Collectura parens, quæ præterit hordea messor. Farra legens ibat mea per vestigia virgo.
Continuo aspiciens ægre tulit aspera mater,
Et clamans," Quo," dixit, “abis? cur deseris agmen ? Galla veni; namque hic alnos prope mitior umbra, Hic tremulas inter frondes immurmurat aura."
O invisa meis vox auribus! Ite, precabar, Ite (malum) venti celeres, dispergite vocem. Non potui, volui frontem non flectere: virgo Demissi in cilium de sub velaminis ora Me aspiciens, motis blande subrisit ocellis. Id cernens iterum, natam vocat improba mater; Galla operi magis incumbens, audire recusat; Ut pede, sic animo sequitur. Tum providus ipse Nunc cantu, nunc sollicitans clamore metentes, Velamenta dabam sceleri, quo credere possent Et soror et mater, non audivisse puellam. Falce revellebam sentes, ne crura sequentis Lavia, ne teneras ausint offendere plantas.
The second and third eclogues are occupied with the history of a less fortunate attachment. In the fourth, we have a tremendous invective against the sex:
Fœmineum servile genus, crudele, superbum, Lege, modo, ratione caret: confinia recti Negligit, extremis gaudet, facit omnia voto Præcipiti, vel lenta jacet, vel concita currit: Si gravis est, inæret torvo nimis hernica vultu; Si studeat comis fieri, gravitate remissa Fit levis erumpit blando lascivia risu,
Et leper in molli radiat meretricius ore.
Debilis, inconstans, vaga, garrula, vana, bilinguis, Imperiosa, minax, indignabunda, cruenta,
Improba, avara, rapax, querula, impia, credula, mendax, Impatiens, onerosa, bibax, temeraria, mordax,
Ambitiosa, levis, maga, lena, superstitiosa, &c.
And so on to a great length; which a writer in Dryden's miscellanies has nevertheless thought worthy of a paraphrase. The above invective is supported by some curious historical argu
Phædra pudicitiam contra crudeliter ausa est:
Decepit Judæa virum Rebecca, suamque Progeniem, velans hircino guttura tergo: Porrigit Alcidæ conjux fatale venenum.
Dicite, Quæ tristem mulier descendit ad Orcum, Et rediit? potuit, si non male sana fuisset, Eurydice revehi per quas descenderat umbras: Rapta sequi renuit fessam Proserpina matrem. At pius Æneas rediit, remeavit et Orpheus, Maximus Alcides, et Theseus, et duo fratres,
Alter equis, alter pugna bonus atqué palæstra; Et noster Deus, unde salus et vita resurgit.1
In the fifth there is a pleasant picture of a Christmas fireside:
Tunc juvat hibernos noctu vigilare Decembres Ante focum, et cineri ludos inarare bacillo, Torrere, et tepidis tostas operire favillas Castaneis, plenoque sitim restinguere vitro, Fabellasque inter nentes narrare puellas.
The sixth contains a marvellous strange legend (p. 87-8), to which we can only refer; as also a curious picture of Roman morals, compared with those of the country (p. 91 sqq.); and in the seventh there is a rather pleasing passage on the estimation in which the gods (or saints) hold the pastoral life, where Apollo and Admetus are coupled with the shepherds of Bethlehem after the usual style of those days, when the two were almost equally matter of belief. We would willingly extract these and some other passages, did our limits allow. The eighth eclogue is almost wholly occupied with the praises of a mighty goddess, and her marvellous works, for which the worshipper refers to the paintings which he has seen suspended on the walls of the temples the source, apparently, of most of the theological knowlege of our shepherds. Who this power is, the reader may discover from the following description, in which the attributes of Juno, Cybele, Diana, and Amphitrite, are curiously mingled. Non erat illa Dryas, neque Libethris, nec Oreas: Venerat e cœlo Superum regina, Tonantis
Huic Tethys, huic alma Ceres famulatur, et ipse Eolus, æquoreis ventos qui frænat in antris.
