"I do not see how it is possible, if Anacreon had written chiefly in Iambic dimeter verse, that Horace should have wholly neglected that metre. I may add that, of those fragments of Anacreon, of whose genuineness, from internal evidence, there can be no doubt, almost all are written in one or other of the lighter Horatian metres, and scarcely one in Iambic dimeter verse. This may be seen by looking through the list in Fischer." The unskilful attempt at Greek verse from my own pen, which is found prefixed to the Translation, was intended originally to illustrate a picture, representing Anacreon conversing with the Goddess of Wisdom, from which the frontispiece to the first edition of the work was taken. Had I been brought up with a due fear of the laws of prosody before my eyes, I certainly should not have dared to submit so untutored a production to the criticism of the trained prosodians of the English schools. At the same time, I cannot help adding that, as far as music, distinct from metre, is concerned, I am much inclined to prefer the ode as originally written to its present corrected shape; and that, at all events, I entertain but very little doubt as to which of the two a composer would most willingly set to music. time, and proceeded to London, with the two not very congenial objects, of keeping my terms at the Middle Temple, and publishing, by subscription, my Translation of Anacreon. One of those persons to whom, through the active zeal of friends, some part of my manuscript had been submitted before it went to press, was Doctor Laurence, the able friend of Burke; and, as an instance, however slight, of that ready variety of learning—as well the lightest as the most solid-for which Laurence was so remarkable, the following extract from the letter written by him, in returning the manuscript to my friend Dr. Hume, may not be without some interest: "Dec. 20, 1799. "I return you the four odes which you were so kind to communicate for my poor opinion. They are, in many parts, very elegant and poetical; and, in some passages, Mr. Moore has added a pretty turn not to be found in the original. To confess the truth, however, they are, in not a few places, rather more paraphrastical than suits my notion (perhaps an incorrect notion) of translation. "In the fifty-third ode there is, in my judgment, a no less sound than beautiful emerdation suggested-would you suppose it?-by a Dutch lawyer. Mr. M. possibly may not be aware of it. I have endeavoured to express the sense of it in a couplet interlined with pencil. Will you allow me to add, that I am not certain whether the translation has not missed the meaning, too, in the former part of that passage which seems to me to intend a distinction and climax of pleasure:-It is sweet even to prove it among the briery paths: it is sweet again, plucking, to cherish with tender hands, and carry to the fair, the flower of love.' This is nearly literal, including the conjectural correction of Mynheer Medenbach. If this be right, instead of For the means of collecting the materials of the notes appended to the Translation, I was chiefly indebted to the old library adjoining St. Patrick's Cathedral, called, from the name of the archbishop who founded it, Marsh's Library. Through my acquaintance with the deputy librarian, the Rev. Mr. Cradock, I enjoyed the privilege of constant access to this collection, even at that period of the year when it is always closed to the public. On these occasions I used to be locked in there alone; and to the many solitary hours which, both at the time I am now speaking of and subsequently, I passed in hunting through the dusty tomes of this old library, I owe much of that odd and out-of-the-way sort of reading which may be found scattered through some of my earlier I would propose something to this effect: writings. Early in the year 1799, while yet in my nineteenth year, I left Ireland, for the first ''Tis sweet to dare the tangled fence,' "Tis sweet the rich perfume to prove, To wipe with tender hands away The flower of love in triumph bear. "I would drop altogether the image of the stems 'dropping with gems.' I believe it is a confused and false metaphor, unless the painter should take the figure of Aurora from Mrs. Hastings. • Query, if it ought not to be lie? The line might run, With tender hand the tears to brush, That give new softness to its blush (or, its flush). "There is another emendation of the same critic, in the following line, which Mr. M. may seem, by accident, to have sufficiently expressed in the phrase of roses shed their light.' "I scribble this in very great haste, but fear that you and Mr. Moore will find me too long, minute, and impertinent. Believe me to be, very sincerely, "Your obedient, humble servant, "F. LAURENCE." TO Ir may be necessary to mention, that, in arrang- | to the original, he has prefixed an index, which ing the Odes, the Translator has adopted the order marks the number of each Ode in Barnes and the of the Vatican MS. For those who wish to refer other editions. ΣΟΦΙΗ ποτ' εξ Ολύμπου Εσορωσ' Ανακρέοντα, Εσορώσα τους έρωτας, Μετα των καλων γυναικων δε βίο του γαληνην πορφυρίους του trisyllabica. Anacr.Fragm. xxix. 3. ed. Fischer. Anacr. Fragm. xxxvi. 