Kisses : being a poetical translation of the Basia  

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Full text of "Kisses : being a poetical translation of the Basia", see Liber Basiorum


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KISSES:


BEING A


POETICAL TRANSLATION


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OF


JOANNES SECUNDUS NICOLAIUS.

WITH THE ORIGINAL LATIN TEXT.


To which is prefixed,


AN


ESSAY


ON HIS LIFE AND WRITINGS.


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AV


ESSAY


ON THE


LIFE AND WRITINGS


OF


SECUNDUS.


V/F all the modern Latin poets, none perhaps has remained longer in obscurity than Joannes Secundus, owing to what cause we shall not pretend to deter- mine ; yet no author has been more esteemed by the few who have read him, as well for the pu- rity and elegance of his language, as for the sin- gular beauty of his thoughts. Considering, then, that obscurity in which he has so long continued, it is not very wonderful that so few circumstances ■an be collected with regard to his history. For .he following anecdotes of his life we are chiefly ndebted to a little treatise in the last edition of his works, published by Scriverius in the year 1631 ; and these anecdotes are not regularly drawn up into a complete life of our author : therefore, if


iV AN ESSAY ON THE LIVE

our account of Secundus be not entirely satisfactory to the reader, it must be attributed to a want of tlie existence of necessary materials.

That Joannes Secundus was descended from an antient and illustrious family in the Netherlands, is undoubted. His father, Nicolaus Everardus, was born in the neighbourhood of Middelburg, (hence he is often styled Middelburgensis) which is the chief town of the province of Zealand, and situated in the island of Walcheren, belonging to that province.

Everardus was accounted a man of great erudi- tion, remarkably learned in the law, and had every qualification that might complete the gentleman as well as the scholar ; in short, he was a shining character, and could not fail by such abilities and politeness as he possessed to distinguish himself as a courtier, in which sphere of life fortune had placed him : accordingly, we find him a great fa- vourite with the then Emperor Charles the Fifth, and having employs of the utmost importance, (for he was a member of the grand parliament or coun- cil of Mechelen, and was also president of the States of Holland and Zealand, residing at the Hague, during his residence at which place our Joannes Secundus Nicolai'us was born, Anno 1511): he- was afterwards translated to the same honour- able post at Mechelen, where he ended his days.


AND WRITINGS OF SECUNDUS . V

Aug. 5, 1532, aged seventy ; and at that place he was buried.

Whence our poet acquired the names of Secun- dus and Nicolai'us may be a matter of much dis- pute, as we have nothing upon record which satis- factorily clears up this point. The name of Nicolai all the children of Nicolaus Everardus took, pos- sibly, from their father's name, Nicolaus : but the name of Secundus, which distinguishes our au- thor, most probably had its rise from some pun ; for to be sure he was, as a poet, Nemini Secundus.

But before we proceed any farther in our history of Secundus, let us take a view of the children of Nicolaus Everardus, which were five sons, and we believe three daughters : they were all of a scientific cast ; nay, such was the genius for litera- ture which this family possessed, that it even de- scended to the female line, as we shall shew in mentioning Isabella Nicolai'a. To speak of the sons of Everardus, then, in the same order that they are spoken of in that treatise of the family pre- served by Scriverius, we begin with Petrus Nico- lai'us. He was an ecclesiastic of the order of Pre- montre, also a doctor of divinity and of civil law. Next to him was Everardus Nicolai'us, who was a member of the grand council of Friezland, and of the grand council of Mechelen ; afterwards presi- dent of Friezland, and of Mechelen ; lie was also


VI AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE

also a knight of the order of the Golden Fleece, Then comes Nicolaus Grudius Nicolai'us, (so called because he was born at Lovain, the inhabitants of which country have supposed themselves to be originally the Grudii of Caesar. — Vide Caes. Com- ment, de Bel. Gal.) : he was treasurer of the pro- vince of Brabant, and one of the privy council ; he was also knight, and register of the order of the Golden Fleece. Hadrianus Marius Nicolai'us is now to be spoken of : he was a knight, a mem- ber of the privy council, and high chancellor of Guelderland and Zutphen.

Thus Ave see that it was a family distinguished by princely favours ; nor were these four brothers deficient in point of learning : on the contrary, we find many encomiums paid to their literary merits, particularly as poets. That Nicolaus Grudius and Hadrianus Marius excelled in poetry, is evident, not only from the testimony of Secundus, but from their remaining compositions : the Cymba Amoris, of Marius, is a most elegant little piece.

