Securely pants on Gerynea's brow. 145 Girt with thy golden zone, with arms of gold Richly caparifon'd, I fee thee mount, But whither bore thee first thy rapid wheels ? To Thracian Hamus: whence the north-winds blafts 150 The houseless habitants :-but whence the torch Ver. 146. Golden, &c.] The drefs and ornaments, &c. of Diana we find were golden alfo, as well as thofe of Apollo. See Hymn to Apollo, note 52. Ver. 153. Whence the north-winds, &c.] The original is, -Ε, θεν Βορεαο καταΐξ Ερχεται, αχλαίνοισι δυσαία κρυμον αγέσα. The latter part of which they tranflate-nudis hominibus gravi frigore infeftans, which, befide the misunderstanding of the word axhaw, is not Latin; and therefore, as Dr. T. Bentley, in his edition, corrected the one, he ought to have corrected the other error; which he has not: tranflating it-Nudos homines frigore infeftans although he knew axhawa, was the fame as duayrawosor, vili, attrito, levi ami&tu indutis: filo non fatis craffo, ac proinde, fays he, arcendo frigori Thracia omninò impari. That this is the true fenfe of the word, Spanheim fufficiently proves.In the foregoing lines Diana is faid to 155 That have gone to Thracian Hamus, but why to this mountain rather than any other?«Either, fays Spanheim, because it was a very commodious place for hunting; or because this deity, under various names, was peculiarly worshipped in Thrace." Ver. 155. But whence the torch, &c.] Having now equipped the Goddess with all her attributes confidered as a huntrefs, or Diana Aygoriga, having given us an account of the origin of her bow, her dogs, her attendants, her beafts that draw her chariot, and the like: he next proceeds to a very particular attribute of hers (confidered as Diana Lucifera) which is the torch wherewith we always find her, in that character, repréfented; and of which we fpoke ver. 15 of this hymn. Whence the firft procured this torch (from which fhe had the name Aadexos, or torchbearer, and for which the petitions Jupiter in the place above-mentioned) is the fubject of the following lines; and taken in that fenfe, the meaning, otherwife very obfcure, is extremely plain. K 2 The That gave the kindling touch? Olympus mount GODDESS, how oft you bent the filver bow 160 Feels The paffage should be read with two interoga- moon, extinguished, but always fhines with a tions. Πε δ' εταμες πευκην ; the answer to which is in the next line, Μυσῳ εν ουλύμπῳ and, Απο δε φλογος ηψαν ποιης ; full orb. Spanheim hints, that it is very probable the author's fpeaking of this flame defcending from Jupiter to light Diana's torch, might proceed from fome knowledge Callimachus had of the fire fent down by God from heaven to confume Aaron's burnt-offering, Leviticus ix. 24. "And there came a fire out from the Lord,, and consumed the altar with the burnt offering, the answer to which is again in the line following, and the fat; which when all the people faw, Ver. 158. The unextinguish'd blaze.] Since Diana, in this character of Lucifera must be confidered as the moon, it seems highly probable that the author in this paffage alludes to her fhining with borrowed luftre: and it will be ftill more probable, if we recollect, that Jupiter, may be understood taken for the fun, the folar fire, or orb of the fun, as Apollo for the folar light; whence Jupiter is called Ammon, as was obfervéd, Hymn to Jupiter, note 75. The word asßere, unextinguished, may very properly be applied to the fun, who is never like the they fhouted and fell on their face." But I. think, it feems plain, there is very little fimilitude in any one circumftance (nay not in the. very action of fending down fire) between this of our author and that of the fcripture, and. therefore (to use lord Bacon's words) Nos omnem in hoc genere licentiam nobis ipfis interdicamus, ne forte igne extraneo ad altare Domini utamur. The reafon given above very well and fully explains the matter, fo that we have no occafion, to feek further. The epithet filver given to Diana's bow, ver. 160. may be applied to the moon, no lefs than gold to her other accoutrements. Her ravs, i. e. her bow are of a filverappearance: Frifchlinus fays, Habitum & currum Diana defcribit, ut majeftatem & divinam ejus potentiam adumbret, qua non impertinentur de aureo luna colore, & velocitate curfus intelligi poffunt." Thus both gold and filver are, we fee, affigned to the moon. Feels trembling! To far nobler game the fourth I see it fly—dread hiffing thro' the air, Wing'd with destruction to those impious states, 165 And justice lives a name! How wretched they 170 Whose crimes incur thy vengeance? Flocks and herds Of rot and pestilence wide-wasting die : Hail levels all their labours, herb, fruit, grain: Their blooming offspring gray-hair'd fires lament : Ver. 170. Wretched they, &c.] Thefe lines of our author, where he denounces curfes and bleffings on the unrighteous and righteous states are most remarkably excellent: every word is expreffive through the whole: the curfes the most severe, the bleffings the most elevated. Peftilence, war, famine and defolation, are opposed to plenty, riches, health, long-life and peace but there is one thing which above all, adds to their beauty, and that is, the great agreement ahd fimilitute we find in them to several of the fineft paffages in fcripture: every one of which it would be too tedious and unneceffary for me to point out. I fhall therefore only give you fome of the moft ftriking that occur to me, and whoever will give himself the trouble to search for more will find his labour well imployed. So for the first part, in the Pfalms we find, "He deftroyed their vines with hail-ftones : he fmote their cattle alfo with hail-ftones: he gave up their cattle alfo to the hail and their flocks to hot thunderbolts he gave their life over to the peftilence." Or according to the Hebrew," their beafts to the murrain :" Pflxxviii. Again in Deuteronomy, "The Lord fhall make the peftilence The cleave to thee, until he have confumed thee off the land, whether thou goest to possess it———.” xxviii. 