He hears, where'er he moves, the dreadful sound; | To warm the traveller numb'd with winter's cold; Check the deep vales, and Check the woods rebound:-- No place remains: he sees the certain fate, A brighter blush o'erspreads the damsel's cheeks, SOLIMA. AN ARABIAN ECLOGUE. "YE maids of Aden! hear a loftier tale And lips, from which the zephyr steals perfume; The young to cherish, to support the old ; Ye friendless orphans, and ye dowerless maids; Live in our notes, and blossom in our lays! So sung the youth, whose sweetly-warbled strains Then ceased, and slumber'd in the lap of rest Till the shrill lark had left his low-built nest. Now hastes the swain to tune his rapturous tales In other meadows, and in other vales. AN ODE IN IMITATION OF ALCIUS. Ου λιθοι, εδε ξυλα, υδε Τεχνη τεκτονων αἱ πόλεις εισιν Αλλ' οπε ποτ' αν ωσιν ΑΝΔΡΕΣ Αὐτος σωζειν ειδότες, Ενταυθα τείχη και πολεις. Alc. quoted by Aristides. WHAT constitutes a state? Not high-raised battlement or labour'd mound, Not cities proud with spires and turrets crown'd; Where low-brow'd baseness wafts perfume to pride. With powers as far above dull brutes endued As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude; But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain, And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain: And sovereign law, that state's collected will, The fiend, discretion, like a vapour sinks, Hides his faint rays, and at her bidding shrinks. Than Lesbos fairer and the Cretan shore! Shall Britons languish, and be men no more? Those sweet rewards, which decorate the brave, "Tis folly to decline, And steal inglorious to the silent grave. Abergavenny, March 31, 1781. AN ODE IN IMITATION OF CALLIS TRATUS. Εν μυρτω κλαδι το ξίφος φορησω, Quod si post Idus illias Martias e Tyrannoctonis quis. piam tale aliquod carmen plebi tradidisset inque Suburram et fori circulos et in ora vulgi intulisset, actum profecto fuisset de partibus deque dominatione Cæsarum; plus mehercule valuisset unum Appodes μedos quam Ciceronis Philippicæ omnes.-Lowth De Sacra Poesi, Præl. 1. VERDANT myrtle's branchy pride Thus, Harmodius! shone thy blade; Whose, when BRITAIN sighs for aid, Dearest youths, in islands bless'd, Verdant myrtle's branchy pride They the base Hipparchus slew Gods!-how swift their poniards flew. Nurse of arts, and age of Greece! Ne'er shall Fate their eyelids close : No, bless'd chiefs! a hero's crown They through blood for glory strove, Rise, BRITANNIA! dauntless rise! THE FIRST NEMEAN ODE OF PINDAR. CALM breathing-place of Alpheus dead, Sister of Delos, thee, with sweet, yet lofty, sound Of tempest-footed steeds the trophies glorious To weave the encomiastic strain. This ode is translated word for word with the original; those epithets and phrases only being necessarily added, which are printed in italic letters. See Argument of the Hymns to Pacriti. He the flower of greatness wins, Horror seized the female train, Whom smiling fortune crowns; and vast heroic Who near Alcmena's genial couch attended: deeds Every muse delights to sing. Now wake to that fair isle the splendid story, Which the great Olympian king, Jove, gave to Proserpine, and waved his locks Vowing, that, supreme in glory, Famed for sweet fruits, and nymph-loved rocks, Sicilia's full nutritious breast She, from agonizing pain Yet weak, unsandall'd and unmantled rush'd, Swift the Cadmean leaders ran In brazen mail precipitately bold: Bared his raised falchion from its sheathing gold, With tower'd and wealthy cities he would crown. While grinding anguish pierced his fluttering breast; Her the son of Saturn bless'd With suitors brazen-arm'd for war's renown By lance and fiery steed; yet oft thy leaves, Olympic olive! bind their hair In wreathy gold. Great subjects I prepare: But none th' immortal verse deceives. Oft in the portals was I placed For private woes most keenly bite Standing in deep amazement wild With rapturous pleasure mix'd, he saw th' enormous force, Saw the valour of his child: Of that guest-loving man, and pour'd the dulcet And fated heralds prompt, as heaven had shaped strain, Where becoming dainties graced His hospitable board; for ne'er with efforts vain Strangers to his mansion came : And thus the virtuous, when