According to Scriverius, our poet comes last in order, whose history we shall resume after having mentioned his sister Isabella Nicolai'a. This lady was an honour to her sex, having a remarkably fine taste for polite and even classical learning : she was capable of corresponding in Latin, as we are informed by an epistle of Secundus to her,


AND WRITINGS OF SECUNDUS. VU

wherein he regrets the loss that society sustained from talents like her's being buried in a cloister j for that she spent her days in a convent is a fact, but upon what account we are not informed. As to the other sisters of Secundus, nothing particular is related of them.

Such were the children of Nicolaus Everardus by his lady, Eliza Bladella, who was a native of Mechelen, and endowed with every female accom- plishment.

To return to Secundus. He was put under the care of Jacobus Volcardus, who was every way qualified for the undertaking, and whose death Se- cundus mentions in one of his Nsenia with no small concern. Rumoldus Stenemola succeeded him in the place of tutor, and his abilities equalled those of Volcardus.

The original works of Secundus in painting and sculpture are now extremely scarce, and the very few copies of them are become almost equally so. We learn that he carved all his own family, his mistresses, (of whom we shall make mention pre- sently) the Emperor Charles the Fifth, several great personages of those times, and many of his intimate friends.

Secundus having nearly attained the age of twen- ty-one, it was thought necessary, that, under some excellent professor, he should regularly study the


Vlll AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE

civil law, in which it was hoped he might one day distinguish himself: for this purpose he quitted Mechelen, and went into France, where he ac- quired, under the celebrated Andreas Alciatus, at Bourges, (a city in the Orleannois) all that know- ledge which was requisite to make him shine in his profession.

Our poet, who had now passed a year in the study of the law under this very able teacher, and taken his degrees, returned to Mecheleu ; but it must require a soul equally impassioned with his, to conceive his uneasiness when he found upon his return that his Julia was married ; she, who had first fanned his youthful fires, and who had hitherto reigned sole mistress of his heart : for certain it is, that our first impressions of love are not very easily effaced, even by time ; and it is not less certain, that memory traces these impressions with a pecu- liar pleasure, as in so doing it recals to our minds those days of innocence when we enjoyed love in its purest and most disinterested state. The many tender things that Secundus wrote on being de- prived of his Julia, may amply verify these re- marks.

However, Venerilla soon supplied the loss of Julia as a mistress. She was passionately fond of Secundus ; but there is reason to suspect that be was not so much enamoured with her as with his


AND WRITINGS OF SECUNDUS. ix

former lady, or with his Necera, who succeeded Venerilla in the empire of his affections. Nesera was the last mistress of Secundus, and, no doubt, had very sensibly touched his heart, since she in- spired him with the most voluptuous part of all his writings; we mean his book of Kisses. The person of Neiura we cannot particularize, no carv- ing or picture of her being extant ; but her cha- racter is drawn up at large by her lover in his works more than once. In few words, she was a fair Inconstant, who could play with the passions of a fond youth so as to keep them perpetually inflamed ; and, as we learn that she was a native of Spain, we may conclude her to have been of no cold disposition.

Let us now view Secundus at a time of life when the world opened more extensive prospects to him, and when he began to enter into public employ. Anno 1533, we find he went into Spain, well re- commended to people of the highest rank, (parti- cularly Count Nassau) where he became secretary to the Cardinal Joannes Travcra, archbishop of Toledo, in a department of business which re- quired a perfect knowledge of the Latin tongue : how ever, in the midst of his occupations he still found leisure to court the Muses, and wrote many pieces, among which were his Kisses; therefore we conclude it was while with the cardinal


X AM ESSAY ON THE LIFE

that he first saw the beauteous subject of them, Neoera.

Secundus had not been a year in Spain before the heat of the climate proved too powerful for his constitution, being seized with a fever which had certainly carried him off, but that youth was on his side. This illness he mentions in a work of his, dated 1534.

The year following, 1535, he accompanied, by the advice of the Cardinal Travera, the Emperor Charles the Fifth to the much celebrated siege of Tunis, against that noted pirate Barbarossa. The emperor was attended in this expedition by num- bers of gentlemen of rank and fortune, who went as volunteers ; and many hardships they suffered — hardships but little suited to the soft disposition of Secundus, whose feats of military valour at this period are not upon record ; but it is generally agreed that war was less his talent than poetry. It appears remarkable, that Secundus wrote no- thing poetical of note upon the siege of Tunis, which might have furnished him with ample mat- ter for an epic poem ; but perhaps the subject was for some reasons disgusting to him.

