rude mind, think you ? My ears only touch 
 
 At then" renown, and hear that there are such." 
 
 This speech he pass'd ; and, ever as he spake, 
 Beams from the hair ahout his eyelids brake, 500 
 
 His eyebrows up and down cast, and his eye 
 Every way look'd askance and carelessly, 
 And he into a lofty whistling fell, 
 As if he idle thought Apollo's spell. 
 
 Apollo, gently smiling, made reply : 505 
 
 " O thou impostor, whose thoughts ever He 
 In labour with deceit ! For certain, I 
 Retain opinion, that thou (even thus soon) 
 Hast ransack' d many a house, and not in one 
 Xight's-work alone, nor in one country neither, 510 
 Hast been besieging house and man together, 
 Eigging and rifling all ways, and no noise 
 Made with thy soft feet, where it all destroys. 
 Soft, therefore, well, and tender, thou may'st call 
 The feet that thy stealths go and fly withal, 515 
 
 For many a field-bred herdsman (unheard still) 
 Hast thou made drown the caverns of the hill, 
 Where his retreats he, with his helpless tears, 
 When any flesh-stealth thy desire endears, 
 And thou encount'rest either flocks of sheep, 520 
 
 Or herds of oxen ! Up then ! Do not sleep 
 
 012 Riyying — tricking. 
 
A HYMN TO HERMES. 63 
 
 Thy last nap in thy cradle, but come down, 
 
 Companion of black night, and, for this crown 
 
 Of thy young* rapines, bear from all the state 
 
 And style of Prince Thief, into endless date." 525 
 
 This said, he took the infant in his arms, 
 And with him the remembrance of his harms, 
 This presage utt'ring, lifting him aloft : 
 " Be evermore the miserably- soft 
 Slave of the belly, pursuivant of all, 530 
 
 And author of all mischiefs capital." 
 
 He scorn'd his prophecy so he sneezed in's face 
 Most forcibly ; which hearing, his embrace 
 He loathed and hurl'd him 'gainst the ground ; yet still 
 Took seat before him, though, with all the ill 535 
 
 He bore by hini, he would have left full fain 
 That hewer of his heart so into twain. 
 Yet salv'd all thus : " Come, you so -swaddled thing ! 
 Issue of Maia, and the Thunder's King ! 
 Be confident, I shall hereafter find 540 
 
 My broad-brow'd oxen, my prophetic mind 
 So far from blaming this thy course, that I 
 Foresee thee in it to posterity 
 The guide of all men, always, to their ends." 
 This spoken, Hermes from the earth ascends, sio 
 
 Starting aloft, and as in study went, 
 Wrapping himself in his integument, 
 And thus ask'd Phoebus : " Whither force you me, 
 Far-shot, and far most powerful Deity ? 
 I know, for all your feigning, you 're still wroth ibo 
 About your oxen, and suspect my troth. 
 O Jupiter ! I wish the general race 
 Of all earth's oxen rooted from her face. 
 
6-1 A HYMN TO HERMES. 
 
 I steal your oxen ! I again profess 
 
 That neither I have stoFn them, nor can guess 555 
 
 "Who else should steal them. What strange heasts are 
 
 these 
 Your so -loved oxen ? I must say, to please 
 Your humour thus far, that even my few hours 
 Have heard their fame. But be the sentence yours 
 Of the debate betwixt us, or to Jove 560 
 
 (For more indifferency) the cause remove." 
 
 Thus when the solitude -affecting God, 
 And the Latonian seed, had laid abroad 
 All things betwixt them ; though not yet agreed, 
 Yet, might I speak, Apollo did proceed 565 
 
 Nothing unjustly, to charge Mercury 
 With stealing of the cows he does deny. 
 But his profession was, with filed speech, 
 And craft's fair compliments, to overreach 
 All, and even Phoebus. Who because he- knew 570 
 His trade of subtlety, he still at view 
 Hunted his foe through all the sandy way 
 Up to Olympus. Nor would let him stray 
 From out his sight, but kept behind him still. 
 
 And now they reach'd the odorif rous hill 575 
 
 Of high Olympus, to their Father Jove, 
 To arbitrate the cause in which they strove. 
 WTiere, before both, talents of justice were 
 Propos'd for him whom Jove should sentence clear, 
 In cause of their contention. And now 580 
 
 About Olympus, ever crown'd with snow, 
 The rumour of their controversy flew. 
 All the Incorruptible, to their view, 
 
 568 Filed speech— see Odyssey, Bk. VI. 219. 
 
A HYMN TO HERMES. Go 
 
 On Heaven's steep mountain made return'd repair. 
 
 Hermes, and He that light hurls through the air, 5S5 
 
 Before the Thund'rer's knees stood ; who hegun 
 
 To question thus far his illustrious Son : 
 
 " Phoebus ! To what end bring'st thou captive here 
 
 Him in whom my mind puts delights so dear ? 
 
 This new-born infant, that the place supplies 590 
 
 Of Herald jet to all the Deities ? 
 
 This serious business, you may witness, draws 
 
 The Deities' whole Court to discuss the cause. '' 
 
 Phoebus replied : •'• And not unworthy is 
 The cause of all the Court of Deities, 595 
 
 For, you shall hear, it comprehends the weight 
 Of devastation, and the very height 
 Of spoil and rapine, even of Deities' rights. 
 Yet you, as if myself loved such delights, 
 Use words that wound my heart. I bring you here 600 
 An infant, that, even now, admits no peer 
 In rapes and robb'ries. Finding out his place, 
 After my measure of an infinite space, 
 In the Cyllenian mountain, such a one 
 In all the art of opprobration, 605 
 
 As not in all the Deities I have seen, 
 Nor in th' oblivion-mark'd whole race of men. 
 In night he drave my oxen from their leas, 
 Along the lofty roar-resounding seas, 
 From out the road-way quite ; the steps of them 610 
 So quite transpos'd. as would amaze the beam 
 Of any mind's eye, being so infinite much 
 Involved in doubt, as show'd a deified touch 
 Went to the work's performance ; all the way, 
 Through which my cross-hoved cows he did convey, 615 
 
 F 
 
66 A HYMN TO HERMES. 
 
 Had dust so darkly-hard to search, and he 
 
 So past all measure wrapt in subtilty. 
 
 For, nor with feet, nor hands, he form'd his steps, 
 
 In passing through the dry way's sandy heaps, 
 
 But used another counsel to keep hid 620 
 
 His monstrous tracts, that show'd as one had slid 
 
 On oak or other houghs, that swept out still 
 
 The footsteps of his oxen, and did fill 
 
 Their prints up ever, to the daffodill 
 
 (Or dainty-feeding meadow) as they trod, 625 
 
 Driven by this cautelous and infant God. 
 
 A mortal man, yet, saw him driving on 
 His prey to Pylos. Which when he had done, 
 And got his pass sign'd, with a sacred fire, 
 In peace, and freely (though to his desire, 630 
 
 Not to the Gods, he offer'd part of these 
 My ravish'd oxen) he retires, and lies, 
 Like to the gloomy night, in his dim den, 
 All hid in darkness ; ,and in clouts again 
 Wrapp'd him so closely, that the sharp-seen eye 635 
 Of your own eagle could not see him He. 
 For with his hands the air he rarified 
 (This way, and that moved) till bright gleams did glide 
 About his being, that, if any eye 
 Should dare the darkness, light appos'd so nigh uo 
 Might blind it quite with her antipathy. 
 Which wile he wove, in curious care t' illude 
 Th' extreme of any eye that could intrude. 
 On which relying, he outrageously 
 (When I accus'd him) trebled his reply : 645 
 
 * I did not see, I did not hear, nor I 
 
 626 Cavtelous — artful. A common word. 
 
 645 Trebled — whined, spoke in a whining tone. 
 
A HYMN TO HERMES. 67 
 
 Will tell at all, that any other stole 
 
 Your broad-brow'd beeves. Which an impostor's soul 
 
 Would soon have done, and any author fain 
 
 Of purpose only a reward to gain.' 650 
 
 And thus he colour'd truth in every lie." 
 
 This said, Apollo sat ; and Mercury 
 The Gods' Commander pleased with this reply : 
 " Father ! I'll tell thee truth (for I am true, 
 And far from art to lie) : He did pursue 655 
 
 Even to my cave his oxen this self day, 
 The sun new-raising his illustrious ray ; 
 But brought with him none of the Bliss-endued, 
 Nor any ocular witness, to conclude 
 His bare assertion ; but his own command 660 
 
 Laid on with strong and necessary hand, 
 To show his oxen ; using threats to cast 
 My poor and infant powers into the vast 
 Of ghastly Tartarus ; because he bears 
 Of strength-sustaining youth the flaming years, 665 
 And I but 3^esterday produced to light. 
 By which it fell into his own free sight, 
 That I in no similitude appeared 
 Of power to be the forcer of a herd. 
 And credit me, O Father, since the grace 670 
 
 Of that name, in your style, you please to place, 
 I drave not home his oxen, no, nor prest 
 Past mine own threshold ; for 'tis manifest, 
 I reverence with my soul the Sun, and all 
 The knowing dwellers in this heavenly Hall, 675 
 
 Love you, observe the least ; and 'tis most clear 
 In your own knowledge, that my merits bear 
 No least guilt of his blame. To all which I 
 
(38 A HYMN TO HERMES. 
 
 Dare add heaven's great oath, boldly swearing by 
 
 All these so well-built entries of the Blest. 680 
 
 And therefore when I saw myself so prest 
 
 With his reproaches, I confess I burn'd 
 
 In my pure gall, and harsh reply return'd. 
 
 Add your aid to your younger then, and free 
 
 The scruple fixt in Phoebus' jealousy." 685 
 
 This said he wink'd upon his Sire ; and still 
 His swathbands held beneath his arm ; no will 
 Discern'd in him to hide, but have them shown. 
 
 Jove laugh'd aloud at his ingenious Son, 
 Quitting himself with art, so likely wrought, 690 
 
 As show'd in his heart not a rapinous thought ; 
 Commanding both to bear atoned minds 
 And seek out th' oxen ; in which search he binds 
 Hermes to play the guide, and show the Sun 
 (All grudge exiFd) the shrowd to which he won 695 
 His fair-eyed oxen ; then his forehead bow'd 
 For sign it must be so ; and Hermes show'd 
 His free obedience ; so soon he inclined 
 To his persuasion and command his mind. 
 
 Now, then, Jove's jarring Sons no longer stood, 700 
 But sandy Pylos and th' Alphsean flood 
 Reach' d instantly, and made as quick a fall 
 On those rich-feeding fields and lofty stall 
 Where Phoebus' oxen Hermes safely kept, 
 Driven in by night. When suddenly he stept 705 
 
 Up to the stony cave, and into light 
 Drave forth the oxen. Phoebus at first sight 
 Knew them the same, and saw apart dispread 
 
 695 Shrowd — den, caves underground. The crypt of a church 
 sometimes so called. 
 
A HYMN TO HERMES. 69 
 
 Upon a high-rais'd rock the hides new flead 
 
 Of th' oxen sacrific'd. Then Phoebus said : 710 
 
 " O thou in crafty counsels undisplaid ! 
 
 How couldst thou cut the throats, and cast to earth 
 
 Two such huge oxen, being so young a birth, 
 
 And a mere infant ? I admire thy force, 
 
 And will, behind thy back. But this swift course 715 
 
 Of growing into strength thou hadst not need 
 
 Continue any long date, O thou Seed 
 
 Of honour'd Maia !" Hennes (to show how 
 
 He did those deeds) did forthwith cut and bow 
 
 Strong osiers in soft folds, and strappled straight 720 
 
 One of his hugest oxen, all his weight 
 
 Lay'ng prostrate on the earth at Phoebus' feet, 
 
 All his four cloven lioves eas'ly made to greet 
 
 Each other upwards, all together brought. 
 
 In all which bands yet all the beast's powers -wrought 
 
 To rise, and stand ; when all the herd about 726 
 
 The mighty Hermes rush'd in, to help out 
 
 Their fellow from his fetters. Phoebus' view 
 
 Of all this up to admiration drew 
 
 Even his high forces ; and stern looks he threw 730 
 
 At Hermes for his herd's wrong, and the place 
 
 To which he had retir'd them, being in grace 
 
 And fruitful riches of it so entire ; 
 
 All which set all his force on envious fire. 
 
 All whose heat flew out of his eyes in flames, 735 
 
 Which fain he would have hid, to hide the shames 
 
 Of his ill-govern'd passions. But with ease 
 
 Hermes could calm them, and his humours please 
 
 Still at his pleasure, were he ne'er so great 
 
 In force and fortitude, and high in heat. 740 
 
70 A HYMN TO HERMES. 
 
 In all which he his lute took, and assay'd 
 A song upon him, and so strangely play'd, 
 That from his hand a ravishing horror flew. 
 Which Phoebus into laughter turn'd, and grew 
 Pleasant past measure ; tunes so artful clear 745 
 
 Strook even his heart-strings, and his mind made hear. 
 His lute so powerful was in forcing love, 
 As his hand rul'd it, that from him it drove 
 All fear of Phoebus ; yet he gave him still 
 The upper hand ; and, to advance his skill 750 
 
 To utmost miracle, he play'd sometimes 
 Single awhile ; in which, when all the climes 
 Of rapture he had reach'd, to make the Sun 
 Admire enough, O then his voice would run 
 Such points upon his play, and did so move, 755 
 
 They took Apollo prisoner to his love. 
 And now the deathless Gods and deathful Earth 
 He sung, beginning at their either's birth 
 To full extent of all their empery. 
 And, first, the honour to Mnemosyne, 760 
 
 The Muses' mother, of all Goddess states 
 He gave ; even forced to't by the equal fates. 
 And then (as it did in priority fall 
 Of age and birth) he celebrated all. 
 And with such elegance and order sung 765 
 
 (His lute still touch'd, to stick more off his tongue) 
 That Phoebus' heart with infinite love he eat. 
 Who, therefore, thus did his deserts entreat : 
 " Master of sacrifice ! Chief soul of feast ! 
 Patient of all pains ! Artizan so blest, 770 
 
 That all things thou canst do in any one ! 
 Worth fifty oxen is th' invention 
 
A HYMN TO HERMES. 71 
 
 Of this one lute. We both shall now, I hope, 
 
 In firm peace work to all our wishes' scope. 
 
 Inform me (thou that every way canst wind, 775 
 
 And turn to act, all wishes of thy mind) 
 
 Together with thy birth came all thy skill ? 
 
 Or did some God, or God-like man, instill 
 
 This heavenly song to thee ? Methinks I hear 
 
 A new voice, such as never yet came near 780 
 
 The breast of any, either man or God, 
 
 Till in thee it had prime and period. 
 
 What art, what Muse that med'cine can produce 
 
 For cares most cureless, what inveterate use 
 
 Or practice of a virtue so profuse 785 
 
 (Which three do all the contribution keep 
 
 That Joy or Love confers, or pleasing Sleep,) 
 
 Taught thee the sovereign facture of them all ? 
 
 I of the Muses am the capital 
 
 Consort, or follower ; and to these belong 790 
 
 The grace of dance, all worthy ways of song, 
 
 And ever-flourishing verse, the delicate set 
 
 And sound of instruments. But never yet 
 
 Did anything so much affect my mind 
 
 With joy and care to compass, as this kind 795 
 
 Of song and play, that for the spritely feast 
 
 Of flourishing assemblies are the best 
 
 And aptest works that ever worth gave act. 
 
 My powers with admiration stand distract, 
 
 To hear with what a hand to make in love 800 
 
 Thou rul'st thy lute. And (though thy yong'st hours move 
 
 At full art in old councils) here I vow 
 
 (Even by this cornel dart I use to throw) 
 
 To thee, and to thy mother, I'll make thee 
 
72 A HYMN TO HERMES. 
 
 Amongst the Gods of glorious degree, 805 
 
 Guide of men's ways and theirs ; and will impart 
 
 To thee the mighty imperatory art, 
 
 Bestow rich gifts on thee, and in the end 
 
 Never deceive thee." Hermes (as a Mend 
 
 That wrought on all advantage, and made gain 8io 
 
 His capital object) thus did entertain 
 
 Phoebus Apollo : " Do thy dignities, 
 
 Far-working God and circularly wise, 
 
 Demand my virtues ? Without envy I 
 
 Will teach thee to ascend my faculty. 815 
 
 And this day thou shalt reach it ; finding me, 
 
 In acts and counsels, all ways kind to thee, 
 
 As one that all things knows, and first tak'st seat 
 
 Amongst th ? Immortals, being good and great, 
 
 And therefore to Jove's love mak'st free access, 820 
 
 Even out of his accomplisht holiness. 
 
 Great gifts he likewise gives thee ; who, fame says, 
 
 Hast won thy greatness by his will, his ways, 
 
 By him know'st all the powers prophetical, 
 
 O thou far- worker, and the fates of all ! 825 
 
 Yea, and I know thee rich, yet apt to learn, 
 
 And even thy wish dost but discern and earn. 
 
 And since thy soul so burns to know the way 
 
 To play and sing as I do, sing, and play ; 
 
 Play, and perfection in thy play employ ; 830 
 
 And be thy care, to learn things good, thy joy. 
 
 Take thou my lute (my love) and give thou me 
 
 The glory of so great a faculty. 
 
 This sweet-tuned consort, held but in thy hand, 
 
 Sing, and perfection in thy song command. 835 
 
 For thou already hast the way to speak 
 
A HYMN TO HERMES. 73 
 
 Fairly and elegantly, and to break 
 
 All eloquence into thy utter d mind. 
 
 One gift from heaven found may another find. 
 
 Use then securely this thy gift, and go sw 
 
 To feasts and dances that enamour so, 
 
 And to that covetous sport of getting glory, 
 
 That day nor night will suffer to be sory. 
 
 "Whoever does but say in verse, sings still ; 
 
 "Which he that can of any other skill S4o 
 
 Is capable, so he be taught by art 
 
 And wisdom, and can speak at every part 
 
 Things pleasing to an understanding mind ; 
 
 And such a one that seeks this lute shall find. 
 
 Him still it teaches eas'ly, though he plays 850 
 
 Soft voluntaries only, and ase 
 
 As wanton as the sports of children are, 
 
 And (even when he aspires to singular 
 
 In all the mast'ries he shall play or sing) 
 
 Finds the whole work but an unhappy thing, S5-5 
 
 He, I say, sure shall of this lute be king. 
 
 But he, whoever rudely sets upon 
 
 Of this lute's skill tlr inquest or question 
 
 Never so ardently and angrily, 
 
 Without the aptness and ability 860 
 
 Of art, and nature fitting, never shall 
 
 Aspire to this, but utter trivial 
 
 And idle accents, though sung ne'er so loud, 
 
 And never so commended of the crowd. 
 
 But thee I know, O eminent Son of Jove, 865 
 
 The fiery learner of whatever Love 
 
 Hath sharpen'd thy affections to achieve, 
 
 And thee I give this lute. Let us now live 
 
74 A HYMN TO HERMES. 
 
 Feeding upon the hill and horse-fed earth 
 
 Our never-handled oxen ; whose dear birth 870 
 
 Then- females, fellow'd with their males, let flow 
 
 In store enough hereafter ; nor must you 
 
 (However cunning-hearted your wits are) 
 
 Boil in your gall a grudge too circular." 
 
 Thus gave he him his lute, which he embrac'd, 875 
 And gave again a goad, whose bright head cast 
 Beams like the light forth ; leaving to his care 
 His oxen's keeping. Which, with joyful fare, 
 He took on him. The lute Apollo took 
 Into his left hand, and aloft he shook 880 
 
 Delightsome sounds up, to which God did sing. 
 
 Then were the oxen to their endless spring 
 Turn'd ; and Jove's two illustrous Offsprings flew 
 Up to Olympus where it ever snew, 
 Delighted with their lute's sound all the way. 8S5 
 
 "Whom Jove much joy'd to see, and endless stay 
 Gave to their knot of friendship. From which date 
 Hermes gave Phoebus an eternal state 
 In his affection, whose sure pledge and sign 
 His lute was, and the doctrine so divine 890 
 
 Jointly conferr'd on him ; which well might be 
 True symbol of his love's simplicity. 
 On th' other part, Apollo in his friend 
 Form'd th' art of wisdom, to the binding end 
 Of his vow'd friendship ; and (for further meed) 895 
 Gave him the far-heard fistulary reed. 
 
 For all these forms of friendship, Phoebus yet 
 Fear'd that both form and substance were not met 
 In Mercury's intentions ; and, in plain, 
 
 884 Snew — past tense of snow ; still a provincialism. 
 
A HYMN TO HEBMES. 75 
 
 Said (since he saw him born to craft and gain, 900 
 
 And that Jove's will had him the honour done 
 
 To change at his will the possession 
 
 Of others' goods) he fear'd his breach of vows 
 
 In stealing both his lute and cunning bows, 
 
 And therefore wish'd that what the Gods affect 905 
 
 Himself would witness, and to his request 
 
 His head bow, swearing by th' impetuous flood 
 
 Of Styx that of his whole possessions not a good 
 
 He would diminish, but therein maintain 
 
 The full content in which his mind did reign. 910 
 
 And then did Maia's son his forehead bow, 
 
 Making, by all that he desired, his vow 
 
 Never to prey more upon anything 
 
 In just possession of the far- shot King, 
 
 Nor ever to come near a house of his. 915 
 
 Latonian Phoebus bow'd his brow to this, 
 
 With his like promise, saying : " Not any one 
 
 Of all the Gods, nor any man, that son 
 
 Is to Saturn ius, is more dear to me, 
 
 More trusted, nor more honour'd is than thee. 920 
 
 Which yet with greater gifts of Deity 
 
 In future I'll confirm, and give thy state 
 
 A rod that riches shall accumulate, 
 
 Nor leave the bearer thrall to death, or fate, 
 
 Or any sickness. All of gold it is, 925 
 
 Three-leaved, and fuH of all felicities. 
 
 And this shall be thy guardian, this shall give 
 
 The Gods to thee in all the truth they live, 
 
 And, finally, shall this the tut'ress be 
 
 903 Goods— the folio, followed by Mr. Singer, has Gods, but 
 it is obviously a misprint ; unless we read other Gods. It is 
 an interpolation of Chapman's. 
 
76 A BYMJf TO HERMES. 
 
 Of all the words and works informing me 930 
 
 From Jove's hio-h counsels, making known to tliee 
 
 All my instructions. But to prophesy. 
 
 O best of Jove's beloved, and that high skill 
 
 Which to obtain lies burning in thy will, 
 
 Nor thee, nor any God, will Fate let learn. 935 
 
 Onlv Jove's mind hath insight to discern 
 
 TThat that importeth ; yet am I allow' d 
 
 (My known faith trusted, and my forehead bow'd, 
 
 Our great oath taken, to resolve to none 
 
 Of all tli' Immortals the restriction 9±o 
 
 Of that deep knowledge) of it all the mind. 
 
 Since then it sits in such fast bounds confin'd, 
 
 brother, when the golden rod is held 
 
 In thy strong hand, seek not to have reveal' d 
 
 Any sure fate that Jove will have eonceaFd. 945 
 
 For no man shall, by know'ng, prevent his fate ; 
 
 And therefore will I hold in my free state 
 
 The pow'r to hurt and help what man I will, 
 
 Of all the greatest, or least touch'd with ill, 
 
 That walk within the circle of mine eye, 950 
 
 In all the tribes and sexes it shall try. 
 
 Yet, truly, any man shall have Ins will 
 
 To reap the fruits of my prophetic skill, 
 
 Whoever seeks it by the voice or wing 
 
 Of birds, born truly such events to sing. 955 
 
 Nor will I falsely, nor with fallacies, 
 
 Infringe the truth on which his faith relies, 
 
 But he that truths in chattering plumes would find, 
 
 Quite opposite to them that prompt my mind, 
 
 And learn by natural forgers of vain lies 960 
 
 The inore -than- ever- certain Deities, 
 
A HYMN TO HERMES. 77 
 
 That man shall sea-ways tread that leave no tracts, 
 
 And false or no guide find for all his facts. 
 
 And yet will I his gifts accept as well 
 
 As his to whom the simple truth I tell. 965 
 
 One other thing to thee I'll yet make known, 
 Maia's exceedingly renowned son, 
 And Jove's, and of the Gods' whole session 
 The most ingenious genius : There dwell 
 "Witliin a crooked cranny, in a dell 970 
 
 Beneath Parnassus, certain Sisters born, 
 Call'd Parcse, whom extreme swift wings adorn, 
 Their number three, that have upon their heads 
 White barley-flour still sprinkled, and are maids ; 
 And these are schoolmistresses of things to come, 975 
 Without the gift of prophecy. Of whom 
 (Being but a boy, and keeping oxen near) 
 I learn'd their skill, though my great Father were 
 Careless of it, or them. These flying from home 
 To others' roofs, and fed with honeycomb, 980 
 
 Command all skill, and (being enraged then) 
 Will freely tell the truths of things to men. 
 But if they give them not that Gods' sweet meat, 
 They then are apt to utter their deceit, 
 And lead men from their way. And these will I 9S5 
 Give thee hereafter, when their scrutiny 
 And truth thou hast both made and learn'd ; and then 
 Please thyself with them, and the race of men 
 (Wilt thou know any) with thy skill endear, 
 Who will, be sure, afford it greedy ear, 990 
 
 And hear it often if it prove sincere. 
 
 Take these, Maia's son, and in thy care 
 Be horse and oxen, all such men as are 
 
78 A HYMN TO HERMES. 
 
 Patient of labour, lions, white-tooth'd boars, 
 
 Mastiffs, and flocks that feed the flow'ry shores, 995 
 
 And every four-foot beast ; all which shall stand 
 
 In awe of thy high imperatory hand. 
 
 Be thou to Dis, too, sole Ambassador, 
 
 Who, though all gifts and bounties he abhor, 
 
 On thee he will bestow a wealthy one." 1000 
 
 Thus king Apollo honour' d Maia's son 
 With all the rites of friendship ; all whose love 
 Had imposition from the will of Jove. 
 
 And thus with Gods and mortals Hermes lived, 
 Who truly help'd but few, but all deceived 1005 
 
 With an undifferencing respect, and made 
 Vain words and false persuasions his trade. 
 His deeds were all associates of the night, 
 In which his close wrongs cared for no man's right. 
 
 So all salutes to Hermes that are due, 1010 
 
 Of whom, and all Gods, shall my Muse sing true. 
 
 THE END OF THE HYMN TO HERMES. 
 
A HYMN TO VENUS. 
 
 ' HE force, Muse, and functions now unfold 
 Of Cyprian Venus, grac'd with mines of 
 
 gold ; 
 Who even in Deities lights love's sweet 
 desire, 
 And all Death's kinds of men makes kiss her fire, 
 All air's wing'd nation, all the belluine, 5 
 
 That or the earth feeds, or the seas confine. 
 To all which appertain the love and care 
 Of well-crown'd Venus' works. Yet three there are 
 "Whose minds She neither can deceive nor move ; 
 Pallas, the Seed of JEgis -bearing Jove, 10 
 
 Who still lives indevirginate, her eyes 
 Being blue, and sparkling like the freezing skies, 
 Whom all the gold of Venus never can 
 Tempt to affect her facts with God or man. 
 She, loving strife, and Mars's working banes, 15 
 
 Pitch'd fields and fights, and famous artizans, 
 Taught earthy men first all the arts that are, 
 Chariots, and all the frames vehicular, 
 Chiefly with brass arm'd, and adorn' d for war. 
 Where Venus only soft-skinn'd wenches fills 20 
 
 20 Wenches— See Odyssey, Bk. iv. 977. 
 
80 A HYMN TO VENUS. 
 
 With wanton house-works, and suggests those skills 
 
 Still to their studies. Whom Diana neither, 
 
 That bears the golden distaff, and together 
 
 Calls horns, and hollows, and the cries of hounds, 
 
 And owns the epithet of loving sounds 25 
 
 For their sakes, springing from such spritely sports, 
 
 Can catch with her kind lures ; but hill resorts 
 
 To wild-beasts, slaughters, accents far-off heard 
 
 Of harps and dances, and of woods unshear'd 
 
 The sacred shades she loves, jet likes as well so 
 
 Cities where good men and their offspring dwell. 
 
 The third, whom her kind passions nothing please, 
 
 Is virgin Vesta ; whom Saturnides 
 
 Made reverend with his counsels, when his Sire, 
 
 That adverse counsels agitates, life's fire 35 
 
 Had kindled in her, being his last-begot. 
 
 Whom Neptune woo'd to knit with him the knot 
 
 Of honour' d nuptials, and Apollo too ; 
 
 Which with much vehemence she refused to do, 
 
 And stern repulses put upon them both, 40 
 
 Adding to all her vows the Gods' great oath, 
 
 And touching Jove's chin, which must consummate 
 
 All vows so bound, that she would hold her state, 
 
 And be th' invincible Maid of Deities 
 
 Through all her days' dates. For Saturnides 45 
 
 Gave her a fair gift in her nuptials' stead, 
 
 To sit in midst of his house, and be fed 
 
 With all the free and richest feast of heaven, 
 
 In all the temples of the Gods being given 
 
 The prize of honour. Not a mortal man, so 
 
 24 Hollows— shouts ; or, as Mr. Singer prints, halloos. 
 42 See Iliad, Bk. i. 481 
 
A HYMN TO VENUS. 81 
 
 (That either, of the Pow'rs Olympian 
 His half-birth having, may be said to be 
 A mortal of the Gods, or else that he, 
 Deities' wills doing, is of Deity) 
 
 But gives her honour of the amplest kind. 55 
 
 Of all these three can Venus not a mind 
 Deceive, or set on forces to reflect. 
 Of all Pow'rs else yet, not a sex, nor sect, 
 Flies Venus ; either of the blessed Gods, 
 Or men confin'd in mortal periods. 60 
 
 But even the mind of Jove she doth seduce, 
 That chides with thunder so her lawless use 
 In human creatures, and by lot is given 
 Of all most honour, both in earth and heaven. 
 And yet even his all-wise and mighty mind 65 
 
 She, when she lists, can forge affects to blind, 
 And mix with mortal dames his Deity, 
 Conceal'd at all parts from the jealous eye 
 Of Juno, who was both his sister born, 
 And made his wife ; whom beauty did adorn 70 
 
 Past all the bevy of Immortal Dames, 
 And whose so chiefly-glorified flames 
 Cross-counsell'd Saturn got, and Rha?a bore, 
 And Jove's pure counsels (being conqueror) 
 His wife made of his sister. Ay, and more, 75 
 
 Cast such an amorous fire into her mind 
 As made her (like him) with the mortal kind 
 Meet in unmeet bed ; using utmost haste, 
 Lest she should know that he lived so unchaste, 
 Before herself felt that fault in her heart, 80 
 
 And gave her tongue too just edge of desert 
 71 Bevy— See Odyssey, Bk. vi. 115. 
 
 Gr 
 
A HYMN TO VEXUS. 
 
 To tax his lightness. With this end. beside* 
 Lest laughter-studying Venus should deride 
 The Gods more than the Goddesses, and Bay 
 That she the Gods eommix'd in amorous play 
 With mortal dames, begetting mortal - 
 T* immortal sires, and not make Goddesses breed 
 The like with mortal fathers. But. t' acquire 
 Both Gods and God 4 her despite. 
 
 Jove took (even in herself) on him her poVr, 
 And made her with a mortal paramour 
 Use as deform'd a mixture as the rest ; 
 Kindling a kind affection in her breast 
 To God-like-liinb'd Anchises. as he kept, 
 On Ida's top-on-top-to-heaven's-pole-heapt, 
 Amongst the many fountains there, his herd. 
 Fur. after his brave person had appear "d 
 To her bright eye, her heart flew all on fire, 
 And to amaze she burn'd in his desire, 
 Flew straight to Cyprus, to her odorous fane 100 
 
 And altars, that the people Paphian 
 Advanced to her. Where, soon as enter'd. die 
 The shining gates shut ; and the Graces three 
 Wash'd, and with oils of everlasting ^cent 
 Bathed, as became, her deathless lineament. 105 
 
 Then her ambrosian mantle she a.-sum'd, 
 With rich and odoriferous airs perfum'd. 
 Which being put on, and all her trims beside 
 Fair, and with all allurements amplified, 
 The all-of-gold-made laughter-loving Dame 110 
 
 Cyprus, and for Troy became 
 
 roXo£. Altissimum habeas verticem, cvjus summitas 
 ipsum poiam attingit. — ChaPMAS. 
 
A HYMN TO VENUS. 83 
 
 A swift contendress, her pass cutting* all 
 
 Along the clouds, and made her instant fall 
 
 On fountml Ida, that her mother-breasts 
 
 Gives to the preyful brood of savage beasts. 115 
 
 And through the hill she went the ready way 
 
 T" Anchises' oxstall, where did fawn and play 
 
 About her blessed feet wolves grisly- gray, 
 
 Terrible lions, many a mankind bear, 
 
 And lybberds swift, insatiate of red deer. 120 
 
 Whose sight so pleas'd, that, ever as she past 
 
 Through every beast, a kindly love she cast, 
 
 That, in their dens obscured with shadows deep, 
 
 Made all, distinguish'd in kind couples, sleep. 
 
 And now she reach'd the rich pavilion 125 
 
 Of the heroe, in whom heavens had shown 
 A fair and goodly composition, 
 And whom she in his oxstall found, alone, 
 His oxen feeding in fat pastures by, 
 He walking up and down, sounds clear and high 130 
 From his harp striking. Then before him she 
 Stood like a virgin, that invincibly 
 Had borne her beauties : yet alluringly 
 Bearing her person, lest his ravish'd eye 
 Should chance t' affect him with a stupid fear. 135 
 
 Anchises seeing her, all his senses were 
 With wonder stricken, and high-taken heeds 
 Both of her form, brave stature, and rich weeds. 
 For, for a veil, she shind in an attire 
 That cast a radiance past the ray of fire. uo 
 
 Beneath which wore she, girt to her, a gown 
 
 119 Mankind — masculine, ferocious. 
 
 120 Lybberds — leopards. 
 
84 A HYMN TO VEXUs. 
 
 Wrought all with growing-rose-buds, reaching down 
 
 T" her slender smalls, which buskins did divine. 
 
 Such as taught Thetis' silver feet to shine. 
 
 Her soft white neck rich carquenets embraced. 
 
 Bright, and with gold in all variety graced, 
 
 That to her breasts let down lay there and sk* 
 
 A?, at her joyful full, the rising Moon. 
 
 Her sight show'd miracles. Anchises' heart 
 
 Love took into his hand, and made him part 
 
 With these high salutation? : " Joy. Queen ! 
 
 "Whoever of the Blest thy beauties been 
 
 That hVht these entries : or the Peitv 
 
 That dans afteeteth : or that gave the Eye 
 
 Of heaven his heat and lustre : or that ma \ 155 
 
 The hearts of all with all-commandii:_ 
 
 d onerous Themis ; or the blue-eyed Ha 
 
 Or of the - any that are laid 
 
 With all the Gods in comparable scales, 
 
 Ajid whom fame up to immortality caBfi | Ml 
 
 Or any of the Xyrnphs. that unshorn grove-. 
 
