4. Reckon'd I am with them that pass And past from Pharian fields to Canaan land, Down to the dismal pit; Led by the strength of the Almighty's hand; I am a man, but weak alas ! Jehovah's wonders were in Israel shown, And for that name unfit. His praise and glory was in Israel known. 5. From life discharg'd and parted quite That saw the troubled sea, and shivering fled, Among the dead to sleep; And sought to hide his froth-becurled head And like the slain in bloody fight, Low in the earth; Jordan's clear streams recol. , That in the grave lie deep. As a faint host that hath receiv'd the foil. Whom thou rememberest no more, The high huge-bellied mountains skip, like Dust never more regard, rams Them, from thy hand deliver'd o'er, Amongst their ewes; the little hills, like lambs. Death's hideous house hath barr'd. Why fled the ocean? And why skipt the moun, 6. Thou in the lowest pit profound tains ? Hast set me all forlorn, Why turned Jordan towards his crystal fountains Where thickest darkness hovers round, Shake, Farth; and at the presence be aghast In horrid deeps to mourn. Of him that ever was, and aye shall last; 7. Thy wrath, from which no shelter saves, That glassy floods from rugged rocks can crush, Full sore doth press on me ; And make soft rills from fiery flint-stones gush. Thou break'st upon me all thy waves, And all thy waves break me. PSALM CXXXVI. Let us, with a gladsome mind, Praise the Lord, for he is kind; 9. Through sorrow, and affliction great, For his mercies aye endure, Mine eye grows dim and dead; Ever laithful, ever sure. Lord, all the day I thee entreat, Let us blaze bis name abroad, My hands to thee I spread. For os gods he is the God. 10. Wilt thou do wonders on the dead? For his, &c. Shall the deceas'd arise, 0, let us his praises tell, And praise thee from their loathsome bed Who dotly the wrathful tyrants quella With pale and hollow eyes ? For his, &c. 11. Shall they thy loving kindness tell. Who, with his miracles, doth make, On whom the grave hath hold? Amazed Heaven and Earth to shake. Or they, who in perdition dwell, For his, &c. Thy faithfulness unfold ? Who, by his wisdom, did create 12. In darkness can thy mighty hand The painted Heavens so full of state, Or wonderous acts be known? For bis, &c. Thy justice in the gloomy land Who did the solid earth ordain Of dark oblivion? To rise above the watery plain. 13. But I to thee, O Lord, do cry, For his, &c. Ere yet my life be spent ; Who, by his all-commanding might, And up to thee my prayer doth hie, Did fill the new made world with light. Each morn, and thee prevent. For his, &c. 14. Why wilt thou, Lord, my soul forsake, And caus'd the gold entressed Sun And hide thy face from me, All the day long his course to run. 15. That am already bruis'd, and shake For his, &c. With terrour sent from thee? The horned Moon to shine by night, Bruis'd and afflicted, and so low Amongst her spangled sisters bright. As ready to expire; For his, &c. While I thy terrours undergo, He, with his thunder-clasping hand, Astonish'd with thine ire. Smote the first-born of Egypt land. 16. Thy fierce wrath over me doth flow; For his, &c. Thy threatenings cụt me through : And, in despite of Pharaoh fell, 17. All day they round about me go, He brought from thence his Israël. Like waves they me pursue. For his, &c. 18. Lover and friend thou hast remor'd, The ruddy waves he cleft in twain And sever'd from me far: Of the Erythræan main. hey fly me now whom I have lov'd, For his, &e. The floods stood still, like walls of glass, For his, &c. But full soon they did devour The tawny king with all his power, Por his, &c. His chosen people he did bless In the wasteful wilderness For his, &c. After long toil, their liberty had won ; In bloody battle he brought down Ad JOANNEM MILTONUM. Kings of prowess and renown. GRÆCIA Mæonidem, jactet sibi Roma MaroFor his, &c. nem, He foil'd bold Seon and his host, Anglia Miltonum jactat utrique parem. That rul'd the Amorrëan coast. Selvaggi For his, &c. And large-limb'd Og he did subdue, With all his over-bardy crew. Al Signor