Being returned from his martial expedition, the cardinal sent him upon a very honourable embassy to Rome, namely, to congratulate the Pope Paul the Third upon the success of the emperor's arms ;


AND WRITINGS OF SECUNDUS. XI

but extreme illness overtaking him upon the road, he was necessitated almost immediately to turn back, and seek the benefit of his native air, which recovered him.

Secundus, having now quitted the Archbishop of Toledo, was employed by the Bishop of Utrecht in the same office of secretary ; and so much had he hitherto distinguished himself by his abilities, that, in a short time after this, he was sent for (without any other recommendation than his well-known learning) by the first prothonotary of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, who was then in Italy, to take upon him the charge of those Latin letters signed by the emperor's own hand. But before he could enter upon this new and honourable post, death put a stop to his career of glory ; for, being ar- rived at St. Amand, in the district of Tournay, in order to meet upon business the Bishop of Utrecht, who is abbot or pro abbot of the monastery of Be- nedictines there, he was cut off by a violent fever, within five days after his arrival, in the very flower of his age (not having yet completed his twenty- fifth year) October Sth, 1536. He was interred in the church of the abo^esaid monastery ; and his near relations erected a marble tomb to his me- mory, whose inscription is thus preserved by Au- bertus Mirceus, in the first edition of his Elogii Belgarum : —


Xll AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE

I O A N N I HAGENSI, SECRETARIO REVERENDISS. DO- MINI TRA1ECTENSIS, ETABBATLE HVIUS PRyELATI, FRATRES ET SO- RORES POSVERE.

OBIIT A. clalo XXXVI. VIII. KAL. OCTOB.

Scriverius gives us the following epitaph., which he found in Douza's hand- writing :

IOANNI SECUNDO HAGENSI BA- • TAVO, I. Cto ORATORI AC POET.E CLARISS. FINGENDI QVOQ. AC SCVLPENDI LAVDATISS. ARTIFICE QVI PR1MVM IN HISPAN1SS, IOANNI TAVERiE TOLETANO CARDINAL!; DE1NDE IN PATRI A,ILLVSTRI GEOR- GIO AB EGMONDA, TRAIECTENSI PRiESVLI, ET HVIVS LOCI PR1MATI, AB EPISTOLISET SECRETIS FVIT: POSTREMO AB CAROLO V. IMP. AUG. ACCERSITVS. VT EANDEM DE1NCEPS APVD SE FVNCTIONEM OBIRET, IMMATVRA NIMIVM MORTE RAPTO, MATER, FRATRES, AC SORORES TRISFISSIMI DESI- DER1I MONIMENTVM POSVERVNT.

VIXIT AN. mi ET xx. MENS x. DIES x.

OBIIT ANNO AB RESTITVTA SALV-

TE M. D. xxxvi. vni CA-

LEND, OCTOB.

This epitaph was effaced during the civil wars ; but Franciscus Sweertius, in his work De Selectis


AND WRITINGS OF SECUNDUS. XlU

Orbis Christiani Deliciis, among the Tornacensia, shews it to be thus restored in the nave of the mo- nastery church of Saint Amand, by the Abbot Carolus de Par, at the desire of Dionysius Villerius and Hieronymus Winghius.

IOANNI SECVNDO HaGIENST, Po'ttce celeberrimo iff nulli secundo: a/jus tu- mulum kcereticorum furore anno do lo lxvi violalum, Carolus de Par Abbas, ob tanti

viri memoriam restaurari C.

Obijt anno do la xxxvi, Kalend. Octol. d

Secrelis Georgij Egmondani Trajectens.

Episcopi, kujus loci Pro-Abbatis.

Having informed onr readers of every circum- stance that we are acquainted with, relative to the Life of Joannes Secundus, which seems to have been a life chiefly spent in improvement, yet by no means estranged to pleasure and the indulgence of the softer passions, let us now say something of his Works, which, for the satisfaction of those who may be any way solicitous in their enquiries after this author, we shall enumerate as they stand in the last edition of Scriverius, which is the most copious of any edition of Secundus that we have yet seen. They are as follow :

Series operum omnium quce reperiri potuerant.

JULIA, Elegiarum, Liber I. AMORES, Elegiarum, Liber II.


XIV AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE

AD DIVERSOS, Elegiarum, Liber III. BASIA, incomparabilis & divinus prorsus liber. EPIGRAMMATA. ODARUM, Liber aims. EPISTOLARUM, Liber unus Elegiaco. EPISTOLARUM, Liber alter Heroico carmine

scriptus. FUNERUM, Liber unus. SYLViE, & CARMINUM Fragmenta. POEM AT A nonnulla Fratrum. ITINERARIA Secundi tria ; & EPISTOLiE totidem, soluta oratione.