 Or that this fail* hill-habitation, k 
 
 Or valleys flowing with earth's fattest goo 
 
 Or fountains pouring forth eternal flo-. 
 
 S . which of all thou art. that in some place 165 
 
 Of circular prospect, for thine eye-' dear grace, 
 
 I may an altar build, and to thy pow'rs 
 
 [Make -acred all the year's devote 
 
 "With consecra:: : and opulent. 
 
 :\1 whereof, be thy benign mind bent 170 
 
 145 Carquenets : netimes spell rcanets and carknets. 
 
 153 The Deity, kc. — Diana : that gave the eye, &c — Latona. 
 mother of Apollo 5 that moves the hearts — Venus 5 the blue-eyed 
 
 Jlaid— 
 
A HYMN TO VENUS. 85 
 
 To these wish'd blessings of me : Give me parts 
 
 Of chief attraction in Trojan hearts ; 
 
 And, after, give me the refulgency 
 
 Of most renown'd and rich posterity ; 
 
 Long, and free life, and heaven's sweet light as long ; 
 
 The people's blessings, and a health so strong 176 
 
 That no disease it let my life engage, 
 
 Till th' utmost limit of a human age." 
 
 To this Jove's Seed this answer gave again : 
 " Anchises ! Happiest of the human strain ! iso 
 
 I am no Goddess ! Why, a thrall to death 
 Think'st thou like those that immortality breathe ? 
 A woman brought me forth ; my father's name 
 Was Otreiis, if ever his high fame 
 Thine ears have witness'd, for he govern'd all 185 
 
 The Phrygian state, whose every town a wall 
 Impregnable embrac'd. Your tongue, you hear, 
 I speak so well, that in my natural sphere 
 (As I pretend) it must have taken prime. 
 A woman, likewise, of the Trojan clime 190 
 
 Took of me, in her house, the nurse's care 
 From my dear mother's bosom ; and thus are 
 My words of equal accent with your own. 
 How here I come, to make the reason known, 
 Argicides, that bears the golden rod, 195 
 
 Transferr'd me forcibly from my abode 
 Made with the maiden train of Her that joys 
 In golden shafts, and loves so well the noise 
 Of hounds and hunters (heaven's pure -living Pow'r) 
 Where many a nymph and maid of mighty dow'r 200 
 Chaste sports employ' d, all circled with a crown 
 197 Diana. 
 
A HYMN TO VEXUS. 
 
 Of infinite multitude, to see bo shown 
 Our maiden pastimes. Yet, from all the fair 
 Of this so forceful concourse, up in air 
 The golden-rod- sustaining- Argus' -Guide 205 
 
 Kapt me in sight of all. and made me ride 
 Along the clouds with him, enforcing me 
 Through many a labour of mortality, 
 Through many an unbuilt region, and a rude. 
 Where savage beasts devour' d preys warm and Grade, 
 And would not let my fears take one foot's tread 211 
 On Her by whom are all lives comforted. 
 But said my maiden state must grace the bed 
 Of king Anchises. and bring forth to thee 
 Issue as fair as of divine degree. 215 
 
 "Which said, and showing me thy moving grace, 
 Away flew he up to th' Immortal Race. 
 And thus came I to thee : Necessity, 
 With her steel stings, compelling me t' apply 
 To her high pow'r my will. But you must I 220 
 
 Implore by Jove, and all the reverence due 
 To your clear parents, who. in bearing you, 
 Can bear no mean sail, lead me home to them 
 An untouch'd maid, being brought up in tlr extreme 
 Of much too cold simplicity to know 225 
 
 The fiery cunnings that in Venus glow. 
 Show me to them then, and thy brothers born, 
 I shall appear none that parts disadorn, 
 But such as well may serve a brother's wife, 
 And show them now, even to my future life, 230 
 
 If such or no my present will extend. 
 To horse-breed-vary'ng Phrygia likewise send, 
 212 The Earth. 
 
A HYMN TO VENUS. 87 
 
 T' inform my sire and mother of my state, 
 
 That live for me extreme disconsolate ; 
 
 Who gold enough, and well -woven weeds, will give. 235 
 
 All whose rich gifts in my amends receive. 
 
 All this perform'd, add celebration then 
 
 Of honour'd nuptials, that by God and men 
 
 Are held in reverence." All this while she said, 
 
 Into his bosom jointly she convey 'd 240 
 
 The fires of love ; when, all-enamour'd, he 
 
 In these terms answer'd : " If mortality 
 
 Confine thy fortunes, and a woman were 
 
 Mother to those attractions that appear 
 
 In thy admir'd form, thy great father given 245 
 
 High name of Otreiis ; and the Spy of heaven 
 
 (Immortal Mercury) th' enforceful cause 
 
 That made thee lose the prize of that applause 
 
 That modesty immaculate virgins gives, 
 
 My wife thou shalt be call'd through both our lives. 250 
 
 Nor shall the pow'rs of men nor Gods withhold 
 
 My fiery resolution to enfold 
 
 Thy bosom in mine arms ; which here I vow 
 
 To firm performance, past delay, and now. 
 
 Nor, should Apollo with his silver bow 255 
 
 Shoot me to instant death, would I forbear 
 
 To do a deed so full of cause so dear. 
 
 For with a heaven-sweet woman I will lie, 
 
 Though straight I stoop the house of Dis, and die." 
 
 This said, he took her hand, and she took way 260 
 AVith him, her bright eyes casting round ; whose stay 
 She stuck upon a bed, that was before 
 Made for the king, and wealthy coverings wore. 
 On which bears' hides and big-voic'd lions' lay, 
 
S8 A HYMN TO VENUS. 
 
 "Whose preyful lives the king had made his prey, 265 
 
 Hunting th' Idalian hills. This bed when they 
 
 Had both ascended, first he took from her 
 
 The fiery weed, that was her utmost wear ; 
 
 Unbutton'd her next rosy robe ; and loos'd 
 
 The girdle that her slender waist enclos'd ; 270 
 
 Unlac'd her buskins ; all her jewelry 
 
 Took from her neck and breasts, and all laid by 
 
 Upon a golden- studded chair of state. 
 
 Th' amaze of all which being remov'd, even Fate 
 
 And council of the equal Gods gave way 275 
 
 To this, that with a deathless Goddess lay 
 
 A deathful man ; since, what his love assum'd, 
 
 [Not with his conscious knowledge was presumed. 
 
 Now when the shepherds and the herdsmen, all, 
 Turn'd from their flow'ry pasture to their stall, 2S0 
 
 With all their oxen, fat and frolic sheep, 
 Venus into Anchises cast a sleep, 
 Sweet and profound ; while with her own hands now 
 With her rich weeds she did herself endow ; 
 But so distinguish' d, that he clear might know 285 
 
 His happy glories ; then (to her desire 
 Her heavenly person put in trims entire) 
 She by the bed stood of the well-built stall, 
 Advanc'd her head to state celestial, 
 And in her cheeks arose the radiant hue 290 
 
 Of rich-crown'd Venus to apparent view. 
 And then she rous'd him from his rest, and said : 
 " Up, my Dardanides, forsake thy bed. 
 What pleasure, late employ'd, lets humour steep 
 Thy lids in this inexcitable sleep ? 295 
 
 Wake, and now say, if I appear to thee 
 
A HYMN TO VENUS. 89 
 
 Like her that first thine eyes conceited me." 
 
 This started him from sleep, though deep and dear, 
 And passing promptly he enjoy' d his ear. 
 But when his eye saw Venus' neck and eyes, 300 
 
 Whose beauties could not bear the counterprise 
 Of any other, down his own eyes fell, 
 Which pallid fear did from her view repell, 
 And made him, with a main respect beside, 
 Turn his whole person from her state, and hide 305 
 
 (With his rich weed appos'd) his royal face, 
 These wing'd words using : " When, at first, thy grace 
 Mine eyes gave entertainment, well I knew 
 Thy state was deified ; but thou told'st not true ; 
 And therefore let me pray thee (by thy love 3io 
 
 Borne to thy father, ^Egis-bearing Jove) 
 That thou wilt never let me live to be 
 An abject, after so divine degree 
 Taken in fortune, but take ruth on me. 
 For any man that with a Goddess lies, 315 
 
 Of interest in immortalities, 
 Is never long-hVd." She replied : u Forbear, 
 O happiest of mortal men, this fear, 
 And rest assured, that (not for me, at least) 
 Thy least ills fear fits ; no, nor for the rest 320 
 
 Of all the Blessed, for thou art their friend ; 
 And so far from sustaining instant end, 
 That to thy long-enlarg'd life there shall spring 
 Amongst the Trojans a dear son, and king, 
 To whom shall many a son, and son's son, rise 325 
 
 In everlasting great posterities ; 
 His name iEneas ; therein keeping life, 
 For ever, in my much-conceited grief, 
 
90 A HYMN TO VENUS. 
 
 That I, immortal, fell into the bed 
 
 Of one whose blood mortality must shed. 330 
 
 But rest thou comforted, and all the race 
 
 That Troy shall propagate, in this high grace : 
 
 That, past all races else, the Gods stand near 
 
 Your glorious nation, for the forms ye bear, 
 
 And natures so ingenuous and sincere. 335 
 
 For which, the great-in-counsels (Jupiter) 
 
 Your gold-lock' d Ganymedes did transfer 
 
 (In rapture far from men's depressed fates) 
 
 To make him consort with our Deified States, 
 
 And scale the tops of the Saturnian skies, 34o 
 
 He was so mere a marvel in their eyes. 
 
 And therefore from a bowl of gold he fills 
 
 Bed nectar, that the rude distension kills 
 
 Of winds that in your human stomachs breed. 
 
 But then did languor on the liver feed 345 
 
 Of Tros, his father, that was king of Troy, 
 
 And ever did his memory employ 
 
 With loss of his dear beauty so bereaven, 
 
 Though with a sacred whirlwind rapt to heaven. 
 
 But Jove, in pity of him, saw him given 350 
 
 Good compensation, sending by Heaven's Spy 
 
 "White -swift-hov'd horse, that Immortality 
 
 Had made firm- spirited ; and had, beside, 
 
 Hermes to see his ambassy supplied 
 
 With this vow'd bounty (using all at large 355 
 
 That his unalter'd counsels gave in charge) 
 
 That he himself should immortality breathe, 
 
 Expert of age and woe as well as death. 
 
 347 d\rj(JTog. Cujus memoAa erit perpetua. — CHAPMAN. 
 
 358 Expert — in the classical sense,/ree from, unaccompanied by. 
 
A HYMN TO VENUS. 91 
 
 " This ambassy express'd, he inourn'd no more, 
 But up with all his inmost mind he bore, 360 
 
 Joying that he, upon his swift-hor d horse, 
 Should be sustained in an eternal course. 
 
 " So did the golden -throned Aurora raise, 
 Into her lap, another that the praise 
 Of an immortal fashion had in fame, 365 
 
 And of your nation bore the noble name, 
 (His title Tithon) who, not pleased with her, 
 As she his lovely person did transfer, 
 To satisfy him, she bade ask of Jove 
 The gift of an Immortal for her love. 370 
 
 Jove gave, and bound it with his bowed brow, 
 Performing to the utmost point his vow. 
 Fool that she was, that would her love engage, 
 And not as I011&* ask from the bane of ao-e 
 The sweet exemption, and youth's endless flow'r ! 375 
 Of which as long as both the grace and powT 
 His person entertain'd, she loved the man, 
 And (at the fluents of the ocean 
 Near Earth's extreme bounds) dwelt with him; but 
 
 when 
 (According to the course of aged men) 330 
 
 On his fair head, and honourable beard, 
 His first grey hairs to her light eyes appear'd, 
 She left his bed, yet gave him still for food 
 The Gods' ambrosia, and attire as good. 
 Till even the hate of age came on so fast 385 
 
 That not a lineament of his was grac'd 
 With pow'r of motion, nor did still sustain, 
 Much less, the vigour had t' advance a vein, 
 The virtue lost in each exhausted limb, 
 
92 A HYMN TO VENUS. 
 
 That at his wish before would answer him ; 390 
 
 All pow'rs so quite decay'd, that when he spake 
 
 His voice no perceptible accent brake. 
 
 Her counsel then thought best to strive no more, 
 
 But lay him in his bed and lock his door. 
 
 Such an Immortal would not I wish thee, 395 
 
 T' extend all days so to eternity. 
 
 But if, as now, thou couldst perform thy course 
 
 In grace of form, and all corporeal force, 
 
 To an eternal date, thou then shouldst bear 
 
 My husband's worthy name, and not a tear 400 
 
 Should I need rain, for thy deserts declin'd, 
 
 From my all-clouded bitterness of mind. 
 
 But now the stern storm of relentless age 
 
 Will quickly circle thee, that waits t' engage 
 
 All men alike, even loathsomeness, and bane 405 
 
 Attending with it, every human wane, 
 
 Which even the Gods hate. Such a penance lies 
 
 Impos'd on flesh and blood's infirmities ! 
 
 "Which I myself must taste in great degree, 
 
 And date as endless, for consortng thee. 410 
 
 All the Immortals with my opprobry 
 
 Are full by this time ; on their hearts so lie 
 
 (Even to the sting of fear) my cunnings us'd, 
 
 And wiving conversations infus'd 
 
 Into the bosoms of the best of them 415 
 
 With women, that the frail and mortal stream 
 
 Doth daily ravish. All this long since done. 
 
 Which now no more, but with effusion 
 
 Of tears, I must in heaven so much as name, 
 
 I have so forfeited in this my fame, 420 
 
 And am impos'd pain of so great a kind 
 
A HYMN TO VENUS. 93 
 
 For so much erring from a Goddess' mind. 
 
 For I have put beneath my girdle here 
 
 A son, whose sire the human mortal sphere 
 
 Gives circumscription. But, when first the light 425 
 
 His eyes shall comfort, Nymphs that haunt the height 
 
 Of hills, and breasts have of most deep receipt, 
 
 Shall be his nurses ; who inhabit now 
 
 A hill of so vast and divine a brow, 
 
 As man nor God can come at their retreats ; 430 
 
 Who live long lives, and eat immortal meats, 
 
 And with Immortals in the exercise 
 
 Of comely dances dare contend, and rise 
 
 Into high question which deserves the prize. 
 
 The light Sileni mix in love with these, 435 
 
 And, of all Spies the Prince, Argicides ; 
 
 In well-trimm'd caves their secret meetings made. 
 
 And with the lives of these doth life invade 
 
 Or odorous fir-trees, or high-foreheaded oaks, 
 
 Together taking their begetting strokes, 440 
 
 And have their lives and deaths of equal dates, 
 
 Trees bearing lovely and delightsome states, 
 
 Whom Earth first feeds, that men initiates. 
 
 On her high hills she doth their states sustain, 
 
 And they their own heights raise as high again. 445 
 
 Their growths together made, Nymphs call their groves 
 
 Vow'd to th' Immortals services and loves ; 
 
 Which men's steels therefore touch not, but let grow. 
 
 But when wise Fates times for their fadings know, 
 
 The fair trees still before the fair Nymphs die, 450 
 
 The bark about them grown corrupt and dry, 
 
 And all their boughs fall'n yield to Earth her right ; 
 
 And then the Nymphs' lives leave the lovely night. 
 
94 A HYMN TO VENUS. 
 
 " And these Nymphs iu their caves shall nurse my son, 
 Whom (when in him youth's first grace is begun) 455 
 The Nymphs, his nurses, shall present to thee, 
 And show thee what a birth thou hast by me. 
 And, sure as now I tell thee ail these things, 
 When Earth hath cloth'd her plants in five fair springs, 
 Myself will make return to this retreat, 460 
 
 And bring that flow'r of thy enamour' d heat ; 
 Whom when thou then seest, joy shall fire thine eyes, 
 He shall so well present the Deities. 
 And then into thine own care take thy son 
 From his calm seat to windy Ilion, 465 
 
 Where, if strict question be upon thee past, 
 Asking what mother bore beneath her waist 
 So dear a son, answer, as I afford 
 Fit admonition, nor forget a word : 
 They say a Nymph, call'd Calucopides, 470 
 
 That is with others an inhabitress 
 On this thy wood-crown'd hill, acknowledges 
 That she his life gave. But, if thou declare 
 The secret's truth, and art so mad to dare 
 (In glory of thy fortunes) to approve 475 
 
 That rich- crown' d Venus mix'd with thee in love, 
 Jove, fired with my aspersion so dispread, 
 Will with a wreakful lightning dart thee dead. 
 
 " All now is told thee, comprehend it all. 
 Be master of thyself, and do not call 480 
 
 My name in question ; but with reverence vow 
 To Deities' angers all the awe ye owe." 
 
 This said, She reach'd heaven, where airs ever flow. 
 475 Glory— boast. 
 
A HYMN TO VENUS. 95 
 
 And so, Goddess, ever honour'd be, 
 
 In thy so odorous Cyprian empery ! i$5 
 
 My Muse, affecting first thy fame to raise, 
 
 Shall make transcension now to others' praise. 
 
 THE END OF THE FIEST HYMN TO VENUS. 
 
 TO THE SAME 
 
 ;HE reverend, rich-crown\l, and fair Queen 
 I sing, 
 Venus, that owes in fate the fortressing 
 Of all maritimal Cyprus ; where the force 
 Of gentle-breathing Zephyr steer'd her course 
 'Along the waves of the resounding sea, 5 
 
 While, yet unborn, in that soft foam she lay 
 That brought her forth; whom those fair Hours that bear 
 The golden bridles joyfully stood near, 
 Took up into their arms, and put on her 
 Weeds of a never-corruptible wear. 10 
 
 On her immortal head a crown they plac'd, 
 Elaborate, and with all the beauties grac'd 
 That gold could give it ; of a weight so great, 
 That, to impose and take off, it had set 
 Three handles on it, made, for endless hold, 15 
 
 Of shining brass, and all adorn'd with gold. 
 Her soft neck all with carquenets was grac'd, 
 That stoop'd, and both her silver breasts embraced, 
 Which even the Horn's themselves wear in resort 
 To Deities' dances, and her Father's court. 20 
 
 2 Owes — owns. 
 
96 BACCHUS, OR THE PIRATES. 
 
 Grac'd at all parts, they brought to heaven her graces ; 
 
 Whose first sight seen, all fell into embraces, 
 
 Hugg'd her white hands, saluted, wishing all 
 
 To wear her maiden flow'r in festival 
 
 Of sacred Hymen, and to lead her home ; 25 
 
 All, to all admiration, overcome 
 
 With Cytherea with the violet crown. 
 
 So to the Black-brow'd Sweet-spoke all renown ! 
 Prepare my song, and give me, in the end, 
 The victory to whose palm all contend ! 30 
 
 So shall my Muse for ever honour thee, 
 And, for thy sake, thy fair posterity. 
 
 BACCHUS, OE THE PIEATES. 
 
 |F Dionysus, noble Semele's Son, 
 I now intend to render mention, 
 As on a prominent shore his person shone, 
 Like to a youth whose flow'r was newly blown, 
 Bright azure tresses play'd about his head, 5 
 
 And on his bright broad shoulders was dispread 
 A purple mantle. Straight he was descried 
 By certain manly pirates, that applied 
 Their utmost speed to prise him, being aboard 
 A well-built bark, about whose broad sides roar'd 10 
 The wine-black Tyrrhene billows ; death as black 
 Brought them upon him in their future wrack. 
 For, soon as they had purchas'd but his view, 
 Mutual signs past them, and ashore they flew, 
 
BACCHUS, OR THE PIRATES. 97 
 
 Took him, and brought him instantly aboard, 15 
 
 Soothing their hopes to have obtain'd a hoard 
 
 Of riches with him ; and a Jove -kept king 
 
 To such a flow'r must needs be natural spring. 
 
 And therefore straight strong fetters they must fetch, 
 
 To make him sure. But no such strength would stretch 
 
 To his constrain'd pow'rs. Far flew all their bands 21 
 
 From any least force done his feet or hands. 
 
 But he sat casting smiles from his black eyes 
 
 At all their worst. At which discoveries 
 
 Made by the master, he did thus dehort 25 
 
 All his associates : " Wretches ! Of what sort 
 
 Hold ye the person ye assay to bind ? 
 
 Nay, which of all the Pow'r fully-diviird 
 
 Esteem ye him, whose worth yields so much weight 
 
 That not our well-built bark will bear Iris freight ? so 
 
 Or Jove himself he is, or He that bears 
 
 The silver bow, or Neptune. Nor appears 
 
 In him the least resemblance of a man, 
 
 But of a strain at least Olympian. 
 
 Come ! Make we quick dismission of his state, 35 
 
 And on the black-soiPd earth exonerate 
 
 Our sinking vessel of his deified load, 
 
 Nor dare the touch of an intangible God, 
 
 Lest winds outrageous, and of wrackful scathe, 
 
 And smoking tempests, blow his fiery wrath." 40 
 
 This well-spoke master the tall captain gave 
 
 Hateful and horrible language ; calTd him slave, 
 
 And bade him mark the prosperous gale that blew, 
 
 28 Pow'r fully -diviri'd — Mr. Singer has wrongly altered this 
 to pow' r fully -divined ; but Chapman says fully-divin'd Pow'r, 
 i. e. Godhead. 
 
 41 i. e. the tall captain replied to the master. 
 
 H 
 
OS BACCHUS, OB TEE PIBATES. 
 
 And how their vessel with her mainsail flew ; 
 
 Bade all take arms, and said, their works requir'd 45 
 
 The cares of men, and not of an inspird 
 
 Pure zealous master ; his firm hopes being fir'd 
 
 With this opinion, that they should arrive 
 
 In JEgypt straight, or Cyprus, or where live 
 
 Men whose brave breaths above the north wind blow ; 
 
 Yea, and perhaps beyond their region too. 51 
 
 And that he made no doubt but in the end 
 
 To make his prisoner tell him every friend 
 
 Of all his offspring, brothers, wealth, and all ; 
 
 Since that prise, certain, must some God let fall. 55 
 
 This said, the mast and mainsail up he drew, 
 And in the mainsail" s midst a frank gale blew ; 
 When all his ship took arms to brave their prise. 
 But straight strange works appeared to all their eyes : 
 First, sweet wine through their swift -black bark did flow? 
 Of which the odours did a little blow 01 
 
 Their fiery spirits, making th 5 air so fine 
 That they in flood were there as well as wine. 
 A mere immortal-making savour rose, 
 Which on the ah- the Deity did impose. B6 
 
 The seamen see'ng all, admiration seiz'd ; 
 Yet instantly then- wonders were increas'd, 
 For on the topsail there ran, here and there, 
 A vine that grapes did in abundance bear, 
 And in an instant was the ship's mainmast 70 
 
 With an obscure-green ivy's arms embrac'd, 
 That flonrish'd straight, and were with berries grac'd ; 
 Of which did garlands circle every brow 
 Of all the pirates, and no one knew how. 
 
 64 Jlere — See Odyssey, Bk. vm. 115. 
 
BACCHUS, OR THE PIRATES. 99 
 
 Which when they saw, they made the master steer 75 
 
 Out to the shore ; whom Bacchus made forbear, 
 
 With showing more wonders. On the hatches He 
 
 Appear'd a terrible lion, horribly 
 
 Koaring ; and in the mid-deck a male bear, 
 
 Made with a huge mane ; making all, for fear, 80 
 
 Crowd to the stern, about the master there, 
 
 Whose mind he still kept dauntless and sincere, 
 
 But on the captain rush'd and ramp'd, with force 
 
 So rude and sudden, that his main recourse 
 
 Was to the main-sea straight : and after him 85 
 
 Leapt ah his mates, as trusting to their swim 
 
 To fly foul death ; but so found what they fled, 
 
 Being all to dolphins metamorphosed. 
 
 The master he took ruth of, sav'd, and made 
 
 The blessed'st man that ever tried his trade, 90 
 
 These few words giving him : " Be confident, 
 
 Thou God-inspired pilot, in the bent 
 
 Of my affection, ready to requite 
 
 Thy late-to-me-intended benefit. 
 
 I am the roaring God of spritely wine, 95 
 
 Whoni Semele (that did even Jove incline 
 
 To amorous mixture, and was Cadmus' care) 
 
 Made issue to the mighty Thunderer." 
 
 And thus, all excellence of grace to thee, 
 Son of sweet-count'nance-carry'ng Semele. 100 
 
 I must not thee forget in least degree, 
 But pray thy spirit to render so my song 
 Sweet, and all ways in order'd fury strong. 
 
100 MARS. 
 
 TO MAES. 
 
 |ARS, most-strong, gold-helm'd, making- 
 chariots crack ; 
 Never without a shield cast on thy hack ; 
 Mind-master, town-guard, with darts never driven ; 
 Strong-handed, all arms, fort, and fence of heaven ; 
 Father of victory with fair strokes given ; 5 
 
 Joint surrogate of justice, lest she fall 
 In unjust strifes a tyrant ; general 
 Only of just men justly; that dost hear 
 Fortitude's sceptre ; to heaven's fiery sphere 
 Giver of circular motion, between 10 
 
 That and the Pleiads that still wand'ring been, 
 Where thy still-vehemently-flaming horse 
 About the third heaven make their fiery course ; 
 Helper of mortals ; hear ! — As thy fires give 
 The fair and present boldnesses that strive 15 
 
 In youth for honour, being the sweet-beam' d light 
 That darts into their lives, from all their height, 
 The fortitudes and fortunes found in fight ; 
 So would I likewise wish to have the pow'r 
 To keep off from my head thy bitter hour, 20 
 
 And that false fire, cast from my soul's low kind, 
 Stoop to the fit rule of my highest mind, 
 Controlling that so eager sting of wrath 
 That stirs me on still to that horrid scathe 
 Of war, that God still sends to wreak his spleen 2.3 
 
 (Even by whole tribes) of proud injurious men. 
 But thou Ever-Blessed ! give me still 
 
DIANA. 101 
 
 Presence of mind to put in act my will, 
 
 Varied, as fits, to all occasion ; 
 
 And to live free, unforc'd, unwrought upon, 30 
 
 Beneath those laws of peace that never are 
 
 Affected with pollutions popular 
 
 Of unjust hurt, or loss to any one ; 
 
 And to hear safe the burthen undergone 
 
 Of foes inflexive, and inhuman hates, 35 
 
 Secure from violent and harmful fates. 
 
 TO DIANA. 
 
 > IAN A praise, Muse, that in darts delights, 
 Lives still a maid, and had nutritial rights 
 With her horn-brother, the far-shooting Sun. 
 That doth her all-of-gold-made chariot run 
 In chase of game, from Meles that abounds 5 
 
 In black-brow' d bulrushes, and, where her hounds 
 She first uncouples, joining there her horse, 
 Through Smyrna carried in most fiery course 
 To grape-rich Claros ; where (in his rich home, 
 And constant expectation She will come) 10 
 
 Sits Phoebus, that the silver bow doth bear, 
 To meet with Phcebe, that doth darts transfer 
 As far as He his shafts. As far then be 
 Thy chaste fame shot, Queen of archery ! 
 Sacring my song to every Deity. 15 
 
 14 Sacring — consecrating. The reader will remember the 
 sacring-btll. 
 
102 
 
 rEXUS.— PALLAS. 
 
 TO VENUS. 
 
 1 Cyprian Venus still my verses vow, 
 Who gifts as sweet as honey doth bestow 
 On all mortality ; that ever smiles, 
 
 And rules a face that all foes reconciles ; 
 
 Ever sustaining in her hand a flow'r 
 
 That all desire keeps ever in her pow'r. 
 
 Hail, then, O Queen of well-built Salamine, 
 And all the state that Cyprus doth confine, 
 Inform my song with that celestial fire 
 That in thy beauties kindles all desire. 1 
 
 So shall my Muse for ever honour thee, 
 And any other thou commend' st to me. 
 
 TO PALLAS. 
 
 ALLAS Minerva only I begin 
 To give my song ; that makes war's terrible din , 
 Is patroness of cities, and with Mars 
 Marshall'd in all the care and cure of wars, 
 And in everted cities, fights, and cries. 5 
 
 But never doth herself set down or rise 
 Before a city, but at both times She 
 All injur'd people sets on foot and free. 
 
 Give, with thy war's force, fortune then to me, 
 And, with thy wisdom's force, felicity. 10 
 
JUNO— CERES.— CYBELE. 
 
 103 
 
 TO JUNO. 
 
 j ATUKlS I A, and her throne of gold, I sing, 
 That was of Rhea the eternal spring, 
 And empress of a beauty never jet 
 Equall'd in height of tincture. Of the great 
 Saturnius (breaking air in awful noise) 5 
 
 The far-fam'd wife and sister; whom in joys 
 Of high Olympus all the Blessed love, 
 And honour equal with unequalTd Jove. 
 
 TO CEKES. 
 
 fcHE rich-hair'd Ceres I assay to sing ; 
 A Goddess, in whose grace the natural spring 
 Of serious majesty itself is seen ; 
 And of the wedded, yet in grace still green, 
 Proserpina, her daughter, that displays 5 
 
 A beauty casting every way her rays. 
 
 All honour to thee, Goddess ! Keep this town ; 
 And take thou chief charge of my song's renown ! 
 
 TO THE MOTHER OF THE GODS. 
 
 |OTHER of all, both Gods and men, commend, 
 Muse, whose fair form did from Jove 
 descend ; 
 
 That doth with cymbal sounds delight her life, 
 And tremulous divisions of the fife ; 
 
104 HERCULES. 
 
 Love's dreadful lions' roars, and wolves' hoarse howls, 5 
 
 Sylvan retreats, and hills, whose hollow knolls 
 
 Raise repercussive sounds about her ears. 
 
 And so may honour ever crown thy years 
 
 With all-else Goddesses, and ever be 
 
 Exalted in the Muses' harmony ! 10 
 
 TO LION-HEARTED HERCULES. 
 
 'LCIDES, forcefullest of all the brood 
 Of men enforc'd with need of earthy food, 
 My Muse shall memorise ; the son of Jove, 
 "Whom, in fair-seated Thebes (commix'd in love 
 With great heaven's sable-cloud-assembling State) 5 
 Alcmena bore to him ; and who, in date 
 Of days forepast, through all the sea was sent, 
 And Earth's inenarrable continent, 
 To acts that king Eurystheus had decreed ; 
 Did many a petulant and imperious deed 10 
 
 Himself, and therefore suffer'd many a toil ; 
 Yet now inhabits the illustrious soil 
 Of white Olympus, and delights his life 
 With still-young Hebe, his well-ankled wife. 
 
 Hail, King, and Son of Jove ! Vouchsafe thou me 15 
 Virtue, and, her effect, felicity ! 
 
^SCULAPIUS.—TYNDARIDES. 105 
 
 TO ^SCTJLAPIUS. 
 
 *ITH iEsculapius, the physician, 
 That cur'dall sickness, and was Phoebus' son, 
 My Muse makes entry ; to whose life gave 
 yield 
 Divine Coronis in the Dotian field, 
 (King Phlegius' daughter) who much joy on men 5 
 Conferred, in dear ease of their irksome pain. 
 For which, my salutation, worthy king, 
 And vows to thee paid, ever when I sing ! 
 
 TO CASTOK AM) POLLUX. 
 
 ■ ASTOE and Pollux, the Tyndarides, 
 Sweet Muse illustrate ; that their essences 
 Fetch from the high forms of Olympian Jove, 
 And were the fair fruits of bright Leda's love, 
 Which she produc'd beneath the sacred shade 5 
 
 Of steep Taygetus, being subdu'd, and made 
 To serve th' affections of the Thunderer. 
 And so all grace to you, whom all aver 
 (For skill in horses, and their manage given) 
 To be the bravest horsemen under heaven ! 10 
 
 6 Taygetus. — It is hardly necessary to remind the reader that 
 Chapman's quantity is wrong, as is often the case. 
 
106 MERCURY.— PAN. 
 
 TO MERCURY. 
 
 [gERMES I honour, the Cyllenian Spy, 
 i f King of Cyllenia, and of Arcady 
 yP With flocks abounding ; and the Messenger 
 Of all th' Immortals, that doth still infer 
 Profits of infinite value to their store ; 5 
 
 Whom to Saturnius bashful Maia bore, 
 Daughter of Atlas, and did therefore fly 
 Of all th' Immortals the society, 
 To that dark cave, where, in the dead of night, 
 Jove join'd with her in love's divine delight, 10 
 
 When golden sleep shut Juno's jealous eye, 
 Whose arms had wrists as white as ivory, 
 From whom, and all, both men and Gods beside, 
 The fair-hair'd nymph her scape kept undescried. 
 
 Joy to the Jove-got then, and Maia's care, 15 
 
 'Twixt men and Gods the general Messenger, 
 Giver of good grace, gladness, and the flood 
 Of all that men or Gods account their good ! 
 
 14 Scape.— See Iliad, 11. 312. 
 
 TO PAN. 
 
 * 
 ING, Muse, this chief of Hermes' love-got joys, 
 
 Goat-footed, two-horn'd, amorous of noise, 
 
 That through the fair greens, all adorn'd 
 
 with trees, 
 
' TO PAN. 107 
 
 Together goes with Nymphs, whose nimble knees 
 
 Can every dance foot, that affect to scale 5 
 
 The most inaccessible tops of all 
 
 Uprightest rocks, and ever use to call 
 
 On Pan, the bright-hair'd God of pastoral ; 
 
 Who yet is lean and loveless, and doth owe 
 
 By lot all loftiest mountains crown'd with snow ; 10 
 
 All tops of hills, and cliffy highnesses, 
 
 All sylvan copses, and the fortresses 
 
 Of thorniest queaches, here and there doth rove, 
 
 And sometimes, by allurement of his love, 
 
 Will wade the wat'ry softnesses. Sometimes 15 
 
 (In quite oppos'd capriccios) he climbs 
 
 The hardest rocks, and highest, every way 
 
 Running their ridges. Often will convey 
 
 Himself up to a watch-tow Ys top, where sheep 
 
 Have their observance. Oft through hills as steep 20 
 
 His goats he runs upon, and never rests. 
 
 Then turns he head, and flys on savage beasts, 
 
 Mad of their slaughters ; so most sharp an eye 
 
 Setting upon them, as his beams let fly 
 
 Through all their thickest tapistries. And then 25 
 
 (When Hesp'rus calls to fold the flocks of men) 
 
 From the green clossets of his loftiest reeds 
 
 He rushes forth, and joy with song he feeds. 
 
 When, under shadow of their motions set, 
 
 He plays a verse forth so profoundly sweet, 30 
 
 As not the bird that in the flow'ry spring, 
 
 Amidst the leaves set, makes the thickets ring 
 
 9 Owe — own. 
 
 13 Queaches — thickets. See Odyssey, Bk. xix. 610. 
 
 25 Tapistries — i. e. hiding-places, where they tapish or hide. 
 
 27 Clossets — closes. The word should be noted. 
 
108 TO PAN. 
 
 Of her sour sorrows, sweeten'd with her song, 
 
 Runs her divisions varied so and strong. 
 
