Glover.

The chief, defcending, through th' unfolded

-gates

Upheld a flaming torch. The light disclos'd
One first in fervile garments. Near his fide
A woman graceful and majestic flood,
Not with an afpect, rivalling the pow'r
Of fatal Helen, or th' infnaring charms
Of love's foft queen, but fuch, as far furpafs'd,
Whate'er the lilly, blending, with the rofe,
Spreads on the cheek of beauty foon to fade;
Such, as exprefs'd a mind, by wisdom rul'd,
By sweetness temper'd; virtue's pureft light
Illumining the countenance divine:

Yet could not foften rig'rous fate, nor charm
Malignant fortune to reverre the good;
Which oft with anguifh rends a spotless heart,
And oft affociates wifdom with defpair.
In courteous phrafe began the chief humane.

Exalted fair, whofe form adorns the night,
Forbear to blame the vigilance of war.
My flow compliance to the rigid laws
Of Mars impute. In me no longer paufe
Shall from the prefence of our king withold
This thy apparent dignity and worth.

Here ending, he conducts her. At the call
Of his lov'd brother from his couch arofe
Leonidas. In wonder he furvey'd

Th' illuftrious virgin, whom his prefence aw'd.
Her eye fubmiflive to the ground declin'd
In veneration of the godlike man.

His mien, his voice, her anxious dread difpel,
Benevolent in hofpitable thus.

Thy looks, fair ftranger, amiable and great,
A mind delineate, which from all commands
Supreme regard. Relate, thou noble dame,
By what relentlefs deftiny compell'd,
Thy tender feet the paths of darkness tread;
Rehearse th' afflictions, whence thy virtue mourns.

On

On her wan cheek a sudden blush arofe
Like day, firft dawning on the twilight pale;
When, wrapt in grief, these words a paffage found.

If to be most unhappy, and to known,
That hope is irrecoverably fled;
If to be great and wretched my deferve
Commiferation from the brave: behold,
Thou glorious leader of unconquer'd bands,
Behold, defcended from Darius' loins,
Th' afflicted Ariana; and my pray'r
Accept with pity, nor my tears difdain.
First, that I lov'd the best of human race,
Heroic, wife, adorn'd by ev'ry art,

Of fhame unconfcious doth my heart reveal.
This day, in Grecian arms confpicuous clad,
He fought, he fell. A paffion, long conceal'd,
For me alas! within my brother's arms
His dying breath refigning he difclos'd.
Oh! I will stay my forrows! will forbid
My eyes to ftream before thee, and my breaft,
O'erwhelm'd by anguifh, will from fighs reftrain!
For why should thy humanity be griev'd
At my diftrefs, why learn from me to mourn
The lot of mortals, doom'd to pain and woe.
Hear then, o king, and grant my fole request,
To feek his body in the heaps of flain.

Thus to the hero fu'd the royal maid,
Refembling Ceres in majestic woe,

When fupplicating Jove from Stygian gloom,
And Pluto's black embraces to redeem

Her lav'd and loft Proferpina. Awhile

On Ariana fixing stedfaft eyes,

These tender thoughts Leonidas recall'd.

Such are thy forrows, o for ever dear,
Who now at Lacedaemon doft deplore
My everlasting abfence. Then afide

He turn'd and figh'd. Recov'ring, he address'd
His brother: Moft beneficent of men,

At

Attend, affift this princefs. Night retires
Before purple-winged morn. A band

Is call'd. The well-remember'd spot they find,
Where Teribazus from his dying hand
Dropt in their fight his formidable fword;
Soon from beneath a pile of Afian dead
They draw the hero, by his armour known.