To these is added, an epistle of Hadrianus Ma- rius (Secundus's brother) to Servatius Zassenus, a bookseller at Louvain, which throws some light upon the earlier editions of Secundus. Also a very excellent treatise, entitled, De lo : Secundo, Ha- gensi ; Deque Nicolao Palre, & Gente Nicolai'a ; which contains, upon the whole, the most satis- factory account of Secundus and his family that we have yet met with : and to this is added, a little poem of Douza's. Lastly, are some pieces under the title of Manes lo : Secundi • Auctoribus, Hadriano Mario, et Nicolao Grudio, Fratribus.

What character these works bear, is a question hardly necessary, when we see prefixed to them the testimonies of several excellent critics ; as


AND WRITINGS Of SECUNDUS. XV

Lilius Greg : Gyraldus, Julius Ccesar, Scaliger, Theodorus Beza, and many others equally cele- brated in the republic of letters ; nor are the com- mendations of his brothers and his editors (Cripius and Scriverius in particular) to be disregarded ; but, in short, every writer who mentions Secun- dus speaks of him with rapture. To give our readers a general idea of the great estimation in which his poems were held, we shall insert the following critique, translated from a certain French writer, which, upon the whole, is the most just and concise of any that we know upon the subject.

" This young poet has left us three books of elegies, one of epigrams, two of epistles, one of Sylvae, one of Funera, one of gallant pieces, which he has entitled Basia, and some other poetical pro- ductions, which no way relate to any of the above- «  mentioned kinds of poetry. These works altoge- ther prove, that Secundus was possessed of a deli- cate, pleasing, and lively imagination j which is by so much the more remarkable, as he was born in a climate that does not appear the most favour- able to polite taste, so necessary for all who would distinguish themselves in elegant poetry. His ge- nius, though extremely fertile, never produced any thing but what was excellent, and that with the greatest ease, and almost instantaneously. He


XVl AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE, &C.

is sweet, calm, and at the same time perspicuous, in his elegies ; delicately subtil in his epigrams 3 pleasingly noble in his lyric compositions ; grave in his funera, without any thing pompous or bom- bastic. In short, throughout all his works we may pronounce his style to be full, elegant, and tender ; and we may be assured, that, had his leisure permitted him to have undertaken and im- proved himself in epic poetry, he would have excelled in it : — but his muse is somewhat too wanton "

Though the works of Secundus have gone through many editions, yet all are at present be- come extremely scarce, the earlier ones in particu- lar ; insomuch, that this poet is hardly known to have existed.

That none of the works of Joannes Secundus came out during his life, is certain ; but we are informed, that, a short time before he died, he had a design of publishing, and had already laid down the order in which his pieces shonld be printed.

But no edition of the works of Secundus com- plete come out till the year 1541, when an edition •was printed by Hermannus Borculous, Batav. in small 8vo. which was supposed to have been put out by Marius.


THE


KISSES


OF


JOANNES SECUNDUS.


JOANNIS SECUNDI

BASIA.


KISSES.


BASIA.


BASIUM I.


CsUM Venus Ascanium super alta Cythera tw lisset, Sopitum teneris imposuit violis ;

Alharum nimbos circumfuditque rosarum, Et totum liquido sparsit odore locum.


[Cum Venus Ascanium, &c] This is an imitation of the following lines from Virgil ;

At Venus Ascanio placidam per membra quietem Irrigat : et fotum gremio Dea toilit in altos Idaliae lucos, ubi mollis amaracus ilium Floiibus et dulci aspirans complectitur umbra.

V1RG. SNE1D. LIB. 1.



Thornton dd.


Id.-/.'tii^ /' /<-


J'SSrf /rltlpt/ts/ f///t/., /t/tfr, t a wrtt'/l -i/tr //7/e/ .' ' '■/Sny/H/t/ rtt/r/t-'iV /iw /■/;<■?/ i-r/i-/.i ,w,/r ,


KISSES.


KISS I.


W HEN young Ascanius, by the Queen of Love, "Was borne to sweet Cythera's lofty grove, His languid limbs upon a couch she laid, A fragrant couch ! of new-blown vi'lets made ; The blissful bow'r with shadowing roses crown'd, And balmy-breathing airs diffus'd around.


Mean time the Goddess on Ascanius throws A balmy slumber, and a sweet repose ; Lull'd in her lap to rest, the Queen of Love Convey'd him to the high ldalian grove r There on a flow'ry bed her charge she laid, And, breathing round him, rose the fragrant shade.