1. σφαιρη δευτε με but legendum plane ex Athenaeo. Αλιπορφυροις τάπησι dixit -Anacreon, Od. vi. 2. Theocr. Id. xv. 125. mop upeol be τον ένα, μαλακώτερος ύπνων Τα πιο Δαρεχόρευον. Theocr. Id. vi. 142. πωτωντο ξουθαι το πλάτος όροφος μελίσσαι, h. e. άμφεπωτωντο. Pro-Anacr. O1. 111. 12. τρομερους ποσιν χορεύει. 18. ο μεν, hic & se, ille. Bion. Id. 1. 82, χώ μεν όίστως, | δς δ' ἐπι ➡wer.λ itidem de Amoribus. 2. επικεν εκ κεραυνον. Pseud-Anacr. Od. IV. 18. το δε βλέμμα Πληθως η άπο του πυρος ποιησον. Τοῖς Ερωσι, το Λυαιω Αἰεῖ γ' ετρύφησας αδων Οὐκ εμους νομους διδασκων Οὐκ εμον λαχων αυτον Σόφ ̓,—ἐπεὶ βροτῶν σὲ τοῦτο. Τον σοφωτατὸν ἁπάντων καλέουσι φύλα πάντα, 19 καλέουσιν οἱ σοφισταί,· τί, γέρων, μάτην ὁδεύεις βιότου τρίβον τεοῦ μὲν μετὰ τῶν καλῶν Ἐρώτων, μετὰ τοῦ καλοῦ Λυαίου, ἐμὲ δ ̓ ὧδε λὰξ ἀτίζεις; 25 τί φίλημα τῆς Κυθήρης, τί κύπελλα τοῦ Λυαίου, ἐσαεὶ τρυφῶν ἀείδεις, ἐμὰ θέσμι ̓ οὐ διδάσκων, ἐμὸν οὐ λαχὼν ἄωτον; 30 ὁ δὲ Τήϊος μελῳδὸς, Σὺ παρὲκ νόον γε μή μοι χαλέπαινε, φήσ ̓, ἄνευθε ὅτι σεῦ σοφὸς καλοῦμαι παρὰ τῶν σοφῶν ἁπάντων. φιλέω, πίω, λυρίζω, 36 μετὰ τῶν καλῶν γυναικῶν, ἀφελῶς δὲ τερπνὰ παίζω κιθάρη γὰρ, ὡς κέαρ μεν, ἀναπνεῖ μόνους Ερωτας. βιότου δὲ τὴν γαλήνην 41 φιλέων μάλιστα πάντων, σοφὸς οὐ μελωδός εἰμι ; τί σοφώτερον γένοιτ' ἄν; ἐμέθεν σοφώτερος τίς; 45 Τις σοφώτερος μεν εστι · Μῆτε δυσχεραινε, φησι Ότι, θέα, σου γ' ανευ μεν Ως λυρη γαρ, εμον ητορ ὧδε βίοτου γαληνην Ου σοφος μελωδος ειμι REMARKS ON ANACREON. THERE is but little known with certainty of the life of Anacreon. Chamæleon Heracleotes ', who wrote upon the subject, has been lost in the general wreck of ancient literature. The editors of the poet have collected the few trifling anecdotes which are scattered through the extant authors of antiquity, and, supplying the deficiency of materials by fictions of their own imagination, have arranged, what they call, a life of Anacreon. 10, 11. καλλιφύλλοις - ῥοδοισι Pseud-Anacr. Od. v. 3. το ρόδον το καλλίφυλλον. 13. Tmesis pro καταβασα. Pseud-Anacr. Od. II. 15. ἀνα δ ̓ εὐθυ λυχνον άψας, h. e. άναψας, 18. Supple όνομα, quo τούτο referatur. Eurip. Phæn. 12, τούτο γαρ πατηρ | έθετο. h. e. τουτο όνομα, βροτων φυλα παντα adumbratum ex Pseud-Anacr. Od. 11. 4. μερόπων δε φυλα παντα. 21. Pseud-Anacr. Οd. xxιν. 2. βιο του τρίβον έδευειν. 25. #sch. Εumen. 538. μηδε νιν, | κέρδος ίδων, άθεῳ ποδι λαξ άτι-1 σης. 32. παρεκ νέου να μη μοι χαλεπαινε, ne prater rationem in me sari. Π. Υ. 133. Ηρη, μη χαλεπαίνε παρεκ νέου. Similem positionem particularum μη μοι exhibet Pseud-Anacr. Od. xxvi. 13. 1 He is quoted by Athenaus εν τω περί του Ανακρέοντος. R These specious fabrications are intended to indulge that interest which we naturally feel in the biography of illustrious men ; but it is rather a dangerous kind of illusion, as it confounds the limits of history and romance, and is too often supported by unfaithful citation." Our poet was born in the city of Téos, in the delicious region of Ionia, and the time of his birth appears to have been in the sixth century before Christ. He flourished at that remarkable period, when, under the polished tyrants Hipparchus and Polycrates, Athens and Samos were become the rival asylums of genius. There is nothing certain known about his family, and those who pretend to discover in Plato that he was a descendant of the monarch Codrus, show much more of zeal than of either accuracy or judgment.5 The disposition and talents of Anacreon recommended him to the monarch of Samos, and he was formed to be the friend of such a prince as Polycrates. Susceptible only to the pleasures, he felt not the corruptions of the court; and, while Pythagoras fled from the tyrant, Anacreon was celebrating his praises on the lyre. We are told too by Maximus Tyrius, that, by the influence of his amatory songs, he softened the mind of Polycrates into a spirit of benevolence towards his subjects." The amours of the poet, and the rivalship of the tyrant, I shall pass over in silence; and there are few, I presume, who will regret the omission of most of those anecdotes, which the industry of some