Hunc Deus, astrorum flammas super, atque volantes Solis equos, supra fulgentem Cassiopeam
Extulit, et sacram bisseno sidere frontem Cinxit, et adjecit subter vestigia Lunam.
We quote the following apophthegm, from the ninth, for the benefit of those whom it concerns:
Potare semel, gustare: secundus
Colluit os potus: calefacta refrigerat ora Tertius: arına siti bellumque indicere quartus Aggreditur: quintus pugnat: victoria sexti est: Septimus (Enophili senis hæc doctrina) triumphat.
Compare Dante Inf. Canto ii. 15. &c. I non Enea, i non Paulo sono." (Alphonsus, lib. ii.) Mercury is sent to of Christ into hell.
"Tu dici, che di Silvio lo parente, In another of Mantuan's poems announce to Pluto the descent
And we shall conclude with the following description from the tenth, and last, of a shepherd's summer-day in the happy south, as a companion to the winter-night above quoted:
O nostræ regionis opes! o florida prata! O campi virides! O pascua læta, feraxque Et nunquam sine fruge solum, torrentia passim Flumina per villas, rivi per rura, per hortos! Hinc pecus, hinc agri pingues; sub sidere Cancri, Cum tritura sonat passim, cum Junius ardet, Arva virent, textæ lento de vimine tepes Poma ferunt, redolent ipsis in vepribus herbæ.' O nemorum dulces umbræ, mollesque susurri, Quos tecum memini gelidis carpsisse sub umbris, Turturis ad gemitus, ad hirundinis aut Philomelæ Carmina, cum primis resonant arbusta cicadis! Aura strepens foliis moto veniebat ab Euro, Et baccata super tendebat brachia cornus. Ipse solo recubans pecudes gestire videbam, Atque alacres teneris luctari cornibus agnos. Post somnos, per gramen humi nunc ore supino Aut flatu implebam calamos, aut ore canebam; Pectore nunc prono rutilantia fraga legebam.
Of the eclogues of Petrarch we have very little to say, for their character is that of respectable mediocrity. The style is more sustained than that of the Africa; but the heavy allegory, as in the former, and indeed in almost all similar cases, drags the poet along with it; and the length to which every thing is drawn out gives an air of mawkishness to his very sweetness. The most vigorous are those levelled at the vices of the Church (a frequent subject with Petrarch), which are written in a tone of indignant invective; although the temporary nature of the allusions prevents us from making any quotations from them. There is a certain solemn pathos in the following passage, which, although we do not clearly perceive its immediate scope, obviously relates to one of Petrarch's favorite topics, the decayed state of Rome, and the unpatriotic apathy of her citizens:
Vivere per sylvas vix ulla possumus arte: Tu nova tecta paras ruituræ attollere matri?
'Ev'n the rough rocks with tender myrtle bloom, And trodden weeds send out a rich perfume.
Addison's Letter from Italy.
Thy very weeds are beautiful, thy waste More rich than other climes' fertility.
