V^WUfJff^^fi ^'TT^^^ X'lT"' --^im^v^-* TRANSLATIONS '-ROM -J-JIE ^^ ,EK ANTHOLOGY.. ', GUN N YON. BookseUers ¥ t- ^rccft Jl^afBofogt?. Printed by Dcnlop & Drennan, "Standard" Office, Kilmarnock. / ( A CENTURY OF TRANSLATIONS FROM %\\t ©itck Jlntliologij. BY WILLIAM GUNNYON, Author of " A Life of Burns," and " Scottish Life and History in Song and Ballad." ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Kilmarnock : Dunlop & Drennan, Printers "Standard " Office. 188 3. , J . ^ » ' ' *, ,' ' \ ',' > • ' • '"— .i,-?-''-^— ^ > • • • . " . • • • • • « * " • • • 1 ' • ^^ C3 ■PA 363-3 JSrcfacc. The following Translations, executed at intervals during the last twenty years, appeared from time to time in Kilmarnock or Glasgow journals. They were undertaken solely as a literary solace, and ^v'itli no view to subsequent collection and republication. But during late years I have been asked so often, and by so many, to republish them that I at last reluctantly consented. However, I had got jaded, and I shrank from the labour of revision. But I did them at first as cai'efully as I could, and I am not sure that by revision I should have unproved them. Still, if I did not thmk they had some merit, especially that of fidelity, no solicitation, however urgent, would have induced me to republish. The name of the translators of the Gioek *} 80487 Anthology, to a larger or smaller extent, is Legion, and among these have been some of our countrymen the most eminent for scholarship and poetic genius. This effort of mine, there- fore, may appear presumptuous ; but I am neither weak enough nor vain enough to enter the lists as a rival to these, nor do I offer my little book as a critical guide. It pleased me in the production, and it seems to have pleased a sufficient number of, it may be, partial friends to justify mc in clothing it in this form. So far from its being intended as a critical guide there is neither chronological classification, nor even that by subjects. The versions are set down pretty much in the order in which they were made, and if there is not method there is at least variety. In several instances there are two versions of the same epigram, which may be considered superfluous. But for twenty-five years I was a classical teacher, and the double versions are given with something of the complacency of a schoolmaster, to ' ' teach the young idea " that more than one version, and each equally faith- ful, may be made of the same subject by the same person. Besides, some of these are in blank verse, and such rendering of a short poem, if the only one, however faithful and flowing it may be, is scarcely satisfactory. It indicates a poverty of verbal resource particularly inap- propriate in a translator. Hence the second versions in some species of rhymed measure. I have, I confess, undertaken a hazardous and ambitious task, and one apt to challenge damag- ing comparisons. But I have no wish to depre- cate criticism, whatever its verdict, provided it be given with knowledge and fairness. Glasgow, December, 1882. TRANSLATIONS KKO.M Uite ©itfk Jlnthologp. [Antholo(JY, a collection of flowem, a term given to a book consisting of a series of choice thoughts, sometimes in prose, but usually in verse. It is most frecj^uently applied to that great collection of short epigrammatic pieces, the Greek Anthology, ranging over more than a thousand years, from Simonides of Ceos (490 B.C.) to the sixth century of our era. The first collection, made by Meleager the Syrian, about 60 B.C., has perished, as have also other col- lections by Philip of Thessalonica, Diogenianus of Heraclea, Straton of Sardis, and Agathias (550 A.M. ) Two collections have been preserved, 10 that of Constantine Cephalas, about S)'2U a.u., now known as the Palatine Anthology, the mannsciipt of which was discovered by Sal- niasius in the library of the Elector Palatine at Heidelberg in 1606, and published by Brunck (1772-6) ; and that of Maximus Planudes, a monk of the 14th century, founded on the Anthology of Agathias, and printed at Florence in 1494 by John Lascaris. Many editions of this have been published ; the latest, begun by Bosch in 1795, was finished by Lennep in 1822. This contains the Latin version of Grotius. Planudes seems to have for the most part merely re-airangcd or abridged the collection of Cephalas. Jacobs re-etlited Brunck at Leipzig (1794-1814). These bright consummate flowers have long been the delight of scholars, many of whom have translated such of them as most pleased their fancy. The best known transla- tions are those of Bland and Merivale. In com- mending the Greek Anthology 1 have been sometimes jestingly asked — " ^V'hat do 1 know or care about Greek ?" But as Professor Jebb well puts it -"Love, art, mourning for the dead, the whole range of human interests and sympathies, lend leaves to this garland of Greek Song." Or to slightly vary Shakspeare — ' ' Had not a Greek eyes? had not a Greek hands, organs, dimensions, senses, aif'ections, passions '! fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the sa,me winter and sunmier, as a Briton is?" And so, to those wiio think with Terence nothing human alien from tiiem, the (h-eek Anthology is full of meaning and interest.] 