Gio. Miltoni Nobile Inglese. ODE. ERGİmi all'Etra Ò Clio Perche di stelle intreccierò corona Beheld us in our misery. Non più del Biondo Dio For his, &c. La Fronde eterna in Pindo, e in Elicona, And freed us from the slavery Diensi a merto maggior, maggiori i fregi, A' celeste virtù celesti pregi. Non puo del tempo edace Rimaner preda, eterno alto valore For his, &c. Non puo l'oblio rapace Let us therefore warble forth Furar dalle memorie eccelso onore, His mighty majesty and worth. Su l'arco di miacetra un dardo forte Virtù m' adatti, e ferirò la morte. Del Ocean profondo Cinta dagli ampi gorghi Anglia resiede Separata del mondo, Ch' hanno a region del sovruman tra noi. Alla virtù sbandita Danno ne i petti lor fido ricetto, Quella gli è sol gradita, Perche in lei san trovar gioia, e diletto; | Ridillo tu, Giovanni, e mostra in tanto. QUORUM PLERAQUE INTRA ANNUM ETATIS Con tua vera virtù, vero il mio Canto. Lungi dal Patrio lido Spinse Zeusi l'industre ardente brama; tametsi ipse intelligebat non tam de se quàm Ch'udio d'Helena il grido supra se esse dicta, eò quòd præclaro ingenio viri, Con aurea tromba rimbombar la fama, nec non amici, ita ferè solent laudare, ut omnia suis potiùs virtutibus, quàm veritati congruentia, E per poterla effigiare al paro Dalle più belle Idee trasse il più raro. nimis cupidè affingant, noluit tamen horum egregiam in se voluntatem non esse notam ; cùm Cosi l'Ape Ingegnosa alii præsertim ut id faceret magnoperè suaderent. Tra con industria il suo liquor pregiato Dum enim nimiæ laudis invidiam totis ab se vi Dal giglio e dalla rosa, ribis amolitur, sibique quod plus æquo est non E quanti vaghi fiori ornano il prato; attributum esse mavult, judicium interim homi. Formano un dolce suon diverse Chorde, num cordatorum atune illustrium quin summo Fan varie voci melodia concorde. sibi honori ducat, negare non potest. Di bella gloria amante Milton dal Ciel natio per varie parti Del Gallo regnator vedesti i Regni, Fabro quasi divino Sol virtù rintracciando il tuo pensiero Ad JOANNEM Miltonem Anglum triplici poeseos Vide in ogni confino laureâ coronandum, Græcă nimirum, Latina, Chi di nobil valor calca il sentiero; atque Hetrusca, Epigramma Jognnis Salsitli L'ottimo dal miglior dopo scegliea Romani, Per fabbricar d'ogni virtu l' Idea. Cede, Meles; cedat depressâ Mincius urna ; Quanti nacquero in Flora Sebetus Tassum desinat usque loqui; O in lei del parlar Tosco appreser l'arte, At 'Thamesis victor cunctis ferat altior undas, La cui memoria onora Nam per te, Milto, par tribus unus erit. | Il mondo fatta eterna in dotte carte, ON Volesti ricercar per tuo tesoro, Illi, in cujus virtutibus evulgandis ora Pama Eparlasti con lor nell'opre loro. non sufficiant, nec hominum stupor in laudandis satis est, reverentiæ at amoris ergo hoc ejus meNell'altera Babelle ritis debitum admirationis tributum offert Cum Per te il parlar confuse Giove in vano, rolus Datus Patricius Florentinus, Che per varie favelle Di se stessa trofeo cadde su'l piano : Tanto homini servus, tantæ virtutis amator Ch' Ode oltr' all Anglia il suo più degno Idioma Spagna, Francia, Toscana, e Grecia, e Roma. I più profondi arcani PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS Ch'occulta la natura e in cielo e in terra Ch'à Ingegni sovrumani Troppo avara tal hor gli chiude, e serra, THE LATIN VERSES. Milton is said to be the first Englishman, who Non batta il Tempo Pale, after the restoration of letters wrote Latin verses Fermisi immoto, e in un fermin si gl' anni, with classic elegance. But we must at least exChe di virtù immortale cept some of the bendecasyllables and epigrams Scorron di troppo ingiuriosi a i danni; of Leland, one of our first literary reformers, from Che s' opre degne di Poema e storia this hasty determination. Furon gia, l'hai presenti alla memoria. In the elegies, Ovid was professedly Milton's model for language and versification. They are Dammi tua dolce Cetra not, however, a perpetual and uniform tissue of Se vuoi ch'io dica del tuo dolce canto, Ovidian phraseology. With Ovid in view, he Ch' inalzandoti all'Etra