editors has not only promulged, but discussed. Whatever is repugnant to modesty and virtue is considered in ethical science, by a supposition very favourable to humanity, as impossible; and this amiable persuasion should be much more strongly entertained, where the transgression wars with nature as well as virtue. But why are we 1 The History of Anacreon, by Gaçon (le Poète sans fard, as he styles himself), is professedly a romance; nor does Mademoiselle Scuderi, from whom he borrowed the idea, pretend to historical veracity in her account of Anacreon and Sappho. These, then, are allowable. But how can Barnes be forgiven, who, with all the confidence of a biographer, traces every wandering of the poet, and settles him at last, in his old age, at a country villa near Téos ? 2 The learned Bayle has detected some infidelities of quotation in Le Fevre. (Dictionnaire Historique, &c.) Madame Dacier is not more accurate than her father: they have almost made Anacreon prime minister to the monarch of Samos. The Asiatics were as remarkable for genius as for luxury. "Ingenia Asiatica inclyta per gentes fecêre Poeta, Anacreon, inde Mimnermus et Antimachus," &c.- Solinus. I have not attempted to define the particular Olympiad, but have adopted the idea of Bayle, who says, "Je n'ai point marqué d'Olympiade; car pour un homme qui a vécu 85 ans, il me semble que l'on ne doit point s'enfermer dans des bornes si étroites." 5 This mistake is founded on a false interpretation of a very obvious passage in Plato's Dialogue on Temperance; it originated with Madame Dacier, and has been received implicitly by many. Gail, a late editor of Anacreon, seems to claim to himself the merit of detecting this error; but Bayle had observed it before him. 8 Ανακρέων Σαμίοις Πολυκράτην ημερωσε. Maxim. Tyr. § 21. Maximus Tyrius mentions this among other instances of the influence of poetry. If Gail had read Maximus Tyrius, how could he ridicule this idea in Moutonnet, as unauthenticated? not allowed to indulge in the presumption? Wh are we officiously reminded that there have bee really such instances of depravity? Hipparchus, who now maintained at Athens th power which his father Pisistratus had usurped was one of those princes who may be said to hav polished the fetters of their subjects. He was th first, according to Plato, who edited the poems Homer, and commanded them to be sung by th rhapsodists at the celebration of the Panathenes From his court, which was a sort of galaxy genius, Anacreon could not long be absent. Hip parchus sent a barge for him; the poet read] embraced the invitation, and the Muses and Loves were wafted with him to Athens. The manner of Anacreon's death was singula We are told that in the eighty-fifth year of his ag he was choked by a grape-stone"; and, howeve we may smile at their enthusiastic partiality, wh see in this easy and characteristic death a peculis indulgence of Heaven, we cannot help admirin that his fate should have been so emblematic his disposition. Cælius Calcagninus alludes this catastrophe in the following epitaph on cu poet": Those lips, then, hallow'd sage, which pour'd along The grape has clos'd for ever! But far be thou, oh! far, unholy vine, Thy God himself now blushes to confess, Since poor Anacreon's death. It has been supposed by some writers that An creon and Sappho were contemporaries; and th very thought of an intercourse between persons 7 In the romance of Clelia, the anecdote to which I allude is to of a young girl, with whom Anacreon fell in love while she pers nated the god Apollo in a mask. But here Mademoiselle Scudo consulted nature more than truth. There is a very interesting French poem founded upon th anecdote, imputed to Desy vetaux, and called "Anacreon City, en 9 Fabricius appears not to trust very implicitly in this "Uvæ passa acino tandem suffocatus, si credimus Suide Lowong; alii enim hoc mortis genere periisse tradunt So clem."-Fabricii Bibliothec. Græc. lib. ii. cap. 15. It must be of fssed that Lucian, who tells us that Sophocles was choked by grape-stone, in the very same treatise mentions the longevity Anacreon, and yet is silent on the manner of his death. Coul have been ignorant of such a remarkable coincidence, or, knowi could he have neglected to remark it? See Regnier's introduct to his Anacreon. 10 At te, sancte senex, acinus sub Tartara misit; Vos, hedera, tumulum, tumulum vos cingite, lauri, At vitis procul hinc, procul hinc odiosa facessat, In vatem tantum quæ fuit ausa nefas. The author of this epitaph, Cælius Calcagninus, has transist or imitated the epigrams cię ryy Mupervec Sevy, which are gi under the name of Anacreon. |