PITT


6 BASIA.

Mox veteres animo revocavit Adonidis igneis, Notus & irrepsit ima per ossa calor.

0, quoties voluit circundare colla nepotis ! O, quoties dixit, " Talis Adonis erat !"

Sed placidam pueri metuens turbare quietem, Fixit vicinis basia mille rosis.

Ecce calent illce, cupidceque per ora Diones Aura, susurranti flamine , lenta sulit.

Quotque rosas tetigit, tot basia nata repente Gaudia reddelant multiplicata Dese.


[" Talis Adonis eral!" &c] Adonis was the son of Cy- naras, king of Cyprus, by his own daughter Myrrha ; he was a youth of exquisite beauty, tenderly beloved by Venus t it is said he was slain, in hunting, by a wild boar ; which fable has given rise to one of the most beautiful compositions ex- tant, well known to every classical reader ; I mean Bion's first Idyllium, wherein Venus laments, with sweetest lan- guage, the death of her lover, who was changed into an anemone, as Ovid tells us.

[Ecce calent illce, &c] This metamorphosis reminds me of one something like it, in Shakespeare :

Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell :

It fell upon a little western flow'r,

Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound .

And maidens call it love in idleness.

SHAK. iMIDS. VIGHT's DKEA.M.


KISSES.


The sleeping Youth in silence she admir'd ; And, with remembrance of Adonis fir'd, Strong and more strong her wonted flames return'd, Thrill'd in each vein, and in her bosom burn'd. How oft she wish'd, as she survey d his charms, Around his neck to throw her eager arms ! Oft would she say, admiring ev'ry grace, " Such was Adonis ! such his lovely face !" But fearing lest this fond excess of joy Might break the slumber of the beauteous boy, "On ev'iy rose-bud that around him blow'd A thousand nectar'd Kisses she bestow'd ; And strait each op'ning bud, which late was white, Blush'd a warm crimson to the astonish'd sight : Still in Dione's breast soft wishes rise, Soft wishes ! vented with soft-whisper'd sighs ! Thus, by her lips unnumber'd roses press'd, Kisses, unfolding in sweet bloom, confess'd ; And, flush'd with rapture at each new-born kiss, She felt her swelling soul o'erwhelm'd in bliss.


I would not insinuate, by this quotation, that Shakespeare was indebted to Secundus for his thought ; as it may be rea- sonably contended, whether the English poet was scholar sufficient to be acquainted with the Latin bard. That same luxuriance of fancy, which both equally possessed, might certainly inspire each other with similar ideas.


8 BASIA.

At Cythereaj natans niveis per nubila cygnis, Intends terrce ccepit olire globum.

Triptolemique modo, foeeundis oscula glelis Sparsity & ignotos ter dedit ore sonos.

hide segesfelix nata est mortalibus agris ; Inde medela meis unica nata mails.

Salvele ceternum y miserce moderamina Jlammcs, Humida de gelidis basia nata rosis.

En ego sum, vestri quo vate canentur honcresy Nota Medussei dumjuga montis erunt ;


[Triptolemique modo, &c] Triptolemus, according to Hyginus, was the son of Eleusius ; or, according to Pausanias, son of Celeus of Eleusis, a town of Athens. He was bred up from his infancy by Ceres, who fed him with milk in the day, and covered him with fire at night : she taught him agri- culture, and sent him over the world in a chariot loaded with corn, to teach mankind that science ; when he first instructed Greece. Thus Ovid briefly mentions him :

Iste quidem mortalis erit : sed primus arabit, Et seret, et culta praemia toilet humo.

OVID. FAST. LIP. IV.

'Tis true, the youth shall be a mortal born, Nor shall his hands instructive labour scorn ; He first shall plough, first sow the grateful soil} And reap the blessings that await such toil.

[Nota Medusaei dum juga, &c] Parnassus, the muses' hill, was said to have two summits, in the cleft between


KISSES.


Now round this orb, soft-floating on the air, The beauteous Goddess speeds her radiant car : As in gay pomp the harness'd cygnets fly, Their snow-white pinions glitter thro' the sky j And like Triptolemus, whose bounteous hand Strew'd golden plenty o'er the fertile land, Fair Cytherea, as she flew along, O'er the vast lap of nature Kisses flung : Pleas'd from on high she view'd th' enchanted

ground, And from her lips thrice fell a magic sound : He gave to mortals corn on ev'ry plain ; But She those sweets which mitigate my pain.

