Even the Gods, who walk the sky, Are amorous of thy scented sigh. His hair with rosy fillet braids, Or while, great Bacchus, round thy shrine, I lead some bright nymph through the dance, When with the blushing, sister Graces, The wanton winding dance he traces.] "This sweet idea of Love dancing with the Graces, is almost peculiar to Anacreon." - Degen. I lead some bright nymph through the dance, &c.] The epithet BabuкоATOS, which he gives to the nymph, is literally "fullbosomed." ODE XLV. WITHIN this goblet, rich and deep, Why should we breathe the sigh of fear, For death will never heed the sigh, Nor soften at the tearful eye; And eyes that sparkle, eyes that weep, Then let us never vainly stray, In search of thorns, from pleasure's way; But wisely quaff the rosy wave, Which Bacchus loves, which Bacchus gave; And in the goblet, rich and deep, Cradle our crying woes to sleep. Then let us never vainly stray, In search of thorns, from pleasure's way; &c.] I have thus endeavoured to convey the meaning of τι δε τον βιον πλανωμαι; according to Regnier's paraphrase of the line: E che val, fuor della strada ODE XLVI. BEHOLD, the young, the rosy Spring, The fastidious affectation of some commentators has denounced this ode as spurious. Degen pronounces the four last lines to be the patch-work of some miserable versificator, and Brunck condemns the whole ode. It appears to me, on the contrary, to be elegantly graphical; full of delicate expressions and luxuriant imagery. The abruptness of Ιδε πως eapos pavevтos is striking and spirited, and has been imitated rather languidly by Horace : Vides ut alta stet nive candidum Soracte The imperative de is infinitely more impressive; But look, the morn, in russet mantle clad, -as in There is a simple and poetical description of Spring, in Catullus's beautiful farewell to Bithynia. Carm. 44. Barnes conjectures, in his life of our poet, that this ode was written after he had returned from Athens, to settle in his paternal seat at Teos; where, in a little villa at some distance The murmuring billows of the deep Now the genial star of day Dissolves the murky clouds away; from the city, commanding a view of the Ægean Sea and the islands, he contemplated the beauties of nature and enjoyed the felicities of retirement. Vide Barnes, in Anac. Vita, S xxxv. This supposition, however unauthenticated, forms a pleasing association, which renders the poem more interesting. Chevreau says, that Gregory Nazianzenus has paraphrased somewhere this description of Spring; but I cannot meet with it. See Chevreau, Euvres Mêlées. "Compare with this ode (says Degen) the verses of Hagedorn, book fourth, ' der Frühling,' and book fifth, ‘der Mai.'” While virgin Graces, warm with May, Fling roses o'er her dewy way.] De Pauw reads, Xapiras poda Bpvovou, "the roses display their graces." This is not uningenious; but we lose by it the beauty of the personification, to the boldness of which Regnier has rather frivolously objected. The murmuring billows of the deep Have languish'd into silent sleep; &c.] It has been justly remarked, that the liquid flow of the line απαλυνεται γαληνη is perfectly expressive of the tranquillity which it describes. And cultur'd field, and winding stream, Now the earth prolific swells Nursing into luxury. And cultur'd field, and winding stream, &c.] By ẞpoтwv epyα "the works of men (says Baxter), he means cities, temples, and towns, which are then illuminated by the beams of the sun. |