11 I. ANACREON. [Anacreox, a lyric poet, and a native of Teos, a city on the coast of Ionia, flourished about 530 B.C. His poetry was entirely amatory and con- vivial, his unfailing themes being love, wine, and the lyre. Of tlie Samian wine it is said in Byron's "Isles of (ireece " — " It made Anacreon's Song divine." It is added that " He serveil, but served Polycrates," the tyrant of Samos, at whose brilliant Court the poet lived for some time. He afterwards went to Athens, living at the Court of Hipparchus, sou of the tyrant Peisistratus, and is there said to have met with Simonides. He is also said to have lived in Thessaly with the Aleuidre. His death, which occurred in his eighty-fifth year, is generally attributed to his having been choked by a grape-stone, while on a voyage from Abdera to his native isle. The collection of about sixty short pieces, which passes under his name, is spurious, and is said to have been first made in the tenth century. Tlie several pieces were probably all composed during the Christian era, some of them as late as 500 a.d. These were translated into English verse by Thomas Moore, and published in 1 801 . In their gaiety and love of pleasure the Greek and the Irish poet strongly resembled each other. Both were emphatically men of society, and aftected the company of the great. The few genuine fragments of Anacreon are marked by grace and sweetness, and exhibit a genuine turn for gentle satire.] 12 I'd sing the bold Atreidse, I'd sing Bceotia's Loi'd ; But the lyre to nought will answer But Love with every chord. My lyre I altered lately, I strung it all anew — And the toils of bold Alcides I sang in numbers due. Still the lyre responded only To Love with every sound : Farewell, henceforth, ye heroes — To Love my lyre is bound ! -:o:- IL THE SAME. Once at the liour of midnight, NV'hen turning is the Bear By the guiding of Bootes, And o'erpowered by work and care, Speech-gifted mortals slumber ; — Then Cupid, drawing near. Took to beating at my portals. Which biod me meikle fear. " Who's knocking so untimely?" I called, " you'll break my dreams." " 0, let me in," says Cupid, " For 'tis not as it seems. 13 I'm but a child, don't tremble, I'm drenched into the skin ; Through the moonless night I've wandered, And fain would be within." This hearing, I had pity, And at once procured a light ; I opened, and before me Stood a child in woful pliglit. A handy bow he carried, Wmgs, and a quiver too ; I placed him by the ingle, And without more ado With my palms I chafed his fingers, Squeezed the water from his hair ; And when the cold had vanished, He said, " Kind host, forbear I This bow, come, let us test it, — Let us see how far its cord, By being soaked so throughly Is injured for its lord." And the roguish urchin bent it, And pierced my liver thorough ; And never sting of gad-fly Was fraught with greater sorrow. Then up he leapt guffawing ; Said, " Host, rejoice with me ! My bow has suffered nothing. But sore thy heart shall be." 14 III. THE SAME. Upon the myrtles tender, And the lotus-leaves so slender, Reclining I'll get mellow, As becomes a right good fellow. Let Love, his tunic binding With papyrus round his neck, Busy himself in finding Me flowing bowls of sack. For life runs on revolving — Like the chariot-wheel it must And we, our bones dissolving. Will lie a little dust. Why tlien anoint a tombstone ? Why pour libations vain ? For me— I had much rather, While in life I still reinain. That you'd crown my head with roses, My locks perfume with myrrh, And call my gentle mistress. — Cupid ! ere I stir From scenes above to mingle With the Infernal Choir, All cark and care to scatter 1 ardently desire. IV. THE SAME. Scottke redditum, Anacreoii, ilk wife and maid Now says, "Thou's getting auld ; ' ' Keek in the glass, and quick confess '* That thy pow as a neep is bald. " Thy locks are wi' the last year's snaw"- "Guid faith, I carena by : ' ' Locks or nae locks, that's nocht to me, " Since ae thing weel ken I — " That as an auld man's tune is short, " Nae moment maun he tyne ; " But droun his fears o' comin' fate " In draughts o' Luve and Wine." V. THE SAME. The Muses finding blooming Love, Rosy fetters round him wo^'e, And straightway bore the captive God To Beauty in her bright abode. His mother, Venus, quickly brings A ransom of all precious things, To free the prisoner from his chains ; But he a willing slave remains ; Nor would he go though he were free. For Beauty's thrall he swears he'll be. 16 VI. THE SAME. My love, fly not, beholding These looks of mine so grey ; Nor, though thy beauty's blossom Be bright and sweet as May, Reject my fond caresses ; Than these stately lilies hoar, In this garland twined with roses, No flowers delight us more. :o: VII. THE SAME. When appeai-s the joyous Spring, Round our path the Graces fling Roses, and the roaiing sea Is hushed as l:)y a lullaby. Dives the duck in streams again, Comes the migratory crane. Shines the sun with 25urest ray. Cloudy shadows fly away. Works of mortals brightly l)eam. Willow blossoms richly teem ; Richly teems the olive bough, Tendrils circle Bacchus' brow ; Every branch in every bower Is clothed with fruit as twig with flower. 