Hail, then, ye Kisses ! that can best assuage The pangs of love, and soften all its rage ! Ye balmy Kisses ! that from roses sprung ; Roses ! on which the lips of Venus hung.


which if any one slept, he presently became a poet. Persius- applics the epithet biceps to this mountain:

Nee fonte labra prolui Caballino :

Nee in bicipiti somniasse Parnasso

Mcmini, ut repente sic poeta prodirem,

PERS. PROLOG. AD SATYR.

These lips ne'er drank the Hippocrenian stream, Nor have I e'er indulg'd gay fancy's dream Within Parnassian cleft, that sudden song Should flow unbidden Irom my trembling tongue.


10 BASIA.

Et memor ^Eneadum stirpisque disertus amatce, Moliia Romulidum verba loquetur Amor.


[Et memor jEneadum, &c] This thought is truly beau- tiful : our poet declares that his kisses shall be sung in the Roman language, being of Roman birth ; that is, deriving their origin from the lips of Venus, who, as every one knows, was the mother of the Romans ; for her son ./Eneas, arriving in Italy, married Lavinia, daughter of King Latinus. Nu- mjtor was one of j^neas's descendants ; upon whose only child. Ilia or Rhea Sylvia, Mars begot Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.


KISSES. 11


Lo ! I'm the Bard, while o'er Pierian shades The tuneful mountain rears its sacred heads, While whisp'ring verdures skirt the laurell'd spring, Whose fond, impassion'd muse of You shall sing ; And Love, enraptur'd with the Latian name, With that dear race from which your lineage came, In Latian strains shall celebrate your praise, And tell your high descent to future days.


12 BASIA.


BASIUM II.


V ICINA quantum vitis lascivit in ulmo, Et tortiles per ilicem

Brachia proceram stringunt immensa corimhi -, Tantum, Neaera, si queas

In mea nexilibus proserpere colla lacertis ; Tali, Neaera, si queam

Candida perpetuhm nexu tua colla ligare y Jungens perenne basium.

Tunc me nee Cereris, nee amici cura Lyaei, Sopovis aut amabilis,


[Et tortiles per ilicem, &c] Horace has the same com- parison, mentioning the embraces of his Neara:

Arctius atque hedera procera astringitur ilex, Lentis adhaerens brachiis.

hor. epod. 15.


KISSES. 13


KISS II.


As round some neighbouring elm the vine Its am'rous tendrils loves to twine ; As round the oak, in many a maze, The ivy flings its gadding sprays : Thus ! let me to your snowy breast, My dear Neaera ! thus be prest ; While I as fondly in my arms, Neaera ! clasp thy yielding charms ; And, with one long, long kiss, improve Our mutual ecstasies of love.

Should Ceres pour her plenteous hoard, Should Bacchus crown the festive board, Should balmy Sleep luxurious spread His downy pinions o'er my head ; Yet not for these my joys I'd break, For these ! thy vermil lips forsake. At length, when ruthless age denies A longer bliss, and seals our eyes.


Not the tall oak could clasping ivy bind

So close, as round me thy fond arms were twin'd.


14 BASIA.

Vita, tuo de purpureo divelleret ore : Sed mutuis in osculis

Defectos, ratis una duos portaret amanteis Adpallidam Ditis domum.

Mox per odoratos campos, & perpetuum ver Produceremur in loca,

Semper uli, antiquis in amorilus, heroinae, Heroas inter nolileis,

Aut ducunt choreas, alternave carmina Icetce, In valle cantant myrted.


[Mox per odoratos campos, &c] This description of Elyfi- vim seems to be imitated from Tibullus ;

Hie choreas, cantusque vigent, passimque vagantes

Duke sonant tenui gutture carmen aves. Fert casiam non culta seges, totosque per agros

Floret odoratis terra benigna rosis. Hie juvenum series teneris immista puellis

Ludit, & assidue praelia miscet amor. Illic est cuicumque rapax mors venit amanti,

Et gerit insigni myrtea serta coma.

T1BULL. LIB. I. ELEG. 3.