M. Non nova, sed veterum turpes reparare ruinas. Da frater, da, chare, manus, partemque virilem Sponte subi; vincat pietas invicta laborem. Siccemus pariter lacrymas, et mosta parentis Pectora (ne tales doleat genuisse) levemus. A. Cura supervacui pectus quatit. excidit illa Spes sobolis talis, quæ cuncta repleverat arva, Nec muris contenta suis, nec cespite parvo. Ad paucos reditum, pascent nos avia baccis Arboreis, duplicisque capax testudinis antrum Dum tonat excipiet, ventosque arcebit et imbres : Mater ubi alternis convivia festa diebus
Hic aget, atque illic, geminoque fruetur honore. M. Conjugibus despecta quidem, et calcata superbis, At dominas habitura nurus. quin flectere tandem Et monitus meliora vide. genitricis uterque Septa colat, limenque pius venerator adoret, Quod sacri tetigere pedes. non aspera mando. Dulce est annosæ juvenem succurrere matri: Non in vestibulo prodeat me mane videri, Sollicitum quid mandet anus. quin septa laremque Molimur, solitas sedes; hinc jussa nepotes Accipiant; hic una domus, nec scissa potestas, Nec fratrum divisus honos: vicinia junctos Horrebit; virtus gladio plus vera timetur. Aggrediamur opus: quædam leviora videntur Expertis. genitrix animos si cernat amicos,
In another eclogue the great poets of Greece and Rome pass before him in a vision, under the guise of shepherds:
Atque hic multa jubens e sede verendus acerna Formosusque gigas, lucum omnem fronte serena Et pastorali vix majestate regebat:
Otia ni desint, nulli usquam voce secundus. Dulciter ille quidem, quanquam raucescere curis Musa solet, sed rara canens, frontesque canentum Exornans niveis vittis et fronde perenni. Ille ubi pastoris properatum funus amati Flevit, inexplicitum carmen mandasse duobus Fertur, et angusta limam sub lege dedisse. Jusso alacres instare operi, rerumque suarum Immemores, aliena manu tractare magistra Conspiceres, laudemque alii, sibi velle laborem.
The following curious conceit is from the "Opuscula" of Simon Fagellus, a Bohemian writer. Leipsic, 1536.
Nunc gaudere licet vobis, o Corycidum grex, Grex Jovis ætherei soboles, et certa Dei mens, Mens agitans pectus, verbisque regens placidis, os: Os insigne viri excolit at nuic Cæsareum vos,
Vos decus imperii, vos Maximilianus alit nunc, Nunc dignus certe tantum quem vestra canat vox, Vox hilaris semper victuraque, Castalidum ros, Ros mentes et corda rigaus: hinc eloquii fons, Fons sacer Aonidum, vatumque hinc et vigor et vis, Vis de sede poli menti influit; ipse tamen dat, Dat manibus sacris hæc munera Corycidum nunc: Nunc hilares, si quando, deæ, blandum resonet vox, Vox celebrans nomen domini, quod nulla tegit nox, Nox obscura et amica malis: ipsum foveat lux, Lux meriti pretium detur post fata viro mox.
We have made a few alterations, for the sake of sense and prosody, in the above composition, which is worth notice merely as a curiosity. In the same view we present our readers with a specimen of a work, entitled "Pugna Porcorum, per Placentium Portium Poëtam. Præterea Protestatio propter puncta perverse posita. Postremo Pasquillus post prandium Pontificis perlegens poëma.
Perlege porcorum pulcherrima prælia, Potor, Potando poteris placidam proferre poësim.
Lond. 1586." The poem (which appears to be a satire on certain dignitaries of the church) opens as follows:
Plaudite porcelli, porcorum pigra propago Progreditur, plures porci pinguedine pleni Pugnantes pergunt, pecudum pars prodigiosa Perturbat pede petrosas plerumque plateas; Pars portentose populorum prata profanat; Pars pungit populando potens; pars plurima plagis Prætendit punire pares, prosternere parvos.
On the triumph of the young swine (porcelli) over the adult grunters, the poet breaks forth into the following strain of alliterative exultation :
Plaudite Porcelli, pubes pretiosa, perenni Parta pace parate procul præludia pulchra, Pompas præcipuas, proscenia publica palmæ: Purpureos pannos, picturas pendite pulchras Progeniem priscam Porcellorum perhibentes. Priventur platani, priventur pondere pinus, Porcellis passim pomaria prostituantur, Palmarum prorsus plantatio præripiatur Pendula, pro pacta portentur pace parati Palmarum pilei, procedat pulchra propago Pacificatorum porcellorum penetrando Planitiem, patriæ passim peragrando plateas, Plantæ pro pedibus plateatim projiciantur. Portetur per præcipuos præco peramœnus, Pacis perfector, promat præconia pacis Publicitus, prono procumbant poplite porci, Porcellos patriæ patronos profiteantur.
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