17 VIII. THE SAME. Love, as once he lay among The roses, had his finger stung By a bee he had not seen : Then lustily he cried, I ween. And now running, and now flying, To Cj'thera fair he came : — " 0, my mother, I am dying, — Hand and arm are all aflame. A small wing'd serpent called a bee By husbandmen, has wounded me." She replying, archly said — " If a bee-sting makes thee smart. How think'st thou, Cupid, those have sped Whom thou hast smitten to the heart ?" :o:- IX. THE SAME. I call not him a friend. Who, o'er the flowing bowl. Of brawls and tearful wars Talks loud with boastful soul. But he's one who reminds me. As he drinks, of healthful Mirth, And how Venus and the Muses Make a heaven of the earth. 18 X. THE SAME. Blest we deem thee, Grasshopper, Happy, tiny reveller ! Quaffing dewdrops thou dost sing On the tree-tops like a king. What thou seeest in the fields. What the leafy forest yields, What the varied Hours produce — All is thine to freely use ; And the farmer loveth thee, For thou livest harmlessly ; And to mortals thou art dear. Summer's gentle harbinger ! Kind to thee the Muses prove, Thee Apollo's self doth love, Giving thee a tuneful voice ; Nor doth age impair thy joys. Skilful minstrel, born of Earth, Loving music, loving mirth, Without suffering, without blood, Thou art happy as a god ! 19 XI. LEONIDAS OF TARENTUM. [Leonidas of Tarentum wrote fully a hundred, epif^rams (according to Meineke 108) in the Doric dialect, and these were inwoven by Meleager in his Garland. Some of them, however, are thought by Brunck to belong pro- perly to Leonidas of Alexandria. He seems, from hints scattered through his epigrams, to have lived in the time of Pyrrhus. In the table prefixed to Liddell and Scott's Lexicon it is recorded— ^oriy the foeman's spear, A daughter and a mother slumber here. When horrid war our native Corinth fired We chose a noble death, by pride inspired. A mother's steel my youthful life-blood drank, And then, self -strangled, in the grave she sank. The lofty soul the tyrant's sway disdains. And death, with freedom, we preferred to chains. :0: XLIX. THE SAME. Few were the themes of song, the words were few. By which Erinna earned the Muse's crown ; Therefore she lives in memory ever new. Nor sable night's dark wing can weigh her down. But we, the myriad minstrels of to-day, Are doomed in heaps to rot on Lethe's shore ; For sweeter far the stately swan's brief lay Than chatterings of the daw when winter's o'er. 47 ERINNA. [Erinna, of Telos, (about 612 B.C.), a con- temporary and friend of Sappho, died at nine- teen. She left behind her poems, chiefly of the epic kind, and written in a mixture of Doric and Aeolic, which some thought worthy of ranking with those of Homer. She has a place in the " Garland " of Meleager. Sappho, who was the centre of a female literary society, is said to have been the instructress of Erinna in the technical portion of her art.] Pillars, and mourning Sirens, and sad Urn That hold'stfor Hades all the pyre hath spared, Welcome accord to all who hither turn. From whate'er land or city they have fared ; And say :— " A vii'gin here hath found her rest, Named Baucis by her sire, a high-born chief ; And that Erinna, friend she loved the best, Engraved these lines, memorials of her grief." -:o:- LI. THE SAME. The tomb of virgin Baucis, here I stand. Stranger, slow-pacing by this pile of woe, Speak thus to Hades in tlie Silent Land: — " All human bliss why dost Thou envy so ?" These symbols fair tell thee who dost enquire, The untimely fate of her within this tomb. The bridegroom lighted up her funeral pyre With Hymen's torch that late had led her home. And Thou, too, Hymen, turned'st the nuptial hymn To elegiac strains of sorrow dim. 48 LII. M ELEAGER. To Spring. The howling Winter having left the sky. Smiles the bright hour of flower-producing Spring ; The fresh-hued earth is crowned luxuriantly With greenest grass, and flowers are clustering With petals new, each branch surcharged with juice. The meadows drinking of the dews that drop From womb of morn, making earthmore produce, Smile as the Roses their sweet eyelids ope. To shepherds