70 Mærent, ínque suum convertunt ora magistrum. Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. Tityrus ad corylos vocat, Alphesibœus ad ornos, Ad salices Aegon, ad flumina pulcher Amyntas; "Hic gelidi fontes, hîc illita gramina musco, "Hic Zephyri, hîc placidas interstrepit arbutus undas:" Ista canunt surdo, frutices ego nactus abibam. Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. Mopsus ad hæc, nam me redeuntem forte notârat, (Et callebat avium linguas, et sidera Mopsus,) Thyrsi, quid hoc?" dixit, quæ te coquit improba 66 66 bilis ? 66 "Aut te perdit amor, aut te malè fascinat astrum; Saturni grave sæpe fuit pastoribus astrum, "Intimáque obliquo figit præcordia plumbo." 76 80. Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. Mirantur nymphæ, et "quid te, Thyrsi, futurum est? "Quid tibi vis?" aiunt; "non hæc solet esse juventæ "Nubila frons, oculique truces, vultúsque severi; Ver, 71. Hic gelidi fontes, &c.] Virgil, Ecl. x. 42. "Hic gelidi fontes, hîc mollia prata, Lycori; "Hîc nemus," &c. RICHARdson. Ver. 79. Planet-struck by the planet Saturn. See Lycid. v. 138, Arcad. v. 52. But why is the influence of this planet more particularly fatal to shepherds? Unless on account of its coldness. It is in general called a noxious star and Propertius says, L. iv. i. 84. "Et grave Saturni sydus in omne caput." Its melancholy effects are here expressed by its wounding the heart with an arrow of lead. And perhaps our author had a concealed allusion to this Saturnine Lead, in making his Melancholy the daughter of Saturn, Il Pens. v. 43. "With a sad leaden downward cast," &c. T. WARTON. "Illa choros, lusúsque leves, et semper amorem 85 "Jure petit: bis ille miser qui serus amavit." Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. Venit Hyas, Dryopéque, et filia Baucidis Aegle, Docta modos, citharæque sciens, sed perdita fastu ; Venit Idumanii Chloris vicina fluenti; Nil me, blanditiæ, nil me solantia verba, Nil me si quid adest, movet, aut spes ulla futuri. Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. Hei mihi! quam similes ludunt per prata juvenci, Omnes unanimi secum sibi lege sodales ! Nec magis hunc alio quisquam secernit amicum De grege; sic densi veniunt ad pabula thoes, Inque vicem hirsuti paribus junguntur onagri: Lex eadem pelagi; deserto in littore Proteus Agmina Phocarum numerat, vilisque volucrum Passer habet semper quicum sit, et omnia circum Farra libens volitet, serò sua tecta revisens ; Quem si sors letho objecit, seu milvus adunco Fata tulit rostro, seu stravit arundine fossor, 90 95 100 Ver. 89. Docta modos, citharæque sciens,] From Horace, Od. III. ix. 9. as Mr. Bowle and Mr. Warton also observe; "Dulces docta modos, et citharæ sciens." TODD. Ver. 90. The river Chelmer in Essex is called Idumanium fluentum, near its influx into Black-water bay. Ptolemy calls this bay Portus Idumanius. T. WARTON. 105 110 Protinùs ille alium socio petit inde volatu. 115 120 Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. Quamquam etiam vestrî nunquam meminisse pigebit, Pastores Thusci, Musis operata juventus, Hic Charis, atque Lepos; et Thuscus tu quoque Damon, 126 Ver. 115. Ecquid &c.] He has parodied a verse in Virgil's Eclogues, into a very natural and pathetick complaint, Et quæ tanti fuit Romam, &c. i. 27. And there is much address in the parenthesis introducing Virgil, which points out that verse, (Quamvis illa foret, &c.) i. e. Although Rome was as fine a city at present, as when visited by Tityrus or Virgil. T. WARTON. Ver. 118. Ut te tam dulci &c.] He addresses the same sentiment to Deodate while living, El. iv. 21. Milton, while in Italy, visited Rome twice. T. Warton. Antiquâ genus unde petis Lucumonis ab urbe. Ver. 128. 