 And then the sweet-voic'd Nymphs that crown his 
 
 mountains 35 
 
 (Flock'd round about the deep -black- water 'd fountains) 
 Fall in with their contention of song. 
 To which the echoes all the hills along 
 Their repercussions add. Then here and there 
 (Plac'd in the midst) the God the guide doth bear 40 
 Of all their dances, winding in and out, 
 A lynce's hide, besprinkled round about 
 With blood, cast on his shoulders. And thus He, 
 "With well-made songs, maintains th' alacrity 
 Of his free mind, in silken meadows crown'd 4o 
 
 "With hyacinths and saffrons, that abound 
 In sweet-breath' d odours, that th' unnumber'd grass 
 (Besides their scents) give as through all they pass. 
 And these, in all their pleasures, ever raise 
 The blessed Gods' and long Olympus' praise : 50 
 
 Like zealous Hermes, who of all I said 
 Most profits up to all the Gods convey'd. 
 Who, likewise, came into th' Arcadian state, 
 (That's rich in fountains, and all celebrate 
 For nurse of flocks,) where He had vow'd a grove 55 
 (Surnam'd Cyllenius) to his Godhead's love. 
 Yet even himself (although a God he were) 
 Clad in a squalid sheepskin, govern'd there 
 A mortal's sheep. For soft love ent'ring him 
 Conform' d his state to his conceited trim, 60 
 
 And made him long, in an extreme degree, 
 T' enjoy the fair-hair'd virgin Dryope. 
 Which ere he could, she made him consummate 
 
VULCAN. 109 
 
 The flourishing rite of Hymen's honour'd state ; 
 
 And brought him such a piece of progeny, 65 
 
 As show'd, at first sight, monstrous to the eye, 
 
 Goat-footed, two-horn'd, full of noise even then, 
 
 And (opposite quite to other childeren) 
 
 Told, in sweet laughter, he ought death no tear. 
 
 Yet straight his mother start, and fled, in fear, to 
 
 The sight of so unsatisfying a thing, 
 
 In whose face put forth such a bristled spring. 
 
 Yet the most useful Mercury embrac'd, 
 
 And took into his arms, his homely-fac'd, 
 
 Beyond all measure joyful with his sight ; 75 
 
 And up to heaven with him made instant flight, 
 
 Wrapp'd in the warm skin of a mountain hare, 
 
 Set him by Jove, and made most merry fare 
 
 To all the Deities else with his son's sight ; 
 
 Which most of all fill'd Bacchus with delight ; so 
 
 And Pan they call'd him, since he brought to all 
 
 Of mirth so rare and full a festival. 
 
 And thus all honour to the shepherds' King, 
 For sacrifice to thee my Muse shall sing ! 
 
 69 Ought— owed. 70 Start— the past tense. 
 
 TO VULCAN. 
 
 I EAISE Vulcan, now Muse; whom fame gives 
 the prize 
 For depth and facture of all forge-devise ; 
 Who, with the sky-ey'd Pallas, first did give 
 Men rules of buildings, that before did live 
 
110 
 
 PH(EB US.— NEPTUNE. 
 
 In caves and dens, and hills, like savage beasts ; 5 
 
 But now, by art-fam'd Vulcan's interests 
 
 In all their civil industries, ways clear 
 
 Through th' all-things-bringing-to-their-ends (the year) 
 
 They work out to their ages' ends, at ease 
 
 Lodg'd in safe roofs from Winter's utmost prease. 10 
 
 Eut, Yulcan, stand propitious to me, 
 Virtue safe granting, and felicity ! 
 
 TO PHCEBUS. 
 
 PHCEBUS! Even the swan from forth 
 
 II her 
 
 • wings, 
 Jumping her proyning-bank, thee sweetly 
 sings, 
 By bright Peneus' whirl-pit-making streams. 
 Thee, that thy lute mak'st sound so to thy beams, 
 Thee, first and last, the sweet-voic'd singer still 5 
 
 Sings, for thy song's all-songs-transcending skill. 
 Thy pleasure, then, shall my song still supply, 
 And so salutes thee King of Poesy. 
 
 2 Proyning bank — where she preens or proins herself. 
 
 TO NEPTUNE. 
 
 1 \ EPTUNE, the mighty marine God, I sing, 
 Earth's mover, and the fruitless ocean's King, 
 That Helicon and th'iEgean deeps dost hold. 
 O thou Earth-shaker ! Thy command two-fold 
 
JOVE.— VESTA. Ill 
 
 The Gods have sorted ; making thee of horses 5 
 
 The awful tamer, and of naval forces 
 
 The sure preserver. Hail, O Saturn's hirth ! 
 
 "Whose graceful green hair circles all the earth. 
 
 Bear a benign mind ; and thy helpful hand 
 
 Lend all submitted to thy dread command. 10 
 
 TO JOVE. 
 
 j OVE now I sing, the greatest and the best 
 Of all these Pow'rs that are with Deity blest, 
 That far-off doth his dreadful voice diffuse, 
 And, being King of all, doth all conduce 
 To all their ends. Who (shut from all Gods else 5 
 With Themis, that the laws of all things tells) 
 Their fit composures to their times doth call, 
 Weds them together, and preserves this all. 
 
 Grace then, O far-heard Jove, the grace thou'st given, 
 Most Glorious, and most Great of Earth and Heaven ! 10 
 
 TO YESTA. 
 
 iv-ESTA, that as a servant oversees 
 
 King Phoebus' hallow'd house, in all degrees 
 Of guide about it, on the sacred shore 
 Of heavenly Pythos, and hast evermore 
 Pich balms distilling from thy odorous hair, 5 
 
 Grace this house with thy housewifely repair ! 
 
112 APOLLO.— BACCHUS. 
 
 Enter, and bring a mind that most may move, 
 Conferring even, the great in counsels, Jove ; 
 And let my verse taste of your either's love. 
 
 TO THE MUSES AJSTD APOLLO. 
 
 i 
 
 fcHE Muses, Jove, and Phoebus, now I sing ; 
 
 For from the far- off- shooting Phoebus spring 
 All poets and musicians, and from Jove 
 Th' ascents of kings. The man the Muses love, 
 Eelicity blesses ; elocution's choice 5 
 
 In syrup lay'ng of sweetest breath his voice. 
 
 Hail, Seed of Jove, my song your honours give, 
 And so in mine shall yours and others' live. 
 
 TO BACCHUS. 
 
 tVY-crown'd Bacchus iterate in thy praises, 
 O Muse ; whose voice all loftiest echoes raises, 
 And he with all th' illustrious Seed of Jove 
 Is join'd in honour, being the fruit of love 
 To him, and Semele the-great-in-graces ; 5 
 
 And from the King his father's kind embraces 
 By fair-hair' d Nymphs was taken to the dales 
 Of Xyssa, and with curious festivals 
 Given his fair grought, far from his father's view, 
 In caves from whence eternal odours flew, io 
 
 And in high number of the Deities plac'd. 
 9 Grought— growth. 
 
TO DIANA. 113 
 
 Yet when the many-hymn-given God had past 
 
 His Nurses' cares, in ivies and in bays 
 
 All over thicketed, his varied ways 
 
 To sylvan coverts evermore He took, 15 
 
 With all his Nurses, whose shrill voices shook 
 
 Thickets, in which could no foot's entry fall, 
 
 And he himself made captain of them all. 
 
 And so, O grape -abounding Bacchus, be 
 Ever saluted by my Muse and me ! so 
 
 Give us to spend with spirit our hours out here, 
 And e^ery hour extend to many a year. 
 
 TO DIAXA. 
 
 I AX A, that the golden spindle moves, 
 And lofty sounds as well as Bacchus loves, 
 A bashful virgin, and of fearful hearts 
 The death- affecter with delighted darts, 
 By sire and mother Phoebus' sister born, 5 
 
 Whose thigh the golden falchion doth adorn, 
 I sing ; who likewise over hills of shade 
 And promontories that vast winds invade, 
 Amorous of hunting, bends her all-gold bow. 
 And sigh-begetting arrows doth bestow 10 
 
 In fates so dreadful that the hill-tops quake, 
 And bristled woods their leafy foreheads shake, 
 Horrors invade earth, and [the] fishy seas 
 Impassion'd furies ; nothing can appease 
 The dying brays of beasts. And her delight 15 
 
 In so much death affects so with affright 
 
114 PALLAS. 
 
 all inanimate natures ; for, while she 
 Her - . their general progeny 
 
 She all ways turns upon to all their banes. 
 
 when her fiery pleasures find their wanes, 20 
 
 Her yielding bow unbent, to th' ample bouse, 
 
 rich and populous, 
 Of her dear brother, her retreats advance. 
 "Where th" instauration of delightsome dance 
 Amongst the Muses and the Graces she 25 
 
 - form : in which herself the regency 
 (Her unbent bow hung up, and casting on 
 A gracious robe) assumes, and first sets gone 
 try ; to which all send forth 
 
 ; heavenly voices, and advance the worth 
 Of her fair-ankled mother, since to light 
 She children- brought the far most exquisite 
 In counsels and performances of all 
 The God hat grace the heavenly hall. 
 
 Hail then, Latona's fair-hair'd Seed, and Jove's ! 35 
 My song shall ever call to mind your loves. 
 
 TO PALLAS. 
 
 ALLA>- Minerva's deity, the renown'd, 
 -^ My Muse in her variety must resound ; 
 flighty in councils ; whose illustrous eyes 
 In all resemblance represent the skies. 
 ; verend maid of an inflexible mind ; 
 In spirit and person strong ; of triple kind ; 
 Faun in that just laws maintain ; 
 
TO VESTA AND MERCURY. 115 
 
 Of Jove, the-great-in-councils, very brain 
 
 Took prime existence, his unbounded brows 
 
 Could not contain her, such impetuous throes 10 
 
 Her birth gave way to, that abroad she flew, 
 
 And stood, in gold arni'd, in her Father's view, 
 
 Shaking her sharp lance. All Olympus shook 
 
 So terribly beneath her, that it took 
 
 Up in amazes all the Deities there. is 
 
 All earth resounded with vociferous fear. 
 
 The sea was put up all in purple waves, 
 
 And settled suddenly her rudest raves. 
 
 Hyperion's radiant son his swiffc-hov'd steeds 
 
 A mighty time stay'd, till her arming weeds, 20 
 
 As glorious as the Gods', the blue-ey'd Maid 
 
 Took from her deathless shoulders ; but then stay'd 
 
 All these distempers, and heaven's counsellor, Jove, 
 
 Rejoic'd that all things else his stay could move. 
 
 So I salute thee still ; and still in praise 25 
 
 Thy fame, and others', shall my memory raise. 
 
 TO VESTA AND MEKCUKY. 
 
 jESTA I sing, who, in bequest of fate, 
 Art sorted out an everlasting state 
 In all th' Immortals' high-built roofs, and all 
 
 Those of earth- dwelling men, as general 
 
 And ancient honours given thee for thy gift 5 
 
 Of free-liv'd chastity, and precious thrift. 
 
 Nor can there amongst mortals banquets be, 
 
 In which, both first and last, they give not thee 
 
116 TO EARTH. 
 
 Their endless gratitudes in pour'd-out wine, 
 
 As gracious sacrifice to thy divine 10 
 
 And useful virtues ; being invok'd by all, 
 
 Before the least taste of their festival 
 
 In wine or food affect their appetites. 
 
 And Thou, that of th' adorn'd-with-all-delights 
 
 Art the most useful angel, born a God u 
 
 Of Jove and Maia, of heaven's golden rod 
 
 The sole sustainer, and hast pow'r to bless 
 
 With all good all men, great Argicides, 
 
 Inhabit all good houses, see'ng no wants 
 
 Of mutual minds' love in th' inhabitants, 20 
 
 Join in kind blessing with the bashful maid 
 
 And all-lov'd virgin, Vesta ; either's aid 
 
 Combin'd in every hospitable house ; 
 
 Both being best seen in all the gracious 
 
 House-works of mortals. Jointly follow then, 25 
 
 Even from their youths, the minds of dames and men. 
 
 Hail then, old Daughter of the oldest God, 
 And thou Great Bearer of Heaven's golden rod ! 
 Yet not to you alone my vows belong, 
 Others as well claim th' homage of my song. 30 
 
 15 Angel— messenger, ayy8\o<;. 
 
 TO EARTH, THE MOTHER OF ALL. 
 
 [ OTHER of all things, the well-founded Earth, 
 My Muse shall memorize ; who all the birth 
 Gives food that all her upper regions breed, 
 All that in her divine diffusions feed 
 
TO EARTH, 117 
 
 In under continents, all those that live 5 
 
 In all the seas, and all the air doth give 
 Wing'd expeditions, of thy bounties eat ; 
 Fair children, and fair fruits, thy labour's sweat. 
 • O great in reverence; and referr'd to thee, 
 For life and death is all the pedigree 10 
 
 Of mortal humans. Happy then is he 
 Whom the innate propensions of thy mind 
 Stand bent to honour. He shall all things find 
 In all abundance ; all his pastures yield 
 Herds in all plenties ; all his roofs are fill'd 15 
 
 With rich possessions ; he, in all the sway 
 Of laws best order'd, cuts out his own way 
 In cities shining with delicious dames, 
 And takes his choice of all those striving flames ; 
 High happiness and riches, like his train, 20 
 
 Follow his fortunes, with delights that reign 
 In all their princes ; glory invests his sons ; 
 His daughters, with their crown'd selections 
 Of all the city, frolic through the meads, 
 And every one her call'd-for dances treads 25 
 
 Along the soft-flow'r of the claver-grass. 
 All this, with all those, ever comes to pass, 
 That thy love blesses, Goddess full of grace, 
 And treasurous Angel t' all the human race. 
 
 Hail, then, Great Mother of the Deified Kind, 30 
 Wife to the cope of stars ! Sustain a mind 
 Propitious to me for my praise, and give 
 (Answering my mind) my vows fit means to live. 
 
 26 Claver-grass, — Mr. Singer has printed clover. I retain 
 the old orthography, though Halliwell says it is only a North- 
 country provincialism for clover. 
 
US TO THE SUN. 
 
 TO THE SUN". 
 
 I HE radiant Sim's divine renown diffuse, 
 Jove's daughter, great Calliope, my Muse ; 
 Whom ox-ey'd Euryphaessa gave birth 
 To the bright Seed of starry Heaven and Earth. 
 For the far-fam'd Hyperion took to wife 5 
 
 His sister Euryphaessa, that life 
 Of his high race gave to these lovely three : 
 Aurora, with the rosy-wrists ; and She 
 That owns th' enamouring tresses, the bright Moon ; 
 Together with the never-wearied Sun, 10 
 
 Who (his horse mounting) gives both mortals light 
 And all th' Immortals. Even to horror, bright 
 A blaze burns from his golden burgonet, 
 "\Miich to behold exceeds the sharpest set 
 Of any eye's intention, beams so clear 15 
 
 It all ways pours abroad. The glorious cheer 
 Of his far- shining face up to his crown 
 Casts circular radiance, that comes streaming down 
 About his temples, his bright cheeks, and all, 
 Retaining the refulgence of then fall. 20 
 
 About his bosom flows so fine a weed 
 As doth the thinness of the wind exceed 
 In rich context ; beneath whose deep folds fly 
 His masculine horses round about the sky, 
 Till in this hemisphere he renders stay 25 
 
 T ? his gold-yok'd coach and coursers ; and his way, 
 
 13 Burgonet — generally spelt burgemet, a species of helmet. 
 
TO THE MOON. 119 
 
 Let down by heaven, the heavenly coachman makes 
 Down to the ocean, where his rest he takes. 
 
 My salutations then, fair King, receive, 
 And in propitious returns relieve 30 
 
 My life with mind-fit means ; and then from thee, 
 And all the race of complete Deity, 
 My song* shall celebrate those half-god States, 
 That yet sad death's condition circulates, 
 And whose brave acts the Gods show men that they 35 
 As brave may aim at, since they can but die. 
 
 TO THE MOON. 
 
 I HE Moon, now, Muses, teach me to resound, 
 Whose wide wings measure such a world of 
 ground ; 
 
 Jove's daughter, deck'd with the mellifluous tongue, 
 And seen in all the sacred art of song. 
 Whose deathless brows when she from heaven displays, 
 All earth she wraps up in her orient rays. 6 
 
 A heaven of ornament in earth is rais'd 
 When her beams rise. The subtle air is sais'd 
 Of delicate splendour from her crown of gold. 
 And when her silver bosom is extoll'd, 10 
 
 Wash'd in the ocean, in day's equall'd noon 
 Is midnight seated ; but when she puts on 
 Her far-off-sprinkling-lustre evening weeds, 
 (The month in two cut ; her high-breasted steeds 
 
 8 Sais'd — seised, put in possession. 
 
120 TO CASTOR AND POLLUX. 
 
 Man'd all with curl'd flames, put in coach and all, 15 
 
 Her huge orb fill'd,) her whole trims then exhale 
 
 Unspeakable splendours from the glorious skj. 
 
 And out of that state mortal men imply 
 
 Many predictions. And with her then, 
 
 In love mix'd, lay the King of Gods and men ; 20 
 
 By whom made fruitful, she Pandea bore, 
 
 And added her state to th' Immortal Store. 
 
 Hail, Queen, and Goddess, th' ivory- wristed Moon 
 
 Divine, prompt, fair-hair' d ! With thy grace begun, 
 
 My Muse shall forth, and celebrate the praise 25 
 
 Of men whose states the Deities did raise 
 
 To semi-deities ; whose deeds t' endless date 
 
 Muse-lov'd and sweet-sung poets celebrate. 
 
 TO CASTOE AND POLLUX. 
 
 I OVE'Sfair Sons, father'dby th' Oebalianking, 
 Muses well- worth-allmen'sbeholdings, sing! 
 The dear birth that bright-ankl'd Leda bore ; 
 Horse-taming Castor, and, the conqueror 
 Of tooth-tongu'd Momus, Pollux ; whom beneath 5 
 Steep-brow'd Taygetus she gave half-god breath, 
 In love mix'd with the black- clouds King of Heaven ; 
 Who, both of men and ships, being tempest driven, 
 When Winter's wrathful empire is in force 
 Upon th' implacable seas, preserve the course. 10 
 
 For when the gusts begin, if near the shore, 
 The seamen leave their ship, and, evermore 
 Bearing two milk-white lambs aboard, they now 
 
TO MEN OF HOSPITALITY. 121 
 
 Kill them ashore, and to Jove's issue vow, 
 
 When though their ship, in height of all the roar io 
 
 The winds and waves confound, can live no more 
 
 In all their hopes, then suddenly appear 
 
 Jove's saving Sons, who Loth their hodies bear 
 
 'Twixt yellow wings down from the sparkling pole, 
 
 Who straight the rage of those rude winds control, 20 
 
 And all the high-waves couch into the breast 
 
 Of th' hoary seas. All which sweet signs of rest 
 
 To seamen's labours their glad souls conceive, 
 
 And end to all their irksome grievance give. 
 
 So, once more, to the swift-horse-riding race 25 
 
 Of royal Tyndarus, eternal grace ! 
 
 TO MEN OF HOSPITALITY. 
 
 > E TERENCE a man with use propitious 
 That hospitable rites wants 5 and a house 
 (You of this city with the seat of state 
 To ox-ey'd Juno vow'd) yet situate 
 Near Pluto's region. At the extreme base 
 Of whose so high-hair'd city, from the race 
 Of blue-wav'd Hebrus lovely fluent, grac'd 
 With Jove's begetting, you divine cups taste. 
 
CERTAIN EPIGRAMS AND OTHER 
 POEMS OF HOMER. 
 
 TO CUMA. 
 
 END hospitable rites and house-respect, 
 You that the virgin with the fair eyes 
 
 deckt 
 Make fautress of your stately- seated town, 
 At foot of Sardes, with the high-hair'd crown, 
 Inhabiting rich Cuma ; where ye taste 5 
 
 Of Hermus' heavenly fluent, all embrac'd 
 By curl'd-head whirlpits ; and whose waters move 
 From the divine seed of immortal Jove. 
 
 IN HIS RETURN TO CUMA. 
 
 WIFTLY my feet sustain me to the town, 
 Where men inhabit whom due honours 
 crown, 
 
 Whose minds with free -given faculties are mov'd, 
 And whose grave counsels best of best approv'd. 
 
EPIGRAMS, 123 
 
 UPON THE SEPULCHRE OF MIDUS, 
 
 CUT IN BRASS, IN THE FIGURE OF A VIRGIN. 
 
 MAID of brass I am, infixed here 
 T' eternize honest Midus' sepulchre ; 
 And while the stream her fluent seedreceives, 
 And steep trees curl their verdant brows with leaves, 
 While Phoebus rais'd above the earth gives sight, 5 
 And th' humorous Moon takes lustre from his light, 
 While floods bear waves, and seas shall wash the shore, 
 At this his sepulchre, whom all deplore, 
 I'll constantly abide ; all passers by 
 Informing, " Here doth honest Midus He." 10 
 
 6 Humorous — moist. 
 
 CUMA 
 
 REFUSING HIS OFFER TO ETERNIZE THEIR STATE, 
 THOUGH BROUGHT THITHER BY THE MUSES. 
 
 TO what fate hath Father Jove given o'er 
 My friendless life, born ever to be poor ! 
 While in my infant state he pleas'dto save me, 
 Milk on my reverend mother's knees he gave me, 
 In delicate and curious nursery ; 5 
 
 iEolian Smyrna, seated near the sea, 
 (Of glorious empire, and whose bright sides 
 Sacred Meletus' silver current glides,) 
 
124 EPIGRAMS. 
 
 Being native seat to me. Which, in the force 
 
 Of far-past time, the breakers of wild horse, 10 
 
 Phriconia's noble nation, girt with tow'rs ; 
 
 Whose youth in fight put on with fiery pow'rs. 
 
 From hence, the Muse-maids, Jove's illustrous Seed, 
 
 Impelling me, I made impetuous speed, 
 
 And went with them to Cuma, with intent 15 
 
 T' eternize all the sacred continent 
 
 And state of Cuma. They, in proud ascent 
 
 From off their bench, refus'd with usage fierce 
 
 The sacred voice which I aver is verse. 
 
 Their follies, yet, and madness borne by me, 20 
 
 Shall by some pow'r be thought on futurely, 
 
 To wreak of him whoever, whose tongue sought 
 
 With false impair my fall. What fate God brought 
 
 Upon my birth I'll bear with any pain, 
 
 But undeserv'd defame unfelt sustain. 25 
 
 Nor feels my person (dear to me though poor) 
 
 Any great lust to linger any more 
 
 In Cuma's holy highways ; but my mind 
 
 (No thought impair' d, for cares of any kind 
 
 Borne in my body) rather vows to try so 
 
 The influence of any other sky, 
 
 And spirits of people bred in any land 
 
 Of ne'er so slender and obscure command. 
 
EPIGRAMS. 
 
 125 
 
 AN ASSAY OF HIS BEGUN ILIADS. 
 
 £LION, and all the brave -horse -breeding soil, 
 Dardania, I sing ; that many a toil 
 Impos'd upon the mighty Grecian pow'rs, 
 AMio were of Mars the manly servitours. 
 
 TO THESTOK'S SOX,* 
 
 INQUISITIVE OF HOMER ABOUT THE CAUSES OF THINGS. 
 
 [HESTOKIDES ! of all the skills unknown 
 To errant mortals, there remains not one 
 Of more inscrutable affair to find 
 Than is the true state of a human mind. 
 
 TO NEPTUNE. 
 
 EAE, pow'rful Neptune, that shak'st earth 
 in ire, 
 | King of the great green, where dance all 
 the quire 
 
 * Homer intimated, in this his answer to Thestorides, a will 
 to have him learn the knowledge of himself, before he inquired 
 so curiously the causes of other things. And from hence had 
 the great peripatetic, Themistius, his most grave epiphoneme, 
 Anima quce seipsam ignorat, quid sciret ipsa de aliis ? And, there- 
 fore, according to Aristotle, advises all philosophical students 
 to begin with that study.— Chapman. 
 
epigea:. 
 
 Of fair-hair'd Helicon ; give prosperous ga 
 
 And good pass, to these guiders of our sails, 
 
 Their voyage rendering happily directed, 5 
 
 And their return with no ill fate affected. 
 
 Grant likewise at rough Mimas* lowest roc 
 
 Whose strength up to her tops preempt rocks shoots, 
 
 My pass _ safe arrival ; and tha: I 
 
 My bashful disposition may c: it 
 
 To pious men. and wreak myself upon 
 
 The man whose verbal circumvention 
 
 In me did wrong t'hospitio 
 
 And th ? hospitable table violate. 
 
 TO THE CITY EEYTHILEA. 
 
 >OKSHEPFUL Earth. Giver of all things 
 good ! 
 
 Giver of even felicity ; whose flood 
 mind all- spa in honey dew; 
 
 That to some men dost infinite kindne- afa 
 To others that despise thee art a shr- s 
 
 And giv\st them gamester's galls : who, once their main 
 Lost with an ill chance, fare like abjects slain. 
 
 TO MAPJXEI- 
 
 [ E wave-trod watermen, as ill as - 
 That all the earth in infelic: 
 Of rapine plunges ; who upon jour fere 
 d-like-ravenous as cormorants are; 
 
EPIGRAMS. 127 
 
 The lives ye lead, but in the worst degree, 5 
 
 Not to be envied more than misery ; 
 
 Take shame, and fear the indignation 
 
 Of Him that thunders from the highest throne, 
 
 Hospitious Jove, who, at the back, prepares 
 
 Pains of abhorr'd effect of him that dares 10 
 
 The pieties break of his hospitious squares. 
 
 THE PINE. 
 
 ; NY tree else bears better fruit than thee, 
 That Ida's tops sustain, where every tree 
 Bears up in air such perspirable heights, 
 And in which caves and sinuous receipts 
 Creep in such great abundance. For about 
 Thy roots, that ever all thy fruits put out, 
 As nourish'd by them, equal with thy fruits, 
 Pour Mars's iron-mines their accurs'd pursuits. 
 So that when any earth-encroaching man, 
 Of all the martial brood Cebrenian, 
 Plead need of iron, they are certain still 
 About thy roots to satiate every will. 
 
128 EPIGRAMS. 
 
 TO GLAUCUS, 
 
 WHO WAS SO MISERABLY SPARING THAT HE FEARED 
 ALL MEN'S ACCESS TO HIM. 
 
 ?LAUCUS ! though wise enough, yet one 
 word more 
 Let my advice add to thy wisdom's store, 
 For 'twill be better so : Before thy door 
 Give still thy mastiffs meat, that will be sure 
 To lie there, therefore, still, and not endure i 
 
 (With waylaid ears) the softest foot can fall, 
 But men and beasts make fly thee and thy stall. 
 
 AGAINST THE SAMIAN MINISTRESS, 
 
 OE NUN. 
 
 J EAR me, O Goddess, that invoke thine ear, 
 j f Thou that dost feed and form the youthful 
 year, 
 
 And grant that this dame may the loves refuse, 
 And beds, of young men, and affect to use 
 Humans whose temples hoary hairs distain, 5 
 
 Whose pow'rs are passing coy, whose wills would fain. 
 
EPIGRAMS. 129 
 
 WRITTEN OX THE COUNCIL CHAMBER. 
 
 ;F men, sons are the crowns of cities' tow'rs ; 
 Of pastures, horse are the most beauteous 
 flow'rs ; 
 
 Of seas, ships are the grace ; and money still 
 With trains and titles doth the family fill. 
 But royal counsellors, in council set, 5 
 
 Are ornaments past all, as clearly great 
 As houses are that shining fires enfold, 
 Superior far to houses nak'd and cold. 
 
 THE FURNACE CALLED IN TO SING 
 BY POTTERS. 
 
 [ F ye deal freely, my fiery friends, 
 Q As ye assure, I'll sing, and serve your ends. 
 Pallas, vouchsafe thou here invoked accv 
 Impose thy hand upon this Forge, and bless 
 All cups these artists earn so, that they may 5 
 
 Look black still with their depth, and every way 
 Give all their vessels a most sacred sale. 
 Make all well-burn'd ; and estimation call 
 Up to their prices. Let them market well. 
 And in all highways in abundance sell, m 
 
130 EPIGRAM 
 
 riches to their utmost wish u 
 And. as thou niak'st them rich, so make me wit 
 
 But if ye now turn all to inipuck 
 And think to pay with lies my p 
 
 Then will I summ r Furnace all 15 
 
 Hell's harnifiilTst spirits : Maragus I'll call, 
 Sd aetes, Aal -:■::. and Omadamus. 
 Who ills against your ait innumerous 
 3, m\ . vad multijO 
 
 ie, Pallas, then, and all command to lie M 
 
 Infesting forge and house with lire, till all 
 Tumble together^ and to ashes fall, 
 
 I in tears as small. 
 And as a horse-cheek chides his foaming 
 So let this Forge murmur in fire and flit, 
 And all this stuff to ashy ruins run. 
 And thou. O Circe, daughter of the Sun, 
 
 : -many-poison-mixer, come, and pour 
 Thy cmelTst poisons on this Potters' floor, 
 Shivering the:: r and themselves affect 3 .■ 
 
 With all the mischiefs possible to direct 
 'Gainst all their beings, urg'd by all thy fie 
 Let Chiron likewise come ; and all those friends 
 
 Centaurs) that Alcides* fingers fled, 
 And all the rest loo that his hand strook dead, 35 
 
 (Their ghosts excited) come, and macerate 
 
 ae earthen men ; and yet with further fate 
 Affect their Furnace ; all their tear-burst ej 
 Seeing and mourning for their miseries, 
 While I look on, and laugh their blasted art 40 
 
 And them to ruin. Lastly, if apart 
 
EPIGRAMS. 131 
 
 Any lies lurking, and sees yet, his face 
 
 Into a coal let th ? angry fire embrace, 
 
 That all may learn by them, in all their lust. 
 
 To dare deeds great, to see them great and just. 
 
 EIEESIOXE, OR, THE OLIVE BRAXCH. 
 
 
 Jv- 
 
 ^?$HE turrets of a man of infinite might, 
 y^S Of infinite action, substance infinite, 
 
 '•? 
 
 ^^Lk5^ We make access to ; whose whole being 
 
 rebounds 
 From earth to heaven, and nought but bliss resounds. 
 Give entry then, ye doors ; more riches yet 5 
 
 Shall enter with me ; all the Graces met 
 In joy of their fruition, perfect peace 
 Confirming all ; all crown'd with such increase, 
 That every empty vessel in your house 
 May stand replete with all things precious ; 10 
 
 Elaborate Ceres may your larders fill 
 With all dear delicates, and serve in still : 
 May for your son a wife make wish'd approach 
 Into your tow'rs, and rapt in in her coach 
 With strong-kneed mules ; may yet her state prove staid, 
 With honour'd housewiferies ; her fair hand laid 16 
 To artful loomworks ; and her nak'd feet tread 
 The gum of amber to a golden bead. 
 
 But I'll return ; return, and yet not press 
 Your bounties now assay'd with oft access, 20 
 
 Once a year only, as the swallow prates 
 Before the wealthy Spring's wide open gates. 
 
132 EPIGRAMS. 
 
 Meantime I stand at yours, nor purpose stay 
 More time t' entreat. Give, or not give, away 
 My feet shall bear me, that did never come 25 
 
 With any thought to make your house my home. 
 
 TO CEKTAIN FISHEE BOYS 
 
 PLEASING HIM WITH INGENIOUS RIDDLES. 
 
 I ET from the bloods even of your self-like sires 
 Are you descended, that could make ye heirs 
 To no huge hoards of coin, nor leave ye able 
 To feed flocks of innumerable rabble. 
 
 THE END OF ALL THE ENDLESS WORKS OF HOMER. 
 
$5ifcl PSIo ^^ wor& £A<x£ / was 6om to do is done ! 
 Glory to Him that the conclusion 
 Makes the beginning of my life ; and never 
 Let me be said to live, till I live ever. 
 
 Where's the outliving of my fortunes then, s 
 
 Ye errant vapours of Fame's Lemean fen, 
 That, like possessed storms, blast all not in herd 
 With your abhorr'd heads ; who, because cashier } d 
 By men for monsters, think men monsters all, 
 That are not of your pied Hood and your Hall, 10 
 When you are nothing but the scum of things, 
 And must be cast off; drones, that have no stings ; 
 Nor any more soul than a stone hath ivings ? 
 
 Avaunt, ye hags I Your hates and scandals are 
 The crowns and comforts of a good man's care ; 15 
 
 By whose impartial perpendicular, 
 All is extuberance, and excretion all, 
 That you your ornaments and glories call. 
 Your wry mouths censure right ! Your blistered tongues, 
 That lick but itches ! And whose ulcerous lungs 20 
 Come up at all things permanent and sound ! 
 
 you, like flies in dregs, in humours drown 'd! 
 Your loves, like atoms, lost in gloomy air, 
 
 1 would not retrieve with a wither d hair. 
 
134 
 
 Hate, and cast still your stings then, for your kisses 25 
 Betray but truth, and your applauds are hisses. 
 
 To see our supercilious wizards frown, 
 TJieir faces falVn like fogs, and coming down, 
 Stinking the sun out, makes me shine the more ; 
 And like a check* d flood bear above the shore, 30 
 
 That their profane opinions fain would set 
 To what they see not, know not, nor can let. 
 Yet then our learn' d men with their torrents come, 
 Roaring from their forced hills, all crown *d with foam, 
 That one not taught like them, should learn to know 35 
 Their Greek roots, and from thence the groves that grow, 
 Casting such rich shades from great Homer's wings, 
 That first and last command the Muses' springs. 
 Though he's best scholar, that, through pains and vows 
 Made his own master only, all things knows. 40 
 
 Nor pleads my poor skill form, or learned place, 
 But dauntless labour, constant prayer, and grace. 
 And what's all their skill, but vast varied reading ? 
 As if broad-beaten highways had the leading 
 To Truth's abstract, and narrow path, and pit; 45 
 Found in no walk of any worldly wit. 
 And without Truth, all's only sleight of hand, 
 Or our law -learning in a foreign land, 
 Embroidery spent on cobwebs, braggart show 
 Of men that all things learn, and nothing know. 50 
 For ostentation humble Truth still flies, 
 And all confederate fashionists defies. 
 And as some sharp-brow' d doctor, English born, 
 In much learn' d Latin idioms can adorn 
 A verse with rare attractions, yet become 55 
 
 His English Muse like an Arachnean loom, 
 
135 
 
 Wrought spite of Pallas, and therein bewrays 
 More tongue than truth, begs, and adopts his bays ; 
 So Ostentation, be he never so 
 
 Larded with labour to suborn his show, 60 
 
 Shall sooth within him but a bastard soul, 
 No more heaven heiring than, Earth's son, the mole. 
 But as in dead calms emptiest smokes arise, 
 Unchecked and free, up straight into the skies ; 
 So drowsy Peace, that in her humour steeps 65 
 
 All she affects, lets such rise while she sleeps. 
 Many, and most men, have of wealth least store, 
 But none the gracious shame that fits the poor. 
 So most learn 'd men enough are ignorant, 
 But few the grace have to confess their want, to 
 
 Till lives and learnings come concomitant. 
 Far from men's knowledges their lives' '-acts flow ; 
 Vainglorious acts then vain prove all they know. 
 As night the life-inclining stars best shows, 
 So lives obscure the starriest souls disclose. 75 
 
 For me, let just men judge by what I show 
 In acts expos' d how much I err or know ; 
 And let not envy make all worse than nought, 
 With her mere headstrong and quite brainless thought, 
 Others, for doing nothing, giving all, 80 
 
 And bounding all worth in her bursten gall. 
 
