Erravit pietas. nec culpa nepotibus obstat.
Tu modo dissimilis rebus mereare secundis
Excusare tuos. sed jam temone supino
Languet Hyperboreæ glacialis portitor ursæ.
Fundite vina focis, servatoremque parentum
Latoïden votis iterumque iterumque canamus.
Phoebe parens, seu te Lycia Pataræa nivosis
Exercent dumeta jugis, seu rore pudico
Castaliæ flavos amor est tibi mergere crines;
Seu Trojam Thymbræus habes, ubi fama volentem
Ingratis Phrygios humeris subiisse molares:
Seu juvat Ægæum feriens Latonius umbra
Cynthus, et assiduam pelago non quærere Delon :
Tela tibi, longeque feros lentandus in hostes
Arcus, et ætherii dono cessere parentes
Æternum florere genas. tu doctus iniquas
Parcarum prænôsse minas, fatumque quod ultra est,
Et summo placitura Jovi. quis letifer annus,
Bella quibus populis, mutent quæ sceptra cometæ.
Tu Phryga submittis citharæ. tu matris honori
Terrigenam Tityon Stygiis extendis arenis.
Te viridis Python, Thebanaque mater ovantem,
Horruit in pharetris. ultrix tibi torva Megæra

NOTES.

820

825

830

840

850

Ver. 850. torva Megara] This expression, and premit and instimulat, are weakened in the translation; but mista fastidia is a harsh expression; as also is a line above, 842, Tu Phryga submittis citharœ.—Warton.

If on the sons the parents' crimes descend,
What Prince from those his lineage can defend?
Be this thy comfort, that 'tis thine t'efface,
With virtuous acts, thy ancestor's disgrace,
And be thyself the honour of thy race.
But see! the stars begin to steal away,
And shine more faintly at approaching day;
Now pour the wine; and in your tuneful lays
Once more resound the great Apollo's praise.

O father Phoebus! whether Lycia's coast

820

825

And snowy mountain, thy bright presence boast; 830
Whether to sweet Castalia thou repair,

And bathe in silver dews thy yellow hair;
Or pleas'd to find fair Delos float no more,
Delight in Cynthus, and the shady shore;
Or choose thy seat in Ilion's proud abodes,
The shining structures rais'd by lab'ring Gods ;
By thee the bow and mortal shafts are borne;
Eternal charms thy blooming youth adorn:
Skill'd in the laws of secret fate above,
And the dark counsels of almighty Jove,
"Tis thine the seeds of future war to know,
The change of Sceptres, and impending woe,
When direful meteors spread, through glowing air,
Long trails of light, and shake their blazing hair.
Thy rage the Phrygian felt, who durst aspire
T'excel the music of thy heav'nly lyre;
Thy shafts aveng'd lewd Tityus' guilty flame,
Th' immortal victim of thy mother's fame;
Thy hand slew Python, and the dame who lost
Her num'rous offspring for a fatal boast.

835

840

845

850

NOTES.

Ver. 829.] Some of the most finished lines he has ever written, down to verse 854.-Warton.

Ver. 841. 'Tis thine] Far superior to the original are these four lines; and how mean is the Tityus of Statius, compared with the tremendous picture in Virgil !-Warton.

VOL. II.

L

Jejunum Phlegyam, subter cava saxa jacentem,
Æterno premit accubitu, dapibusque profanis
Instimulat: sed mista famem fastidia vincunt.
Adsis o, memor hospitii, Junoniaque arva
Dexter ames; seu te roseum Titana vocari
Gentis Achæmeniæ ritu, seu præstat Osirin
Frugiferum, seu Persei sub rupibus antri
Indignata sequi torquentem cornua Mitram.

855

In Phlegyas' doom thy just revenge appears,
Condemn'd to Furies and eternal fears;

He views his food, but dreads, with lifted eye,
The mould'ring rock that trembles from on high.
Propitious hear our pray'r, O Pow'r divine!
And on thy hospitable Argos shine;
Whether the style of Titan please thee more,
Whose purple rays th' Achæmenes adore;
Or great Osiris, who first taught the swain
In Pharian fields to sow the golden grain;
Or Mitra, to whose beams the Persian bows,
And pays, in hollow rocks, his awful vows;
Mitra, whose head the blaze of light adorns,
Who grasps the struggling heifer's.lunar horns.

855

860

In order to give young readers a just notion of chasteness and simplicity of style, I have seen it of use to let them compare the mild majesty of Virgil and the violent exuberance of Statius, by reading ten lines of each immediately after one another. The motto for the style of the age of Augustus may be the "Simplex munditiis," of Horace; for the age of Domitian and the succeeding ages, the "Cultûque laborat multiplici," of Lucan. After this censure of Statius's manner, it is but justice to add, that in The Thebais there are many strokes of a strong imagination; and indeed the picture of Amphiaraus, swallowed up suddenly by a chasm that opened in the ground, is truly sublime:

66

Illum ingens haurit specus, et transire parantes
Mergit equos; non arma manu non frena remisit
Sicut erat, rectos defert in Tartara currus,
Respexitque cadens cœlum, campumque coire
Ingemuit!"

B. vi. v. 817.-Warton.

In this translation there are some excellent passages, particularly those pointed out by Dr. Warton-" O father Phoebus," and the exquisite lines descriptive of Evening, ""Twas now the time," &c.; but some of the most striking images are omitted, some added, and some misunderstood. Let us however confess, that the versification is truly wonderful, considering the age of the author. It would be endless to point out, more particularly, occasional errors and inaccuracies, in a composition which can be considered no otherwise than as an extraordinary specimen of versification, before the writer's judgment and taste were matured.-Bowles.

Dr. Warton is of opinion, that no youth of genius should ever be suffered to look into Statius, Lucan, Claudian, or Seneca the Tragedian, lest

148

it should prove injurious to his taste; but there is perhaps a still stronger reason, why young persons should not be permitted the perusal of these and other ancient authors, without great caution, from the unfavourable effect which it is likely to produce on their moral feelings, by the false ideas they tend to inculcate of the first principles of justice, truth, and liberty, and of every thing most important to the interests of society. What must be the result, to an inexperienced mind, to find the ideas of right and wrong utterly confounded; persons pursued by divine vengeance for unintentional offences, and rewarded or excused for the most atrocious crimes? The Gods themselves acting under the influence of the basest and most degrading passions? and the most detestable tyrants exalted above the divinities, as if because they exceeded them in cruelty and injustice? and this too presented to the imagination with all the plausibility, force, and elegance, of which language is capable? It may be possible, that from the study of these authors, a pupil may rise up a more accomplished scholar; but it is not easy to perceive how he can become a better man. That they exhibit the sentiments of a false and impious religion, is admitted; but for that very reason they ought not to precede the inculcation of pure and correct ideas of Christian morality, on the minds of youth. This difficulty would be avoided, if the present mode of education were reversed; if the earlier years of life were devoted to the proper direction and improvement of the moral sense, by those simple, clear, and positive precepts of which youth is so soon sensible; and the acquisition of the ancient languages, and the improvement of the taste were postponed, till the intellectual powers were so far strengthened, as to prevent the possibility of any dangerous result.