piping shrilly on the hills The season sweet all gloomy thoughts forbids; The goat-herd too with raptured feeling thrills Eyeing the skippings of his snow-white kids. The mariners now plough the billows broad, Their canvas bellying to the harmless gale Of Zephyr, while the vineyard's jolly god Ivy-crowned revellers with Evoes hail. Their skilful beauteous works are now a care To bees derived from oxen;* in their hives They settle gladly and no labour spare : — To elaborate honey each with other strives. And all around the feathered shrill-note sings : The halcyons by the wave; the swallows hail From human dwellings ; from the river-springs The swans ; and from the gi'ove the nightingale. Now, when joy stirs the leafage of tlie plant ; Earth blooms ; the shepherds pipe upon the hills ; *See Virgil, Georg. IV. 4d And thick-fleeced sheep with ceaseless gambols pant ; And sailors plough the mam ; and Bacchus thrills The dancer's heart; birds sing; industrious bees Labour with sweets;— when Nature all is gay, Why should the bard, reclining at his ease. Not sing his sweetest song in blithesome May ? :o: LIII. PAUL, THE SILENTIARY. [Paul, the Silentiary, chief of the secre- taries of the Emperor Justinian, wrote various poems, of which some are still extant, and 83 epigrams, given in Vol. III. of Brunch's An- thologia.] Nor needs the rose a wreath, nor thou, fair maid, A broidered vest, or head-dress gem-inlaid. On thy white neck the pearl pales its light ; Than purest gold thy flowing locks more bright. Yields to thine eyes, so beautifully blue, The Indian hyacinth's celestial hue. Thy dewy lips, thy mind and manners' tone, A honeyed harmony, are Venus' zone. All these subdue; my comfort's from thine eyes, Where honey-dropping hope for ever lies. 50 _ LIV. MELEAGER. Me the swift-footed, long-eared hare, while young, While very young, torn from my mother's breast. Sweet Phanion reared — the fair-skinned Phanion. And, fondled in her bosom, I was fed On every flower that the Spring meads produce. A mother's loss not moved me, but I died Of endless dainties, fattened with much food. And here she buried me beside her bowei', That ever in her dreams she might behold My tomb close-bordering on her gentle couch. :o:- Otlierwise. Me, the swift-footed, long-eared hare, Abstracted from a mother's care While young, the sweet-skinned Phanion Fondled her tender breast upon. And she her sportive favourite fed On flowers from Spring's awakened bed. I pined not for a mother's kindness, But Phanion, with fatal blindness, Incessant delicates supplied, So I grew fat, and soon I died. And near her couch the sorrowing maid The body of her leveret laid. That in her dreams she still might see The tomb she fondly raised o'er me. 51 LV. ARCHIAS. [Aechias, a. Licinius, a Greek poet born at Antioch, about 120 B.C. He is known chiefly from Cicero's famoiis speech -[tro ArcMa, the genuineness of which has, however, somewhat unnecessarily been questioned by Schroeter. He wrote many epigrams, but it is not settled whether those ascrilied to him in the Anthology are really his. They have no great merit. According to Cicero and Quintilian he had a remarkable gift of improvising verses, a gift possessed to a surprising degree by our country- man Theodore Hook.] Lysipp6's infant playmg on the verge Of a huge cliff o'erhanging ocean's surge, Astyanax' sad fate would soon have shared. Had not the mother, taught by instinct, bared The streaming font his daily food that gave — Rescuer at once from hunger and the grave. :o: LVI. ARCHILOCHUS, [Archilochxts (670 e.g.), a native of Paros, a poet of the highest order, and classed by his countrymen with Homer, Pindar, and Sophocles as one of their representative bards. He was the earliest of the Ionian lyrists, and the first 52 Greek poet who composed Iambic verses accord- inc^ to fixed rule. To him as well as to Callinus was ascribed the invention of elegy. In elegiac strains he sang of war and mourned for the dead ; but iambic or satiric poetry was his forte, and of this weapon he had such terrible mastery that its edge drove to suicide the daughters of Lycambes, of whom Neobule, who had been promised to him in marriage, was ultimately denied to him. In his Epodes Horace mani- festly translates from him.] Some Saian glories o'er my undinted shield, Which, 'gainst my will I left beside the wood; But since with life I've quit the bloody field, Let that shield go— I'll buy one quite as good. :o: LVII. SIMONIDES. [SiMONiDES. — There were two famous poets so named, Simonides of Amorgus (660 B.C.), a cele- brated satirist in iambics. He also wrote gnomic poetry in iambic measure, in which are embodied sentiments and precepts bearing on life and character, and intermixed with quiet irony. But it is with Simonides of Ccos (490 v..c.) that we have here to do, for to him are to be ascribed the