detraction rages, Let each in virtue's path right onward press, And, urged by genius, win success. Laborious action strength applies, And wary conduct, sense: the future to foresee Agesidamus' son, she frankly gave to thee 1 see not in dark cells the hoarded treasure But, as wealth flows, to spread it, and to hear Assail disastrous men. The praise The rapid legend old his name shall place; The child of Jove with his twin brother lay, Not unobserved the godlike boy By Juno golden-throned the saffron'd cradle press'd; Straight heaven's queen with furious joy Bade hideous dragons fleet th' unguarded floor infest: They, the portals opening wide, Roll'd through the chamber's broad recess tremen dous, And in jaws fire-darting tried The slumbering babe to close. He, starting light, With both resistless hands he clasp'd Both struggling horrid pests, and clothed their necks with death; They expiring, as he grasp'd, Pour'd from their throats compress'd, the foul envenom'd breath. their course, Wafted round the varied tale: Then called he from high Jove's contiguous region, Him, whose warnings never fail, Tiresias blind, who told, in diction sage, The chief and thronging legion What lawless tyrants of the wood, What serpents he would slay, what monsters of the main, What proud foe to human good, The worst of monstrous forms, that holy manhood stain, His huge arm to death would dash : How when heaven's host, o'er Phlegra's champaign hasting, With embattled giants rash Vindictive warr'd, his pondrous mace would storm He told; and how in blissful peace A CHINESE ODE, PARAPHRASED. Light reeds bedeck its verdant sides, So shines our prince! in bright array As pliant hands, in shapes refined, As gems are taught by patient art In sparkling ranks to beam, With manners thus he forms the heart, What soft, yet awful dignity! So shines our prince! A sky-born crowd THE VERBAL TRANSLATION. BEHOLD yon reach of the river Ki; Its green reeds how luxuriant! how luxuriant! As a cutter, as a polisher of gems O how elate and sagacious! O how dauntless and composed! How worthy of fame! How worthy of reverence! A TURKISH ODE OF MESIHI. HEAR! how the nightingales on every spray, Hail, in wild notes, the sweet return of May; -The gale that o'er yon waving almond blows, The verdant bank with silver blossoms strows: The smiling season decks each flowery glade. Be gay too soon the flowers of spring will fade. + What gales of fragrance scent the vernal air! Hills, dales, and woods, their loveliest mantles wear, Who knows what cares await that fatal day, The tulip now its varied hue displays, IMITATIONS. "Thou hearest the tale of the nightingale, 'that the vernal season approaches.' The spring has spread a bower of joy in every grove, where the almond tree sheds its silver blossoms. Be cheerful; be full of mirth; for the spring passes soon away: it will not last." "The groves and hills are again adorned with all sorts of flowers; a pavilion of roses, as the seat of pleasure, is raised in the garden. Who knows which of us will be alive when the fair season ends? Be cheer. ful," &c. "The edge of the bower is filled with the light of Ahmed; among the plants the fortunate tulips represent his companions. Come, O people of Mohammed! this is the season of merriment. Be cheerful," &c. * The sparkling dew-drops o'er the lilies play, + The fresh-blown rose like Zeineb's cheek appears, When pearls, like dew-drops, glitter in her ears. The charms of youth at once are seen and past: And nature says, "They are too sweet to last." So blooms the rose; and so the blushing maid. Be gay too soon the flowers of spring will fade. See! yon anemonies their leaves unfold, Enjoy the presence of thy tuneful friend : The plants no more are dried, the meadows dead, || Clear drops, each morn, impearl the rose's bloom, The dew-drops sprinkled, by the musky gale, IMITATIONS. "Again the dew glitters on the leaves of the lily, like the water of a bright cimeter. The dew-drops fall through the air on the garden of roses. Listen to me, listen to me, if thou desirest to be delighted. Be cheerful," &c. "The roses and tulips are like the bright cheeks of beautiful maids, in whose ears the pearls hang like drops of dew. Deceive not thyself, by