has an original manner and character of his own, Di farti huomo celeste ottiene il vanto, which exhibit a remarkable perspicuity, a native Il Tamigi il dirà che gl' e concesso facility and Auency. Nor does his observation Per te suo cigno pareggiar Permesso. of Roman models oppress or destroy our great lo che in riva del Arno poet's inherent powers of invention and sentiTento spiegar tuo merto alto, e preclaro ment. I value these pieces as much for their So che fatico indarno, fancy and genius, as for their style and expresE ad ammirar, non a lodarlo imparo ; sion. Freno dunque la lingua, e ascolto il core That Ovid among the Latin poets was Milton's Che ti prende a lodar con lo stupore. favourite, appears not only from his elegiac but his hexametric poetry. The versification of our Del sig. ANTONIO FRANCINI, gentilhuomo author's hexameters has yet a different structure Florentino. from that of the Metamorphoses : Milton's is more clear, intelligible, and flowing; less desul. tory, less familiar, and less embarrassed with a JOANNI MILTONI. frequent recurrence of periods. Ovid is at once LONDINENSI : rapid and abrupt. He wants dignity: he has too much conversation in his manner of telling Juveni patria, virtutibus, eximio; a story. Prolixity of paragraph, and length of VIRO, qui multae peregrinatione, studio cuncta sentence, are peculiar to Milton. This is seen, not orbis terrarum loca, perspexit; ut novus Ulysses only in some of his exordial invocations in the Paomnia ubique ab omnibus apprehenderet : radise Lost, and in many of the religious addresses of a like cast in the prose-works, but in bis long Polyglotto, in cujus ore linguæ jam deperditæ sic reviviscunt, ut idiomata omnia sint in ejus verse. It is to be wished that, in his Latin comlaudibus infacunda ; et jure ea percallet, ut ad- positions of all sorts, he had been more atten tive to the simplicity. of Lucretius, Virgil, and mirationes et plausus populorum ab propria sa Tibullus. pientiâ excitatos intelligat: Dr. Johnson, unjustly I think, prefers the Ili, cujus animi dotes corporisque sensus ad Latin poetry of May and Cowley to that of Miladmirationem commovent, et per ipsam motum ton, and thinks May to be the first of the three. euique auferent ; cujus opera ad plausus hortan- May is certainly a sonorous versifier, and was tur, sed venustate vocem laudatoribus adimunt. sufficiently accomplished in poetical declamation for the continuation of Lucan's Pharsalia. But Cui in memoria totus orbis ; in intellectu sa. May is scarcely an author in point. His skill is pientia ; in voluntate ardor gloriæ ; in ore elo- in parody; and he was confined to the peculiaquentia ; harmonicos coelestium sphærarum so- rities of an archetype, which, it may be presumed, nitus, astronomiâ duce, audienti; characteres he thought excellent. As to Cowley when con mirabilium naturæ per quos Dei magnitudo de pared with Milton, the same critic observes, scribitur, magistrâ philosophia, legenti; antiqui- Milton is generally content to express the tatum latebras vetustatis excidía, eruditionis am- thoughts of the ancients in their language : Cowbages, comite assidui autorum lectione, ley, without much loss of purity or elegance, accommodates the diction of Rome to his own Exquirenti, restauranti, percurrenti. conceptions. The advantage seems to lie on the Al cur nitor in arduum # 1 1 side of Cowley.” But what are these concep At mare immensum oceanusque Lucis Funditur ore. guage; much less are capable of admitting any degree of pure Latinity. I will give a few in Milton's Latin poems may be justly considerstances, out of a great multitude, from the ed as legitimate classical compositions, and are Davideis. never disgraced with such language and such imagery. Cowley's Latinity, dictated by an irHic sociatorum sacra constellatio vatum, regular and unrestrained imagination, presents a Quos felix virtus evexit ad æthera, nubes mode of diction half Latin and half English. It Luxuriæ supra, tempestatesque laborum. is not so much that Cowley wanted a knowledge of the Latin style, but