135 Lucumonis ab urbe.] Luca, or Lucca, an ancient city of Tuscany, was founded by Lucumon or Leumon, an Hetruscan king. T. WARTON. Ver. 134. nam sunt et apud me, munera vestra, Fiscellæ, &c.] Virgil, Ecl. iii. 62. "Et me Phoebus amat; Phœbo sua semper apud me "Munera sunt, lauri," &c. RICHARDSON. Ver. 137. Et Datis, et Francinus,] Carlo Dati of Florence, with whom Milton corresponded after his return to England. In a Latin Letter to Dati, dated at London, Apr. 21, 1647, Milton speaks of having sent this poem to Dati, and also mentions his intention of sending his book of Latin poems published two years before, 1645. Prose-Works, vol. ii. 572. Dati has a Latin eulogy prefixed to the Poemata, edit. 1673. So has Antonio Francini an Italian ode of considerable merit. In Burman's Sylloge, in a Letter from Cuperus to Heinsius dated 1672, Carolus Datus is mentioned, "cujus eruditionis sponsorem habeo librum de vita Pictorum." vol. ii. 671. That is, his Lives of four of the Ancient Painters. Again, in another from the same, dated 1676, his death is mentioned with much regret, where he is called vir in "Etruscis præstantissimus, and one whose loss would be deeply felt by the learned, ibid. 693. In another, from N. Heinsius, dated 1647, he is called "amicissimum mihi juvenem," iii. 193. Again, ibid 806, 820, 826, 827. In another from the same, dated 1652, "Scribit ad me Datus Et studiis noti, Lydorum sanguinis ambo.. Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni. Florentiæ in Mediceo codice extare," &c. ibid. 294. He corresponds with J. Vossius in 1647, ibid. 573. Vossius, and others, wish him to publish Doni's book of Inscriptions, ibid. 574. seq. Spanheim, in 1661, writes to N. Heinsius to introduce him to Carlo Dati and other learned men at Florence, ibid. 817. In a Letter from N. Heinsius dated 1676, "Mors repentina Caroli Dati quanto morore me confecerit, vix est ut verbis exprimatur. Ne nunc quidem, cùm virum cogito, à lacrymis temperare possum" &c. vol iv. 409. See also vol. v. 577, 578. In a Letter to Christina queen of Sweden dated 1652, from Florence, N. Heinsius sends her an Italian epigram by Dati, much applauded, on her late accident, ibid. 757. Again from the same to the same, 1652, "Habes et hîc Caroli Dati Epigramma Etruscum. Est autem ille, quod et aliâ monui occasione, magni inter Florentinos Poetas nominis; laudes tuas singulari parat poemate," Ibid. 758. See also p. 744, 742, 472. He was celebrated for his skill in Roman antiquities. A Dissertation is addressed to him from Octavio Falconieri, concerning an inscribed Roman brick taken from the rubbish of an ancient Roman structure, destroyed for rebuilding the Portico of the Pantheon, 1661. Grævii Roman, Antiquit. iv. 1483. T. WARTON. There are two interesting letters from Dati, on literary subjects, in " M. Gudii et Doctorum Virorum ad Eum Epistolæ, &c. Curante P. Burmanno, Ultraject. 1697." 4°. pp. 63, 64. Besides his Lives of the Painters, already noticed, published in 1667, Dati committed to the press, in 1669, his Panegyrick on Louis the fourteenth; which has been translated from the Italian into French. Rolli mentions other works of Dati. See also Voyage de M. Monconnys, sec. part. Lyon. 1666, p. 483. "Carlo Dati me donna sa lettre imprimée pour prouver que Torricelli auoit trouvé le premier la roulette." TODD. Ver. 138. Lydorum sanguinis ambo.] Of the most ancient Tuscan families. The Lydians brought a colony into Italy, whence came the Tuscans. On this origin of the Tuscans from the Lydians, Horace founds the claim of the Tuscan Mæcenas to a high and illustrious ancestry, Sat. i. vi. 1. |