21. See this whole chapter, where are recorded the bleffings for obedience, and the curfes for difobedience. Ver. 174. Their blooming, &c.] In the original xegorra dedeyeportes Q' viao-that is (are not killed, trucidantur) but tondentur, are shaved for them, because it was the cuftom to fhave the beard upon the death of friends, as a token of grief: fo Ovid, Non mihi te licuit lachrymis perfundere juftis, At genitor, fceptrique decus cultufque tonantis A misfortune feverer than this cannot fure befal mortals, an evil fo contrary to the course of nature, as old Cato, fpeaking of the death of his fon, tenderly obferves-Cujus à me corpus crematum eft, quod contra decuit ab illo meum. Frischlinus, upon the paffage in our author, tells us, Bellicas clades figno denunciat: ficut crafus The wretched women or in child-beds pangs Midst poignant tortures perish; or refign Far from their native climes th' unwelcome birth, But born to perish, and brought forth to die.. Craffus Cyro refpondit, in pace parentes à liberis,in bello liberos à parentibus fepeliri. I am rather apt to imagine the author meant not to denote the calamities of a war, as this misfortune then, though great, is not wholly unexpected, whereas he introduces it as the immediate effect of refentment; and fuch calamities unexpected appear much more dreadful. The paffages I fhall go on to bring you from fcripture will beft explain my meaning. In Exodus, it is faid, "The Lord fmote all the first born in Ægypt:" and "There was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead." Exod. xii. 29, 30. And Job fpeaking of the wicked man fays, "If his children be multiplied it is for the fword: and those that remain of him fhall be buried in death." xxvii. 14, 15. "Ephraim fhall bring forth his children to the murderer," fays the prophet Hofea ix, 13. See too ver. 16. Ver. 175. The wretched women.] Barrennefs, we find from many paffages in fcripture was looked upon as the greatest misfortune: hence we find it denounced as a curfe - Give them, O Lord what wilt thou give? (where the prophet feems to recollect fomething of the most severe nature) by that folemn queftion and awful paufe-give them; he proceeds-a mifcarrying womb and dry breafts, Hof. ix. 14. but in Callimachus fomething more miferable yet is threatned. The women with their births were to be deftroyed, to die amidst their pangs, or if they did bring forth, they were to to bring forth a race quickly to perifh in foreign countries. Our Saviour pities the women, that at his coming fhould be with child. "Woe to them that are with child, and to them that give fuck in thole days." Matt. xxiv. 19. And in Deuteronomy xxvii. quoted above, we find a moft elegant 175 « Oh and pathetic paffage, where fpeaking of the mifcries of a fiege, it is faid, "The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to fet the fole of her foot upon the ground for delicatenefs and tenderness, her eye fhall be evil towards her young one that cometh out from between her legs, and toward her children which fhe fhall bear for fhe shall eat them for want of all things fecretly in the fiege and ftraitness wherewith thine enemy fhall distress thee in thy gates." And this we find to have really happened in that moft shocking fiege of Jerufalem, cf which the Jewish historian gives us fo terrible an account. Ver, 179. But whom, &c.] We come now to a more pleasing view: to a fight of the bleffings which crown the virtuous after we have feen the terrible ills that await the wicked and impious. The 128th Pfalm begins most beautifully thus Bleffed are all they that fear the Lord, and walk in his ways. For thou fhalt eat the labour of thine hands: O well is thee, and happy shalt thou be: (for ufing which in my tranflation, I hope, there needs no apology) Thy wife fhall be as the fruitful vine upon the walls of thy houfe, thy children like olivebranches round about thy table, &c.-again"That our garners may be full and plenteous, that our fheep may bring forth thoufands and ten thousands in our street: that our oxen may be strong to labour, that there be no decay, no leading into captivity, and no complaining in our streets. Happy are the people that are in fuch a cafe, yea, bleffed are the people who have the Lord for their God." Pfal. cxliv. ad fin. And again—" Thou crowneft the year with thy goodness, and the clouds drop fatnefs: they fhall drop upon the dwellings of the wilderness, and the little hills fhall rejoice on every fide. The "Oh well are they-and happy shall they be !" Discord, that oft embittering focial joys Amidft the wifeft comes, comes never there: And every house is concord, peace and love! 180 185 GRANT Goddess, grant my faithful friends may prove 190 Of that bleft number: Oh affign thy bard, Amidft that number place! So fhall my soul, The future hymn chaunt raptur'd-theme divine, Sacred to fair Latona, and her race.. The folds fhall be fo full of fheep, the vallies fhall ftand fo thick with corn, that they fhall laugh and fing." Pfal. lxv. 11. And in Deuteronomy. "Bleffed fhall be the fruit of thy ground, the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy fheep." chap. xxviii. See Hymn to Apollo note 74. and 60. Ver. 184. Nor death, &c.] Long life is every where in fcripture promifed as the reward of obedience. Thou fhalt come to thy grave in a full age, as a fhock of corn cometh in its feafon." Job v. 26. and in Proverbs, we find. "The fear of the Lord prolongeth days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortned." chap. APOLLO x. 27: Ver. 190. Grant, &c.] Callimachus always fhews the excellence and generofity of his fentiments, by recommending his friends to the regard and protection of his deities. See Hymn to Jupiter, ver. 109. |