 God and my dear Redeemer rescue me 
 From men's immane and mad impiety, 
 And by my life and soul (sole known to Them) 
 Make me of palm, or yew, an anadem. 85 
 
 And so my sole God, the Thrice -Sacred Trine, 
 Bear all th' ascription of all me and mine. 
 
lico tibi. Poniine. Pater, et Dux rationis nostra. 
 ut nostra? nobilitatis recordernur qua Tu mm ornasti ; et 
 ut Tu nob .ut iis qui per sese nioventur : ut 
 
 I corporis _ rutorumque affeetuum, re- 
 
 purge inur. eosque superemus. at que regamus. 
 
 :. pro instrunientis iis utaniur. Deinde. ut nobis ad- 
 jumento eds, ad ac curat ani rationis correctionem, 
 
 et eonjunctionem cum iis quivere sunt per lucem 
 E: tertium, Salvatori supplex oro. ut ab oeulis aninioruni 
 itou r um , caliginem proraoa _ : norinms bene 
 
 qui Deus, aut mortalis, habendus. Amen. 
 
 finis. 
 

 THE GEORGICS OF HESIOD. 
 
THE 
 
 GE O R G I CKS 
 
 OF 
 
 HESIOD, 
 
 By George Chapman ; 
 
 TRANSLATED ELABORATELY 
 
 out of the Greek : 
 
 Containing Do&rine of Hufbandrie, Moralitie, 
 and Pietie ; with a perpetuall Calendar of Good 
 
 and Bad Dales ; Not fuperftitious, but necejfarie 
 (as farre as naturall Caufes compell) for all 
 Men to obferue, and difference in fol- 
 lowing their affaires. 
 
 Nee caret vmbra Deo. 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 Printed by H. L. for Miles Partricb, and are to be folde 
 
 at his Shop neare Saint Dunjlans Church in 
 
 Fleet ftreet. 1 6 1 8 . 
 
TO THE MOST NOBLE COMBINES OF LEAENING 
 
 T JK, 
 SIR FRANCIS BACON. KNIGHT. 
 
 LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND, I 
 
 NCIENT wisdom being so worthily eter- 
 nised by the now-renewed instance of it 
 in your Lordship ; and this ancient 
 Author, one of the most authentic for all 
 wisdom crowned with justice and piety ; to wha: 
 owe these poor streams their tribute, but to your Lord- 
 ship's ocean ? The rather, since others of the like anti- 
 quity, in my Translation of Homer, teach these their way. 
 and add comfort to their courses, by havinor received 
 right cheerful countenance and approbation from your 
 Lordship's most grave and honoured predecessor. 
 
 All judgments of this season (savouring anything the 
 truth) preferring, to the wisdom of all other nations, 
 these most wise, learned, and circularly -spoken G 
 According to that of the poet — 
 
 Graiis ingenium y GraiU dedit ore rwtmmd§ 
 Mum loqui. 
 
 And why may not this Roman elogy of the Graians ex- 
 
142 
 
 tend in praiseful intention (by way of prophetic poesy) 
 to Graies-Inne wits and orators? Or if the allusion 
 (or petition of the principle) beg with too broad a licence 
 in the general, yet serious truth, for the particular, may 
 most worthily apply it to your Lordship's truly Greek 
 inspiration, and absolutely Attic elocution. Whose all- 
 acknowledged faculty hath banished flattery therein 
 even from the Court ; much more from my country and 
 more-than-upland simplicity. Nor were those Greeks 
 so circular in their elegant utterance, but their inward 
 judgments and learnings were as round and solid ; their 
 solidity proved in their eternity ; and their eternity 
 propagated by love of all virtue and integrity; — that 
 love being the only parent and argument of all truth, in 
 any wisdom or learning, without which all is sophisti- 
 cate and adulterate, howsoever painted and splinted 
 with degrees and languages. Your Lordship's " Ad- 
 vancement of Learning" then, well showing your love 
 to it, and in it, being true, to all true goodness, your 
 learning, strengthening that love, must needs be solid 
 and eternal. This lcttco^ <pco$,* therefore, expressed in 
 tins Author, is used here as if prophesied by him then, 
 now to take life in your Lordship, whose life is chief 
 soul and essence to all knowledge and virtue: so few 
 there are that live now combining honour and learning. 
 This time resembling the terrible time whereof this 
 poet prophesied; to which he desired he might not 
 live, since not a Grace would then smile on any pious 
 or worthy ; all greatness much more gracing impostors 
 
 * Virvere (seu clare) sciens ; aut illustris Judex, velprocul 
 videns Arbiter, quia eos acutos visu, seu gnaros esse oporteat 
 rei de qua agitur. Chapman. 
 
143 
 
 than men truly desertful. The worse depraving the 
 better ; and that so frontlessly, that shame and justice 
 should fly the earth for them. To shame which igno- 
 rant barbarism now emboldened, let your Lordship's 
 learned humanity prove nothing the less gracious to 
 Virtue for the community of Vice's graces ; but shine 
 much the more clear on her for those clouds that eclipse 
 her ; no lustre being so sun-like as that which passeth 
 above all clouds unseen, over fields, turrets, and temples, 
 and breaks out, in free beams, on some humblest cottage. 
 In whose like Jove himself hath been feasted ; and 
 wherein your Lordship may find more honour than in 
 the fretted roofs of the mighty. To which honour, 
 oftentimes, nothing more conduceth than noble accept- 
 ance of most humble presentments. On this nobility 
 in your Lordship my prostrate humility relying, I rest 
 ever submitted, in all simple and hearty vows, 
 
 Your Honour's most truly, 
 
 And freely devoted, 
 
 George Chapman. 
 
OF HESIODUS. 
 
 
 ESIODUS, sumaraed Asmeus, was one, 
 as of the most ancient Greek poets, so 
 one of the purest and pressest writers. 
 He lived in the latter time of Homer, 
 and was surnamed Ascrseus, of Ascra, a town in 
 Helicon ; in which was built a temple sacred to the 
 Muses : whose priest Hesiodus was consecrate ; whom 
 Virgil, among so many writers of Georgics, only imi- 
 tated, professing it in this : 
 
 Ascrcevmque cano Romano. per oppida carmen ,*Egya 
 kou "HpifM. Nor is there any doubt (saith Mel.) quin 
 idem Virgilius initio Georgicorum heme inscriptionem 
 capresserit hoc versu : i Quid faciat latas segetes, quo 
 sidtre terrain' <£c. His authority was such amongst the 
 ancients, that his verses were commonly learned as 
 axioms or oracles, all teachiog good life and humanity ; 
 which though never so profitable for men's now readings, 
 yet had they rather (saith Isocrates) consume their 
 times still in their own follies, than be any time con- 
 versant in these precepts of wisdom ; of which (with 
 Homer)he was first father, whose interpreters were all the 
 
145 
 
 succeeding philosophers — not Aristotle himself ex- 
 cepted: — who before Thales, Solon, Pittacus, Socrates. 
 Plato, ike. writ of life, of manners, of God, of nature, of 
 the stars, and general state of the universe, Xor are his 
 writings the less worthy, that Poesy informed them, but 
 of so much the more dignity and eternity. Xot Thales, 
 nor Anaxagoras, (as Aristotle ingenuously confesseth,) 
 having profited the world so much, with all their writ- 
 ings, as Homer's one Ulysses or Xestor. And sooner 
 shall all the atoms of Epicurus sustain division ; the 
 fire of Heraclitus be utterly quenched ; the water that 
 Thales extols so much be exhausted ; the spirit of 
 Anaximenes vanish ; the discord of Empedocles be re- 
 conciled, and all dissolved to nothing ; before by their 
 most celebrated faculties they do the world so much 
 profit, for all human instruction, as this one work of 
 Hesiodua ! Here being no dwelling on any one subject; 
 but of all human affairs instructively concluded. 
 
TO MY WORTHY FRIEXD MR. GEORGE 
 CHAPMAN, AXD HIS TRANS- 
 LATED IIESIOD. 
 
 HAPMAM", we find, by thy past-prized 
 fraught. 
 What wealth thou dost upon this land 
 
 confer. 
 
 Tli' old Grecian prophets hither that hast brought. 
 
 Of their full words the true interpreter ; 
 
 And by thy travell strongly hast exprest s 
 
 The large dimensions of the English tongue, 
 
 Delivering them so well,, the first and best 
 
 That to the world in numbers ever sung. 
 
 Thou hast unlock'd the treasury wherein 
 
 All art and knowledge have so long been hidden ; 
 
 Which, till the graceful Muses did begin 
 
 Here to inhabit, was to us forbidden. 
 
 In blest Elysium. | in a place most fit) 
 Under that tree due to the Delphian God, 
 Mu&sus and that Iliad Singes sit, is 
 
 And near to them that noble Hesiod, 
 Smoothing their rugged foreheads ; and do smile, 
 After so many hundred years, to see 
 Their Poems read in this far western isle, 
 
147 
 
 Translated from their ancient Greek by thee ; 20 
 
 Each his good Genins whispering in his ear, 
 
 That with so racky and auspicious fate 
 
 Did still attend them whilst they living were, 
 
 And gave their verses such a lasting date. 
 
 Where, slightly passing by the Thespian spring, 25 
 Many long after did but only sup ; 
 Xature, then fruitful, forth these men did bring, 
 To fetch deep roses fron lenteous cup. 
 
 In thy free labours, friend, then rest content, 
 Fear not Detraction, neither fawn on Ran 
 
 nsure all her force hath spent, 
 Knowledge can crown herself with her own bays. 
 Their lines that have so many lives outworn, 
 Clearly expounded, shall >rn. 
 
 MlC HAEL DBAYT 
 
TO MY WORTHY AND HONOURED FRIEND, 
 
 MR. GEORGE CHAPMAN, 
 
 ON HIS TRANSLATION OE HESIOD'S WORKS 
 AND DAYS. 
 
 HOSE work could this be, Chapman, to 
 refine 
 Old Hesiod's ore, and give it us, but thine, 
 Who had'st before wr ought in rich 
 Homer's mine? 
 
 What treasure hast thou brought us ! and what store 
 Still, still, dost thou arrive with at our shore, 5 
 
 To make thy honour and our wealth the more ! 
 
 If all the vulgar tongues that speak this day 
 Were ask'd of thy discoveries, they must say, 
 To the Greek coast thine only knew the way. 
 
 Such passage hast thou found, such returns made, 10 
 As, now of all men, it is called thy trade ; 
 And who make thither else rob, or invade ! 
 
 Ben Jonson. 
 
THE GEORGICS OF HESIOD. 
 
 BY GEORGE CHAP.AIAX. 
 
 THE FIRST BOOK.* 
 
 USES ! that, out of your Pierian state. 
 All worth in sacred numbers celebrate. 
 ) Use b here yourfaculties so much renown'd. 
 To sins- your Sire; c and hini in hymns d 
 resound 
 By whom all humans, that to death are bound, 5 
 
 Are bound together ; both the great in fame, e 
 And men whose poor fates fit them with no name/ 
 Xoble, g and base : h great Jove's will orders all ; 
 For he with ease extols, with ease lets fall ; 
 
 a To approve my difference from the vulgar and verbal ex- 
 p^sition. and other amplifications fit and necessary for the 
 true rendering and illustration of my author, I am enforced 
 tu annex some words of the original to my other annotations. 
 
 3 b A£?T£, hue agite. 
 
 4 C J 
 
 4 ^'Yfiveiovaai. humnis deeantantes. 
 * e &arbe. de quo magna fama est. 
 '_ t ' Aoaroe, non dicendus. incelebris. 
 
 - P//70C, honoratus. nobil'n. 
 8 h "Aooi]7oe* ignobitis, ad nullam functionem seu dignitatem 
 assumptus. 
 
150 FIRST BOOK OF THE 
 
 Eas'ly diminisheth the most in grace, 10 
 
 And lifts the most obscure to loftiest place ; 
 
 Eas'ly sets straight 1 the quite shrunk up together , k 
 
 And makes the most elated 1 beauty wither ; 
 
 And this is Jove, that breaks his voice so high 
 
 In horrid sounds, and dwells above the sky. 15 
 
 Hear, then, O Jove, that dost both see and hear, 
 And, for thy justice' sake, be orderer 
 To these just precepts,™ that in prophecy 11 
 I use, to teach my brother piety. 
 
 ]Sot one Contention on the earth there reigns 20 
 
 To raise men's fortunes and peculiar gains, 
 But two. The one the knowing man approves ; 
 The other hate should force from human loves, 
 Since it derides our reasonable kind, 
 In two p parts parting man's united mind ; 25 
 
 And is so harmful, for pernicious War 
 It feeds, and bites at every Civil Jar ; 
 Which no man q loves, but strong Necessity 
 Doth this Contention, as his plague, imply 
 By Heaven's hid counsels. Th' other Strife black Night 
 Begat before ; which Jove, that in the light 31 
 
 12 i'lOvg, rectus, erectus, non tortuosus. Metaph. 
 
 12 k 2fco\ioc, tortuosus, incurvus. 
 
 13 I'Ayyjvopa icdptpei, superbum, seu jlorentem, facit ut deflo- 
 rescat. 
 
 is m £' lK y o' Wvve. OsfjLHTraQjjudicia vel vera pracepta de moribus, 
 seu pietate. 
 
 18 n hlvO'so^ai, vaticinor. 
 
 23 o'n^pupjyj-frc^ reprehensione, et derisione, digmis. 
 
 25 P*Aj/^a, duas paries. 
 
 28 ^Ovtiq. He says no man loves this war per se, but per ac- 
 cident; because men cannot discern from things truly worthy 
 of their loves those that falsely pretend worth and retain none ; 
 which he ascribes to some secret counsel of Jove, that, for plague 
 to their impieties, strikes blind their understandings. 
 
GEORGICS OF HESIOD. 151 
 
 Of all the stars dwells, and, though thron'd aloft, 
 
 Of each man weighs yet both the work and thought, 
 
 Put in the roots of earth ; from whose womb grow 
 
 Men's needful means to pay the debt they owe 35 
 
 To life and living. And this Strife is far 
 
 More fit for men, and much the sprightlier ; 
 
 For he in whose hands 1 " lives no love of art, 
 
 Nor virtuous industry, yet plucks up heart, 
 
 And falls to work for living. Any one, 40 
 
 Never so stupid and so base a drone, 
 
 Seeing a rich man haste to sow, and plant, 
 
 And guide his house well, feels with shame his want, 
 
 And labours like him. And this Strife is good. 
 
 When Strife for riches warms and fires the blood, 45 
 
 The neighbour doth the neighbour emulate/ 
 
 The potter doth the potter's profit hate, 
 
 The smith the smith with spleen inveterate, 1 
 
 Beggar maligns the beggar for good done, 
 
 And the musician the musician. 50 
 
 This Strife, O Perses, see remember'd still ; 
 But fly Contention that insults on th' ill 11 
 Of other men, and from thy work cloth draw 
 To be a well-seen man in works of law. 
 Nor to those courts afford affected ear ; 55 
 
 For he that hath not, for the entire year, 
 
 38 r 'A7rd\afjLVOQ % cujus manibus nulla ars, nulla sedulitas, inest. 
 
 46 s Z?/\oT. He shows artizans' emulations for riches, and ap- 
 proves that kind of contention. Notwithstanding Plato in 
 Lysias, Aristotle in the 5. of his Pol. and 2. of his Rhetor, and 
 Galen, refer this strife to the first harmful discord, yet Plu- 
 tarch takes our author's part, and ascribes it to the virtuous 
 contention. 
 
 48 l Kor£w, a'stuo ird quam din pressi in pectore. 
 
 52 n "Epig KctKoxapTOQ, alieiiis insultans calamitatibus content io ; 
 which he calls their going to law. 
 
152 FIRST BOOK OF THE 
 
 Enough laid up beforehand, little need 
 
 Hath to take care those factious courts to feed 
 
 With what earth bears, and Ceres doth bestow. 
 
 With which when thou art satiate, nor dost know eo 
 
 What to do with it, then to these wars go 
 
 For others' goods ; but see no more spent so 
 
 Of thine hereafter. Let ourselves decide, 
 
 With dooms direct, all differences implied 
 
 In our affairs ; and, what is ratified 65 
 
 By Jove's will to be ours, account our own ; 
 
 For that thrives ever best. Our discord, grown 
 
 For what did from our father's bounty fall, 
 
 We ended lately, and shared freely all ; 69 
 
 When thou much more than thine hadst ravish'd home, 
 
 With which thou mad'st proud, x and didst overcome, 
 
 With partial affection to thy cause, 
 
 Those gift- devouring kings that sway our laws, 
 
 Who would have still retain'd us in their powers, 
 
 And given by their dooms what was freely Qurs. 75 
 
 O fools, that all things into judgment call, 
 Yet know not how much y half is more than all ! 
 Nor how the mean life is the firmest still, 
 Nor of the mallow and the daffodill 
 
 71 x Meya Kvdaivwv, valde gloriosos reddens. BcKTikrjag dw- 
 pocj)dyovg, reges donivoros. 
 
 77 yUXsov 7]fjiL(Tv 7ravTbg,dimidiumplustoto. He commends the 
 mean, and reproves those kings or judges that are too indul- 
 gent to their covetous and glorious appetites, from the frugal 
 and competent life declining ad 7r\eovfZiav, i.e. ad plus habendi 
 aviditaiem inecchaustam. Showing how ignorant they are 5 that 
 the virtue of justice and mediocrity is to be preferred to in- 
 justice and insatiate avarice. By 1]}jli<jv he understands medium 
 inter Lucrum et damnum, which mean is more profitable and 
 notable than 7ravrog, i. e. toto quo el sua pars reiinetur, et alterius 
 ad se pertrahitur. 
 
GEORGICS OF HESIOB. 153 
 
 How great a good the little meals contain. so 
 
 But God hath hid from men the healthful mean ; 
 For otherwise a man might heap, and play, 
 Enough to serve the whole year in a day, 
 And straight his draught-tree hang up in the smoke, 
 Xor more his labouring mules nor oxen yoke. 35 
 
 But Jove man's knowledge of his best bereav'd, 
 Conceiving anger, since he was deceived 
 By that same wisdom- wresting 2 Japhet's son; 
 For which all ill all earth did overrun. 
 For Jove close keeping in a hollow cave 90 
 
 His holy fire, to serve the use of man, 
 Prometheus stole it, by his human sleight, 
 From him that hath of all heaven's wit the height ; 
 For which He angry, thus to him began 
 The Cloud-assembler : u Thou most crafty man, 95 
 That joy'st to steal my fire, deceiving me, 
 Shalt feel that joy the greater grief to thee, 
 And therein plague thy universal race ; 
 To whom I'll give a pleasing ill, in place 
 Of that good fire, and all shall be so vain 100 
 
 To place their pleasure in embracing pain." 
 
 Thus spake and laugh' d of Grods and Men the Sire, 
 
 And straight enjoin'd the famous God of Fire 
 
 88 z 'AyKv\oiii]Tr]g, he calls Prometheus, i. e. qui obliqua agitut 
 consilia ; who wrests that wisdom, which God hath given him 
 to use to his glory, to his own ends : which is cause to all the 
 miseries men suffer, and of all their impious actions that de- 
 serve them. Jove's Fire signifies Truth, which Prometheus 
 stealing, figures learned men's over-subtle abuse of divine 
 knowledge, wresting it in false expositions to their own objects, 
 thereby to inspire and puff up their own profane earth, in- 
 tending their corporeal parts, and the irreligious delights of 
 them. But, for the mythology of this, read my Lord Chan- 
 cellor's book, De Sapientid Veterum, cap. 26, being infinitely 
 better. 
 
154 FIRST BOOK OF THE 
 
 To mingle, instantly, with water earth ; 
 
 The voice and vigour of a human birth a 105 
 
 Imposing in it, and so fair a face 
 
 As match' d th' Immortal Goddesses in grace, 
 
 Her form presenting a most lovely maid. 
 
 Then on Minerva his command he laid 
 
 To make her work, and wield the witty loom. 110 
 
 And, for her beauty, such as might become 
 
 The golden Yenus, he commanded her 
 
 Upon her brows and countenance to confer 
 
 Her own bewitchings ; stuffing all her breast 
 
 With wild b desires incapable of rest, 115 
 
 And cares that feed to all satiety 
 
 All human lineaments. The crafty Spy 
 
 And Messenger of Godheads, Mercury, 
 
 He charg'd t' inform her with a dogged c mind, 
 
 And thievish manners. All as he design'd 120 
 
 Was put in act. A creature straight had frame 
 
 Like to a virgin, mild and full of shame ; 
 
 Which Jove's suggestion made the Both-foot-lame 
 
 Form so deceitfully, and all of earth 
 
 To forge the living matter of her birth. 125 
 
 Grey-eyed Minerva put her girdle on, 
 
 And show'd how loose parts, well composed, shone. 
 
 The deified Graces, and the Dame d that sets 
 
 Sweet words in chief form, golden carquenets 
 
 Embrac'd her neck withal. The fair-hair'd Hours 130 
 
 Jos a j v e ' s creation of a woman. 
 
 1)5 b Kai 7r69ov. An unwearied and wanton desire to exceed 
 others, or an insatiate longing to be loved of all. Tvioicopog, 
 membra ad satietatem usque depascens. MeXediovag, cares, or 
 meditations of voluptuous satisfactions. 
 
 1,9 c Kvve6v re loov, caninam mentem, vel impudentem, icai 
 l7TiK\o7rov ri9og.furac.es mores. 
 
 128 d llet9oj } or Suada, Goddess of persuasion, or eloquence. 
 
GEOEGICS OF HESIOD. 155 
 
 Her gracious temples crown' d with fresh spring-flowers. 
 
 But of all these, employ' d in several place, 
 
 Pallas gave order 6 the impulsive grace. 
 
 Her boBOm Hermes, the great God of spies. 
 
 With subtle fashions filTd, fair words, and lies ; 135 
 
 Jove prompting still. But all the voice f she us'd 
 
 The vocal herald of the Gods infus'd, 
 
 And calTd her name Pandora, since on her 
 
 The Gods did all their several gifts confer ; 
 
 Who made her such, in every moving strain, 
 
 To he the bane of curious-minded men. 
 
 Her harmful and inevitable frame 
 At all parts perfect, Jove dismiss'd the Dame 
 To Epiinetheus, in his herald's guide, 
 With all the Gods' plagues in a box beside. us 
 
 Nor Epimetheus kept one word in store 
 Of what Prometheus had advised before, 
 "Which was : That Jove should fasten on his hand 
 Xo gift at all, but he his wile withstand, 
 And back return it, lest with instant ill 150 
 
 To mortal men he all the world did till. 
 But he first took the gift, and after griev'd. g 
 
 133 e 'E(f)j]pf.io(TS, impetu inspirabat, gave special force to all her 
 attractions : which he says Pallas did, to show that to all beauty 
 wisdom and discreet behaviour give the chief excitement. 
 
 136 f 3>wi'?)y. Her voice the vecal or high-spoken herald of 
 the gods imposed ; all fair women affecting to be furthest heard, 
 as well as most seen. 
 
 152 B '£ vor](T8. When he had received and tried the ill, he knew 
 it was ill. and grieved : but then was so infected with affection 
 to it, that he could not reform nor refine it. For man's cor- 
 poreal part, which is figured in Epimetheus, signifying the 
 inconsiderate and headlong force of affection, nut obeying his 
 reasonable part or soul, nor using foresight fit for the preven- 
 tion of ill, which is figured in Prometheus, he is deceived 
 with a false shadow of pleasure ; for the substantial and true 
 
FIE ST BOOK OF THE 
 
 For first the families of mortals 1: 
 
 Without and free from ill : harsh labour then, 
 
 N -' ; as, hasting timeless age on men, 155 
 
 ir hard and wretehed tasks impos'd on them 
 For manv Years : but now a violent stream 
 Of all afflictions in an instant came, 
 And quench" d life's light that shin'd before in flame. 
 
 when the woman h the unwieldy lid iGO 
 
 Had once discover d, all the miseries hid 
 In that curs'd cabinet dispers'd and flew 
 About the world ; joys pined, and sorrows grew. 
 Hope only rested in the box's brim. 
 And took not wing from thence. Jove prompted him 
 That owd the cabinet to clap it close 166 
 
 Before she parted ; but unnumber'd woes 
 Brides encount'red men in all their way- ; 
 Full were all shores of them, and full all seas. 
 
 delight, fit to be embraced, which, found by Event (the school- 
 master of fools), he repents too late. And, therefore, Horace 
 truly, tweet empta dolare toluptas. 
 
 199 h 'AAXd yvvriy of this came the proverb, ywaixuw ok&poc. 
 the plague of women ; and by the woman is understood Appe- 
 tite, or Effeminate Affection, and customary or fashionable in- 
 dulgence to the blood, not only in womanish affections, hot in 
 the general fashions of men's judgments and actions, both 
 (ijpayvyuci). id est, populariter, or gratia et authoritatc qua quis 
 to let apudpopulum; and ^^xayvyucif, id est, vi ducendi etjiectendi 
 animum. intending illusively, by this same docta ignorant ia. of 
 which many learned leaders of the mind are guilty ; and <rvp- 
 fer&dife, id est, the common source or sink of the vulgar, pre- 
 vailing past the nobility and piety of humanity and religion, 
 iiich all sincere discipline is dissolved or corrupted, and 
 so that discipline taken away (tanquam opereulo Pandora), both 
 the human body's and mind's dissolution, instantly (as out of 
 the cave of JEolos) let the winds or forces of corruption violently 
 break, qua data porta, ruunt, et terras turbine perfiamt. All 
 which notwithstanding, no course or custom is so desperate in 
 infection, bat some hope is left to escape their punishment in 
 man, according to Ovid, rhere spe vidi, qui murriturus erat. 
 
GEORGICS OF HESIOD. 157 
 
 Diseases, day and night, with natural wings 170 
 
 And silent entries stole on men their stings ; 
 
 The great in counsels, Jove, their voices reft, 
 
 That not the truest might avoid their theft, 
 
 Nor any 'scape the ill, in any kind, 
 
 Besolv'd at first in his almighty mind. 175 
 
 And, wert thou willing, I would add to this 
 A second cause of men's calamities, 
 Sing all before, and since, nor will be long, 
 But short, and knowing ; and t' observe my song, 
 Be thy conceit and mind's retention strong. iso 
 
 When first both Gods and Men had one time's birth. 
 The Gods of diverse-languag'd men on Earth 
 A Golden 1 world produc'd, that did sustain 
 Old Saturn's rule when he in heaven did reign ; 
 And then liv'd men, like Gods, k in pleasure here, 185 
 Indued with minds secure ; from toils, griefs, clear ; 
 Nor noisome age made any crooked ; there 
 Their feet went ever naked as their hands ; 
 Their cates were blessed, serving their commands, 
 With ceaseless plenties ; all days sacred made 190 
 
 To feasts, that surfeits never could invade. 
 Thus liv'd they long, and died as seis'd with sleep ; 
 All good things serv'd them ; fruits did ever keep 
 Their free fields crown'd, that all abundance bore ; 
 
 183 l Xpu(jeov. Not only this description of Ages (as the 
 critics observe) is imitated by all the Latin poets, but all the 
 rest of this author 5 and chiefly by Virgil himself. His sen- 
 tence and invention made so common, that their community 
 will darken the rarity of them in their original. And this was 
 called the Golden Age (according to Plato) for the virtuous 
 excellency of men's natural dispositions and manners. 
 
 185 k "Q(Tra Qeoi, sed ut dii vivebant homines. The poet, says 
 Melancthon, could not but have some light of our parents' 
 lives in Paradise. 
 
158 FIRST BOOK OF THE 
 
 All which all equal shared, and none wish'd more. 195 
 
 And, when the Earth had hid them, Jove's will was, 
 
 The good should into heavenly natures pass ; 
 
 Yet still held' state on earth, and guardians 1 were 
 
 Of all hest mortals still surviving there, 
 
 Observed works just and unjust, clad in air, 200 
 
 And, gliding undiscover'd everywhere, 
 
 Gave riches where they pleased ; and so were reft 
 
 Nothing of all the royal rule they left. 
 
 The Second Age, that next succeeded this, 
 Was far the worse ; which heaven-hous'd Deities 205 
 Of Silver fashion'd ; not like that of Gold 
 In disposition, nor so wisely soul'd. 
 For children then liv'd in their mothers' cares 
 (All that time growing still) a hundred years ; 
 And were such great fools at that age, that they 210 
 Could not themselves dispose a family. 
 And when they youths grew, having reach' d the date 
 That rear'd their forces up to man's estate, 
 They liv'd small space, and spent it all in pain, 
 
 198 l $v\aKeg avOpwTTwv, custodes hominum ; from hence the 
 opinion springeth that every man hath his good angel ; which 
 sort of spirits, however discredited now to attend and direct 
 men, Plutarch, in his Commentaries De Oraculovum Defectu, 
 defends to retain assured being, in this sort; as if a man 
 should take away the interjected air betwixt the earth and 
 the moon, that man must likewise dissolve all the coherence 
 and actual unity of the universe, leaving vacuum in medio, and 
 necessar}' bond of it all ; so they that admit no Genii leave be- 
 twixt God and men no reasonable mean for commerce, the 
 interpretative and administering faculty, as Plato calls it, be- 
 twixt them utterly destroying, and withdrawing consequently 
 all their reciprocal and necessary uses ; as the witches of 
 Thessaly are said to pluck the moon out of her sphere. But 
 these men being good, turned only good Genii ; the next Age, 
 men, being bad, turned in their next being bad Genii, of which 
 after was held a man's good and bad Genius. 
 
GEORGICS OF HESIOD. 159 
 
 Caused by their follies ; not of power t' abstain 215 
 
 From doing one another injury. 
 
 Nor would they worship any Deity, 
 
 Nor on the holy altars of the Blest 
 
 Any appropriate sacrifice addrest, 
 
 As fits the fashion of all human birth. 220 
 
 For which Jove, angry, hid them straight in earth, 
 
 Since to the blessed Deities of heaven 
 
 They gave not those respects they should have given. 
 
 But when the Earth had hid these like the rest, 
 
 They then were call'd the subterrestrial blest, m 225 
 
 And in bliss second, having honours then 
 
 Fit for the infernal spirits of powerful men. 
 
 Then form'd our Father Jove a Third Descent, 
 Whose Age was Brazen ; clearly different 
 From that of Silver. All the mortals there 230 
 
 Of wild ash fashion'd, stubborn and austere ; 
 "Whose minds the harmful facts of Mars affected, 
 And petulant injury. All meats rejected 
 Of natural fruits and herbs. And these were they 
 That first began that table cruelty 235 
 
 Of slaught'ring beasts ; and therefore grew they fierce, 
 And not to be endur'd in their commerce. 
 Their ruthless minds in adamant were cut, 
 
 225 m 'YttoxGowoi fnaicapeg, subterranei beati mortales vocantur. 
 Out of their long lives and little knowledges, in neglect of re- 
 ligion, subject to painful and bitter death ; where the former 
 good men sweetly slept him out. But for the powers of their 
 bodies, being fashioned of the world's yet fresh and vigorous 
 matter, their spirits that informed their bodies are supposed 
 secondly powerful ; and that is intended in their recourse to 
 earthly men, such as themselves were, furthering their affec- 
 tions and ambitions to ill, for which they had honour of those 
 men, and of them were accounted blest, as the former good 
 Genii were so, indeed, for exciting men to goodness. 
 
160 FIRST BOOK OF THE 
 
 Their strengths were dismal, and their shoulders put 
 
 Inaccessible hands out over all ; 240 
 
 Their brawny limbs arm'd with a brazen wall. 
 
 Their houses all were brazen, all of brass 
 
 Their working instruments, for black iron was 
 
 As jet unknown. And these (their own lives ending, 
 
 The vast and cold-sad house of hell descending) 245 
 
 No grace had in their ends ; n but though they were 
 
 Xever so powerful, and enforcing fear, 
 
 Black death reduc'd their greatness in their spight 
 
 T' a little room, and stopped their cheerful light. 
 
 "When these left life, a Fourth Kind Jove gave birth 
 Upon the manj-a-creature-nourishing earth ; 251 
 
 More just, and better than this race before — 
 Divine heroes, that the surnames bore 
 Of semigods ; p yet these impetuous fight 
 And bloody war bereft of life and light. 255 
 
 Some, in Cadm£ean earth, contentious 
 
 246 n^ ( ^ VV j JLV0L These he intends were such rude and 
 powerful men, as not only refused, like the second sort, to 
 do honour to the Deities, but directly rebelled against them, 
 and affected here in earth celestial empery ; for which the Ce- 
 lestials let them see that they need none but themselves to 
 take down their affectations 5 and for their so huge conceit of 
 themselves had never any least honour of others, which many 
 great men of this Iron Age need not be ignorant, therefore, is 
 the event of such great ones ; and, howsoever they laugh in 
 their sleeves at any other being than this, they may take notice 
 by their wisers, that, even according to reason, both, there are 
 other beings, and differences of those beings, both in honours 
 and miseries. 
 
 249 °Ei/\iw, in arctum cogo, seu in angustum redigo. 
 
 254 P'HfiiOeoiisemidei. Intending Hercules, Jason, and others 
 of those Argonauts whose ship was vrjvg 'Apyw izaGiiikXovaa, 
 navis omnibus cura, because it held the care of all men in those 
 that were in her 5 intending of all the virtuous men that were 
 then of name, who were called semigods for their godlike 
 virtues. 
 
GEOBGICS OF HE SI OB. 161 
 
 To prise the infinite wealth of QEdipus, 
 
 Before seven-ported p Thebes; some shipp'd upon 
 
 The ruthless waves, and led to Ilion, 
 
 For fair-hair'd Helen's love ; where, likewise, thej 230 
 
 In bounds of death confin'd the beams -of day. 
 
 To these yet Jove gave second life, and seat 
 At ends of all the earth ; in a retreat 
 From human feet, where souls secure they bear, 
 Amids the Blessed Islands, q situate near 265 
 
 The gulfy-whirl-pit-eating ocean flood, 
 Happy heroes living ; for whose food 
 The plenty-bearing Tellus, thrice a year, 
 Delicious fruits and fragrant herbs doth bear. 
 
 O that I might not live now, to partake 270 
 
 The Age that must the Fifth succession make, 
 But either die before, or else were born 
 When all that Age is into ashes worn ! 
 For that which next springs, in supply of this, 
 "Will all of Iron 1 " produce his families ; 275 
 
 Whose bloods shall be so banefully corrupt 
 They shall not let them sleep, but interrupt 
 With toils and miseries all their rests and fares, 
 The Gods such grave and soul- dissecting cares 
 Shall steep their bosoms in. And yet some good 2so 
 
 258 P < E7rra7rt'X<>j. He calls this seven-ported Thebes, to dis- 
 tinguish it from that of Egypt, that had 100 ports, besides 
 that Hyppoplace in Cilicia. 
 
 265 q'Ey fiaKapojv viiaotai, in beatorum insulis ; of which For- 
 tunate Islands, vide Horn. Odyss. 8. 
 