There joy and ceaseless revelry prevail ; There soothing music floats on ev'ry gale; There painted warblers hop from spray to spray, And, wildly-pleasing, swell the gen'ral lay: There ev'ry hedge, untaught, with cassia blooms, And scents the ambient air with rich perfumes;


KISSES. 15


One bark shall waft our spirit's o'er, United, to the Stygian shore : Then, passing thro* a transient night, We'll enter soon those fields of light, Where, breathing richest odours round, A spring eternal paints the ground ; Where heroes once in valour prov'd, And beauteous heroines once belov'd, Again with mutual passion burn, Feel all their wonted flames return ; And now in sportive measures tread The flow'ry carpet of the mead ; Now sing the jocund, tuneful tale Alternate in the myrtle vale :

There ev'ry mead a various plenty yields ; There lavish Flora paints the purple fields ; With ceaseless light a brighter Phoebus glows, No sickness tortures, and no ocean flows ; But youths associate with the gentle fair, And, stung with pleasure, to the shade repair •. With them love wanders wheresoe'er they stray, Provokes to rapture, and inflames the play : But chief the constant few, by death betray'd, Reign, crown'd with myrtle, monarchs of the shade.

GRAINGER.

The classical reader, who wishes to compare other descrip- tions of Elysium with this of Secundus may turn to Homer. Odys. 4. Pindar. Olymp. Od.2. Virgil. ;£n.6\ Plutatch. Cori- >=ol. ad Apollon. 2.


16 BASIA.

Qu& violisque, rosisque, isf Jlavi-comis narcissis, Umbraculis trementibus

llludit lauri nemus; £<? crepitante susurro Tepidi suave sibilant

JEterniim zephyri : nee vomer e saucia tellus Foecunda solvit ulera.

Turba beatorum nobis assurgeret omnis, Inque herbidis sedilibus,

Inter Maeonidas, prima nos sede locarent : Nee ulla amatricum Jovis

Prae-repto cedens indignaretur honore ; Nee nata Tyndaris Jove.

J ■■ r

[Nee vomere, &c] Thus Virgil, in his description of the golden age :

Omnis feret omnia tellus.

Non rastros patietur humus, non vinea falcem ; Robustus quoque jam taurts juga solvet arator.

VIRG. ECLOG. IV.

Then with each harvest shall each soil be crown'd, No harrow then shall vex "the fruitful ground, No hook shall lop the vine ; and o'er the plains Shall range the steers, unyok'd by sturdy swains.

[Nee nata Tyndaris, &c] The beauteous Helen, Wife to Menelaus, whom Paris stole away, causing the celebrated siege of Troy, sung by Homer, is too well known to be spoken of here ; most of the ancient classics mention some- thing of her history.


KISSES. 17


Where ceaseless Zephyrs fan the glade,

Soft-murrn'ring thro' the laurel-shade ;

Beneath whose waving foliage grow

The vi'let sweet of purple glow,

The daffodil that breathes perfume,

And roses of immortal bloom •

Where Earth her fruits spontaneous yields,

Nor plough-share cuts th' unfurrow'd fields.

Soon as we enter these abodes Of happy souls, of demi-gods, The Blest shall all respectful rise, And view us with, admiring eyes ; Shall seat us 'mid th' immortal throng, - Where I, renown'd for tender song, Shall gain with Homer equal praise, And share with him poetic bays ; While Thou, endiron'd above the rest, Wilt shine in beauty's train confest : Nor shall the Mistresses of Jove Such partial honours disapprove ; E'en Helen, tlio' of race divine, Will to thy charms her rank resign.


18 BASIA.

BASIUM III.


<c JjJ mihi suaviolum (dicelam), hlanda puella!"

Lihasti lalris mox mea lalra tuis. fade, velut presso qui territus angue resultat y

Ora repente meo vellis al ore procul. Non hoc suaviolum dare, lux mea, seddare tantinn

Est desiderium flelile suavioli.


[" Da mihi suaviolum," &c] Some of my readers may be pleased to see how this lovely little poem appears in a French dress. Mons. Dorat, in his Baisers, entitles it 1'Etin- celle.

Donne moi, -ma belle Maitresse,

Donne moi, disois-je, un baiser

Doux, amoureux, plein de tendresse —

Tu n'osas me le refuser ;

Mais que mon bonheur fut rapide !

Ta bouche a peine, souviens-t-en,

Eut effleure ma bouche avide,

Elle s'en detache a l'instant.

Ainsi s'exhale une Etincelle.

Oui, plus que Tantale agite,

Je vois comme une onde infidellc,

Fuir le bien qui m'est presente.

Ton baiser m'echappe, cruelle !

Le desir seul m'en est reste.

DORAT. BAISER II.


KISSES. i()


KISS III.


' ONE Kiss, enchanting Maid !" (Icry'd;)—

One little Kiss ! and then adien ! Your lips, with luscious crimson dyed, To mine with trembling rapture flew :

But quick those lips my lips forsake,

With wanton, tantalizing jest ; So starts some rustic from the snake

Beneath his heedless footstep prest :

Is this to grant the wish'd-for Kiss ? — Ah, no, my Love ! — 'tis but to lire

The bosom with a transient bliss, Enflaming unallay'd desire.