thinking that these charms will have a long duration. Be cheerful," &c. "Tulips, roses, and anemonies, appear in the gar dens; the showers and the sunbeams, like sharp lancets, tinge the banks with the colour of blood. Spend this day agreeably with thy friends, like a prudent man. Be cheerful," &c. "The time is passed in which the plants were sick, and the rose-bud hung its thoughtful head on its bosom. The season comes in which mountains and rocks are coloured with tulips. Be cheerful," &c. "Each morning the clouds shed gems over the rosegarden; the breath of the gale is full of Tartarian musk. Be not neglectful of thy duty through too great a love of the world. Be cheerful," &c. "The sweetness of the bower has made the air so fragrant, that the dew, before it falls, is changed into rosewater. The sky spreads a pavilion of bright clouds over the garden. Be cheerful," &c. * Late, gloomy winter chill'd the sullen air, + May this rude lay from age to age remain, HYMN TO CAMDEO. THE ARGUMENT. THE Hindoo god, to whom the following poem is ad. dressed, appears evidently the same with the Grecian Eros and the Roman Cupido; but the Indian description of his person and arms, his family, attendants, and attributes, has new and peculiar beauties. According to the mythology of Hindoostan, he was the son of Maya, or the general attracting power, and married to Retty, or Affection; and his bosom friend is Bessent or Spring: he is represented as a beautiful youth, sometimes conversing with his mother and consort, in the midst of his gardens and temples; sometimes riding by moonlight on a parrot or lory, and attended by dancing girls or nymphs, the foremost of whom bears his colours, which are a fish on a red ground. His favourite place of resort is a large tract of country round Agra, and principally the plains of Matra, where Krishen also, and the nine Gopia, who are clearly the Apollo and muses of the Greeks, usually spend the night with music and dance. His bow of sugar-cane, or flowers with a string of bees, and his five arrows, each pointed with an Indian blossom of a heating quality, are allegories equally new and beautiful. He has at least twenty. three names, most of which are introduced in the hymn: that of Cam, or Cama, signifies desire, a sense which it also bears in ancient and modern Persian; and it is possible that the words Dipuc and Cupid, which have the same signification, may have the same origin, since we know that the old Hetruscans, from whom great part of the Roman language and religion was derived, and whose system had a near affinity with that of the Persians and Indians, used to write their lines alternately forwards and backwards, as furrows are made by the plough; and, though the two last letters of Cupido may only be the grammatical termination as in libido and capedo, yet the primary root of cupio is contained in the first three letters. The seventh stanza alludes to the bold attempt of this deity to wound the great god Maha. deo, for which he was punished by a flame consuming IMITATIONS. • "Whoever thou art, know that the black gusts of autumn had seized the garden; but the king of the world again appeared, dispensing justice to all: in his reign the happy cupbearer desired and obtained the flowing wine. Be cheerful," &c. "By these strains I hoped to celebrate this delightful valley: may they be a memorial to its inhabitants, and remind them of this assembly, and these fair maids! Thou art a nightingale with a sweet voice, O Mesihi, when thou walkest with the damsels, whose cheeks are like roses. Be cheerful; be full of mirth; for the spring passes soon away; it will not last!" his corporeal nature, and reducing him to a mental essence; and hence his chief dominion is over the minds of mortals, or such deities as he is permitted to subdue. THE HYMN. WHAT potent god from Agra's orient bowers "Know'st thou not me?" Celestial sounds I hear! Know'st thou not me?" Ah, spare a mortal ear! God of each lovely sight, each lovely sound, Thy consort mild, Affection ever true, God of the flowery shafts and flowery bow, He bends the luscious cane, and twists the string He with five flowerets tips thy ruthless darts, hearts: Strong Chumpa, rich in odorous gold, |