numerous elegiac and epigrammatic remains, so higldy prized, that bear the name. He ex- celled both as a lyrical and an elegiac poet. His 53 lyrics, written in the Doric dialect, belong in form to the Choral Dorian school, while he framed his elegies in his native dialect, the Ionic. In youth he was one of the brilliant circle that graced the Court of Hipparchus ; in advanced life he enjoyed the friendship of Themistocles and Pausauias ; and he died at Syracuse, whither he had gone to the Court of Hieron. His remains consist of hymns to the gods, paeans, odes of victory, and dirges. Beautiful are his elegiac epitaphs on the patriots that fell at Thermopylae and Salamis, and es- pecially beautiful is his "Lament of Danae," which forms the last version given in this book. He was eminent for self-control ; hence the moderation of his views of human life, and the soundness of his moral sentiments. His poetry is characterized by sweetness, finish, and abso- lute mastery of expression.] Nought stable to the sons of men remains : The Chian man declared in noblest strains, " As is the race of leaves so that of men" — A truth our ear reveals unto our ken. But seldom moves the heart ; for each is strong In hope, innate in bosoms of the young. And while a man has youth's desired flower Light is his heart, and each revolving hour Brings to his thoughts much that can never be. For ne'er does it suggest itself that he Shall yield to Eld, or drop into tlie tomb. Nor, while in Health, that Sickness e'er will come. Fools! who think thus, nor do they rightly know How brief are time and life to men below. But, learning this, do thou through Life's short span Let thy soul freely taste what bliss it can. 54 LVIII. THE SAME. Loud thundering Jove in liis own hand retains All issues, and his lot to each ordains. Not on the feeble creatures of a day Doth auglit depend that can our fortune sway. From day to day we live and darkly grope As God hath destined, fed by Heavenly Hope, That sheds around us her illusive rays, Still pointuag to impracticable ways. The day that is defines the wish to some ; Others look forward to long years to come. But there is none who thinks not a new year With wealth and bliss in plenty will appear. Yet ere the boon arrives unenvied Eld Steps in, and Hope's sweet visions are dispelled. Blighting disease consumes the strength to some : — Some crushed by Mars sink to a bloody tomb. Some tempest-tost on Ocean's purple breast Beneath its billows find their destined rest ; Others, aweary of the sun, suspend The dangling noose, and find a bitter end. Naught's without Evil : myriad-featured Fate, And woes ineffable, all men await. :o: LIX. Inscription on the Tomb of the Three Hundred, Go, stranger, tell the Spartans here we lie, Not fearing, as they bade us, all to die. 55 LX. ANTIPATP]R OF SIDON. Not in soft robes at Sparta, as elsewhere, Doth sculptured Venus in her shrine appear. A helm and not a veil her head adorns ; She wields a spear, the golden bough she scorns. A Spartan dame, and wife of Thracian Mars, Less meetly breathes of dalliance than of wars. :o:- LXI. AUTHOR UNKNOWN. Prot6, thou art not dead, but gone before, To fairer regions, and a happier shore ; The Blessed Isles are now thy bright abode, Where copious banquets are on all bestowed. Full of delight, along Elysian plains, 'Midst softest flowers thou mov'st, remote from pains. Pains thee, nor winter's cold, nor summer's glow ; Disease, thirst, hunger, thou shalt never know. This mortal life of fever and of fret In thy calm breast can ne'er inspire regret ; For blamelessly thou livest in the blaze That glads Olympus with its purple rays. 56 LXII. CARPHYLLIDES. [Cakphyllides, a Greek poet, the author of two graceful epigrams in the Greek Anthology. Sometimes we find a name Carpyllides, but whether this represents a different person, or is a mistaken spelling of the first name cannot be ascertained. ] Blame not my tomb, thou traveller passing by. Though gone from earth nought to regret have I. I've children's children left, and I grew old With one dear wife in peace and joy untold. Three daughters fair I gave to bridegrooms three. Whose children oft have slept upon my knee. Not one of all my race did death assail ; No cheek through fell disease did once grow pale; All poured libations on tlie patriarch's dust. And sent him on to slumber with the just. — :o:- LXIII. SAPPHO. This dust was Timas'. Dying, but unwed, She sleeps in sable Pi'oserpine's cold bed ; Their tresses shorn with steel her compeers throw Upon her urn, to soothe the shade below. 