 275 r Tsvog karl (Tidrfpeov, cnj us genus est ferreum. This Fifth 
 Age he only prophesied of, almost three thousand years since ; 
 which falling out in this age especially true shows how divine 
 a truth inspired him 5 and whether it be lawful or not, with 
 Plato and all the formerly learned, to give these worthiest 
 poets the commendation of divine. 
 
162 FIRST BOOK OF THE 
 
 Will God mix with their bad ; for when the blood 
 
 Faints in their nourishment, and leaves their hair 
 
 A little gray, Jove's hand will stop the air 
 
 'Twixt them and life, and take them straight away. 
 
 'Twixt men and women shall be such foul play 285 
 
 In their begetting pleasures, and their race 
 
 Spring from such false seed, that the son's stol'n face 
 
 Shall nought be like the sire's, the sire no more 
 
 Seen in his issue. No friend, as before, 
 
 Shall like his friend be ; nor no brother rest 290 
 
 Kind like his brother ; no guest like a guest 
 
 Of former times ; no child use like a child 
 
 His aged parents, but with manners wild 
 
 Revile and shame them ; their impiety 
 
 Shall never fear that God's all-seeing eye 295 
 
 Is fixt upon them, but shall quite despise 
 
 Repayment of their education's price, 
 
 s Bear their law in their hands, and when they get 
 
 Their father's free-given goods, account them debt. 
 
 City shall city ransack ; not a grace 300 
 
 To any pious man shall show her face, 
 
 Nor to a just or good man. All, much more, 
 
 Shall grace a beastly and injurious bore. 
 
 No right shall seize on any hand of theirs, 
 
 Nor any shame make blush their black affairs. 305 
 
 The worse shall worse the better with bad words, 
 
 And swear him out of all his right affords. 
 
 Ill-lung'd,* ill-liver'd, ill-complexion'd Spight 
 
 298 8 XeipoSUaiy quibus jus est in manibus ; all this Ovid 
 translates : Nee hospes ab hospite tutus, non socer a genero ; fratrum 
 quoque gratia vara est. 
 
 303 [tf ore — boor.] 
 
 308 l AvcnckXadoQ, male seu graviter sonans; kclkoxo-PTOq, malis 
 
GEOBGICS OF HESIOD. 163 
 
 Shall consort all the miserable plight 
 
 Of men then living. Justice then, and Shame, 310 
 
 Clad in pure white (as if they never came 
 
 In touch of those societies) shall fly 
 
 Up to the Gods' immortal family, 
 
 From broad-way'd earth ; and leave grave griefs to men, 
 
 That (desp'rate of amends) must hear all then. 315 
 
 But now to kings a fable I'll obtrude, 
 Though clear they savor all it can include : 
 The hawk u once having trust up in his seres 
 The sweet-tun'd nightingale, and to the spheres 
 His prey transferring, with his talons she 320 
 
 Pinch'd too extremely, and incessantly 
 Crying for anguish, this imperious speech 
 He gave the poor bird : "Why complain' st thou wretch? 
 One holds thee now that is thy mightier far ; 
 Go as he guides, though ne'er so singular 325 
 
 Thou art a singer ; it lies now in me 
 To make thee sup me, or to set thee free. 
 Fool that thou art, whoever will contend 
 With one whose faculties his own transcend 
 Both fails of conquest, and is likewise sure 330 
 
 Besides his wrong he shall bad words endure." 
 
 Thus spake the swift and broad-wing'd bird of prey. 
 But hear x thou justice, and hate injury. 
 
 gaudens, vel quo mali gaudent et delectantur, vel alienis insultans 
 calamitatibus ; GTvyepwirriQ) inviso aspectu, et torvis oculis cer- 
 nens; all epithets of £?jj\oc. 
 
 318 u"jp^^ accipiter. The manners of the mighty towards 
 the mean are figured in this fiction by the nightingale under- 
 standing learned and virtuous men. The following verse, dtypiov, 
 imprudens, <Sfc. follows the most Sacred Letter, non esse reluctan- 
 dum potentioribus. 
 
 333 xT Q Tlkptjr}. He speaks to his brother and returns to his 
 first proposition ; of the fit contention to which he persuaded 
 
164 FIRST BOOK OF THE 
 
 Wrong touches near a miserable man ; 
 
 For (though most patient) yet he hardly can 335 
 
 Forbear just words, and feel injurious deeds. 
 
 Unjust loads vex ; he hardly bears that bleeds. 
 
 And yet hath Wrong to Eight a better way, 
 
 For in the end will Justice win the day. 
 
 Till which who bears sees then amends arise ; 340 
 
 The fool y first suffers, and is after wise. 
 
 But crooked 2 Justice jointly hooks with it 
 
 Injurious Perjury ; and that unfit 
 
 Outrage brib'd judges use, that makes them draw 
 
 The way their gifts go, ever cuts out law 845 
 
 By crooked measures. Equal Justice then, 
 
 All clad in air, th' ill minds of bribed men 
 
 Comes after mourning, mourns the city's ill, 
 
 Which, where she is expelled, she brings in still. 
 
 But those that with impartial dooms extend 350 
 
 As well to strangers as their household friend 
 
 The law's pure truth, and will in no point stray 
 
 From forth the straight tract of the equal way, 
 
 With such the city all things noble nourish, 
 
 him before 5 and though shame and injustice are fled in others, 
 yet he wisheth him to love and embrace them. The elegant 
 description immediately before being truly philosophical, and 
 is handled at large by Plato in Protagoras. 
 
 341 y IIa9(hv vrj7TLog, passns vero stultus sapit, which was since 
 usurped proverbially ; signifying that wisdom to be folly that 
 we learn but of our own first suffered afflictions, which yet I 
 think far exceeds any wisdom that was never taught nor con- 
 firmed by first feeling infortunes and calamities. 
 
 342 z 2*coXi5J7<xi diKyaiv properly signifies curvis vet tortuosis 
 judiciia, which, he says, ravish together with them perjury. 
 
 Alluding to crooked things, or things wrapt together like 
 brambles, that catch and keep with them whatsoever touches 
 them. Our proverb, to overtake with a crooked measure, not 
 ridiculously applied to this grave metaphor; <yico\iai diicai, 
 not signifying in this place what our critics teach, vid. lites 
 iniquas, but judicia iniqua seu iortuosa. 
 
GEORGICS OF HESIOD. 165 
 
 With such the people in their profits flourish ; 355 
 
 Sweet Peace along the land goes, nor to them 
 
 All- seeing Jove will destinate th' extreme 
 
 Of baneful war. Xo hunger ever comes, 
 
 Xo ill, where judge? use impartial dooms. 
 
 But o-oods well o-ot maintain still neighbour feasts : 360 
 
 The fields flow there with lawful interests ; 
 
 On hills the high oak acorns bears ; in dales 
 
 Th' industrious bee her honey sweet exhales, 
 
 And full-fell'd sheep are shorn with festivals : 
 
 There women bring forth children like their sire, 365 
 
 And all, in all kinds, find their own entire ; 
 
 Nor ever plow they up the barren seas. 
 
 Their own fat fields yield store enough to please. 
 
 But whom rude Injury delights, and acts 
 
 That misery and tyranny contracts, 370 
 
 Sharp-sighted Jove for such predestines pain 5 
 
 And oftentimes a the whole land doth sustain, 
 
 For one man's wickedness, that thriving in 
 
 In equal dooms, still makes him sentence him. 
 
 For where such men bear privileged office still, 375 
 
 372 ^JJoWuKi. Oftentimes for one ill man a whole city suf- 
 fers: which sentence, in near the same words, is used in Eccle- 
 siastes. Save universa civitas mali viri panam luit. And as before 
 he recounts the blessings that accompany good kings or judges, 
 so here he remembers the plagues that pursue the bad, enforciDg 
 in both, as I may say. the ebbing or flowing of every common- 
 wealth by them. For law being soul to every such politic 
 body, and judges, as if essence to that soul, in giving it form 
 and being, according to their sentence and expositions of it, 
 the body politic of force must fare well or ill, as it is governed 
 well or ill ; no otherwise than as the body of a man suffers 
 good or ill by his soul's good or bad information and discipline. 
 These threats used here, saith Melancthon, as in divers other 
 places of this divine poet, he questionless gathered out of the 
 doctrine of Moses and the Prophets, with whom the like com- 
 minations are everywhere frequent. 
 
166 FIRST BOOK OF THE 
 
 There Jove pours down whole deluges of ill ; 
 
 Famine and Pestilence together go ; 
 
 The people perish ; women barren grow ; 
 
 Whole houses vanish there sometimes in peace ; 
 
 And sometimes armies, rais'd to shield th ? increase 380 
 
 The Gods late gave them, even those Gods destroy, 
 
 Their rampires ruin, and let Rapine joy 
 
 The goods Injustice gather' d ; or, elsewhere, 
 
 Jove sinks their ships, and leaves their ventures there. 
 
 Weigh, then, b yourselves this justice, O ye kings ; 385 
 
 For howsoever oft unequal things 
 
 Obtain their pass, they pass not so the eyes 
 
 Of all the all- discerning Deities ; 
 
 For close and conversant their virtues be 
 
 With men ; and, how they grate each other, see, 390 
 
 With wrested judgments ; yielding no cares due 
 
 To those sure wreaks with which the Gods pursue 
 
 Unequal judges. Though on earth there are 
 
 Innumerable Gods that minister 
 
 Beneath great Jove, that keep men, clad in air, 395 
 
 Corrupt dooms noting, and each false affair, 
 
 And, gliding through the earth, are everywhere. 
 
 Justice is seed to Jove, in all fame dear, 
 
 And reverend to the Gods inhabiting Heaven, 
 
 And still a Virgin ; whom when men ill given 400 
 
 Hurt, and abhorring from the right shall wrong, 
 
 She, for redress, to Jove her sire complains 
 
 385 bKai avrol. He would have judges enter into considera- 
 tion themselves of the dangers in injustice, which presently 
 after he reduces into three arguments. The first, ol avrtfi, sihi 
 ipsi, which sentence to admiration agrees to that of the Scrip- 
 ture, Incidit infoveam quam fecit ; the second for fear of further 
 punishment from God ; the third he makes out of the natural 
 indignity and absurdity of the thing. 
 
GEOBGICS OF HESIOD. 167 
 
 Of the unjust mind every man sustains, 
 
 And prays the people may repay the pains 
 
 Their kings have forfeited in their offences, 405 
 
 Depraving justice, and the genuine senses 
 
 Of laws corrupted in their sentences. 
 
 Observing this, ye gift- devouring kings, 
 
 Correct your sentences ; and to their springs 
 
 Eemember ever to reduce those streams 410 
 
 Whose crooked courses every man condemns. 
 
 Whoever forgeth for another ill, 
 
 With it himself is overtaken still. 
 
 In ill men run on that they most abhor ; 
 
 111 counsel worst is to the councellor. 415 
 
 For Jove's eye all things seeing, and knowing all, 
 
 Even these things, if he will, of force must fall 
 
 Within his sight and knowledge ; nor to him 
 
 Can these brib'd dooms in cities shine so dim 
 
 But he discerns them, and will pay them pain ; 420 
 
 Else would not I live justly amongst men, 
 
 Nor to my justice frame my childeren, 
 
 If to be just is ever to be ill, 
 
 And that the unjust finds most justice still, 
 
 And Jove gave each man in the end his will. 42^ 
 
 But he that loves the lightning (I conceive) 
 
 To these things thus will no conclusion give. 
 
 However, Perses, c put these in thy heart, 
 
 428 c T Q Us per}. He persuades his brother to the love of justice 
 by argument taken from the true nature of man, that, by 
 virtue of his divine soul, naturally loves it ; because God in- 
 fused into that divine beam of his being immortal a love to 
 that that preserved immortality without that immortal destruc- 
 tion affected in injustice. Fishes, beasts, and fowls, endued 
 naturally with no such love to justice, but allowed by God to 
 do like themselves and devour one another ; which that men 
 should do as well as they, is most inhuman and full of confu- 
 
168 FIRST BOOK OF THE 
 
 And to the equity of things convert 
 
 Thy mind's whole forces, all thought striking dead 430 
 
 To that foul Rapine that hath now such head. 
 
 For in our manhoods Jove hath justice clos'd, 
 
 And as a law upon our souls impos'd. 
 
 Fish, fowl, and savage beasts, (whose law is pow'r) 
 
 Jove lets each other mutually devour, 435 
 
 Because they lack the equity he gives 
 
 To govern men, as far best for their lives ; 
 
 And therefore men should follow it with strives. 
 
 For he that knows the justice of a cause, 
 
 And will in public ministry of laws 440 
 
 Give sentence to his knowledge, be he sure 
 
 God will enrich him. But who dares abjure 
 
 His conscious knowledge, and belie the law, 
 
 Past cure will that wound in his conscience draw, 
 
 And for his radiance now his race shall be 445 
 
 The deeper plung'd in all obscurity. 
 
 The just man's state shall in his seed exceed, 
 
 And, after him, breed honours as they breed. 
 
 But why men's ills prevail so much with them, 
 I, that the good know, will uncloud the beam 450 
 
 In whose light lies the reason. With much ease 
 To Vice, and her love, men may make access, 
 Such crews in rout herd to her, and her court 
 So passing near lies, their way sweet and short ; 
 But before Virtue d do the Gods rain sweat, 455 
 
 sion, as well in their deformed mixture as in the ruin that in- 
 separably follows it. But his confidence here, that whosoever 
 will do justice freely, and without respect of riches, God will 
 enrich him, and that the worse-inclined will feel it in the hell 
 of his conscience, the other's seed prospering beyond himself, 
 is truly religious and right Christian. 
 455 d T jj£ §* &p eT jjg } ante virtutem. His argument to persuade 
 
QEOBQICS OF HESIOD. 169 
 
 Through which, with toil and half- dissolved feet, 
 
 You must wade to her ; her path long and steep, 
 
 And at your entry 'tis so sharp and deep, 
 
 But scaling once her height, the joy is more 
 
 Than all the pain she put you to before. 460 
 
 The pain at first, then, both to love and know 
 
 Justice and Virtue, and those few that go 
 
 Their rugged way, is cause 'tis follow'd lest. 
 
 e Of all men, therefore, he is always best 
 
 That, not depending on the mightiest, 465 
 
 Nor on the most, hath of himself descried 
 
 All things becoming ; and goes fortified 
 
 In his own knowledge so far as t' intend 
 
 to Virtue here is taken both from her own natural fate and 
 the divine disposition of God ; for as she hath a body, being 
 supposed the virtue of man, and through the worthily exercised 
 and instructed organs of that body her soul receives her exci- 
 tation to all her expressible knowledge (for dati sunt sensus ad 
 eicitandum intellectum), so to the love and habit of knowledge 
 and Virtue there is first necessarily required a laborious and 
 painful conflict, fought through the knowledge and hate of the 
 miseries and beastliness of Vice ; and this painful passage to 
 Virtue Virgil imitated in his translation of the Pythagorean 
 letter Y. Icpojg, or sudor, is to be understood of sweat, ex labore 
 etfatigatione orto. 
 
 464 e Ovroc fitv 7ravdpKTrog. He tells here who is at all parts 
 the best and happiest man, which Virgil even to a word almost 
 recites, and therefore more than imitates, in this, Felix qui 
 potuit rerum cognoscere causas, &cc. wherein our divine and all- 
 teaching poet since describes three sorts of men ; one that loves 
 virtue out of knowledge acquired and elaborate, which the 
 philosopher calls scientiam acquwtam ; the second, that loves 
 her out of admonitions, which he calls iufusam scientiam ; the 
 third is he that hath neither of those two knowledges, nor is 
 capable of either, having both these ignorances in him, viz. 
 ignorantiam praviz dispositionis and puree negationis. Livy, as 
 well as Virgil, recites this place almost ad verbum in Fabio et 
 Minutio, in these words, S<epe ego audivi, milites, eum primum esse 
 virum qui ipse consulat quid in rem sit ; secundum eum qui bene 
 monenti obediat ; qui nee ipse consulere nee alleri parere scit eum 
 extremi ingenii esse. 
 
170 FIRST BOOK OF THE 
 
 "What now is beat* and will be best at thend. 
 
 he is good, too, and enough doth kn< 
 That only follows, being admonish'd fa 
 But he that neither of himself can tell 
 What fits a man, nor being admonished well 
 Will give his mind to learn, but flat refuse, 
 That man < from every human use. 
 
 Dp thou, then, ever in thy memory place 
 My precepts, Perses, sprung of sacred race, 
 And work out what thou knoVst not, that with hate 
 Famine may prosecute thy full es: 
 
 I rich-wreath'd Ceres (reverenc'd of all) 
 as much, and make her festival 
 Amids thy granaries. Famine evermore 
 Is natural consort of the idle boor. 
 Whoever idly lives, both Gods and men 
 Pursue with hateful and stffi-pmiishing spleen. 
 
 tibial man is like the stingless drone, 
 That all his power and disposition 
 Employs to rob the labours of the bee, 
 And with his sloth devours her indus: 
 
 :ou repose thy special pleasure, then, 430 
 
 I -:ill being conversant with temperate pain, 
 That to thee still the Seasons may send home 
 Their utmost store. With labour men become 
 Herdful and rich ; with labour thou shalt prove 
 
 est both in human and the Deities' lev 435 
 
 One with another, all combin'd in one, 
 Hate with infernal horror th' idle drone. 
 Labour, and thrive, and th 5 idle 'twill inflame. 
 
 hame to Labour ; Sloth is y th shanie. 
 
 Glory and Virtue into consort fall 5co 
 
GEORGICS OF HESIOD. 171 
 
 With wealth ; wealth, Godlike, wins the grace of all ; 
 
 Since which jet springs out of the root of pain, 
 
 f Pain hath precedence, so thou dost maintain 
 
 The temper fitting, and the foolish vein 
 
 Of striving for the wealth of other men 505 
 
 Thou giv'st no vent, hut on thine own affairs 
 
 Convert' st thy mind, and thereon lay'st thy cares. 
 
 And then put on with all the spirit you can ; 
 
 Shame is not good in any needy man. 
 
 Shame much obscures, and makes as much to fame ; 
 
 Wealth loves audacity ; Want favours shame. 511 
 
 Eiches, not ravish'd, hut divinely sent 
 
 For virtuous labour, are most permanent. 
 
 If any stand on force, and get wealth so, 
 
 Or with the tongue spoil, as a number do, 515 
 
 When gain, or craft, doth overgo the soul, 
 
 And impudence doth honest shame controul, 
 
 God easily can the so-made-great disgrace, 
 
 And his house, rais'd so, can as easily race. 
 
 Eiches bear date but of a little space. 520 
 
 g Who wrongs an humble suppliant, doth offend 
 As much as he that wrongs a guest, or friend. 
 
 503 f 'EpydZevQai, laborare autem melius. Notwithstanding he 
 hath no other way to persuade his unwise brother to follow 
 his business, and leave his strife in law for other men's goods, 
 but to propose wealth and honour for the fruits of it, yet he 
 prefers labour alone, joined with love of virtue and justice, 
 and the good expence of a man's time, before wealth and honour 
 with covetousness and contention. 
 
 521 s^Ivov 8' oq, par est delictum. He says it is as great a sin 
 to wrong a poor suppliant as to wrong a man's best friend or 
 guest, which was then held one of the greatest impieties ; and 
 to deceive an orphan of his dead parent's gift he affirms to be 
 nothing less an offence than to ascend to the bed of his brother 5 
 not that he makes all sins alike, but shows how horrible those 
 sins are with which we are most familiar. 
 
172 FIRST BOOK OF THE 
 
 Who for his brother's wife's love doth ascend 
 
 His brother's bed, and hath his vicious end, 
 
 Offends no more than he that doth deceive 525 
 
 An orphan of the goods his parents leave ; 
 
 Or he that in the wretched bounds of age 
 
 Eeviles his father. All these Jove enrage, 
 
 And shall receive of him revenge at last, 
 
 Inflicting all pains that till then they past. 530 
 
 From all these, therefore, turn thy striving mind, 
 And to thy utmost see the Gods assign'd, 
 Chastely and purely, all their holy dues. 
 Burn fattest thighs to them ; and sometimes use 
 Off 'rings of wine ; sometimes serve their delights 535 
 With burning incense ; both when bed-time cites 
 And when from bed the sacred morning calls ; 
 That thou may'st render the Celestials 
 All ways propitious ; and so none else gather 
 Thy fortunes strow'd, but thou reap others rather. 540 
 
 Suffer thy foe thy table ; call thy friend 
 In chief one near, for if occasion send 
 Thy household use of neighbours, they undrest 
 Will haste to thee, where thy allies will rest 
 Till they be ready. An ill neighbour is 545 
 
 A curse ; a good one is as great a bliss. 
 He hath a treasure, by his fortune sign'd, 
 That hath a neighbour of an honest mind. 
 ~No loss of ox, or horse, a man shall bear, 
 Unless a wicked neighbour dwell too near. 550 
 
 Just measure take of neighbours, just repay, 
 The same receiv'd, and more, if more thou may, 
 That after needing, thou may'st after find 
 Thy wants' supplier of as free a mind. 
 
GEOEGICS OF HESIOB. 173 
 
 h Take no ill gain ; ill gain brings loss as ill. 555 
 
 Aid quit with aid 5 good-will pay with good- will. 
 Give him that hath given ; him that hath not give not ; 
 Givers men give ; gifts to no givers thrive not. 
 Giving is good, rapine is deadly ill. 
 Who freely gives, though much, rejoice th still ; ©go 
 
 Who ravines is so wretched, that, though small 
 His first gift be, he grieves as if 'twere all. 
 
 Little to little added, if oft clone, 
 In small time makes a great possession. 
 "Who adds to what is got, needs never fear 565 
 
 That ^warth-cheek'd hunger will devour his cheer; 
 k Xor will it hurt a man though something more 
 Than serves mere need he lays at home in store ; 
 And best at home, it may go less abroad. 
 If cause call forth, at home provide thy rode, 570 
 
 Enough for all needs, for free spirits (he 
 To want, being absent from their owtl supply. 
 "Which note, I charge thee. At thy purse's height, 1 
 
 555 hj£tt/ea Ke pc., mala lucra cequalia in damnis. According to 
 this of the Scripture, Male part am male disperit ; et de male quaz- 
 sitis non gaudet fortius hares. 
 
 565 iAt0o7ra \ipbv, atramfamem. Black or swarth he calls 
 famine or hunger; ab effectu quod nigrum aid lucidum colorem 
 inducat. 
 
 567 k Ovck. He says it will not hurt a man to have a little 
 more than needs merely laid up at home ; as we say, it will eat 
 a man no meat, and prefers keeping a man's store at home to 
 putting it forth, for it may go less so, as often it doth. 
 
 573 l Wpxopsvov, incipiente dolio. At the beginning or height 
 of a man's store he adviseth liberality, and at the bottom ; in 
 the midst frugality ; admonishing therein not to be prodigal 
 nor sordid or wretched ; but, as at the top of the cask wine is 
 the weakest and thinnest, because it is most near the air, and 
 therefore may there be best spent, at the bottom full of lees, 
 and so may there be best spared, in the midst neatest and 
 briskest, and should be then most made of or husbanded, so 
 in the midst of a man's purse he adviseth parsimony. 
 
174 FIRST BOOK OF THE 
 
 And when it fights low, give thy use his freight ; 
 
 When in the midst thou art, then check the blood ; 575 
 
 Frugality at bottom is not good. 
 
 Even with thy brother think a m witness by, 
 
 When thou would'st laugh, or converse liberally ; 
 
 Despair hurts none beyond credulity. 
 
 Let never D neat-girt dame, that all her wealth eso 
 Lays on her waist, make profit of her stealth 
 On thy true judgment ; nor be heard to feign 
 With her fork'd tongue, so far forth as to gain 
 Thy candle rent (she calls it). He that gives 
 A woman trust doth trust a den of thieves. 585 
 
 °One only son preserves a family, 
 As feeding it with only fit supply. 
 And that house to all height his riches rears 
 Whose sire dies old, and leaves a son of years. 
 To many children, too, God easily spares 590 
 
 577 m ' EtW fxdprvpa QscOai, testem adbibeto. The critics expound 
 it as if a man. talking privately and liberally with his brother, 
 should confer so securely that he must ever bring a witness 
 with him of what words passed him ; and the critics intend it 
 personally, where the word QkoOai signifies here only supputa, 
 cogita, hypothetical!}* . or by way of supposition ; QkcrOai coming 
 of Ti9t]jiL, i. e. Qkaiv et viroQtaiv, facio, esto tit ita sit: suppose 
 there were a witness by, and be as circumspect in speeches 
 with your brother, even in your most private and free discourse, 
 as if you supposed a third man heard you. The other exposition 
 is to "be exploded. 
 
 560 n UvyoaroXog, qui vel qua dunes exornat. 
 
 086 o ^lovvoytvrjg, unigenitus. He says one only son preserves 
 his father's house, and adds most ingeniously, <pepfiep.ev, i. e. 
 pascendo seu nutriendo ; intending that he adds only necessary 
 vital fuel, as it were, to his father's decaying fire ; where many 
 sons oftentimes rather famish or extinguish a family than 
 nourish or fuel it ; and yet he adds, most gravely and piously, 
 that God can easily give store of goods fit for the greatest store 
 of children ; but yet the more children the more care ; and 
 speaking to the happiest state of a family, he prefers one sup- 
 plier to many. 
 
GEOEGICS OF HESIOD. 175 
 
 Wealth store ; but still, more children the more cares, 
 
 And to the house the more access is made. 
 
 If, then, the hearty love of wealth invade 
 
 Thy thrifty mind, perform what follows here, 
 
 p And, one work done, with others serve the year. 595 
 
 595 v''Epc6iv,sicfacito. A general conclusion, and transition 
 to. his doctrine of the next book. 
 
 THE END OF THE FIRST BOOK. 
 
THE SECOND BOOK OF THE GEOEGICS 
 OE HESIOD. 
 
 HEX. Atlas' birth, the Pleiades arise. 
 Harvest begin, plow when they leave 
 
 Twio a and nights tl 
 
 hide their heads : 
 The year then turning, leave again their 1 
 And show when first to whet the harves 5 
 
 This likewise is the law the fields must feel. 
 th with sea-dwellers, near and high, and the 
 se winding yah tone overt: 
 
 That a fenny grounds and marshes dwell upon, 
 Alon£ the fat and fruitful re^ 10 
 
 But. wheresoever thou inhabit'st, 
 The fields before fierce winter's cruelty 
 
 1 He begins fa ^mediately before he pre- 
 
 pares his this whole book containing precej : 
 
 husbandry, both for field and family. By the ascent an 
 of the Pfc n. as well 
 
 for ground near the seas as the fax The Pie: 
 
 ealled the _ re the seven stars in the 
 
 of the Ball, which ihe Latins called I which are 
 
 seen near the sun rising, which is in June, he appoints entry 
 on harvest atfairs : when in the morning they leave this hemi- 
 sphere, which is in November, he designs seed-time. 
 
 9 * m Aycea, pa lust rem terram significat. 
 
GEORGICS OF HESIOD. Ill 
 
 Oppress thy pains, when thou may'st naked plow, 
 
 Naked cast in thy seed, and naked mow, 
 
 If timely thou wilt bear into thy barn 15 
 
 The works of Ceres ; and to that end learn 
 
 As timely to prepare thy whole increase, 
 
 Lest, in the meantime, thy necessities 
 
 Importune thee at others' doors to stand, 
 
 And beg supplies to thy unthrifty hand ; 20 
 
 As now thou com'st to me, but I no more 
 
 Will give, or lend thee, what thou may'st restore 
 
 By equal measure, nor will trust thee so. 
 
 Labour, vain Perses, and those labours do, 
 
 That, by the certain sign of beggary 25 
 
 b Demonstrated in idle drones, thine eye 
 
 May learn the work that equal Deity 
 
 Imposeth of necessity on men ; 
 
 Lest with thy wife, and wanting childeren, 
 
 (Thy mind much griev'd) thou seek'st of neighbours food, 
 
 Thine own means failing. Men grow cold in good. 31 
 
 Some twice, or thrice, perhaps, thy neighbour will 
 
 Supply thy wants ; whom if thou troubl'st still, 
 
 Thou com'st off empty, and to air dost strain 
 
 A world of words ; words store make wanting men. 35 
 
 I charge thee, therefore, see thy thoughts einploy'd 
 
 To pay thy debts, and how thou may'st avoid 
 
 Deserved famine. To which end, first see 
 
 Thy wife well order'd, and thy family ; 
 
 Thy plow-drawn ox; thy c maid, without her spouse, 40 
 
 26 b AiareKfiaipojiai } per signum demonstro ita ut conjectare sit 
 facile. 
 
 40 c KTr)Tr}v y famulam considerate acquisitam. He would have 
 her likewise unmarried, ov yafxeri^v, non nuptam ; his reason 
 he shows after. 
 
178 SECOND BOOK OF THE 
 
 And wisely hir'd, that business in thy house 
 
 May first work off, and then to tillage come. 
 
 To both which offices make fit at home 
 
 Everything needful, lest abroad thou send 
 
 To ask another, and he will not lend ; 45 
 
 Meantime thou want'st them, time flies fast away, 
 
 Thy work undone, which not from day to day 
 
 Thou should'st defer ; the d work-deferrer never 
 
 Sees full his barn ; nor he that leaves work ever, 
 
 And still is gadding out. e Care-flying ease oo 
 
 Gives labour ever competent increase. 
 
 f He that with doubt his needful business crosses 
 
 Is ever wrastling with his certain losses. 
 
 When, therefore, of the g swift-sharp-sighted sun 
 
 The chief force faints, and h sweating heat is done, 55 
 
 Autumn grown old, and Opening his last vein, 
 
 And great Jove steeping all things in his rain, 
 
 Man's body chang'd, and made more lightsome far, 
 
 (For then but small time shines the Sirian star 
 
 Above the heads of k hard-fate-foster'd man, eo 
 
 Rising near day, and his beams Austrian 
 
 Enjoy'd in night most,) — when, I say, all this 
 
 Follows the season, and the forest is 
 
 48 d 'EritMnoepybg, non assiduus in opere. 
 
 50 e Mt\trri, cura cum industrid et exercitatione. 
 
 52 { 'Afij3o\iepybQ, qui opus de die in diem rejicit et procrastinat . 
 
 54 %'OZeoq fjeXioio, metaphorice accipitur pro acumine et visus 
 celeritate. 
 
 55 h 'l£a\i/iO£, sudorificus humidus calor does not express the 
 word, being so turned in the verbal translation. 
 
 5S i ^[tT07ru)pLv6g, qui extremi el senescentis Autumni est. 
 
 60 ^KrjpiTpeQrjg, qui una cum tethifero fato alitur, vet qui edu~ 
 catur inter multas durte, sortis miserias, the most fit epithet of 
 man. 
 
 63 Pro sylva. 
 
GEORGICS OF HESIOD. 179 
 
 Sound, being fell'd, his leaves upon the ground 
 Before let fall, and leaving what they crown'd, 65 
 
 Then constantly take time to fell thy wood ; 
 Of husbandry the time kept is the blood. 
 
 Cut then your three-foot J quern ; whose pestle cut 
 Three cubits long ; your axletree seven foot. 
 If it be eight foot, cut your mallet thence ; 70 
 
 The felfs, that make your cart's circumference, 
 Cut three spans long. Many crook' d pieces more, 
 Ten palms in length, fell for your wagons' store. 
 All which poor rules a rich convenience yield. 
 
 If thou shalt find a culter in the field, 75 
 
 Or on the mountain, either elm or oak, 
 Convey it home, since, for thy beasts of yoke 
 To plow withal, 'twill most his strength maintain ; 
 And, chiefly, if m Athenian Ceres' swain 
 It fixing to the draught-tree, lest it fails, 80 
 
 Shall fit it to the handles' stay with nails. 
 
 Two plows compose, to find thee work at home, 
 One with a share that of itself doth come 
 From forth the plow's whole piece, and one set on ; 
 Since so 'tis better much, for, either gone, 85 
 
 With th' other thou may'st instantly impose 
 Work on thy oxen. On the laurel grows, 
 And on the elm, your best plow-handles ever ; 
 Of oak your draught-tree ; from the maple never 
 Go for your culter ; for your oxen chuse 90 
 
 Two males of nine years' old, for then their use 
 
 68 [ "0\/*oi>. A kind of mortar to bray corn in, which the 
 ancients used for a little mill or quern. 
 
 79 m' A9r}vairiQ dfiwog, Attics Cereris servus ; a periphrasis of 
 a plowman ; she being called Attic Ceres, quod ipsa Athenieuses, 
 adeoque omnes homines, defrugibus docuerit. 
 
180 SECOND BOOK OF THE 
 
 Is most available, since their strengths are then 
 
 Not of the weakest, and the youthful mean 
 
 Sticks in their nerves still ; nor will these contend 
 
 With skittish tricks, when they the stitch should end, 95 
 
 To break their plow, and leave their work undone. 
 
 These let a youth of n forty wait upon, 
 
 Whose bread at meals in four good shivers cut, 
 
 Eight bits in every shive; for °that man, put 
 
 To his fit task, will see it done past talk 100 
 
 With any fellow, nor will ever balk 
 
 In any stitch he makes, but give his mind 
 
 With care t' his labour. And this man no hind 
 
 (Though much his younger) shall his better be 
 
 At sowing seed, and, shunning skilfully, 105 
 
 Need to go over his whole work again. 
 
 Your younger man feeds still a flying vein 
 
 From his set task, to hold his equals chat, 
 
 And trifles works he should be serious at. 109 
 
 Take notice, then, when thou the crane shalt hear 
 Aloft out of the clouds her clanges rear, 
 That then he gives thee signal when to sow, 
 And Winter's wrathful season doth foreshow ; 
 
 97 n Terparpv(pov,6Krd(3\(Ofiov,qiiadriJiduTn,octomorsuum. He 
 commends a man of forty for a most fit servant ; and therefore 
 prescribes allowance of bread to his meals something extra- 
 ordinary, saying he would have allowed four shives of bread 
 at a meal to his meat, every shive containing eight bits or 
 morsels 5 not that the whole four shives should contain but 
 eight morsels, as the critics expound it ; for how absurd is it 
 to imagine a shive of bread but two bits ? and how pinching a 
 diet it were for an able plow-man ? 
 
 99 o "Oc k tpyov. Qui quidem opus curans, et atatis quam in 
 servo requirit (says Melancthon) rationes addit admodum graves, 
 sentitque multum situm esse in maturitate (Etatis. Forty years 
 then being but a youth's age. 
 
GEORGICS OF HESIOD. 181 
 
 And then the man, that can no oxen get, 
 
 Or wants the season's work, his heart doth eat. 115 
 
 Then feed thy oxen in the house with hay ; 
 
 Which he that wants with ease enough will say, 
 
 " Let me, alike, thy wain and oxen use." 
 
