Thy vest I'd be, to guard with care Thy soft and beauteous limbs to lave; ODE XXI.-SUMMER. BRING, maidens, bring a well-mix'd bowl, For, scorch'd beneath this sultry sky, 1 This ode has been imitated by many succeeding writers; and in our immortal bard, who needed no copy but nature, the following passage can only be said to present a remarkable coincidence: See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! That I might touch that cheek! Romeo and Juliet, act 2, scene 2. 2 The custom of wearing garlands of flowers at entertainments has already been mentioned. But, oh what ease can wine impart In vain to groves or shades I fly,' ODE XXII.-THE BOWER. HASTE, my love, this shade to seek, The streamlet murm'ring at our feet 1 The reflection here made by the poet is just and natural, and is similar to that at the conclusion of the fourteenth ode. When love has once taken possession of the heart external defences cease to be useful. 2 This elegant little ode seems to be a great favorite with the translators and commentators. It has not been thought unworthy of his genius even by the philosophical Beattie, among whose poems it is to be found translated with singular accuracy and beauty. 3 In the original it is literally a 'fountain rolling or flowing with persuasion;' a beauty of expression which we must be contented to admire with very little hope of imitating, since our language seems to afford few facilities for accommodating sound to sense. Pope, no mean master of melody, has attempted it in that passage in his Art of Poetry intended to represent the whispering breeze and the flowing stream. Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows, And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows. On this passage Dr. Johnson, in all the pride of acute, but rather ill-natured criticism, remarks, that the verse intended to represent the whisper of the vernal breeze must be confessed not much to excel in softness or volubility; and the smooth stream runs with a perpetual clash of jarring consonants.'-Rambler, vol. i. No. 92. 'Tis a scene for lovers meet, Where each object whispers love. The tree, the stream, the silent hour, All persuasive, seem to say, ODE XXIII.-THE VANITY OF WEALTH. COULD glittering heaps, or golden store, That, should death, unwish'd-for, come, 1 There is an anecdote in the history of Anacreon, recorded by Stobæus, to which this ode may possibly bear some allusion. He relates that Anacreon having received a present of five talents of gold from Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, was so embarrassed with cares and solicitudes about his treasure, that he could not sleep for two nights successively: whereon he sent back the present with this apology to his patron,That however valuable the sum might be, it was not a sufficient price for the trouble and anxiety of keeping Cheerful friends that faithful prove, Beauty's smiles and blissful love. ODE XXIV.-LIFE TO BE ENJOYED.1 BORN a mortal; doom'd to tread Life's rough path of pain and woe, All the past with ease is read, Hence! away, distracting cares, Ere Fate forbid all farther joy, With mirth and dance and joyous song. ODE XXV.-THE CURE FOR CARE. WHEN with gloomy griefs oppress'd, Wine can charm those griefs to rest; Shall I thus myself deceive? 1 These odes are all nearly similar in subject, and prese nothing particularly worthy of remark or illustration. No! we'll drain the rosy bowl, ODE XXVI.-IN PRAISE OF WINE. WHEN the nectar'd bowl I drain As his maxim, ever said, Those slain by wine are noble dead. ODE XXVII.-THE SAME SUBJECT. WHEN the generous god of wine, |