that he suffered that Again, knowledge to be perverted and corrupted by false Temporis ingreditur penetralia celsa fu and extravagant thoughts. Milton was a more perfect scholar than Cowley, and his mind was turi, more deeply tinctured with the excellencies of anImplumesque videt nidis cælestibus annos. cient literature. He was a more just thinker, And, to be short, we have the Plusquam visus and therefore a more just writer. In a word, he aquilinus of lovers, Natio verborum, Exuit vitam had more taste, and more poetry, and consegerian, Menti auditur symphonia dulcis, Natura quently more propriety. If a fondness for the archiva, Omnes symmetria sensus congerit, Condit Italian writers has sometimes infected his aromatica prohibetque putescere laude. Again, English poetry with false ornaments, his Latin where Aliquid is personified, Monogramma exordia verses, both in diction and sentiment, are at least mundi. free from those depravations. It may be said, that Cowley is here translating Some of Milton's Latin poems were written in from his own English Davideis. But I will bring | his first year at Cambridge, when he was only seexamples from his original Latin poeins. In praise venteen: they must be allowed to be very corof the spring. rect and manly performances for a youth of that Et resonet toto musica verna libro; age. And considered in that view, they discover an extraordinary copiousness and command of Undique laudis odor dulcissimus halet, ancient fable and history. I cannot but add, that Gray resembles Milton in many instances. And in the same poem in a party worthy of the Among others, in their youth they were both pastoral pencil of Watteau. strongly attached to the cultivation of Latin poetry. WARTON Hauserunt avide Chocolatam Flora venus que. ELEGIARUM LIBER. ELEG. 1. AD CAROLUM DEODATUM." Cupid is Arbiter formæ criticus. Ovid is Anti Tandem, chare, tuæ mihi pervenere tabellæ, quarius ingens. An ill smell is shunned Olfactus Pertulitet voces nuncia charta tuas; tetricitate sui. And in the same page, is nugatoria Pertulit, occiduâ Devæ Cestrensis ab ora pestis. But all his faults are conspicuously and col Vergivium prono quà petit ampe salum. Multùın, crede, juvat terras aliuisse remotas Jectively exemplified in these stanzas, among Pectus amans nostrî, támque fidele caput, others, of his llymn un Light. Quódque mihi lepidum tellus longinqua sodalem Pulchra de nigio soboles parente, Debet, at unde brevi reddere jussa velit. Quem Chaos fertur peperisse primam, Me tenet urbs refluả quam Thamesis alluit anda, Cujus ob forinam bene risit olim Méque nec invitum patria dulcis habet. Jam nec arundiferum mihi cura resisere Camum, Nec dudum vetiti me laris angit amor. " Charles Deodate was one of Milton's most Gloria rivo! intimate friends. He was an excellent scholar, Te bibens arcus Jovis ebriosus and practised physic in Cheshire. He was eduMille forinosos revomit colores, cated with our author at St. Paul's school in LonPavo cælestis, variamque pascit don ; and from thence was sent to Trinity colLumine caudam. lege Oxford, where he was entered Feb. 7, in the Lucidum trudis properanter agmen : year 1621, at thirteen years of age. Lib. Matric. Sed resistentunr super ora rerum Univ. Oxon. sub ann. He was born in London Lenitèr stagnas, liquidoque inundas and the name of his father, in Medicina Doc Cuncta colore : turis, was Theodore. Ibid. Nada nec arxa placent, nmbrásque negantia | Quot tibi, conspicuæ formáque aur&que, puellæ molles: Per medias radiant turba videnda vias, Quàm malè Phoebicolis convenit ille locus ! Creditur hue geminis venisse invecta columbis Nec duri libet usque minas perferre Magistri, Alma pharetrigero milite cincta Venus; Cæteráque ingenio pon subeunda meo. Huic Cnidon, et riguas Simoentis Aumine ralles, Si sit hoc exilium patrios adiisse penates, Huic Paphon, et roseam post habitura Cyproa: Et racuum curis otia grata sequi, Ast ego, dum pueri sinit indulgentia cæci, Non ego vel profugi nomen sortémve recuso, Monia quàm subitò linquere fausta paro; Lætus et exilii conditione fruor. Et vitare