 Which 'tis as easy for thee to refuse, 
 
 And say thy oxwork then importunes much. 120 
 
 He that is rich in brain will answer such : 
 
 u Work up thyself a wagon of thine own ; 
 
 For to the foolish borrower is not known 
 
 That each wain asks a hundred joints of wood ; 
 
 These things ask forecast, and thou shouldst make good 
 
 At home before thy need so instant stood." 126 
 
 When, therefore, first fit plow-time doth disclose, 
 Put on thy spirit ; all, as one, dispose 
 Thy servants and thyself; plow wet and dry; 
 And when Aurora first affords her eye, 130 
 
 In Spring-time, turn the earth up ; which see done 
 Again, past all fail, by the Summer's sun. 
 Hasten thy labours, that thy crowned fields 
 May load themselves to thee, and rack their yields. 
 The tilth-field sow on earth's most light foundations ; 135 
 The p tilth-field, banisher of execrations, 
 Pleaser of sons and daughters ; which, t' improve 
 With all wish'd profits, pray to earthly Jove, 
 And virtuous Ceres, that on all such suits 
 Her sacred gift bestows in blessing fruits. uo 
 
 136 vNsioq aXeZiaprj, novalis imprecationum expultrix. The 
 tilth-field he calls banisher of execrations, and pleaser of sons 
 and daughters 5 first, because rude husbandmen use to curse 
 when their crops answer not their expectations; and next, 
 it pleases sons and daughters since it helps add to their 
 portions. 
 
132 SECOND BOOK OF THE 
 
 When first thou enter'st foot to plow thy land, 
 And on thy plow-staffs top hast laid thy hand, 
 Thy oxen's hacks, that next thee hy a chain 
 Thy oaken draught- tree draw, put to the pain 
 Thy goad imposes ; and thy hoy behind, U5 
 
 That with his iron rake thou hast designed 
 To hide thy seed, let from his labour drive 
 The birds that offer on thy sweat to live. 
 The best thing that in human needs doth fall 
 Is Industry, and Sloth the worst of all. 150 
 
 With one, thy corn-ears shall with fruit abound, 
 And bow their thankful foreheads to the ground ; 
 With th' other, scarce thy seed again redound. 
 
 When Jove, then, gives this good end to thy pain, 
 Amids the vessels that preserve thy grain 155 
 
 No spiders then shall need t' usurp their room, 
 But thou, I think, rejoice, and rest at home, 
 Provision inn'd enough of everything 
 To give thee glad heart till the neighbour Spring, 
 Not go to others to supply thy store, 160 
 
 But others need to come to thee for more. 
 
 If at the sun's conversion thou shalt sow 
 The sacred earth, thou then may'st q sit and mow 
 Or reap in harvest ; such a little pain 
 Will serve thy use to sell thy thin -grown grain, 165 
 And reaps so scanty will take up thy hand ; 
 Thou hid in dust, not comforted a sand, 
 But gather 'gainst the grain. Thou should'st be then 
 
 163 ^"Efuievog, sedens. He disproves sowing at the winter 
 solstice, and says he that doth sow then may sit and reap for 
 any labour his crop will require ; a reap they call as much as 
 at once the reaper grasps in his hand. 
 
GEOEGICS OF HESIOD. 183 
 
 Coop'd in a basket up : for worldly men 
 Admire no imthrifts, Honour goes by gain. 1:0 
 
 As times still change, so ehangeth Jove his mind, 
 "Whose seasons mortal men can hardly tind. 
 
 But if thou shoiddst sow late, this well may be. 
 In all thy slackness, an excuse for thee : 
 "When in the oak's green arms the cuckoo sings, 175 
 And first delights men in the lovely springs. 
 If much rain fall, 'tis tit then to defer 
 Thy sowing work : but how much rain to bear, 
 And let no labour to that much give ear 
 Past intermission, let Jove steep the grass 180 
 
 Three days together, so he do not pass 
 An ox's hoof in depth, and never stay 
 To strow thy seed in ; but if deeper way 
 Jove with his rain makes, then forbear the field, 
 For late-sown then will past the foremost yield. 186 
 
 Mind well all this : nor let it fly thy pow'rs 
 To know what fits the white Spring's early flow'rs ; 
 Nor when rains timely fall : nor, when sharp cold 
 In Winter's wrath doth men from work withhold, 
 Sit by smiths' forges/ nor warm taverns s haunt, 190 
 Nor let the bitterest of the season daunt 
 Thy tlmft-arin'd pains, like idle Poverty : 
 For then the time is when tlf industrious thigh 
 Upholds, with all increase, his family. 
 
 190 r Xa\jc£ iov 9u)kov } (Eneam sedem. By which he understands 
 smiths' forges, where the poorer sort of Greece used to sit, as 
 they do still in the winter amongst us. and as amongst the Ro- 
 mans, in tomtrinh, or barbers' shops. 
 
 190 s 'E7ra\sa \i<T\//i\ caiidam tabernam. These \£(?x a i were of 
 old said to hold the meetings of philosophers ; and after, be- 
 cause amongst them mixed idle talkers over caps, they were 
 called Xkffxai, nugce, Xeoxwia, loquaciias or garrulitas. 
 
184 SECOND BOOK OF THE 
 
 With whose rich hardness spirited, do thou 195 
 
 Poor Delicacy fly, lest, frost and snow 
 
 Fled from her love, Hunger sit both them out, 
 
 And make thee, with the beggar's lazy gout, 
 
 Sit stooping to the pain, still pointing to \ 
 
 And with a *lean hand stroke a foggy foot. 200 
 
 The slothful man expecting many things, 
 With his vain hope that cannot stretch her wings 
 Past need of necessaries for his kind, 
 Turns, u like a whirlpit, over in his mind 
 All means that rapine prompts to th' idle hind ; 205 
 
 Sits in the tavern, and finds means to spend 
 111 got, and ever doth to worse contend. 
 
 WTien Summer, therefore, in her tropic sits, 
 Make thou thy servants wear their winter wits, 
 And tell them this, ere that warm season wast 210 
 
 Make nests, for Summer will not ever last. 
 The month of x January's all-ill days, 
 For oxen's good, shun now by July's rays. 
 
 200 l As7TTy Se,macilentaverocrassumpedemmanupremas. Aris- 
 totle in his problems, as out of this place, affirms that daily 
 and continual hunger makes men's feet and ankles swell ; and 
 by the same reason superiores partes extenuantur et macrescunt, 
 for which Hesiod uses this ingenious allusion to his bother, 
 advising him to take heed ne pedem tumefaclum tenui manu 
 demulcere oporteat 5 rrii^io, signifying here demuleeo, not strin- 
 gendo crucio, or premo, as it is usually rendered. But (for the 
 pain) stroke or touch it softly, for some ease to it, though it 
 doth little good to it, but only makes good the proverb, Ubi 
 dolor ibi digitus. 
 
 204 u Kaicd 7rpo(je\^aTO, mala intra animum versat. And there- 
 fore says Melancthon, out of Columella, homines nihil agendo 
 male agere discunt ; but 7rpo<T6\tKaTo signifies not only versat, 
 but instar undarum fiuvii vel voraginis versat. 
 
 212 xMrjva de A-nvaiwva, mensis in quofestum in honorem Lenei 
 celebratur. Bacchus being called Xrjvaloc, quoniam torcularibus 
 et vini eipressioni preest ; and because his feast used to be so- 
 lemnized in January, Arjvaiujv is called Januarium, 
 
GEORGICS OF HE SI OD. 185 
 
 When air's chill y North his noisome frosts shall blow 
 
 All over earth, and all the wide sea throw 215 
 
 At heaven in hills, from cold horse-breeding Thrace ; 
 
 The beaten earth, and all her sylvan race, 
 
 Roaring and bellowing with his bitter strokes ; 
 
 Plumps of thick fir-trees and high-crested oaks 
 
 Torn up in rallies, all air's flood let fly 220 
 
 In him at Earth, sad nurse of all that die ; 
 
 Wild beasts abhor him, and run clapping close 
 
 Their sterns betwixt their thighs ; and even all those 
 
 Whose hides their fleeces line with highest proof, 
 
 Even ox-hides also want expulsive stuff, 225 
 
 And bristled goats, against his bitter gale, 
 
 He blows so cold he beats quite through them all. 
 
 Only with silly sheep it fares not so ; 
 
 For they each summer fleec'd, their fells to grow, 
 
 They shield all winter, crush'd into his wind. 230 
 
 He makes the old man trudge for life to find 
 
 Shelter against him ; but he cannot blast 
 
 The tender and the delicately-grac't 
 
 Flesh of the virgin, she is kept within 
 
 Close by her mother, careful of her skin, 235 
 
 Since yet she never knew how to enfold 
 
 The force of Venus swimming all in gold ; 
 
 Whose snowy bosom, choicely wash'd and balm'd 
 
 With wealthy oils, she keeps the house becalm'd 
 
 All winter's spite. When in his fireless shed 210 
 
 And miserable roof still hiding head, 
 
 214 yJJveixravrog Bopiao,fiante Borea hiemis tempus, et mensem 
 Boreali frigore gravisnimum copiose et eleganter descripsit, says 
 Melancthon. 
 
1S6 SECOND BOOK OF THE 
 
 The z boneless fish doth eat his feet for cold, 
 
 To whom the sun doth never food unfold, 
 
 But turns above the black men's populous towers, 
 
 On whom he more bestows his radiant hours 245 
 
 Than on th' a Hellenians, then all beasts of horn, 
 
 And srnooth-brow'd, that in beds of wood are born, 
 
 About the oaken dales that north-wind fly, 
 
 Gnashing their teeth with restless misery ; 
 
 And everywhere that care solicits all 250 
 
 That, out of shelter, to their coverts fall, 
 
 And caverns eaten into rocks ; and then 
 
 Those wild beasts shrink, like tame b three-footed men 
 
 Whose backs are broke with age, and foreheads driven 
 
 To stoop to earth, though born to look on heaven ; 255 
 
 Even like to these those tough-bred rude ones go, 
 
 Flying the white drifts of the northern snow. 
 
 Then put thy body's best munition on, 
 
 Soft waistcoats, weeds that th' ankles trail upon ; 
 
 And with a little linen, weave much wool 260 
 
 In forewov'n webs, and make thy garments full. 
 
 And these put on thee, lest thy harsh-grown hair 
 
 Tremble upon thee, and into the air 
 
 Start, as affrighted ; all that breast of thine 
 
 Pointed with c bristles like a porcupine. 265 
 
 About thy feet see fitted shoes be tied, 
 
 242 z, Av6(Treog i exossis. He intends the polypus, that hath no 
 bones, but a gristle for his back -bone. 
 
 246 a Have \\i]vs<T<Ji. Hellen was son to Deucalion, of whom, as 
 being author of that nation, "EWtjv, dicitur Gracus, ut testatur 
 Plinius, lib. 4, cap. 7. The sun being in Sagittarius is longer 
 with the ^Ethiops, which are meridional, than with the Gre- 
 cians. 
 
 253 brfpiirodi (3poToi tffoi, tripodi homiid similes. He calls old 
 men helped with staves in their gait three-footed. 
 
 265 c'Aap£( Vj pennarum in more in allum erigere. 
 
OEORQICS OF HESIOD. 187 
 
 Made of a strongly-dying ox's hide, 
 
 Lin'd with d wool socks ; besides, when those winds blow 
 
 Thy first-falPn kid-skins sure together sow 
 
 With ox's sinews, and about thee throw, 270 
 
 To be thy refuge 'gainst the soaking rain. 
 
 Upon thy head a quilted hat sustain, 
 
 That from thy ears may all air's spite expell. 
 
 When north-winds blow the air is sharp and fell ; 
 
 But morning air, that e brings a warmth withal 275 
 
 Down from the stars, and on the earth doth fall, 
 
 Expires a breath that, all things cheering then, 
 
 Is fit to crown the works of blessed men. 
 
 Which drawing out of floods that ever flow, 
 
 Wind- storms are rais'd on earth, that roughly blow ; 280 
 
 And then sometimes a shower falls towards even, 
 
 And sometimes air in empty blasts is driven, 
 
 Which from the north-wind rising out of Thrace, 
 
 And gloomy clouds, rais'd, haste thee home apace, 
 
 Thy work for that day done, th' event forseen, 285 
 
 Lest out of Heaven a dark cloud hide thee clean, 
 
 Thy weeds wet through, and steep thee to the skin ; 
 
 But shun it, for when this cold month comes in 
 
 Extreme it is for sheep, extreme for men. 
 
 Take from thy oxen half their commons f then, 290 
 
 But mend thy servants', for ingenious Night, 
 
 268 d ETiXoic, not pilis as it is usually translated, but ioculis 
 tune is. 
 
 271 e 'A?)/o TTvpcxpopog, uer ignifer, not f rug if er, though fruits 
 are the chief effects of it, but air that brings a comfortable fire 
 with it, and he says, air' ovpavou a(rreo6ei>Tog, a coelo steUifero. 
 
 25)0 f T/y/xoc, turn, &;c. Then sharpen tiiy oxen's stomachs with 
 taking away half their allowance, but give more to thy ser- 
 vants ; his reason is, because the days being shorter by half 
 then than in summer, and so take away half the work of the 
 ox, therefore half their fother should be in equal husbandry 
 
18S SECOND BOOK OF THE 
 
 Then great in length, affects the appetite 
 
 With all contention, and alacrity 
 
 To all invention, and the scrutiny 
 
 Of all our objects, and must therefore feast 295 
 
 To make the spirits run high in their inquest. 
 
 These well observing all the year's remain, 
 
 The days and nights grow equal ; till again 
 
 Earth, that of all things is the Mother Queen, 
 
 All fruits promiscuously brings forth for men. 300 
 
 When, after sixty turnings of the sun, 
 
 By Jove's decrees, all Winter's hours are run, 
 
 Then does the evening-star, 8 Arcturus, rise, 
 
 And leave the unmeasur'd ocean ; all men's eyes, 
 
 First noting then his beams ; and after him, 305 
 
 Before the clear morn's light hath chac'd the dim, 
 
 Pandion's Swallow breaks out with her moan, h 
 
 Made to the light, the Spring but new put on. 
 
 Preventing which, cut vines, for then 'tis best ; 
 
 But when the horn'd house-bearer leaves his rest, 310 
 
 abated 5 but since servants must work in night as well, and 
 that the nights are much longer, he would have their commons 
 increased, allowing even those bodily labourers, in a kind of 
 proportion, the same that is fit for mental painstakers, students, 
 &c, for the word eixppovai, taken here for nights, is usurped 
 for the effects of night, ev<ppovsiov signifying prudentiu vatens, 
 and lixppovT) is called night, quod putaretur multum conferre ad 
 inventionem earum quat quwruntur, intending in studies and 
 labours of the soul, especially the epithet ejrippoOot, signifying 
 auxilium sen inspirationem Jereutes magna cum alacritaie et con- 
 tentions. All that since therefore the words containing, a man 
 may observe how verbal expositors slubber up these divine 
 expressions with their contractions and going the next way. 
 
 303 s 'Apieroupot;, Arcturus is a star sub zona Boot& ; oritur 
 ves]>ere y initio Vtris. 
 
 -* 07 h '0()fy)oyoi/, ante lucano tempore quiritans. The construc- 
 tion should be, not prorumpit ad lucem, but lugens ad iucem y 
 since it came not soon enough to prevent the night's tyranny 
 in Tereus; the fiction of which is too common to be repeated. 
 
GEOEGICS OF IIESIOD. 189 
 
 And climbs the plants, the Seven Stars then in flight, 
 Nowhere dig vines, but scythes whet, and excite 
 Servants to work ; fly shady tavern bow'rs, 
 And beds, as soon as light salutes the flow'rs. 
 
 In harvest, when the sun the body dries, 315 
 
 Then haste and fetch the fields home ; early rise, 
 That plenty may thy household wants suffice ; 
 The morn the third part of thy work doth gain ; 
 The morn makes short thy way, makes short thy pain ; 
 The morn being once up fills the ways with all, 320 
 
 And yokes the ox, herself up, in his stall. 
 
 When once the thistle doth his flower prefer, 
 And on the tree the garrulous grashopper, 
 Beneath her wings, all day and all night long 
 Sits pouring out her derisory song, 325 
 
 When Labour drinks, his boiling sweat to thrive, 
 Then goats grow fat, then best wine choose, then strive 
 Women for work most, and men least can do ; 
 For then the Dog-star burns his drought into 
 Their brains and knees, and all the body dries. 330 
 
 But then betake thee to the shade that lies 
 In shield of rocks ; drink l Biblian wine, and eat 
 The creamy wafer, goats' milk that the teat 
 Gives newly free and nurses kids no more, 
 Flesh of bough-browsing beeves that never bore, 335 
 And tender kids ; and, to these, taste black wine, 
 The k third part water of the crystalline 
 
 332 i Bij3\ivog i Biblinum vinum dicitura Bibliu regione Thracia, 
 ubi nobilissima vinu sunt. 
 
 337 ^Tptlg vdciTOQytertiam aqua partem infunde. The Greeks 
 never drunk merum, but dilutum vinum, wine allay 'd with water. 
 Athenaeus says that to two cups of wine sometimes they put five 
 cups of water, and sometimes to four of wine but two of water, 
 
190 SECOND BOOK OF THE 
 
 Still-flowing fount that feeds a stream beneath ; 
 And sit in shades where template gales may breath 
 On thy oppos'd cheeks, when Orion's rays 340 
 
 His influence in first ascent assays. 
 
 Then to thy labouring servants give command 
 To dight the sacred gift of Ceres' hand, 
 In some place windy, on a weU-plan'd floor, 
 Which all by measure into vessels pour. 345 
 
 Make then thy man-swain one that hath no house, 
 Thy handmaid one that hath nor child nor spouse, 
 Handmaids that children have are ravenous. 
 A mastiff likewise nourish still at home, 
 Whose l teeth are sharp and close as any comb, 350 
 
 And meat him well, to keep with stronger guard 
 The m day-sleep-wake-night man from forth thy yard, 
 That else thy goods into his caves will bear. 
 Inn hay and chaff enough for all the year 
 To serve thy oxen and thy mules, and then 355 
 
 Loose them, and ease the dear knees of thy men. 
 
 When Sirius and Orion aspire 
 To heaven's steep height, and bright Arcturus' fire 
 The rosy-finger' d Morning sees arise, 
 O Perses, then thy vineyard faculties 360 
 
 See gather'd and got home ; which twice five days 
 And nights, no less, expose to Phcebus' rays ; 
 Then five days inn them, and in vessels close 
 The gift the gladness-causing God bestows. 
 
 But after that the Seven-stars and the Five 365 
 
 which they order according to the strength or weakness of 
 their wine. 
 
 340 l Kapxap6Sovg, denies inter se pectinatim coeuntes habeas. 
 
 352 m ' B fiipoKoirot; avj}p, die dormiens vir. A periphrasis of a 
 thief. 
 
GEORGICS OF HESIOD. 191 
 
 That 'twist the Bull's horns at their set arrive, 
 Together with the great Orion's force, 
 Then ply thy plow as fits the season's course. 
 
 If of a n chance-complaining man at seas 
 The humour take thee, when the Pleiades 370 
 
 Hide head and fly the fierce Orion's chace, 
 And the dark-deep Oceanus embrace, 
 Then diverse gusts of violent winds arise ; 
 And then attempt no naval enterprise, 
 But ply thy land- affairs, and draw ashore 375 
 
 Thy ship, and fence her round with stonage store, 
 To shield her ribs against the humourous gales ; 
 Her pump exhausted, lest Jove's rainy falls 
 Breed putrefaction ; all tools fit for her, 
 And all her tacklings, to thy house confer ; 380 
 
 Contracting orderly all needful things 
 That imp a water-treading vessel's wings ; 
 Her well-wrought stern hang in the smoke at home, 
 Attending time till fit sea-seasons come ; 
 And then thy swift sail launch, conveying in 385 
 
 Burthen that richly may that trade begin, 
 As did our father who a voyage went 
 For want of an estate so competent 
 As free life ask'd ; and long since landed here 
 When he had measur'd the unmeasur'd sphere 390 
 
 Of all the sea, -^EoHan Cumas leaving, 
 Not ° flying wealth, (revenues great receiving, 
 
 369 n^ V(T7r ^0 £ \ o ^ ) q U i fa sor t e su £ queritur. 
 
 392 °Ovic d(pevog <pevyu)v } non redditus seu divitius fugiens. He 
 blames those that having richly enough of their own, which 
 they freely and safely possess ashore, will yet, with insatiate 
 desire of more, venture the loss of all ; which his father, he 
 says, was not to be blamed for, in going to sea, who only took 
 
192 SECOXD BOOK OF THE 
 
 And bliss itself possess'd in ah fit store, 
 
 If wisely uaV) : yet selling that t' explore 
 
 Strange countries, madly covetous of more,) ;-so 
 
 But only dunning loathsome pow 
 
 Which yet Jove sends, and men should never fly. 
 
 The seat that he was left to dwell upon 
 
 Was set in A sera, near to Helicon, 
 
 Amids a miserable village there, Ml 
 
 In winter vile, in summer noisomer, 
 
 And profitable never. Note thou, then, 
 
 To do all works the proper season when, 
 
 a -works chiefly ; for whose use allow 
 A little ship, but in her bulk bestow \:-c 
 
 A great big burthen — the more ships sustain 
 The surer sail they, and heap gain on gain, 
 If seas run smooth and rugged gusts abstain. 
 ^Tien thy vain mind, then, would sea-ventures try, 
 In love the laud-rocks of loath'd Debt to fly, 410 
 
 And p Hunger's ever harsh-to-hear-of cry, 
 I'll set before thee all the trim and dress 
 Of those btill-roaring-noise-resounding seas, 
 Though q neither skill'd in either ship or sail, 
 Nor ever was at sea; or, lest I fail, IIS 
 
 But for Eutxea once from Aulis, where 
 The Greeks, with tempest driven, for shore did stere 
 Their mighty navy, gather d to employ 
 
 that course to avoid poverty, his means hy land not enough to 
 live withal freely. 
 
 411 ^ : Artp-jria Xi^wv^famem avditu insuavem. 
 
 414 QOvrt rt, etn neque navigandi peritus. Melanethon. in 
 this free confession of his unskilfulness in what he intended to 
 teach, gives this note : Removet «€ reprthem>ioii£m ob imp er itm m ; 
 hie videmui, aofpi^ttv. primo usurpatvm Jui&if. cum laud*, fro 
 docere et tradere atiquld erttditius pre aliis. 
 
GEOEGICS OF HESIOD. 19.3 
 
 For sacred Greece 'gainst fair-dame-breeding Troy ; 
 
 To Chalcis there I made by sea my pass, 420 
 
 And to the Games of great r Ampliidamas, 
 
 Where many a fore-studied exercise 
 
 Was instituted, with exciteful prize, 
 
 For great-and-good and able-minded men ; 
 
 And where I won, at the Pierian pen, 425 
 
 A three-ear'd tripod, which I offered on 
 
 The altars of the Maids of Helicon ; 
 
 Where first their loves initiated me 
 
 In skill of their unworldly harmony. 
 
 But no more practice have my travails swet 430 
 
 In many-a-nail -composed ships ; and yet 
 
 I'll sing what Jove's mind will suggest in mine, 
 
 Whose Daughters taught my verse the rage divine. 
 
 Fifty days after heaven's converted heat, 
 When Summer's land-works are dissolv'd with sweat, 
 Then grows the navigable season fit, 43* 
 
 For then no storms rise that thy sail may split, 
 Nor spoil thy sailors ; if the God that sways 
 Th' earth- shaking trident do not overpaise, 
 With any counsel beforehand decreed, 410 
 
 The season's natural grace to thy good speed, 
 Nor Jove consent with his revengeful will, 
 In whom are fixt the bounds of good and ill. 
 But in the usual temper of the year, 
 
 421 r 'Au0('£a/xac, king of Eubcca, was slain in battle against 
 the Erythneans ; at whose funerals his sons instituted Games. 
 And from hence Melancthon gathers, by that time in which 
 the king died, Hesiod then living, that Homer lived a hundred 
 years before him, and so could not be the man from whom 
 our author is affirmed by some historians to win the prize he 
 now speaks of. 
 
1J)4 SECOND BOOK OF THE 
 
 Easy to judge of, and distinguish clear, 445 
 
 Are both the winds and seas, none rude, none cross, 
 Nor misaffected with the love of loss ; 
 And therefore put to sea ; trust even the wind 
 Then with thy swift ship ; but when thou shalt find 
 Fit freight for her, as fitly stow it straight, 4.->o 
 
 And all haste home make. For no new wine wait, 
 Nor aged Autumn's showers, nor Winter's falls 
 Then fast approaching, nor the noisome gales 
 The humorous South breathes, that incense the seas, 
 And s raise together in one series 455 
 
 Jove's Autumn dashes, that come smoking down, 
 And with his roughest brows make th' ocean frown. 
 
 But there's another season for the seas, 
 That in the first Spring others' choices please ; 
 When, look how much the crow takes at a stride, 460 
 So much put forth the young leaf is descried 
 On fig-tree tops ; but then the gusts so fall, 
 That oft the sea becomes impervial. 
 And yet this vernal season many use 
 For sea affairs ; which yet I would not chuse, 465 
 
 Nor give it my mind any grateful taste, 
 Since then steals out so many a ravenous blast ; 
 Nor but with much scath thou canst 'scape thy bane, 
 Which yet men's greedy follies dare maintain. 
 Money is soul to miserable men, 470 
 
 And to it many men their souls bequeath. 
 To die in dark-seas is a dreadful death. 
 
 All this I charge thee, need to note no more ; 
 Nor in one vessel venture all thy store, 
 
 455 s' O^aprffffaQyCOslestem imbremse.cutus; intending a following 
 of those things quaz serie quudam continud *e sequuntur. 
 
GEORGICS OF HESIOD. 195 
 
 But most part leave out, and impose the less, 175 
 
 For 'tis a wretched thing t' endure distress 
 
 Incurr'd at sea; and 'tis as ill, ashore 
 
 To use adventures, covetous of more 
 
 Than safety warrants, as upon thy wain 
 
 To lay on more load than it can sustain ; *:*■ 
 
 For then thy axle hreaks, thy goods diminish, 
 
 Aud thrift's mean means in violent av'rice vanish. 
 
 The mean ohserv'd makes an exceeding state ; 
 
 Occasion took at all times equals Fate. 
 
 Thyself if well in years, thy wife take home *S5 
 
 Not much past thirty, nor have much to come ; 
 But being young thyself, nuptials that seise 
 The times' best season in their acts are these : 
 At 'fourteen years a woman grows mature, 
 At fifteen wed her, and best means inure «no 
 
 To marry her a maid, to teach her then 
 Respect to thee and chasteness t 1 other men. 
 In chief, choose one whose life is u near thee bred, 
 That her condition circularly weigh'd, 
 (And that with care, too,) in thy neighbours' eyes, 12 
 Thou wedd'st not for a maid their mockeries. 
 No purchase passes a good wife, no loss 
 Is than a bad wife a more cursed cross, 
 That must a gossip be at every feast, 
 And private cates provide, too, for her guest, 
 And bear her husband ne'er so bold a breast, 
 
 4t3 l Terop\ Pullux expounds this word, which is usually 
 taken for tour, fourteen. Plat j and Aristotle appoint the best 
 time of women's marriages at eighteen. 
 
 493 u'EyyuOi vaitt, qmr prope te habitat. His counsel is, to 
 marry a maid bred near a man, whose breeding and behaviour 
 he hath still taken into note. Counsel of gold, but not respected 
 in this iron age. 
 
196 SECOND BOOK OF THE 
 
 x Without a fire burns in him even to rage, 
 And in his youth pours grief on him in age. 
 
 The Gods' y fore warnings, and pursuits of men 
 Of impious lives with unavoidud pain, 505 
 
 Their sight, their rule of all, their love, their fear, 
 z Watching and sitting up give all thy care. 
 
 Give a never to thy friend an even respect 
 With thy born brother, for in his neglect 
 Thyself thou touchest first with that defect. 510 
 
 If thou shalt take thy friend with an offence 
 
 By word, or deed, twice only, try what sense 
 
 He hath of thy abuse by making plain 
 
 The wrong he did thee ; and if then again 
 
 He will turn friend, confess and pay all pain 515 
 
 Due for his forfeit, take him into grace ; 
 
 The shameless man shifts friends still with his place. 
 
 But keep thou friends, forgive, and so convert 
 
 That not thy look may reprehend thy heart. 
 
 50a x ]?{ ia £ Tt p SaXov, torret sine face et crudai senecta tradit ; 
 cjp<p yijpa'i, senecta ante tempus adveuiens, which place Boetius 
 imitates in his book De Consolations in this distich : 
 Intempestivijunduntur tertice cant, 
 It dolor mtutemjuttit inesse warn, 
 [Chapman has misquoted these lines. They are not a dis- 
 tich. The whole passage is as follows : 
 
 Venit enim proper at a malis in op in a senectus y 
 
 It dolor (Etalemjussit inesse suam. 
 Intempestivijunduntur verlice cani, 
 
 Et (remit ejj oeto corpore luia cutis. — Ed.] 
 504 y'07riQ, in God, signifies insight and government in all 
 things, and his just indignation against the impious j in man, 
 respect to the fear of God, and his reverence. Melancthon. 
 607 z Y\t(pv\ayp'tvoc, vigiliis et ezcubiis posit is. 
 sob ajvf ,jfl£ # This precept of preferring a man's own brother 
 to his friend is full of humanity, and savours of the true taste 
 of a trueborn man ; the neglect of which in these days shows 
 children either utterly misbegotten, or got by unnatural fathers, 
 of whom children must taste, in disposition, as a poison of de- 
 generacy poured into them both, and a just plague for both. 
 
GEORGICS OF HESIOD. 197 
 
 Be not a common host for guests, nor one 520 
 
 That can abide the kind receipt of none. 
 Consort none ill though rais'd to any state, 
 Nor leave one ^ood though ne'er so ruinate. 
 Abhor all taking pleasure to upbraid 
 A forlorn poverty, which God hath laid 523 
 
 On any man in so severe a kind 
 As quite disheartens and dissolves his mind. 
 Amongst men on the earth there never sprung 
 An ampler treasure than a sparing tongue ; 
 Which yet most grace gains when it sings the mean. 530 
 Ill-speakers ever hear as ill again. 
 Make not thyself at any public feast 
 A troublesome or over-curious guest ; 
 'Tis common cheer, nor touches thee at all ; 
 Besides, thy grace is much, thy cost is small. 535 
 
 Do not thy tongue's grace the disgrace to lie, 
 Nor mend a true-spoke mind with policy, 
 But all things use with first simplicity. 
 
 To Jove nor no God pour out morning wine 
 With unwash'd hands ; for, know, the Powers Divine 5-10 
 Avert their ears, and prayers impure reject. 
 
 Put not thy urine out, with face erect, 
 Against b the Sun, but, sitting, let it fall, 
 Or turn thee to some undiscovering wall ; 
 
 543 b Mj7<T clvt ijtXiov, neque contra solan versus erectus meito. 
 He would have no contempt against the Sun; either directly, or 
 allegorically, intending by the Sun great and reverend men, 
 against whom nihil proteriM et irreverentev agendum. If in the 
 plain sense, which he makes serious, he would not have a man 
 make water turning purposely against the Sun, nor standing, 
 but sitting, as at this day even amongst the rude Turks it is 
 abhorred, quibut religiosum est ut sedentes mingunt, et ingens Jia> 
 git 1 am deslguari credunt siquis in publico cacaret uut mingeret. 
 
198 SECOND BOOK OF THE 
 
 And, after the great Sun is in descent, Mo 
 
 Remember, till he greet the Orient, 
 
 That, in way or without, thou still forbear, 
 
 Nor ope thy nakedness while thou art there. 
 
 The nights the Gods' are, and the godly man 
 
 And wife will shun by all means to profane 550 
 
 The Gods' appropriates. c Make no access, 
 
 Thy wife new left, to sacred mysteries, 
 
 Or coming from an ominous funeral feast ; 
 
 But, from a banquet that the Gods have blest 
 
 In men whose spirits are frolicly inclin'd, 555 
 
 Perform those rites that propagate thy kind. 
 
 Never the fair waves of eternal floods 
 Pass with thy feet, but first invoke the Gods, 
 Thine eyes cast on their streams; which those that wade, 
 Their hands unwash'd, those Deities invade 500 
 
 With future plagues and even then angry are. 
 
 Of thy d five branches see thou never pare 
 The dry from off the green at solemn feasts ; 
 Nor on the quaffing mazers of thy guests 
 Bestow the bowl vow'd to the Powers Divine, 505 
 
 For harmful fate is swallow'd with the wine. 
 
 When thou hast once begun to build a house, 
 Leav't not unfinish'd, lest the ominous 
 
 551 c M/;£' aidola. Melancthon expounds this place, a con- 
 gresdii uioris ne sacra accedas, whom I have followed 5 iuacptjfiog 
 sipiities here iuf'austus, and ru(poc,funebre epulum. 
 
 tfa dMijo' enrb ttivtoZoio. He says a man must not pare his 
 nails at the table ; in which our reverend author is so respectful 
 and moral in his setting down, that he nameth not nails, but 
 calls what is to be pared away, avov, siccum or aridum, and the 
 nail itself, \\ujpbv, viridum, because it is still growing ; he calls 
 likewise the hands wivToior, quit in quinos ramos dinpergitur, 
 because it puts out five fingers like branches. 
 
 564 [Mazers— cups. See Kichardsox.] 
 
GEORQICS OF HESIOD. 199 
 
 Ill-spoken crow encounter thee abroad, 
 
 And from her bough thy means outgone explode. 570 
 
 From three -foot pots of meat set on the fire . 
 To serve thy house ; serve not thy taste's desire 
 With ravine of the meat till on the board 
 Thou seest it set, and sacrifice afford, 
 Not if thou wash first, and the Gods wouldst please 575 
 With that respect to them ; for even for these 
 Pains are impos'd, being all impieties. 
 
 On tombstones, or fiVd seats, no boy permit, 
 That's grown to twelve years old, to idly sit ; 
 For 'tis not good, but makes a slothful man. 5so 
 
 In baths, whose waters women first began 
 To wash their bodies in, should bathe no man ; 
 For in their time even these parts have their pain 
 Grievous enough. If any homely place, 
 Sylvan or other, thou seest vow'd to grace 585 
 
 Of any God, by fire made for the weal 
 Of any poor soul mov'd with simplest zeal, 
 Mock not the mysteries, for God disdains 
 Those impious parts, and pays them certain pains. 
 
 Never in channels of those streams that pay 590 
 
 The ocean tribute give thy urine way ; 
 Nor into e fountains ; but, past all neglect, 
 See thou avoid it ; for the grave respect 
 Given to these secrets meets with blest effect. 
 
 Do this, and fly the people's f bitter fame, £95 
 
 592 e ]-[i rec te infontes immingere dicuntur, qui sacrum doctrinam 
 commuculaut. 
 
 595 f Aavr)v, gravem or lerribilemfamum he adviseth a man to 
 avoid; intending with deserving a good and honest fame 
 amongst men, which known to himself impartially and betwixt 
 God and him, every worthy man should despise the contrary 
 
200 THE GEOBGICS OF HESIOD. 
 
 For fame is ill, 'tis light and rais'd like flame ; 
 
 The burthen heavy yet, and hard to cast. 
 