5T LXIV. ASCLEPIADES. [AscLEPiADES. — More than 40 epigrams in the Greek Anthology are under this name, but it is more than probable that they are not all produc- tions of the same poet. Some of them undoubtedly belong to Asclepiades of Samos, mentioned as the teacher of Theocritus, and the reputed author of bucolic poetry. There was also an earlier Asclepiades of Adramyttium. Asclepiades, a lyric poet, from whom Asclepiadic verse, resemb- ling the choriambic, takes its name, lived after the time of Alcaeus and Sappho.] Sweet to the thirsty in the Summer's heat A draught of water cooled with purest snow ; Spring garlands to the mariner are sweet. When Winter hurricanes have ceased to blow: But sweeter far when youthful lovers find Some shady bower, and Venus not unkind. :o: LXV. THE SAME. Whate'er of life I yet retain Take this, ye Loves, from me ; For, by the Gods above, I fain Henceforth at peace would be. If blessed peace I may not know, Discharge no tiny dart. But let the lightning's fiery glow Consume me to the heart. Yes, strike, ye Loves, I'm not afraid Even harder lines to bear ; Grief in my heart hath havoc made. And left me nought but care. H 58 LXVI. MELEAGER. Ye well-fraught barks that plough the Helles- pont, With the strong north-wind in your swelling sails, If, when ye pass the shining cliffs that front The Coan strand, soft-sighing to the gales Ye see my Phanion gazing o'er the deep. Thus say for me :^"0 loved and lovely Maid, My burning passion never is asleep ! And, lest by fickle winds I be delayed, I shun the waves, and come by land to thee." If ye say this, then Jove with prosperous breeze Will fill your canvas, and ye soon shall be Safe at the ports ye seek, your crews at ease. -:o:- LXVII. AUTHOR UNCERTAIN. Place not this corpse in earth; cast it away, To vultures foul, and ravening dogs a prey. Earth, Mother of us all, should never hide Him by whose bloody hand his mother died. .■)0 L XVIII. A N y T E. [Anyte, of Tegea, the authoress of several of the epigrams in the Greek Anthology, is numbered among lyric poets by Meleager and by Antipater of Thessalonica. Her epigrams are for the most part in the style of the ancient Doric Choral Songs, and therefore she may belong to a remoter period than that usually as- signed to her — viz., 300 B.C. In fact she has been carried as far back as to about 723 B.C. ; but this is perhaps too early a date to suit the style and subject of her epigrams. See Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology sub vnce Anyte.] Oft at this tomb on her dear virgin child Her mother Clino calls with wailings wild. Philffinis, strange to Hymen, treads the shore Of the green Acheron, to return no more. -:o: LXIX. THE SAME. I mourn Antibia, her whose love to gain Came many a wooer to her father's gate ; But Beauty, Prudence — both alike were vain, The hopes of all were crushed by ruthless Fate. 60 LXX. PAUL THE SILENTIARY. Within a tomb, not in a bridal bower, Thy virgin bed thy sorrowing parents strewed; From all life's snares, and from the childbed hour Thou now art safe within thy dark abode. Those who are left feel sorrow's bitter cloud, While Fate hath hid thee in her painless breast — Thee still a child, with Beauty's flower endowed, And Age's staidness on thy soul imprest. LXXI. MENECRATKS. [Menecrates, of Smyrna, who was the author of two epigrams in the Greek Anthology, was probably the same person with Menecrates of Ephesus, mentioned by Varro.] Twice had a mother to funereal fires Her offspring given, when a third expires ; Reproaching sateless Death, the wretched dame Gave her third darling to the ruthless flame. When the fourth produce of her womb appeared No hope possessed her, further woe she feared. She waited not to see grim Death arrive. But placed her infant in the flames alive ; Saying : "No more my breasts shall feed in vain. Mine aye the loss, and Pluto's still the gain. A present sorrow, therefore, I prefer ; What's over now no future grief can stir," 61 LXXII. POSIDIPPUS. [PosiDiPPUS, or PosEiDiPPUS, an epigrammatic poet, was probably a contemporary of the comic poet of the same name, who flourished about 289 B.C. His epigrams form part of the Garland of Meleayer, who seems to have thought him a Sicilian. In the Greek Anthology twenty-two of his epigrams are preserved, but some of these are ascribed to Asclepiades, and some to Calli- machus. Athenaeus quotes from two poems by a Posidippus which appear to have been epic, and these Schweighauser ascribes to the epi- grammatist.] What path of life can proper pleasures yield ? The senate and the bar are hot with strife ; Cares worry us at home ; and in the field Are wasting toils: the sea with storms is rife; Wealth brings much fear to him abroad who fares, And poverty, vexation without end. Hast thou a wife ? not far to seek thy cares ! Unwed, lone cheerless hours thy steps attend. Children are plagues; to him with children none Is a maimed life ; Youth is of wisdom shorn, And Age of strengrth. We have but choices one Of two — unborn or die as soon as born. 62 LXXIII. METRODORUS [Metrodorus is the author of two epigrams in the Greek Anthology It is