procul malefidæ infamia Circes 0, utinam vates nunquam graviora tulisset Atria, divini Molyos usus ope. Ille Tomitano flebilis exul agro; Stat quoque juncosas Cami remeare paludes, Non tunc lonjo quicquam cessisset Homero, Atque iterum raucæ murmur adire Scholæ. Neve foret victo laus tibi prima, Maro. Interea fidi parvum cape munus amici, Tempora Dam licet hîc placidis dare libera Musis, Paucáque in alternos verba coacta modos. Et totum rapiunt me, mea vita, libri. Exeipit hinc fessum sinuosi pompa theatri, ELEG. II. Anno Ætatis 17. Et vocat ad plausus garrula scena suos. Seu catus auditur senior, seu prodigus hæres, In obitum Præconis Academici Cantabrigiensis'. Seu procus, aut positâ casside miles adest, Sive decennali fecundus lite patronus Te, qui, conspicuus baculo fulgente, solebas Detonat inculto barbara verba foro; Palladium toties ore ciere gregem ; Sæpe vafer gnato succurrit servus amanti, Ultima præconum, præconem te quoque sæva Et nasum rigidi fallit ubique patris : Mors rapit, offlcio nec favet ipsa suo. Sæpe novos illic virgo mirata calores Candidiora licèt fuerint tibi tempora plumis, Quid sit amor nescit, dum quoque nescit, Sub quibus accipimus delituisse Jovem; amat. O dignus tamen Hæmonio juvenescere succo, Sive cruentatum furiosa Tragedia sceptrum Dignus in Æsonios vivere posse dies; Quassat, et effusis crinibus ora rotat, Dignus, quem Stygiis medicâ revocaret ab undis Et dolet, et specto, juvat et spectâsse dolendo, Arte Coronides, sæpe rogante deâ. Interdum et lacrymis dulcis amaror inest: Tu si jussus eras acies accire togatas, Et celer à Phoebo nuntius ire tuo; Conscia funereo pectora torre movens : Talis et Eurybates ante ora furentis Achillei Seu maret Pelopeia domus, seu nobilis Ili, Rettulit Atridæ jussa severa ducis. Aut luit incestos aula Creontis avos. Magna sepulchrorum regina, satelles Averni, Sed neque sub tecto semper, nec in urbe, late Sæva nimis Musis, Palladi sæva nimis, mus; Quin illos rapias qui pondus inutile terræ ; Irrita nec nobis tempora veris eunt. Turba quidem est telis ista petenda tuis. Nos quoque lucus habet vicinâ consitus ulmo, Vestibus hunc igitur pullis, Academia, luge, Atque suburbani nobilis umbra loci. Et madeant lachrymis nigra feretra tuis. Sæpius hic, blandas spirantia sidera flammas, Fundat et ipsa modos querebunda Elgëia tristes, Virgineos videas præteriisse choros. Personet et totis nænia mesta Scholis. ELEG. III. Anno Ætatis 17. In obitum Prasulis Wintoniensis. Moestus eram, et tacitus, nullo comitante, sedeEt decus eximiam frontis, tremulósque capillos, Hærebántque animo tristia plura meo: [bam; Aurea quæ fallax retia tendit Amor! Protinus en ! subiit funestæ cladis imago, Pellacésque genas, ad quas hyacinthina sordet Fecit in Angliaco quam Libitina solo; Purpura, et ipse tui floris, Adoni, rubor ! Dum procerum ingressa est splendentes marmore Cedite, laudatæ toties Heroides olim, turres, Et quæcunque vagum cepit amica Jovem. Tira sepulchrali Mors metuenda face; Cedite, Acbæmeniæ turrita fronte puellæ, Pulsavitque auro gravidos et jaspide muros, Et quot Susa colunt, Memnoniámque Ninon; Nec metuit satrapum sternere falce greges. Vos eliam Danaæ fasces submittite Nymphæ, Et vos lliacæ, Romuleæque nurus : • The person here commemorated, is Richard Nec Pompeianas Tarpëia Musa columnas Ridding, one of the university-beadles, and a Jactet, et Ausoniis plena theatra stolis. master arts of Saint John's College, CamGloria virginibus debetur prima Britannis; bridge. He signed a testamentary codicil, Sept. Extera, sat tibi sit, fæmina, posse sequi. 23, 1626, proved the eighth day of November Túque urbs Darsaniis, Londinum, structa co-following. From Registr. Testam. Cantabr. lonis, WARTON Turrigerum latè conspicienda caput, * Lancelot Andrews, bishop of Winchester, Tu nimium felix intra tua mạnia claudis had been originally master of Pembroke-hall in Quicquid formosi pendulus orbis habet Cambridge; but long before Milton's time. He Non tibi tot cælo scintillant astra sereno, died at Winchester House in Southwark, Sept. Endymioneæ turba ministra deæ, 21, 1626. |