Then, Ariana, what tranfcending pangs
Were thine! what horrors! In thy tender breast
Love ftill was mightieft. On the bofom cold
Of Teribazus, grief-distracted maid,

Thy beauteous limbs were thrown. Thy fnowy

hue

The clotted gore disfigur'd. On his wounds
Loose flow'd thy hair, and, bubbling from thy
eyes,

Impetuous forrow lav'd th'empurpled clay.
When forth in groans these lamentations broké

O torn for ever from thefe weeping eyes!
Thou, who despairing to obtain a heart,
Which then most lov'd thee, didst untimely yield
Thy life to fate's inevitable dart

For her, who now in agony reveals

Her tender paffion, who repeats her vows
To thy deaf car, who fondly to her own
Unites thy cheek infenfible and cold.
Alas! do thofe unmoving, ghaftly orbs
Perceive my gufhing forrow! Can that heart
At my complaint diffolve the ice of death
To fhare my fuff rings! Never, never more
Shall Ariana bend a lift'ning ear

To thy enchanting eloquence, nor feaft

Her mind on wisdom from thy copious tongue!
Oh! bitter, infurmountable diftrefs!

She could no more. Invincible despair
Supprefs'd all utt'rance. As a marble form,
Fix'd on the folemn fepulcher inclines
The filent head in imitated woe

Glover.

O'er

Glover.

A

1

O'er fome dead hero, whom his country lov'd;
Entranc'd by anguifh, o'er the breathless clay
So hung the princefs. On the gory breach,
Whence life had iffu'd by the fatal blow,
Mute for a space and motionless fhe gaz'd;
When thus in accents firm. Imperial pomp,
Foe to my quiet, take my laft farewel.
There is a ftate, where only virtue holds
The rank fupreme. My Teribazus there
From his high order muft defcend to mine

Then with no trembling hand, no change of
look

She drew a poniard which her garment veil'd;
And instant sheathing in her heart the blade,
On her flain lover filent funk in death.
The unexpected ftroke prevents the care
Of Agis, pierc'd by horror and diftrefs
Like one, who, standing on a stormy beach,
Beholds a found'ring veffel, by the deep

At once engulph'd; his pity feels and mourns,
Depriv'd of pow'r to fave: fo Agis view'd
The proftrate pair. He dropp'd a tear and thus.

Oh! much lamented! Heavy on your heads.
Hath evil fall'n, which o'er your pale remains
Commands this forrow from a ftranger's eye.
Illuftrious ruins! May the grave impart

That peace, which life deny'd! And now receive
This pious office from a hand unknown.

Wittie.

Wilkie.

Weit unter dem Nange des Leonidas steht die Epis goniade, in neun Büchern, von einem englischen Geifilis chen, william wilkie, der auch Fabeln in Versen hers ausgegeben hat! Der Inhalt ist der bekannte Krieg der fogenannten Epigonen oder Abkömmlinge der vor Theben gebliebenen Helden, welche den Tod ihrer Våter am Kreon und an den Thebanern zu råchen suchten. Die Hauptpers fonen und ihre Charaktere sind aus der Iliade entlehnt; obgleich der Dichter sehr willkührlich von der Tradition ab gewichen ist, die Lusthatius in seinem Kommentar zum vierten Buche der Jliade, in Ansehung der Namen jener Helden, aufbehalten hat. Auch Rreon, den er zum damaz ligen Könige von Theben macht, war damals schon todt. In der Beobachtung des Kostume war dieser Dichter nicht viel sorgfältiger; und bis auf einige glückliche Stellen, ist der Ton seiner Erzählung meistens einförmig und ermüdend. Ueber diese, und mehrere Fehler dieser Epopde fehe man das Monthly Review, Vol. XVII, p. 228 M. Hier ist eine der lebhaftesten Schilderungen aus dem achten Buche:

THE EPIGONIAD; B. VIII.

Creon beheld, inrag'd to be withftood,

Like fome fierce lion when he meets a flood
Or trench defenfive, which his rage restrain's
For flocks unguarded, left by careless fwains;
O'er all the field he fends his eyes afar,
To mark fit entrance for a pointed war:
Near on the right a narrow space he found,
Where on could fuftain and gain the ground.
Thither the warriors of the Theban hoft,
Whofe martial skill he priz'd and valor moft,
The monarch fent, Chalcidamus the strong,
Who from fair Thefpia led his martial throng,
Where Helicon erects his verdant head,
And crowns the champaign with a lofty fhade:
Beisp. Samml. 5. B.
Oecha-