 No fame doth wholly perish, when her blest 
 
 Echo resounds in all the people's cries, 
 
 For she herself is of the Deities. eoo 
 
 conceit of the world ; according to that of Quintilian, writing 
 to Seneca, affirming he cared no more what the misjudging 
 world vented against him, quum de ventre redditi crepitus. 
 
 THE END OF THE SECOND BOOK OF Yr'OltKS. 
 
IIESIOD'S BOOK OF DAYS. 
 
 IIE Days that for thy works arc good or ill, 
 According to the influence they instill, 
 Of Jove with all care learn, and give 
 them then, 
 For their discharge, in precept to thy men. 
 
 The Thirtieth day of every month is hest, 5 
 
 With diligent inspection to digest 
 The next month's works, and part thy household foods ; 
 That heing the day when all litigious goods 
 Are justly sentene'd by the people's voices. 
 And till that day next month give these days' choices, 10 
 For they are mark'd out by most-knowing Jove. 
 
 6 'E7rorro/iai, diligenti inspectione digeru, sen secerno et eligo. 
 He begins with the last day of the month, which he names 
 not a day of any good or bad influence, but being, as it were, 
 their term day, in which their business in law was attended ; 
 and that not lasting all the day, he adviseth to spend the rest 
 of it in disposing the next month's labours. Of the rest he 
 makes difference, showing which are unfortunate, and which 
 auspicious, and are so far to be observed as natural cause is to 
 be given for them ; for it were madness not to ascribe reason 
 to Nature, or to make that reason so far above us, that we 
 cannot know by it what is daily in use with us, all being for 
 our cause created of God; and therefore the diiferences of 
 days arise in some part from the aspects, quibus Luna intuetur 
 ioUm } nam quudruti asptctus cient pugnum uaiura: cum murbo. 
 
202 II ESI OPS BOOK OF BAYS. 
 
 First, the First day in which the moon doth move 
 With radiance renew'd ; and then the Fourth ; 
 The Seventh day next, being first in sacred worth, 
 For that day did Latona bring to light 15 
 
 The gold-sword-wearing Sun ; next then the Eighth 
 And Ninth are good, being both days that retain 
 The moon's prime strength t' instruct the works of men. 
 The 'Leventh and Twelfth are likewise both good days ; 
 The Twelfth yet far exceeds the 'Leventh's repair, 20 
 For that day hangs the spinner in the air, 
 And weaves up her web ; so the spinster all 
 Her rock then ends, exposing it to sale. 
 So Earth's third housewife, the ingenious ant, 
 On that day ends her mole-hills' cure of want. 20 
 
 The day herself in their example then 
 Tasking her fire, and bounds her length to men. 
 
 The Thirteenth day take care thou sow no seed, 
 To plant yet 'tis a day of special speed. 
 The Sixteenth day plants set prove fruitless still, 30 
 To get a son 'tis good, a daughter ill, 
 Nor good to get, nor give in nuptials. 
 
 12 IlpCJrov tin], primum novilunium, which is called sacred, 
 nam omnia initia sacra ; the fourth likewise he calls sacred, quia 
 eo die prodit a coitu Luna, yrimumque turn conspicitur. 
 
 16 'Oyftodry. The second and fifth day let pass, and sixth, 
 ut mediis, he comes to the eighth and ninth, which in their in- 
 creasing he terms truly profitable, nam humores ulit crescent iu 
 Luna 
 
 19 ^EvfitizaTi). The tenth let pass, the eleventh and twelfth he 
 praises diversely, because the moon beholds the sun then in a 
 triangular aspect, which is ever called benevolent. 
 
 32 Our' dfj yduov, ueque nttptiit trudendis. The sixteenth day, 
 he says, is neither good to get a daughter, nor to wed her, 
 quia a ptenilunio cazpitjam humor dejicere ; he says it is good to 
 get a son in, nam ex humido semineJkmeUe, ex sicciore puetli nas- 
 cuntur. 
 
HESIO&S BOOK OF DAYS. 203 
 
 Nor in the Sixth day any influence falls 
 
 To fashion her begetting confluence, 
 
 But to geld kids and lambs, and sheep-cotes fence, 35 
 
 It is a day of much benevolence ; 
 
 To get a son it good effects affords, 
 
 And loves to cut one's heart with bitter words ; 
 
 And yet it likes fair speeches, too, and lies, 
 
 And whispering out detractive obloquies. 40 
 
 The Eighth the bellowing bullock lib and goat ; 
 The Twelfth the labouring mule. But if of note 
 For wisdom, and to make a judge of laws, 
 To estimate and arbitrate a cause, 
 Thou wouldst a son get, the great Twentieth day 4ft 
 Consort thy wife, when full the morn's broad ray 
 Shines through thy windows ; for that day is fit 
 To form a great and honourable wit. 
 The Tenth is likewise good to get a son ; 
 Fourteenth a daughter ; then lay hand upon so 
 
 The colt, the mule, and horn-retorted steer, 
 And sore-bit mastiff', and their forces rear 
 To useful services. Be careful, then, 
 The Four-and-twentieth day (the bane of men, 
 
 38 Kepro/xoc, cor alicui scindens. 
 
 41 [Lib— castrate.] 
 
 43 "laropa ^uJra, prudeutem virumjudicem, seu arbitrum, quod 
 eos cognaros esse nporteat rei de quu agitur. He calls it the great 
 twentieth, because it is the last p.i]vbg fieaouvTog, which is of the 
 middle decad of the month ; diebus rou (pOipovrog, or days of 
 the dying moon immediately following. 
 
 50 'Verpag. The fourteenth is good to get a daughter, be- 
 cause the moon then abounds in humours, and her light is 
 more gelid and cold, her heat more temperate 5 and therefore 
 he says it is good likewise to tame beasts in, since then, by the 
 abundance or humours, they are made more gentle, and con- 
 sequently easier tamed. 
 
 54 Terpud. He calls this day so baneful, because of the op- 
 
204 HESIOD'S BOOK OF DAYS. 
 
 Hurling amongst them) to make safe thy state, 55 
 
 For 'tis a Jay of death insatiate. 
 
 The Fourth day celebrate thy nuptial-feast, 
 
 All birds observ'd that fit a bridal best. 
 
 All Fifth days to effect affairs in fly, 
 
 Being all of harsh and horrid quality ; 60 
 
 For then all vengeful spirits walk their round, 
 
 And haunt men like their handmaids, to confound 
 
 Their faithless peace, whose plague Contention got. 
 
 The Seventeenth day what Ceres did allot 
 
 Thy barns in harvest (since then view'd with care) 65 
 
 Upon a smooth floor let the vinnoware 
 
 Dight and expose to the opposed gale ; 
 
 Then let thy forest-feller cut thee all 
 
 Thy chamber fuel, and the numerous parts 
 
 Of naval timber apt for shipwrights' arts. 70 
 
 The Four-and- twentieth day begin to close 
 
 Thy ships of leak. The Ninth day never blows 
 
 Least ill at all on men. The Nineteenth day 
 
 Yields (after noon yet) a more gentle ray, 
 
 Auspicious both to plant, and generate 75 
 
 position of sun and the moon, and the time then being, that is, 
 between the old and new moon, are hurtful for bodies'; such as 
 labour with choleric diseases, most languish then ; those with 
 phlegmatic, contrary. 
 
 5U ntfnrrai:. He warns men to 11 y all fifth days, that is 
 the fifth, the fifteenth, and the five-and-twentieth, because all 
 vengeful spirits he affirms then to be most busy with men. 
 
 64 The seventeenth day he thinketh besi to winnow, or dight 
 corn, a plenilunio, because about that time winds are stirred up 
 and the air is drier. 
 
 &i [ Vinnoware — winnower.] 
 
 72 [Ipwriori} tlvag, prima nova. That is from the beginning 
 of the month, he calls harmless, propter geminum aspecimn, cum 
 *ol abeat a sign is. 
 
HESIOD'S BOOK OF DAYS. 205 
 
 Both sons and daughters ; ill to no estate. 
 
 But the Thrice-Nine day's goodness few men know, 
 
 Being hest day of the whole month to make flow 
 
 Both wine and corn-tuns, and to curb the force 
 
 Of mules and oxen and the swift-hoov'd horse ; so 
 
 And then the well-built ship launch. But few men 
 
 Know truth in anything, or where or when 
 
 To do, or order, what they must do, needs, 
 
 Days differencing with no more care than deeds. 
 
 The Twice-Seventh day for sacred worth exceeds. 65 
 
 But few men when the Twentieth day is past, 
 
 Which is the best day (while the morn doth last 
 
 In her increasing power, though after noon 
 
 Her grace grows faint) approve or end that moon 
 
 With any care ; man's life most priz'd is least, 90 
 
 Though lengthless spent as endless, fowl and beast 
 
 Far passing it for date. For all the store 
 
 Of years man boasts, the prating crow hath more 
 
 By thrice three lives ; the long-liv'd stag four parts 
 
 Exceeds the crow's time ; the raven's age the hart's 95 
 
 Triples in durance ; all the raven's long date 
 
 The phoenix ninefold doth reduplicate ; 
 
 Yet Nymphs (the blest Seed of the Thunderer) 
 
 Ten lives outlast the phoenix. - But prefer 
 
 76 Proverb, nvllus dies onntino malus. 
 
 81 Uuupoi. He says few observe these differences of days, 
 and as few know or make any difference betwixt one day and 
 another. 
 
 b9 He says few approve those days, because these cause most 
 change of tempests and men's bodies in the beginning of the 
 last quarter. 
 
 90 All this, and the lives of fowls, is cited out of this author 
 by Plutarch, not being extant in the common copy. 
 
206 HESIOD'S BOOK OF DAYS. 
 
 Good life to long life ; and observe these days 100 
 
 That must direct it, being to all men's ways 
 Of excellent conduct ; all the rest but sounds 
 That follow falls, mere vain and have no grounds; 
 But one doth one day praise, another other, 
 Few knowing the truth. This day becomes a mother, 
 But. be man still one, liw 
 
 That man a happy angel waits upon, 
 Makes rich and blessed, that through all these days 
 Is knowingly eupfoyM : in all his ways 
 
 : him and the God?) goes still unblam'd : no 
 All their forewarning- and suggestions fram'd 
 To their obedience, being directly view'd ; 
 All good endeavour'd and all ill eschew'd. 
 
 •-• A< C£ n'tv ri:.- at. e: ha quidtm diet h wrimilms ntal wtmgm 
 
 commndo. The epilogue ot" the teacher ; in all days is to be 
 dered what religion commands, and then what riseth out 
 
 of natural CaUitri. 
 
 tut: e>;d of hlsiod s works axi days. 
 
MUStEUS. 
 
 ^7 
 
 9 
 
THE 
 
 D IVINE 
 
 POEM OF 
 MUS^US. 
 
 Firji of all Bookes. 
 
 TRANSLATED 
 
 According to the Ori- 
 
 ginall 
 
 By Geo : Chapman. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 ^ Printed by Ifaac 
 laggard. 1616. 
 
TO THE MOST GENERALLY INGENIOUS, AND 
 
 OUR ONLY LEARNED ARCHITECT, MY 
 
 EXCEEDING GOOD FRIEND, 
 
 INIGO JONES ESQUIRE, 
 
 SURVEYOR OF HIS MAJESTY'S WORKS. 
 
 NCIENT Poesy, and ancient Architec- 
 ture, requiring to their excellence a like 
 creating and proportionable rapture, and 
 being alike overtopt by the monstrous 
 Babels of our modern barbarism, their unjust ob- 
 scurity letting no glance of their truth and dignity 
 appear but to passing few, to passing few is then- 
 least apparance to be presented. Yourself then being 
 a chief of that few by whom both are apprehended, 
 and their beams worthily measured and valued, this 
 little light of the one I could not but object, and pub- 
 lish to your choice apprehension ; especially for your 
 most ingenuous love to all works in which the ancient 
 Greek Souls have appeared to you. jSTo less esteeming 
 this worth the presenting to any Greatest, for the small- 
 ness of the work, than the Author himself hath been 
 held therefore of the less estimation ; having obtained 
 as much preservation and honor as the greatest of others ; 
 
212 
 
 the smallness being supplied with so greatly-excellent 
 invention and elocution. Nor lacks even the most 
 youngly-enamoured affection it contains a temper grave 
 enough to become both the sight and acceptance of the 
 Gravest. And therefore, howsoever the mistaking world 
 takes it (whose left hand ever received what I gave with 
 my right) if you freely and nobly entertain it, I obtain 
 my end ; your judicious love ? s continuance being my 
 only object. To which I at all parts commend 
 
 Your ancient poor friend, 
 
 George Chapman. 
 
TO THE COMMUNE EEADER. 
 
 HEX you see Leander and Hero, the 
 subjects of this Pamphlet, I persuade 
 myself jour prejudice will increase to the 
 contempt of it; either headlong pre- 
 supposing it all one, or at no part matchable, with that 
 partly excellent Poem of Maister Marloe's. For your 
 all one, the Works are in nothing alike; a different 
 character being held through both the style, matter, 
 and invention. For the match of it, let but your eyes 
 be matches, and it will in many parts overmatch it. 
 In the Original, it being by all most learned the in- 
 comparable Love-Poem of the world. And I would 
 be something sorry you could justly tax me with doing 
 it any wrong in our English ; though perhaps it will 
 not so amble under your seisures and censures, as the 
 before published. 
 
 Let the great comprehenders and unable utterers 
 of the Greek elocution in other language drop under 
 their unloadings, how humbly soever they please, and 
 the rather disclaim their own strength, that my weak- 
 ness may seem the more presumptuous ; it can impose 
 no scruple the more burthen on my shoulders, that I 
 will feel ; unless Reason chance to join arbiter with 
 
214 
 
 Will, and appear to me ; to whom I am ever prostrately 
 subject. And if envious Misconstruction could once 
 leave tyrannizing over my infortunate Innocence, both 
 the Charity it argued would render them that use it 
 the more Christian, and me industrious, to hale out of 
 them the discharge of their own duties. 
 
OF MUS^US. 
 
 OUT OF THE WORTHY D. GAGER's COLLECTIONS. 
 
 USJEUS was a renowned Greek Poet,born 
 
 at Athens, the son of Eumolpus. He 
 
 A j^E^S] Ei lived in the time of Orpheus, and is said 
 
 •^3^5 ^g^l to be one of them that went the Famous 
 
 Voyage to Colchos for the Golden Fleece. He wrote 
 
 of the Gods' Genealogy before any other ; and invented 
 
 the Sphere. Whose opinion was, that all things were 
 
 made of one Matter, and resolved into one again. Of 
 
 whose works only this one Poem of Hero and Le- 
 
 ander is extant. Of himself, in his Sixth Book of JEne. 
 
 Virgil makes memorable mention, where in Elysium he 
 
 makes Sibylla speak this of him — 
 
 Musseum ante omnes ; medium nam plurima turba 
 Hunc habet, atque humeris extantem suspicit altis. 
 
 He was born in Falerum, a town in the middle of 
 Tuscia, or the famous country of Tuscany in Italy, 
 called also Hetruria. 
 
216 
 
 OF ABYDUS AND SESTUS. 
 
 , BYDUS and Sestus were two ancient Towns; 
 one in Europe, another in Asia ; East and 
 West, opposite ; on both the shores of the 
 Hellespont. Their names are extant in Maps to this 
 day. But in their places are two Castles built, which 
 the Turks call Bogazossas, that is, Castles situate by the 
 sea-side. Seamen now call the place where Sestus stood 
 Maliclo. It was likewise called Possidonium. But 
 Abydus is called Auco. They are both renowned in 
 all writers for nothing so much as the Love of Leander 
 and Hero. 
 
 OF THE HELLESPONT. 
 
 HELLESPONT, the straits of the two seas, 
 Propontis and Egeum, running betwixt Aby- 
 dus and Sestus. Over which Xerxes built 
 a bridge, and joined these two towns together, convey- 
 ing over his army of seven hundred thousand men. It 
 is now called by some The Straits of Gallipolis ; but 
 by Frenchmen, Flemings, and others, The Arm of 
 Saint George, It had his name Hellespont, because 
 Helle the daughter oiAihamas K. of Thebes was drowned 
 in it. And therefore of one it is called The Virgin- 
 Icilling Sea ; of another The Virgin- Sea. It is but 
 seven Italian furlongs broad, which is one of our miles 
 lacking a furlong. 
 
MUS^US, 
 OF HERO AND LEANDER. 
 
 ODDESS, relate the witness-bearing light 
 Of Loves, that would not bear a human 
 
 sight ; 
 The Sea-man that transported marriages, 
 Shipt in the night, his bosom plowing th' seas ; 
 The love-joys that in gloomy clouds did fly 5 
 
 The clear beams of th' immortal Morning's eye ; 
 Abydus and fair Sestus, where I hear 
 The night -hid Nuptials of young Hero were ; 
 Leander's swimming to her ; and a Light, 
 A Light that was administress of sight 10 
 
 To cloudy Venus, and did serve a t' address 
 Night-wedding Hero's nuptial offices ; 
 A Light that took the very form of Love ; 
 Which had been justice in ethereal Jove, 
 When the nocturnal duty had been done, is 
 
 T' advance amongst the consort of the Sun, 
 And call the b Star that Nuptial Loves did guide, 
 And to the Bridegroom gave and grac'd the Bride, 
 Because it was c companion to the death 
 Of Loves, d whose kind cares cost their dearest breath; 20 
 And that e fame -freighted ship from ship wrack kept 
 
218 MUSJEUS, OF 
 
 That such sweet nuptials brought they never slept, 
 
 Till air f was with a bitter flood inflate, 
 
 That bore their firm loves as infixt a hate. 
 
 But, Goddess, forth, and both one issue sing, 25 
 
 The Light extinct, Leander perishing. 
 
 Two towns there were, that with one sea were wall'd, 
 Built near, and opposite ; this Sestus call'd, 
 Abjdus that ; the Love his bow bent high, 
 And at both Cities let one arrow fly, so 
 
 That two (a Virgin and a Youth) inflam'd : 
 The youth was sweetly-grac'd Leander nam'd, 
 The virgin Hero ; Sestus she renowns, 
 Abydus he, in birth ; of both which towns 
 Both were the beauty- circled stars ; and both 35 
 
 Grae'd with like looks, as with one love and troth. 
 
 If that way lie thy course, seek for my sake 
 A Tower, that Sestian Hero once did make 
 Her watch-tower, and a torch stood holding there, 
 By which Leander his sea-course did steer. 40 
 
 Seek, likewise, of Abydus ancient tow'rs, 
 The roaring sea lamenting to these hours 
 Leander' s Love and Death. But say, how came 
 He (at Abydus born) to feel the flame 
 Of Hero's love at Sestus, and to bind 45 
 
 In chains of equal fire bright Hero's mind ? 
 
 The graceful Hero, born of gentle blood, 
 Was Venus' Priest : and since she understood 
 No nuptial language, from her parents she 
 Dwelt in a tow'r that over-look'd the sea. 50 
 
 For shamefastness and chastity, she reign'd 
 Another Goddess ; nor was ever train'd 
 
 29 The Love — Cupid. Perhaps we should read then Love. 
 
HERO AND LEAN DEE. 210 
 
 In women'? companies ; nor learn'd to tread 
 
 A graceful dance, to which such years are bred. 
 
 The envious spites of women she did fly, 55 
 
 ("Women for beauty their own sex envy) 
 
 All her devotion was to Venus done, 
 
 And to his heavenly Mother her great Son 
 
 Would reconcile with sacrifices ever, 
 
 And ever trembled at his flaming quiver. to 
 
 Yet scap'd not so his fiery shafts her breast ; 
 
 For now the popular Yenerean Feast. 
 
 Which to Adonis, and great Cvpria's State, 
 
 The Sestians yearly ns'd to celebrate, 
 
 Was come ; and to that holy day came all 60 
 
 That in the bordering isles the sea did wall. 
 
 To it in flocks they flew ; from Cyprus these, 
 
 Environed with the rough Carpathian seas : 
 
 These from Hsemonia ; nor remain'd a man 
 
 Of all the towns in th' isles Cytherean ; 70 
 
 Xot one was left, that us'd to dance upon 
 
 The tops of odoriferous Libanon ; 
 
 Xot one of Phrygia, not one of all 
 
 The neighbours seated near the Festival ; 
 
 Xor one of opposite Abydus* shore ; 
 
 None of all these, that virgins' favours wore, 
 
 Were absent : all such fill the flowing way, 
 
 When Fame proclaims a solemn holy day, 
 
 Xot bent so much to offer holy flames, 
 
 As to the beauties of assembled dames. so 
 
 The virgin Hero enter'd th' holy place, 
 And graceful beams cast round about her face, 
 Like to the bright orb of the rising Moon. 
 The top-spheres of her snowy cheeks puts on 
 
220 MUS^JUS, OF 
 
 A glowing redness, like the two-hued rose 8f 
 
 Her odorous bud beginning to disclose. 
 
 Yon would have said, in all her lineaments 
 
 A meadow full of roses she presents. 
 
 All over her she g blush' d; which (putting on 
 
 Her white robe, reaching to her ankles) shone 90 
 
 (While she in passing did her feet dispose) 
 
 As she had wholly been a moving rose. 
 
 Graces in numbers from her parts did flow. 
 
 The Ancients therefore (since they did not know 
 
 Hero's unbounded beauties) falsely feign'd 95 
 
 Only three Graces ; for, when Hero strain' d 
 
 Into a smile her priestly modesty, 
 
 A hundred Graces grew from either eye. 
 
 A fit one, sure, the Cyprian Goddess found 
 
 To be her ministress ; and so highly crown'd 100 
 
 With worth her grace was, past all other dames, 
 
 That, of a priest made to the Queen of Flames, 
 
 A new Queen of them she in all eyes shin'd ; 
 
 And did so undermine each tender mind 
 
 Of all the young men ; and there was not one 105 
 
 But wish'd fair Hero was his wife, or none. 
 
 Nor could she stir about the well-built Fane, 
 
 This way or that, but every way she wan 
 
 A following mind in all men ; which their eyes, 
 
 Lighted with all their inmost faculties, 110 
 
 Clearly confirm'd ; and one (admiring) said, 
 
 " All Sparta I have travell'd, and survey'd 
 
 The City Lacedsemon, where we hear 
 
 All Beauties' labors and contentions were, 
 
 A woman, yet, so wise and delicate lis 
 
 I never saw. It may be Venus gat 
 
HERO AND LEANDER. 221 
 
 One of the younger Graces to supply 
 
 The place of priest-hood to her Deity. 
 
 Ev'n tir'd I am with sight, yet doth not find 
 
 A satisfaction hy my sight my mind. 120 
 
 could I once ascend sweet Hero's bed, 
 Let me be straight found in her bosom dead ! 
 
 1 would not wish to be in heaven a God, 
 Were Hero here my wife. But, if forbod 
 
 To lay profane hands on thy holy priest, 125 
 
 O Venus, with another such assist 
 
 My nuptial longings." Thus pray'd all that spake : 
 
 The rest their wounds hid, and in frenzies brake ; 
 
 Her beauty's fire, being so suppress'd, so rag'd. 
 
 But thou, Leander, more than all engag'd, 130 
 
 VTouldst not, when thou hadst view'd th' amazing Maid, 
 
 Waste with close stings, and seek no open aid, 
 
 But, with the flaming arrows of her eyes 
 
 Wounded unwares, thou wouldst in sacrifice 
 
 Vent th' inflammation thy burnt blood did prove, 135 
 
 Or live with sacred med'cine of her love. 
 
 But now the love-brand in his eye-beanis burn'd. 
 And with unconquer'd fire his heart was turn'd 
 Into a coal ; together wrought the flame. 
 The virtuous beaut}' of a spotless dame 1-10 
 
 Sharper to men is than the swiftest shaft ; 
 His eye the way by which his heart is caught, 
 And, from the stroke his eye sustains, the wound 
 Opens within, and doth his entrails sound. 
 Amaze then took him, Impudence and Shame 145 
 
 Made earthquakes in him with their frost and flame. 
 His heart betwixt them toss'd, till Beverence 
 Took all these prisoners in him ; and from thence 
 
323 UUSJEUS, OF 
 
 Her matchless beauty, with astonishment, 
 
 Increased his bands ; till aguish Love, that lent 160 
 
 Shame and Observance, licens'd their remove ; 
 
 And, wisely liking impudence in love, 
 
 Silent he went, and stood against the Maid, 
 
 And in side glances faintly he convey'd 
 
 His crafty eyes about her ; with dumb shows ir»o 
 
 Tempting her mind to error. And now grows 
 
 She to conceive his subtle flame, and joy'd 
 
 Since he was graceful. Then herself employed 
 
 Her womanish cunning, taming from him quite 
 
 Her lovely count'nance ; giving yet some light. 160 
 
 Even by her dark signs, of her kindling fire, 
 
 With up and down-looks whetting his desire. 
 
 He joy'd at heart to see Love's seDse in her. 
 
 And no contempt of what he did prefer. 
 
 And while he wish'd unseen to urge the rest, les 
 
 The day shrunk down her beams to lowest West. 
 
 And East; h the Even-Star took vantage of her shade. 
 
 Then boldly he his kind approaches made, 
 
 And as he saw the russet clouds increase, 
 
 He strain'd her rosy hand, and held his peace, 170 
 
 But sigh'd as silence had his bosom broke. 
 
 "When she, as silent, put on anger's cloke, 
 
 And drew her hand back. He, discerning well 
 
 Her 1 would and would not, to her boldlier fell ; 
 
 And her elaborate robe, with much cost wrought, 178 
 
 About her waist embracing, on he brought 
 
 His love to th' in-parts of the reverend Fane ; 
 
 She (as her love-sparks more and more did wane ) 
 
 Went slowly on, and, with a woman's words 
 
 Threat'ning Leander, thus his boldness bords : 180 
 
HERO AND LEANDEB. 223 
 
 " Why Stranger, are you k mad? Ill-fated man, 
 "Why hale you thus a virgin Sestian ? 
 Keep on your way. Let go, fear to offend 
 The noblesse of my birth-right's either friend. 
 It ill becomes you to solicit thus 1S5 
 
 The priest of Venus. Hopeless, dangerous, 
 The ] barr'd up way is to a virgin's bed." 
 Thus, for the maiden form, she menaced. 
 But he well-knew, that when these female m mines 
 Break out in fury, they are certain signs 190 
 
 Of their persuasions. Women's threats once shown, 
 Shows in it only all you wish your own. 
 And therefore of the rubi-colour'd maid 
 The odorous neck he with a kiss assay 'd, 
 And, stricken with the sting of love, he pray'd : 105 
 
 " Dear Yenus, next to Venus you must go ; 
 And next Minerva, trace Minerva too ; 
 Your like with earthy dames no light can show ; 
 To Jove's Great Daughters I must liken you. 
 Blest was thy great begetter ; blest was she 200 
 
 Whose womb did bear thee ; but most blessedly 
 The womb itself fare that thy throes did prove. 
 O ! hear my prayer ! Pity the need of Love. 
 As priest of Yenus, practise Venus' rites. 
 Come, and instruct me in her bed's-delights. 205 
 
 It fits not you, a virgin, to vow aids 
 To Venus' service ; Yenus loves no maids. 
 If Venus' institutions you prefer, 
 And faithful ceremonies vow to her, 
 Xuptials and beds they be. If her love binds, 210 
 
 Love Love's sweet laws, that soften human minds. 
 
 184 My birth-right's either friend — i. e. both my parents. 
 
224 AIUSJIUS, OF 
 
 Make me your servant ; husband, if you pleas'd : 
 
 Whom Cupid with his burning shafts has seiz'd, 
 
 And hunted to you, as swift Hermes drave 
 
 With his gold-rod Jove's bold son to be slave 21s 
 
 To Lydia's sovereign Virgin ; but for me, 
 
 Venus insulting forc'd my feet to thee, 
 
 I was not guided by wise Mercury. 
 
 Virgin, you know, when Atalanta fled, 
 
 Out of Arcadia, kind Melanion's bed, 220 
 
 Affecting virgin-life, your angry Queen. 
 
 Whom first she us'd with a malignant spleen, 
 
 At last possest him of her complete heart. 
 
 And you. dear love, because I would avert 
 
 Your Goddess' anger, I would fain persuade." 225 
 
 With these n love -luring words conformed he made 
 
 The maid recusant to his blood's desire, 
 
 And set her soft mind on an erring fire. 
 
 Dumb she was strook ; and down to earth she threw 
 
 Her rosy eyes, hid in vermilion hue, 220 
 
 Made red with shame. Oft with her foot she rac'd 
 
 Earth's upper part ; and oft (as quite ungrac'd) 
 
 About her shoulders gather'd up her weed. 
 
 All these fore -tokens are that men should speed. 
 
 Of a persuaded virgin, to her bed 835 
 
 Promise is most given when the least is said. 
 
 And now she took in Love's sweet-bitter sting, 
 
 Burn'd in a fire that cool'd her surfeiting. 
 
 Her beauties likewise strook her friend amaz'd ; 
 
 For, while her eyes fixt on the pavement gaz'd, 240 
 
 Love on Leander's looks shew'd fury seiz'd. 
 
 Never enough his greedy eyes were pleas'd 
 
 To view the fair gloss of her tender neck. 
 
HERO AXD LEAXDER. 225 
 
 At last this voice past, and out did break 
 A ruddy moisture from her bashful eyes : 345 
 
 •■ Stranger, perhaps thy words might exercise 
 Motion in flints, as well as my soft breast. I 
 
 "Who taught thee words, p that err from East to West 
 In their wild liberty ? O woe is me ! 
 To this my native soil who guided thee ? 250 
 
 All thou hast said is vain ; for how canst thou 
 (Xot to be trusted ; one I do not know) 
 Hope co excite in me a mixed love ? 
 Tis clear, that Law by no means will approve 
 Nuptials with us ; for thou canst never gain 255 
 
 My parents' graces. If thou wouldst remain 
 Close on my shore, as outcast from thine own, 
 Yenus will be in darkest corners known. 
 Man's tongue is loose to scandal ; loose acts done 
 In surest secret, in the open sun 260 
 
 And every market place will burn thine ears. 
 But say, What name sustainst thou ? What soil bears 
 Xaine of thy coimtry ? Mine I cannot hide. 
 My far -spread name is Hero ; I abide 
 Hous'd in an all-seen tow'r, whose tops q touch heaven, 
 Built on a steep shore, that to sea is driven 266 
 
 Before the City Sestus : one sole maid 
 Attending. And this irksome life is laid 
 By my austere friends' wills on one so young ; 
 Xo like-year d virgins near, no youthful throng, 270 
 To meet in some delights, dances, or so : 
 But day and night the windy sea doth throw 
 Wild miu-muring cuffs about our deaf ned ears." 
 This said, her white robe hid her cheeks like spheres. 
 And then (with shame affected, since she us'd 275 
 
 Q 
 
226 MUSJBUS, OF 
 
 Words that desir'd youths, and her friends accus'd) 
 
 She blanr d herself for them, and them for her. 
 
 Mean space Leander felt Love's arrow err 
 
 Thro* all his thoughts ; devising how he might 
 
 Encounter Love, that dar'd him so to fight. 2so 
 
 Mind-changing Love wounds men and cures again. 
 
 Those mortals over whom he lists to reign, 
 
 Th' All-tamer stoops to, in advising how 
 
 They may with some ease bear the yoke, his bow. 
 
 So our Leander, whom he hurt, he heal'd. 285 
 
 Who having long his hidden fire conceal'd, 
 
 And vex'd with thoughts he thirsted to impart, 
 
 His stay he quitted with this quickest art : 
 
 " Virgin, for thy love I will swim a wave 
 
 That ships denies ; and though with fire it rave, 290 
 
 In way to thy bed, all the seas in one 
 
 I would despise ; the Hellespont were none. 
 
 All nights to swim to one r sweet bed with thee 
 
 Were nothing, if when Love had landed me, 
 
 All hid in weeds and in Venerean foam, 295 
 
 I brought withal bright Hero's husband home. 
 
 Xot far from hence, and just against thy town, 
 
 Abydus stands, that my birth calls mine own. 
 
 Hold but a torch then in thy s heaven-high tow'r. 
 
 (Which I beholding, to that starry pow'r 300 
 
 May plow the dark seas, as the Ship of Love) 
 
 I will not care to see Bootes move 
 
 Down to the sea, nor sharp Orion trail 
 
 His never-wet car, but arrive my sail, 
 
 Against my country, at thy pleasing shore. 805 
 
 But (dear) take heed that no ungentle blore 
 
 The torch extinguish, bearing all the light 
 
HERO AND LEANDER. 227 
 
 By which my life sails, lest I lose thee quite. 
 
 Wouldst thou my name know (as thou dost my house) 
 
 It is Leander, lovely Hero's spouse." 310 
 
 Thus this kind couple their close marriage made, 
 
 And friendship ever to be held in shade 
 
 (Only by witness of one nuptial light) 
 
 Both vow'd ; agreed that Hero every night 
 
 Should hold her torch out ; every night her love 315 
 
 The tedious passage of the seas should prove. 
 
 The whole even of the watchful nuptials spent, 
 
 Against their wills the stern power of constraint 
 
 Enfore'd their parting. Hero to her tow'r ; 
 
 Leander (minding his returning hour) 320 
 
 Took of the turret marks, for fear he fail'd, 
 
 And to well-founded broad Abydus sail'd. 
 
 All night both thirsted for the secret strife 
 
 Of each young-married lovely man and wife ; 
 
 And all day after no desire shot home, 320 
 
 But that the chamber- decking night were come. 
 
 And now Night's sooty clouds clapp'd all sail on, 
 
 Fraught all with sleep ; yet took Leander none, 
 
 But on th' oppos'd shore of the noisefull seas 
 
 The messenger of glitt'ring marriages 330 
 
 Look'd wishly for ; or rather long'd to see 
 
 The witness of their Light to misery, 
 
 Far off discover' d in their covert bed. 
 
 When Hero saw the blackest curtain spred 
 
 That veil'd the dark night, her bright torch she shew'd. 
 
 Whose light no sooner th' eager Lover view'd, 336 
 
 But Love his blood set on as bright a fire ; 
 
 Together burn'd the torch and his desire. 
 
 But hearing of the sea the horrid roar, 
 
228 MUS^US, OF 
 
 With which the tender air the mad waves tore, 340 
 
 At first he trembled ; but at last he rear'd 
 
 High as the storm his spirit, and thus cheer'd 
 
 (Using these words to it) his resolute mind : 
 
 " Love dreadful is; the Sea with nought inclin'd; 
 
 But Sea is water, outward all his ire ; 345 
 
 When Love lights his fear with an inward fire. 
 
 Take fire, my heart, fear nought that flits and raves, 
 
 Be Love himself to me, despise these waves. 
 
 Art thou to know that Venus' birth was here ? 
 
 Commands the sea, and all that grieves us there ?" 350 
 
 This said, his fair limbs of his weed he stript ; 
 
 Which, at his head with both hands bound, he shipt, 
 
 Leapt from the shore, and cast into the sea 
 
 His lovely body ; thrusting all his way 
 
 Up to the torch, that still he thought did call ; 355 
 
 He oars, he steerer, he the ship and all. 
 
