ODE IX. BOOK III. TO LYDIA. Lyd. Hor. Lyd. Hor. Lyd. DIALOGUE OF HORACE AND LYDIA. Horace. HILST, Lydia, I was lov'd of thee, I thought me richer than the Persian king. Whilst Horace lov'd no mistress more, In name, I went all names before, 'Tis true, I'm Thracian Chloe's, I, So fate would give her life, and longer days. And I am mutually on fire With gentle Calais, Thurine Ornith's son, So fate would let the boy a long thread run. But say old love return should make, That I bright Chloe off should shake, Though he be fairer than a star ; Thou lighter than the bark of any tree, And than rough Adria angrier far; Yet would I wish to love, live, die with thee. not published till 1648, and to say nothing of the translation before us, a dozen, perhaps, had appeared before that period. I have one by Francis Davison as early as 1608, but neither is this the first : -the matter however, is of no great moment. FRAGMENTUM PETRON. ARBITR. MOEDA est in coitu, et brevis voluptas, Et tecum jaceamus osculantes : EPIGRAMMA MARTIALIS, Lib. viii. ep. 77. IBER, amicorum dulcissima cura tuorum, Liber in æterna vivere digne rosa; Si sapis, Assyrio semper tibi crinis amomo Splendeat, et cingant florea serta caput : Candida nigrescant vetulo crystalla Falerno, Et caleat blando mollis amore thorus. Qui sic, vel medio finitus vixit in ævo, Longior huic facta est, quam data vita fuit. FRAGMENT OF PETRON. ARBITER TRANSLATED. OING, a filthy pleasure is, and short; And done, we straight repent us of the sport : There is no labour, nor no shame in this; never Can this decay, but is beginning ever. EPIGRAM OF MARTIAL, Viii. 77. TRANSLATED. IBER, of all thy friends, thou sweetest care,5 Thou worthy in eternal flower to fare, If thou be'st wise, with Syrian oil let shine Thy locks, and rosy garlands crown thy head; Dark thy clear glass with old Falernian wine, And heat with softest love thy softer bed. He, that but living half his days, dies such, Makes his life longer than 'twas given him, much. 5 Liber, of all thy friends, &c.] This must be exempted from what in the Life of Dryden, are called the "jaw-breaking translations of Ben Jonson." It is, in fact, the most beautiful of all the versions of this elegant poem. Though it numbers only line for line with the original, it clearly and fully expresses the whole of its meaning, and is besides, spirited and graceful in a high degree. It unfortunately escaped the researches of Hurd. R SYLVA. ERUM, et sententiarum, quasi "Yan dicta a multiplici materia, et varietate, in iis contenta. Quemadmodùm enim vulgò solemus infinitam arborum nascentium indiscriminatim multitudinem Sylvam dicere: ità etiam libros suos in quibus variæ et diversæ materiæ opuscula temere congesta erant, Sylvas appellabant antiqui, Timber-trees. |