very uncertain when he flourished, and it is doubtful whether both of these epigrams should be ascribed to the same poet.] On the. Contrary. No path of life but hatli its pleasures meet. The senate and the bar afford renown. By the fireside are rest and quiet sweet ; In the green fields a charm that shuns the town. The sea yields ample treasure. Soothing Fame Attends a man, if rich, in foreign lands ; If poor, it comforts to conceal the same. His home is sweet to him in wedlock's bands; But easier far the careless bachelor's life. Children are sweet around the family board ; The childless man escapes great sturt and strife. Youtli's limbs with vigour green are richly stored ; While piety encrowns the hoary head. They greatly err who think we are confined To choices one of two — unborn or dead. To all in every state hath life been kind. 6^ LXXIV. SERAPION OF ALEXANDRIA. [Serapiox of Alexandria, a sophist and rhetorician: of the time of Hadrian. He was a copious author, and among his works is classed a short treatise on Astrology. There is one epigram of his in the Greek Anthology.] This is the skull of some one worn with toil, Trader, or fisher, on the insensate wave. Tell mortals, hopes on hopes their holders foil — Their surest goal the inevitable grave. :o:- LXXV, L U C I A N. [LuciAN (160 A.D.), a native of Samosata, was one of the wittiest and most voluminous of later Greek writers, and wrote the best Attic prose that had been MTitten for 400 years. In his " Dialogues of the Gods " he turned the popular Greek faith to ridicule, and his frequent attacks on the Pagan Olympus helped much to under- mine the authority of the gods of mythology. He notices the then "strange philosophy" of the Christians — their hope of immortality, their holding of goods in common, and their doctrine of the brotherhood of'man. He was a writer of uncommon nimbleness and versatility, and holds a reputable place in many departments of liteiature. He knew human nature intimately, especially on its worst side, and may be regarded u as the Swift, or rather as the Voltaire, of the ancients. He had strong common sense, and racy humour, but was perhaps, like many of the more daring, versatile, and showy of his brethren of the critical guild, more specious than profound.] A doctor placed his son beneath my rule. To learn to read like other boys at school. And when he knew "Achilles' wrath," and those, " To his own Greeks he caused ten thousand woes," And, " Many brave souls untimely did he send To Hell," no longer did the youth attend. I met the father: — "Thanks, my friend," quoth he, "My boy can leani those things at home from me; For many brave souls untimely I dismiss — No tutor do I need to teach him this." :o: LXXVI. PAUL THE SILENTIARY. Far dearer, Philinna, thy wiinkles to me Than the smoothest-faced maid howe'er young she may be ; And more welcome, though aged, art thou to my arms Than the full-bosomed damsel in life's mornmg charms t Thy Autumn is better than her freshest Spring, And thy Winter more warmth than her Summer doth bring. 65 LXXVII. AGATHIAS, Nicostratus, Aristotelian sage, Equal to Plato, who enriched his page With philosophic quibliles, cut and dry. Was questioned thus by quidnunc passing by: — * ' How say'st thou of the soul ? Come, tell me plain, Is't mortal, or immortal ? and again, Is't body or is't spirit ? known by the mind Or by the hand ? or is it both combined ?" Our sage declined to answer at the time ; But having read the works on the Sublime, And on the Soul, by Aristotle writ. And Plato's Phaedo, wherein lore and wit Are shaped in lofty words and thought pro- found. Wrapping his cloak his learned sides around, And stroking his full beard down to the tips. Solved thus the problem with oracular lips : — ' ' If the soul has a nature all its own, —For that it has to me is quite unknown — 'Tis mortal or immortal, and must be Or solid substance or from matter free. But ferried once o'er Acheron's sad wave, Knowledge as great as Plato's self you'll have. If you're in haste ascend some structure high. And like Cleombrotus leap down and die. Then you will know the question you propound, That what you seek reposes under ground." 66 LXXVIII. THE SAME. A man in a fix lately went to a lawyer, Who in his profession was deemed a topsawyer And stated his case thus :—" Good sir, you must know My female domestic ran oiT not long ago. A fellow soon found her, who, though he well knew She belonged to a stranger, without any ado Made her marry his man, and, as you may suppose, Soon round their hut hearthstone an offspring arose. Now, whose slaves are those children ? My question is so." Our lawyer commenced a professional show. Tapped his brow, pondered deep, looked all his books over, A proper solution of the case to discover, On his client then turned his arched eyebrows and said, "Those children you talk of as borne by your maid Are either your slaves or the kidnapper's base. But a finding decisive you'll get on your case By applying in court to a clear-headed judge, If what you have told me just now be not fudge." 