 Hero advanc'd upon a tow'r so high, 
 
 As soon would lose on it the fixedst eye ; 
 
 And, like her Goddess Star, with her light shining, 
 
 The winds, that always (as at her repining) 360 
 
 Would blast her pleasures, with her veil she checkt, 
 
 And from their envies did her torch protect. 
 
 And this she never left, till she had brought 
 
 Leander to the havenful shore he sought. 
 
 When down she ran, and up she lighted then, 365 
 
 To her tow'r's top, the weariest of men. 
 
 First at the gates (without a syllable us'd) 
 
 She hugg'd her panting husband, all diffus'd 
 
 With foamy drops still stilling from his hair. 
 
 Then brought she him into the inmost fair 370 
 
 Of all, her virgin-chamber, that (at best) 
 
HERO AND LEANDER. 229 
 
 Was with her beauties ten times better drest. 
 
 His body then she cleans'd ; his body oil'd 
 
 With rosy odours, and his bosom (soil'd 
 
 With the unsavoury sea) she render 'd sweet. 375 
 
 Then, in the high-made bed (ev'n panting yet) 
 
 Herself she pour'd about her husband's breast, 
 
 And these words utter'd : " With too much unrest, 
 
 O husband, you have bought this little peace ! 
 
 Husband ! No other man hath paid th' increase aso 
 
 Of that huge sum of pains you took for me. 
 
 And yet I know, it is enough for thee 
 
 To suffer for my love the fishy savours 
 
 The working sea breaths. Come lay all thy labors 
 
 On my all-thankful bosom." All this said, 385 
 
 He straight ungirdled her ; and both parts paid 
 
 To Venus what her gentle statutes bound. 
 
 Here weddings were, but not a musical sound ; 
 
 Here bed-rites offer'd, but no hymns of praise, 
 
 Nor poet sacred wedlock's worth did raise. 390 
 
 No torches gilt the honor'd nuptial bed, 
 
 Nor any youths much-moving dances led. 
 
 No father, nor no reverend mother, sung 
 
 Hymen, Hymen, blessing loves so young. 
 
 But when the consummating hours had crown'd 395 
 
 The down-right nuptials, a calm bed was found ; 
 
 Silence the room fixt ; Darkness deckt the bride ; 
 
 But hymns and such rites far were laid aside. 
 
 Night was sole gracer of this nuptial house ; 
 
 Cheerful Aurora never saw the spouse 400 
 
 In any beds that were too broadly known, 
 
 Away he fled still to his region, 
 
 And breath' d insatiate of the absent Sun. 
 
230 MUSJRUS, OF 
 
 Hero kept all this from her parents still, 
 Her priestly weed was large, and would not fill, 40.5 
 A maid bj day she was, a wife by night ; 
 Which Loth so lov'd they wish'd it never light. 
 And thus both, hiding the strong need of love, 
 In Venus' secret sphere rejoic'd to move. 
 But soon their joy died ; and that still-toss'd state 410 
 Of their stol'n nuptials drew but little date. 
 For when the frosty Winter kept his justs, 
 Housing together all the horrid gusts 
 That from the ever-whirling pits arise, 
 And those weak deeps that drive up to the skies, 415 
 Against the drench' d foundations making knock 
 Their curled foreheads ; then with many a shock 
 The winds and seas met, made the storms aloud 
 Beat all the rough sea with a pitchy cloud. 
 And then the black bark, buffeted with gales, 420 
 
 Earth checks so rudely that in two it falls ; 
 The seaman flying winter's faithless sea. 
 Yet, brave Leander, all this bent at thee 
 Could not compell in thee one fit of fear ; 
 But when the cruel faithless messenger 425 
 
 (The tow'r) appeared and shew'd th' accustomed light, 
 It stung thee on, secure of all the spite 
 The raging sea spit. But since Winter came, 
 Unhappy Hero should have cool'd her flame, 
 And He without Leander, no more lighting 430 
 
 Her short -liv'd bed-star ; but strange Fate exciting 
 As well as Love, and both their pow'rs conibin'd 
 Enticing her, in her hand never shin'd 
 The fatal Love-torch, but this one hour, more. 
 Night came. And now the Sea against the shore 430 
 
HERO AND LEAN DEB. 231 
 
 Muster'd her winds up ; from whose wint'ry jaws 
 
 The j belch' d their rude breaths out in bitt'rest flaws. 
 
 In midst of which Leander, with the pride 
 
 Of his dear hope to bord his matchless bride, 
 
 Up on the rough back of the high sea leaps ; 440 
 
 And then waves thrust up waves ; the watry heaps 
 
 Tumbled together ; sea and sky were mixt ; 
 
 The fighting Winds the frame of Earth unfixt ; 
 
 Zephyr and Eurus flew in either' s face, 
 
 Notus and Boreas wrastler-like embrace, 445 
 
 And toss each other with their bristled backs. 
 
 Inevitable were the horrid cracks 
 
 The shaken Sea gave ; ruthful were the wracks 
 
 Leander suffer'd in the savage gale 
 
 Th' inexorable whirlpits did exhale. 450 
 
 Often he pray'd to Venus born of seas, 
 
 Neptune their King ; and Boreas, that t' would please 
 
 His Godhead, for the Nymph Atthea's sake, 
 
 Not to forget the like stealth he did make 
 
 For her dear love, touch't then with his sad state. 455 
 
 But none would help him ; Love compels not Fate. 
 
 Every way toss'd with waves and Air's rude breath 
 
 Justling together, he was crush' d to death. 
 
 No more his youthful force his feet commands, 
 
 Unmov'd lay now his late all-moving hands. 460 
 
 His throat was turn'd free channel to the flood, 
 
 And drink went down that did him far from good. 
 
 No more the false light for the curst wind burn'd, 
 
 That of Leander ever-to-be-mourn'd 
 
 Blew out the love and soul. When Hero still 465 
 
 Had watchful eyes, and a most constant will 
 
 To guide the voyage ; and the morning shin'd, 
 
232 MUSjEUS, OF HERO AND LEAXDER. 
 
 Yet not by her light she her love could find. 
 
 She stood distract with miserable woes, 
 
 And round about the sea's broad shoulders throws 470 
 
 Her eye. to second the extinguish'd light ; 
 
 And tried if any way her husband's sight 
 
 Erring in any part she could descry. 
 
 When at her turret's foot she saw him lie 
 
 Mangl'd with rocks, and all-embrued, she tore 475 
 
 About her breast the curious weed she wore ; 
 
 And with a shriek from off her turret's height 
 
 Cast her fair body headlong, that fell right 
 
 On her dead husband, spent with him her breath ; 
 
 And each won other in the worst of death. 480 
 
ANNOTATIONS UPON THIS POEM OP 
 MTJ&EUS. 
 
 Ver. 11. a rcLfioeroXog signifies one qui nuptias apparat vel 
 instruit. 
 
 17. ^^VfKpoffToXov dcrrpov kpwrcjv. Nv/j0oot6\oc est qui 
 sponsam sponso adducit seu conciliat. 
 
 19. c 2vv8piQog, socius in aliquo opere. 
 
 20. d 'Epix)fiaveojv oSvvaujv. 'Epujf.iavrjQ signifies perdite 
 amans, and therefore I enlarge the verbal translation. 
 
 21. e 'AyyeXLr]V 8* tyvXaZev aKoifjLrjTUJV, k. t. X. 'AyyeXia, 
 besides what is translated in the Latin res est nuntiata, item 
 mandatum a nuntio perlatum, item fama, and therefore I trans- 
 late it fame-freighted ship, because Leander calls himself oXkoq 
 tpwTog, which is translated navis amoris, though 6X/e6c properly 
 signifies sulcus, or tract us uavis, vel terpentis, vel (Etherea sagittce, fyc. 
 
 23. f 'ExQpbv ar\rr\v. "ExOog, "ExOpa, and 'E^^poc are of 
 one signification, or have their deduction one ; and seem to be 
 deduced dirb tov exs^Oai, I. hczrere. Ut sit odium quod animo 
 injixum haret. Eor odium is by Cicero defined ira inveterata. 
 I have therefore translated it according to this deduction, be- 
 cause it expresses better 5 and taking the wind for the fate of 
 the wind 5 which conceived and appointed before, makes it as 
 inveterate or infixed. 
 
 89. SXpoitjP yap fjieXsujv epvOaivero, crlore enim membrorum 
 rubebat. A most excellent hyperbole, being to be understood 
 she blushed all over her. Or, then follows another elegancy, 
 as strange and hard to conceive. The mere verbal translation 
 of the Latin being in the sense either imperfect, or utterly in- 
 
234 AXXOTATIOXS OX THIS 
 
 elegant, which I must yet leave to your judgment, for your 
 own satisfaction. The words are, — 
 
 ~S icrcrofjLEvtiQ £e 
 Kal po?a XevKOXiTLovog vwb c<pvpa XdfnrEro kovojjc. 
 Euniis vero 
 Etiam roscE Candida indutic tunica sub talis splendebant puelle. 
 To understand which, that her white weed was all underlined 
 with roses, and that they shined out of it as she went, is passing 
 poor and absurd : and as gross to have her stuck all over with 
 roses. And therefore to make the sense answerable in heighth 
 and elegancy to the former, she seemed (blushiDg all over her 
 white robe, even below her ankles as she went) a moving rose, 
 as having the blush of many roses about her. 
 
 167. h 'Avs(paivel3a9vcn;iOQE<J7rEpoga(Tri)p. Apparuit umbrosa 
 Hesperus stella. E regione is before ; which I English " And 
 east ; the Even-star took vantage of her shade, viz. of the evening 
 shade, which is the cause that stars appear. 
 
 174. iXaXitypova vevfiara k. instabilis nutuspuellce. I Eng- 
 lish her would and would not. Xa\/0pujr, 6 x^Xic rac ejpsvac, 
 signifying cui mens laiata est et enerva ; and of extremity therein 
 amens, demens. XaXitypovtw, sum x&Xi(ppm>. 
 
 181. k Demens sum — she calls him cvcpope, which signifies 
 cui difficile fatum obtingit ; according to which I English it, «- 
 felix (being the word in the Latin) not expressing so particularly. 
 because the unhappy in our language hath divers understand- 
 ings, as waggish or subtle, &;c. And the other well expressing 
 an ill abodement in Hero of his ill or hard fate ; imagining 
 straight the strange and sudden alteration in her to be fatal. 
 
 187. ] A'tKTpov apifxavov. Hap9ariKfje going before, it is 
 Latined, virginis ad ledum difficile est ire; but dprixavoe sig- 
 nifies nullis machinu expugnabil'u: the way unto a virgin's bed 
 is utterly-barred. 
 
 189. m Kv7rpiSlu)v odpiov avrdyyeXoi ticriv aTreiXai. Vene- 
 rearum consuetudinum per se nuntiiz sunt miner ; exceeding ele- 
 gant. AvrayyeXog signifying qui sibi nuntius est. id est. qui 
 sine alior m opera sua ipse nuntiat ; according to which I have 
 Englished it. "Oapte, lusus venerei. ? A7ru\ai also, which sig- 
 nifies mince , having a reciprocal signification in our tongue, 
 being Englished mines. Mines, as it is privileged amongst us, 
 being English, signifying mines made under the earth. I 
 have passed it with that word, being fit for this place in that 
 understanding. 
 
POEM OF MUSJEUS. 235 
 
 226. n 'EpwroTOKOiGi fivQoig, Iqljtotokoq crap%, corpus amorem 
 pariens et alticiens, according to which I have turned it. 
 
 243. 0< A7ra\6xpoov av%kva. ' A7ra\6xpoog signifies qui 
 tenerd el delicatd est cute ; tenerum therefore not enough express- 
 ing, I have enlarged the expression as in his place. 
 
 248. P Ilo\v7r\avtu)v Itt'ewv is turned variorum verborum* 
 TToXvirXavriQ signifying multivagus, erroueus, or errorum plenus* 
 intending that sort of error that is in the planets ; of whose 
 wandering they are called 7rXavrJTeg aarepeg, sidera errant ia. 
 So that Hero taxed him for so bold a liberty in words, as erred 
 toto cozlo from what was fit, or became the youth of one so 
 graceful ; which made her break into the admiring exclama- 
 tion, that one so young and gracious should put on so experi- 
 enced and licentious a boldness, as in that holy temple encou- 
 raged him to make love to her. 
 
 265. <l Aofiog otpavofirjKrjg. It is translated domo altissimd ; 
 but because it is a compound, and hath a grace superior to the 
 others in his more near and verbal conversion, ovpavofirjKqg 
 signifying caelum proceritate tangens, I have so rendered it. 
 
 293. Tt YypoQ aKoirrjg, translated madidus martins, when as 
 aKoiTT)Q is taken here for o/io/coiYj/c, signifying uuum et idem 
 cubile habens, which is more particular and true. 
 
 299. s 'H\i/3arou crso 7rvpyov, &c. 'fl\ij3aroc signifies jam 
 altus aut profundus ut ab ejus accessu aberres, intending the tower 
 upon which Hero stood. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
JUVENAL. 
 
A JUST REPROOFE 
 
 OF A 
 
 Romane Smell-Feaft : 
 
 BEING THE FIFTH SATYRE OF 
 
 JUVENAL. 
 
 , ._ . . 
 
 Translated by George Chapman. 
 
 Imprinted at London by Tho. Harper 
 MDC. XXIX. 
 
TO THE RIGHT VIRTUOUS AND WORTHILY 
 
 HONOURED GENTLEMAN, 
 
 RICHARD HUBERT, ESQUIRE. 
 
 Sir. 
 RE AT works get little regard ; little and 
 light are most affected with height ; omne 
 leve sursum, grave deorsum, you know; 
 for which, and because custom or fashion 
 is another nature, and that it is now the fashion to justify 
 strange actions, I (utterly against mine own fashion) 
 followed the vulgar, and assaid what might be said for 
 the justification of a strange action of Xero in burying 
 with a solemn funeral one of the cast hairs of his mistress 
 Poppea. And not to make little labours altogether un- 
 worthy the sight of the great, I say with the great de- 
 fender of little labours, In temei labor est, at tenuis nan 
 gloria. Howsoever, as seamen seeing the approaches 
 of whales, cast out empty vessells, to serve their harm- 
 fid pleasures, and divert them from everting their main 
 adventure (for in the vast and immane power of any 
 thing, nothing is distinguished ; great and precious 
 things, basest and vilest, serve alike their wild and un- 
 wildy swings) ; so myself, having yet once more some 
 worthier work than this oration, and following translation. 
 
242 
 
 to pass this sea of the land, expose to the land and 
 vulgar Leviathan these slight adventures. The rather. 
 because the translation containing in two or three in- 
 stances a preparation to the justification of my ensuing 
 intended* translations, lest some should account them, 
 as they have my former conversions in some places, 
 licenses, hold ones, and utterly redundant. Though your 
 judicial self (as I have heard) hath taken those liberal 
 redundances rather as the necessary overflowings of 
 Xilus. than rude or harmful torrents swoln with head- 
 strong showers. To whose judgement and merit sub- 
 mits these, and all his other, services 
 
 George Chapman. 
 
 * It would seem from this that Chapman intended other 
 translations. None, however, have been printed. 
 
TO THE EEADEE. 
 
 ECAUSE, in most opinions of translation, 
 a most asinine error hath gotten ear and 
 head, that men must attempt it as a mas- 
 tery in rendering any original into other 
 language, to do it in as few words, and the like order, 
 I thought it not amiss in this poor portion of translation 
 to pick out, like the rotten out of apples if you please 
 so to repute it, a poor instance or two that endeavour to 
 demonstrate a right in the contrary ; and the rather I 
 take this course, ocularily to present you with example 
 of what I esteem fit to save the liberty and dialect of 
 mine own language, because there are many valetudi- 
 naries that never know the goodness of their stomach 
 till they see meat afore them. 
 
 Where, therefore, the most worthy Satirist describes 
 the differences of pages that attend the lord and the 
 guests at the table, and expresses the disdain of the lord's 
 page to attend his guest, bespeaks for his pride thus : — 
 
 sed forma sed aetas 
 
 Digna supercilio. 
 
 Which I take out with this bold one : And to say truth, 
 
 his form and prime beside may well allow him some few 
 
 grains of pride. To speak truth is too much, you say ; 
 
 I confess it in policy, but not in force and honest poesy. 
 
244 
 
 In the other, the words are utterly altered. It should be 
 so, to avoid verbal servitude; but the sense I might 
 wish my betters could render no worse. It follows, 
 where he sets down the difference betwixt the lord's 
 bread and the guests' ; where he hath played upon the 
 coarseness and mustiness of the guests' pantry, he dif- 
 ferences his lord's thus : — 
 
 Sed tener et niveus, mollique siligine factus, 
 Servatur domino. 
 
 Which I thus :— 
 
 But for his bread, the pride of appetite, 
 Tenderly soft, incomparably white, 
 The first flow'r of fine meal subdu'd in paste, 
 That's a peculiar for my lord's own taste. 
 
 O this, you will say, is a bold one; which I am too 
 bashful to answer otherwise than thus, that here the 
 purest bread affects a full description ; which I amplify- 
 ing no more than is needful for the full facture of it, 
 if I be overflowing, my author is arid ; but who would 
 not greedily here have fallen upon snowy, it lying so 
 fair for him ? put soft faithfully in his proper place ; and 
 would ever have dreamed of subdued in paste, because 
 it was not put in his mouth ? And I hope it will seem 
 no over-broad bold one, to enter where the purest bread 
 out of industry should make his expected apparance. 
 A number more out of this of no number I could in- 
 stance, that would trouble men made of greatest number 
 to imitate. But all mastery hath his end, to get great 
 men to commend. It is the outward not the inward 
 virtue that prevails. The candlestick more than the 
 candle is the learning with which blind Fortune useth 
 to prefer her favourites. And who, but the spawns 
 of candlesticks (men of most lucubration for name) win 
 
245 
 
 the day from such dormice as wake sleeping ; and rest 
 only in those unprofitable and abhorred knowledges, that 
 no man either praises or acknowledges. 
 
 Me dulcis saturet quies. Leni perfruar ocio. 
 Ignotus omnibus. Cognitus egomet mihi. 
 
 Quite opposite to your admired and known learned man : 
 Qui notus nimis omnibus, Ignotus moritur sibi. And so 
 shall know nothing either in life or death when every 
 truly learned man's knowledge especially begins. Your 
 servant. 
 
D. JUNII JUVENALIS. 
 
 LIB. I. SAT. V. 
 
 TO TREBIUS. LABOURING TO BRING HIM IN DISLIKE 
 
 OF HIS CONTINUED COURSE OF FREQUENTING 
 
 THE TABLE OF VTRRO, A GREAT 
 
 LORD OF ROME. 
 
 F, of thy purpose yet, thou tak'st no shame. 
 But keep'st thy mind, immutably, the 
 
 same, 
 That thou esteem'st it as a good in chief 
 At others' trenchers to relieve thy life ; 
 If those things thou can'st find a back to bear, 5 
 
 That not Sarmentus nor vile Galba were 
 So base to put in patience of a guest, 
 No, not for Caesar's far-exceeding feast ; 
 Fear will affect me to believe thy troth 
 In any witness, though produc'd by oath ; 10 
 
 For nothing in my knowledge falls that is 
 More frugal than the belly. But say this, 
 That not enough food all thy means can find, 
 To keep thy gut from emptiness and wind, 
 Is no creek void ? Xo bridge ? No piece of shed is 
 Half, or not half? Would thy not being fed 
 At Virro's table be so foul a shame ? 
 
D. JUNII JUVENALIS. 247 
 
 Does hunger blow in thee so false a flame, 
 
 As not to taste it nobler in as poor 
 
 And vile a place as hath been nam'd before ? 20 
 
 To quake for cold, and gnaw the mustiest grounds 
 
 Of barley- griest, bak'd purposely for hounds ? 
 
 First, take it for a ride, that if my lord 
 
 Shall once be pleas'd to grace thee with his board, 
 
 The whole revenues that thy hopes inherit, 25 
 
 Rising from services of ancient merit, 
 
 In this requital amply paid will prove. 
 
 O 'tis the fruit of a transcendent love 
 
 To give one victuals ; that thy table-king 
 
 Lays in thy dish though ne'er so thin a thing, 30 
 
 Yet that reproach still in thine ears shall ring. 
 
 If, therefore, after two months' due neglect, 
 
 He deigns his poor dependant to respect, 
 
 And lest the third bench fail to fill the rank, 
 
 He shall take thee up to supply the blank. 35 
 
 ' Let's sit together Trebius,' says my lord ; 
 
 See all thy wishes summ'd up in a word. 
 
 What canst thou ask at Jove's hand after this ? 
 
 This grace to Trebius enough ample is 
 
 To make him start from sleep before the lark, io 
 
 Posting abroad untruss'd, and in the dark, 
 
 Perplex'd with fear, lest all the servile -rout 
 
 Of his saluters have the round run-out 
 
 Before he come ; while yet the fixed star 
 
 Shows his ambiguous head, and heaven's cold car 43 
 
 The slow Bootes wheel about the Bear. 
 
 And yet, for all this, what may be the cheer ? 
 
 To such vile wine thy throat is made the sink, 
 
 As greasy wool would not endure to drink, 
 
24S D. J CXI I JUVENALIS. 
 
 And we must shortly look to see our guest 50 
 
 Transform'd into a Berecynthian priest. 
 
 Words make the prologue to prepare the fray, 
 
 And in the next seene pots are taught to play 
 
 The parts of weapons : thy red napkin now 
 
 Descends to tell thee of thy broken brow ; ih 
 
 And such events do evermore ensue 
 
 When you poor guests and Virro's serving crew 
 
 Grow to the heat of such uncivil wars. 
 
 The vile wine made the bellows to your jars. 
 
 For Virro's self, the wine he drinks was born eo 
 
 When consuls (Phoebus -like) appeared unshorn : 
 
 A grape that long since in the wars was prest 
 
 By our confederate Marsians. and the rest ; 
 
 Qf which no drop his longing friend can get 
 
 Though blown in fume up with a cardiack fit. do 
 
 Next day he likes to taste another field, 
 
 The Alban hills \ or else the Setine yield, 
 
 Whose race and rich succession if you ask, 
 
 Age hath decay d, and sickness of the cask; 
 
 Such Thrasea and Helvidius quatfd. still crown'd, n 
 
 When Brutus' birth, and Caseins' they renown'd. 
 
 ViiTO himself in solemn bowls is serv'd. 
 
 Of amber and disparent beryl kerrd ; 
 
 But to thy trust no such cup they commit. 
 
 Or. if they do. a spy is lix'd to it. 75 
 
 To tell th- - ; whose firm eye never fails 
 
 To watch the close walks of thy vulturous nails. 
 
 1 Give leave.' says Virro. and then takes the cup. 
 
 The famous jasper in it lifting up 
 
 In glorious praises : for 'tis now the guise so 
 
 Of him and others to transfer such prize 
 
D. JUNII JUVENAL IS. 249 
 
 Off from his fingers to his howls that were 
 
 Wont to grace swords, and our young Trojan peer 
 
 That made Iarhus jealous (since in love 
 
 Preferred past him hy Dido) us'd t' improve 85 
 
 By setting them in fore -front of his sheath. 
 
 But thy howl stands an infinite beneath, 
 
 And bears the Beneventane cobbler's name, 
 
 Whose gallon drunk-off must thy blood enflame, 
 
 And is so craz'd, that they would let it pass 90 
 
 To them that matches give for broken glass. 
 
 Now, if by fumes of wine, or fiery meat, 
 
 His lordship's stomach over-boil with heat, 
 
 There's a cold liquor brought that's made t' outvie 
 
 The chill impressions of the north-east sky. 95 
 
 I formerly affirru'd, that you and he 
 
 Were serv'd with wines of a distinct degree, 
 
 But now remember, it belongs to you 
 
 To keep your distance in your water too. 
 
 And (in his page's place) thy cups are brought 100 
 
 By a swarth foot man, from Getulia bought, 
 
 Or some sterv'd negro, whose affrightful sight 
 
 Thou wouldst abhor to meet in dead of night 
 
 Passing the monuments of Latia. 
 
 In his eye waits the flower of Asia, 105 
 
 A jewel purchas'd at a higher rate 
 
 Than martial Ancus', or king Tullus', state, 
 
 (Not to stand long) than all the idle things 
 
 That grac'd the courts of all our Koman kings. 
 
 If then thy bowl his nectar's store shall need, no 
 
 Address thee to his Indian Ganymed. 
 
 Think not his page, worth such a world, can skill, 
 
 Or does not scorn, for thread-bare coats to fill, 
 
250 D. JUNII JUVENALIS. 
 
 And, to say truth, his form and pride heside 
 
 May well allow him some few grains of pride. lis 
 
 But when does he to what thou want'st descend, 
 
 Or thy entreaties not contemn t' attend, 
 
 Supply of water craving, hot or cold ? 
 
 No, he, I tell you, in high scorn doth hold 
 
 To stir at every stale dependant's call ; 120 
 
 Or that thou call'st for anything at all, 
 
 Or sitt'st where he's forc'd stand, his pride depraves. 
 
 Houses of state abound with stately slaves. 
 
 And see; another's proud disdains resist 
 
 His hand to set thee bread ; and yet what is't itt 
 
 But hoary cantles of unboulted grist, 
 
 That would a jaw-tooth rouse, and not admit, 
 
 Though ne'er so base, thy baser throat a bit ? 
 
 But for his bread, the pride of appetite, 
 
 Tenderly soft, incomparably white, iso 
 
 The first flow'r of fine meal subdu'd in paste, 
 
 That's a peculiar for my' lord's own taste. 
 
 See then thou keep'st thy fingers from offence, 
 
 And give the pantler his due reverence. 
 
 Or say thou shouldst be (malapertly) bold, 1-35 
 
 Seest thou not slaves enough, to force thy hold 
 
 From thy attempted prize, with taunts like these, 
 
 6 Hands off, forward companion, will you please 
 
 With your familiar crible to be fed, 
 
 And understand the colour of your bread?' no 
 
 Then grumbles thy disgrace : ' And is it this 
 For which so oft I have forborne the bliss 
 
 lJI See Batrachomyomachia, 53. 
 
 1 u Pan tier— the servant who kept the bread, the pantry. 
 
 133 Crible — a finer sort of bran 5 seconds' bread. 
 
D. J UN I I JUVENAL IS. 251 
 
 Of my fair wife, to post with earliest speed 
 
 Up to mount Esquiline, where agues breed ? 
 
 When my repair did vernal Jove provoke Uo 
 
 To drive his weather through my winter cloke, 
 
 And in his bitter st hails his murmurs broke ? ' 
 
 But let us to our cates our course address : 
 
 Observe that lobster serv'd to Yirro's mess, 
 
 How with the length of his extended limbs i r o 
 
 He does surcharge the charger ; how the brims 
 
 With lust-full sperage are all over-stor'd ; 
 
 With what a tail he over-tops the board, 
 
 In service first borne-up betwixt the hands 
 
 Of that vast yeoman ! But, for thee, there stands 153 
 
 A puny cray-fish, pent in half a shell, 
 
 The dish not feast enough for one in hell. 
 
 The fish he tastes swims in an oil that grew 
 
 In Campany, and drank Yenafrian dew. 
 
 But, for the worts, poor snake, presented thee, leo 
 
 Whose pale aspect shows their infirmity, 
 
 They drink an oil much of the curriers' stamp, 
 
 Exquisite stuff, that savours of the lamp. 
 
 For know, that for your board is billetted 
 
 An oil that from the Lybian cane is shed, 165 
 
 The burthen of a sharp Xumidian prow ; 
 
 An oil, for whose strength Romans disavow 
 
 To bathe with Boccharis ; an oil whose smell 
 
 'Gainst serpents doth an amulet excell. 
 
 Next, for my lord, a mullet see serv'd in, 17.) 
 
 Sent from the Corsic-shore, or of a fin 
 Bred in Sicilia's Taurominian rocks ; 
 All our seas being exhausted, all our flocks 
 160 IVcris— vegetables, cole-worts. 
 
252 B. J UNI I JUVENALIS. 
 
 Spent and destroy'd, while our luxurious diet 
 
 Makes havock, and our kitchens never quiet 175 
 
 Still with unwearied nets, that no truce keep, 
 
 Ransack the entrails of th' adjoining deep ; 
 
 Nor respite our Etrurian fry to grow. 
 
 And now our markets their chief purveyance owe 
 
 To some remote and ditionary coast ; iso 
 
 Thence come the dainties that our kitchens boast ; 
 
 Such as to buy the vulture Lenas deigns, 
 
 Such as to sell Aurelia entertains. 
 
 In mess with that, behold for Virro lies 
 
 A lamprey of an exemplary size, 185 
 
 That for dimension bears the prize from all 
 
 Which gulphs Sicilian sent his festivall ; 
 
 For while the South contains himself, while he 
 
 Lies close, and dries his feathers in his lee, 
 
 Our greedy pursenets for their gain despise 190 
 
 The danger that in mid Charybdis lies. 
 
 Now, for his lamprey,' thou art glad to take 
 An eel, near cousin to a hideous snake, 
 Or else a freckled Tiberine, bit with frost, 
 And he the poorest slave of all the coast, 195 
 
 Fed with the torrent of the common sewer, 
 And swims the town ditch where 'tis most impure. 
 Here would I on himself a word have spent, 
 So he inclin'd an ear benevolent. 
 
 Nor do we such benevolences crave, 200 
 
 As Seneca his mean acquaintance gave ; 
 Such as good Piso ; such as Cotta made 
 To deal for largess ; a familiar trade ; 
 For times have been, that in the world's account 
 The title of munificence did mount 205 
 
B. JUXII JUYEXALIS. 253 
 
 Above triumphant or imperial b: 
 
 But our desire in this due limit si 
 
 That jou will make, when you entrea* 
 
 Civil respect : 
 
 Do this, and be, as many lords are more, 210 
 
 Bich to yourself, and to your folio we: 
 Before him see a huge goose-li 
 
 A capon cramm'd. h that goose : for great 
 
 A whole wild hoar, hid in his smoking he 
 
 That gold-lock'd 1 r's dart deservM ; 215 
 
 And after all this. Vino's self is serv'd 
 
 With pin mushrooms, be the spring then freed. 
 
 And wished thunders make his meals exceed. 
 
 And then the gull -_ A 
 
 p with thee thy wheats and 2 :•_■ 
 
 And nding these suppl: 
 
 And that no indignation want to thee, 
 
 bound t' observe) the carver thou must see 
 Dancing about his business : and he 
 That teaches him the laws to the true life 
 Of carving comely, with his flying knife 
 Touching at every joint he carves, before 
 He dares th' attempt, till not a gesture more 
 In all his dictates can deserve offence. 
 Nor must jour note fail, how huge difference 
 There is 'twixt the unlacing of your hare, 
 And hen's dissection. 'Gainst which if vou dare 
 But whisper, like a three-nam'd noble man. 
 Like Cacus, struck by hands -Herculean, 
 Thou shalt be by the heels dragged forth the place. 25.5 
 But when doth Yirro then vouchsafe the grace 
 To drink to thee ? Or touch the cup that thou 
 
254 D. JUNII JUYENAL1S. 
 
 Hast with thy lips profan'd ? Or which of you 
 
 So desperate is, so lost, to bid the king 
 
 'Drink to me, sir?' No. There is many a thing 240 
 
 That thread-hare coats dare not for fear bring forth. 
 
 But if some god, or god-like man, or worth 
 
 Setter than fate, would wealth bestow on thee. 
 
 Fit to maintain a knight of Rome's degree, 
 
 How huge a piece of man shouldst thou ascend 24:. 
 
 Rais'd out of nothing ! How much Vino's friend ! 
 
 < Give Trebius.' ' Set to Trebius.' ' Brother (now) 
 
 Please you these puddings' taste ? ' moneys, you 
 
 He gives this honour, you these brother are. 
 
 Yet notwithstanding, if thou please to share 830 
 
 His lordship with him, or become Ins king, 
 
 You must to court no young JEneas bring, 
 
 Nor daughter, though his daintier, to be 
 
 Play-peers with Virro's daintiest progeny, 
 
 But childless be. A pleasing and dear friend 355 
 
 A barren wife makes. But suppose she lend 
 
 Thy lap much issue (even at one birth three) 
 
 So thou be rich, Virro will join with thee 
 
 In joy of that thy prating progeny ; 
 
 And ever when the infant parasite 2*0 
 
 Comes to the table, asking his delight, 
 
 Virro commands it all his appetite. 
 
 To all his cheap priz'd friends, they serve the board 
 
 With dangerous toad-stools ; mushrooms for my lord, 
 
 But such as Claudius pleas'd to taste, before MS 
 
 His wife's gift came that made him taste no more. 
 
 Virro commands for him, and all the rest 
 Of the Virronian rank, fruit of such feast 
 As thou shalt only in their odour eat, 
 
D. JUNII JUVENALIB. 255 
 
 Such as Phseacia's endless autumns sweat, 270 
 
 Or thou wouldst think got from the golden trees 
 
 That grew in guard of the Atlantides ; 
 
 Where thou eat'st spaky fruit, of that sour sort 
 
 That fresh-train'd soldiers feed on in their fort, 
 
 Bestow'd on them in practise of their art 275 
 
 At a stufPd goat-skin to bestow a dart, 
 
 Fearing for their default the scourge's smart. 
 
 Perhaps, for saving cost, thou may'st conceive 
 
 That Yirro feeds thee so ? No, 'tis to grieve 
 
 Thy greedy liquorous appetite, because 2S0 
 
 There is no comedy of more applause, 
 
 Nor any excellentest Zany can 
 
 More than a weeping-gut delight a man. 
 
 All is then done (if we must teach thine ears) 
 
 To make thee purge thy choler by thy tears, 2S5 
 
 And live still gnashing of thy great-eye-teeth. 
 
 Thou think'st, he thinks thee free, and not beneath 
 
 Guests for his love and grace ; but he knows well 
 
 Thee only taken with his kitchen's smell. 
 
 Nor thinks amiss ; for who so naked lives, 290 
 
 That twice on his entreats attendance gives ? 
 
 Vain hope of supping well deceives you all. 
 
 ' But see' (say you) ' that half-eat hare will fall 
 
 In his gift to our shares ; or of that boar 
 
 Some little fragments, that his haunches wore ; 295 
 
 Or sure that cap'net.' When, for all prepar'd, 
 
 Your musty bread par'd clean, and no bit shar'd 
 
 Of all those meats of mark, and long'd-for dishes, 
 
 Your vain hopes vanish, and y' are mute as fishes. 
 
 273 Spaky— specky, rotten. 
 
 296 Cap'net — caponet, little capon. 
 
256 D. JUNII JUVENALIS. 
 
 He's wise that serves thee so ; for if thou can M o 
 
 Bear all, thou should'st. and he's no unjust man 
 
 That lavs all on thee, even to stoop thy head 
 
 To the fool's razor, and be buffeted ; 
 
 Which if thou do'st, nor let'st thy forage fear 
 
 Besides to suffer Yirro's whipping cheer, 365 
 
 With all the sharp sauce that he can extend, 
 
 Thou'rt worthy such a feast, and such a friend. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 CUIhWJCK PRESS : — PRINTED BY C WH1TT1XGHAM, 
 
 TOOKS COURT. CHANCER F LANE. 
 
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