67 LXXIX. ANTIPATER OF SIDON. With a green-creeping vine I'm now o'er- grown — I, a dry plane — with leafage not mine own : — I, wlao erewhile upon my branches wide Nursed the rich clusters with complacent pride, Myself as leafy as my nursling vine. For such a mistress let each heart incline — Kind not alone when Strength encrowns the head, But mindful of him still though with the Dead. -:o: — LXXX. ASCLEPIADES. Hang there, ye garlands, which my hands have twined. Over the porch's folding-doors inclined ; Nor shed those leaves my weeping eyes be- dewed — For lovers' eyes are oft with tears embued — And when ye see my true love at the door. Upon his head your watery offering pour ; So that his yellow hair may drink those tears Wrung from mine eyes by Love's delicious fears. 68 LXXXI. CLEOBULUS. [Cleobulus was one of the Seven Sages, and a citizen of Lindus, in Rhodes. He was a con- temporary of Solon, and must have lived at least as late as 560 B.C. Clement of Alexandria calls him King of the Lindians, and Plutarch speaks of him as a tyrant, but he may have held an authority delegated to him by popular suffrage, and Lindus may have been under democratic government. He composed lyric poems and riddles in verse. The inscription on the tomb of Midas is ascribed to him by Diogenes Laertius, while others asci'ibe its authorship to Homer. He was distinguished for physical strength and beauty, and lived to the age of sixty. He was a sayer of good things, and many of these are on record.] Moulded of brass, a virgin pure, O'er Midas' tomb I lie : While rivers row, and tall woods grow, And waters murmur by — And while the sea surrounds the land. And Summer suns are bright, And the pale Moon ascends the sky To beautify the Night : — So long shall I, from this sad pile. Besprent with many a tear, Proclaim to travellers as they pass That Midas slumbers here. LXXXII. AUTHOR UNKNOWN. This radiant child, once the admired of all, Thou hast. King Pluto, with a hand unholy, Snatched under ground, wrapt in Death's sable pall ; Thou hast cut down — reflection melancholy ! From its young root a richly-scented rose In Spring's first bloom, ere it had reached its prime. Come, hapless parents, give your grief repose. And dry your tears— trust the Consoler Time. Her face had nameless charms, a roseate hue, That will enrich the sky's immortal bowers ; The Nymphs, not Death, took the sweet maid from you, To be their playmate in their happiest hours. L X X X 1 1 1. PLATO. Be silent now thou Dryad's shaggy scaur, Streams from the I'ocks, and bleatings from afar: Pan to the syrinx his moist lips applies, And from the reeds draws all their melodies : Nymphs of the Woods and Waters dance around — Their feet to frolic measures beat the ground. 70 LXXXIV. B I A N O R [BiANOR, a Bithynian, the authoi' of 21 epigrams in the Greek Anthology, lived under the Emperors Augustus and Tiberius. His epi- grams were included by Pliilip of Thessalonica in his collection.] When to the citadel had come Cleitonymus to slay The tyrant, then a hostile band It hurried him away, To cast him to the fishes, And to the cruel sea : But Justice, righteous goddess, Forbade this crime to be, And buried liim herself, for then The bank was torn away, And covered him from head to foot, So that untouched he lay By the Water, and the Earth concealed With reverence and pride, The haven of her liberty, On the spot where he had died. LXXXV. LEONIDAS OF TARENTUM. Unhappy son, unhappy me who gave Thy youthful ashes to the silent grave ! Thine a few years of beauty and of glee, Mine, old and lone, to mourn incessantly. Would that I were in Hades' di'ear domain, For Morn or Eve can ne'er delight again ! Oh, loved and lost, though dead console my grief: Were I beside thee I should find relief ! -:o:- LXXXVI. ANTIPATER OF SIDON. No longer, Orpheus, shall thy magic song Lead oaks, and rocks, and savage herds along ; Lull warring winds, check hail-storms as of yore, Melt snow-wreaths, and compose wild Ocean's roar. For thou art gone.— The Muses wept for thee, And chief thy Mother, sad Calliope. Why for our sons departed should we plain ? To save their own the Gods contend in vain. 72 LXXXVII. LEONIDAS OF ALEXANDRIA. [Leonidas of Alexandkia taught grammar at Rome, where he ultimately obtained imperial patronage. He probably flourished down to the reign of Vespasian. In the Greek Anthology 43 epigrams are ascribed to him, but perhaps some of these belong to Leonidas of Tarentum. The epigrams of Leonidas of Alexandria are of inferior merit, and characterised by petty con- ceits, which could have been projected an« *.f \. i« . ^ X V \ *^^ ^ ^r . ^^" .W "