20 BAS1A.


BASIUM IV.


NoN dat basia, Neaera nectar,

Dat rores aninice sudve-olentes ;

Dat nardumque, thymumque, cinnamumque ;

Et mel, quale jugis legunt Hymetti,


[Non dat basia, dat Nesera nectar, &c] The following Greek epigram seems to have furnished Secundus with the thought ;

K.HJ1 tij fj.' e<pi>.-t<r£ wo^cc-rapa %ei>i£iriv iyjoi;. Nfxtap £>1V To (fnXvip.a' to yap ftfia vexlafo; ettvei. Nuv fxeSuw to <}xy»jU.a, vrohvv tov £gu/]a Wfiraxwj.

ANTH0L0G.

Phillis the gay, in robe of beauty drest, Late on my lips a humid kiss imprest ; The kiss was nectar which the fair bestow'd, For in her am'rous breath a gale of nectar flow'd. What love, ye gods ! what raptures in her kiss ! My soul was drunk with ecstacy of bliss.

FAWKES.


KISSES. 21


KISS IV.


J. IS not a Kiss you give, my Love ! 'Tis richest nectar from above ! A fragrant show'r of balmy dews, Which thy sweet lips alone diffuse ! 'Tis ev'ry aromatic breeze That wafts from Afric's spicy trees ! 'Tis honey from die ozier hive. Which chymist bees widi care derive


Buchanan, too, has prettily expressed this conceit :

Cum das Basia, nectaris, Neaera 1 Das mi pocula, das dapes Deorum.


BUCHAN. HEND. MB.


All thy kisses, sweetest fair ! Luscious draughts of nectar are ; Are the banquets heav'nly pow'rs Taste in their Olympian bow'rs.


22 BASIA.

Aut in Cecropiis apes rosetis, Atque, hinc virgineis iff inde ceris, Septum vimineo tegunt quasillo. Que, si multa mihi voranda dentur, Immor talis in his repent} Jiam, Magnorumque epulis fruar deorum. Sed tu munere, parce tali, Aut mecum deafac Neaera, Jias. Non mensas sine te volo deorum ;

[,h/t in Cecropiis, &c] Cecropiis signifies Athenian, from Cecrops, king of Athens. Athens, or Attica, was a most lovely country, rich in flowering sweets, and celebrated for honey. Virgil speaks thus of Attic bees ;

Cecropias innatus apes amor urget habendi.

VIRG. GEORG. IV.

Most prone are Attic bees to honied toils.

I may also remark, that Hymettus is a mountain covered with thyme, near Athens, more particularly famous for its honey. Thus Horace, by way of comparative excellency :

Ubi non Hymetto Mella decedunt. hor. ode vi. lib. ii.

Where not the labours of the bee Yield to Hymettus' golden stores. francis.

Strabo and Pliny affirm, that this mountain was also remarka- ble for its marble. — Vid. Strab. Lib. g, andPlin. Lib. 17. Cap. 1.

[AW mensas sine te, &c] Tibullus was equally averse with our Sccundus to every felicity that his Neaera did not share with him :


KISSES. 23


From all the newly-open'd flow'rs That bloom in Cecrops' roseate bow'rs, Or from the breathing sweets that grow On fam'd Hymettus' thymy brow : But if such kisses you bestow, If from your lips such raptures flow, Thus blest ! supremely blest by thee ! Ere long I must immortal be ; Must taste on earth those joys that wait The banquets of celestial state. Then cease thy bounty, dearest fair ! Such precious gifts, then, spare ! oh spare. ! Or, if I must immortal prove, Be thou immortal, too, my love ! For, should the heav'nly Pow'rs request My presence at th' ambrosial feast ; Nay, should they Jove himself dethrone, And yield to me his radiant crown ; I'd scorn it all, nor would I deign O'er golden realms of bliss to reign :


Sit mini paupertas tecum, jucunda Neasra ; At sine te, regum munera nulla volo.

TIBULL. LIT.. III. ELEG. III.

Poor let me be ; for poverty can please With you ; without you, crowns could give no ease. , GRAINOI


24 BASIA.

Non, si me rutilis pneesse regnis, Excluso Jove, dii deaeque cogant.

Mr. Stanley's translation of this kiss is elegantly concise, and harmonious enough, considering the age in which it was written : I shall therefore give it my readers entire, as a specimen of Mr. Stanley's version of the kisses of Secundus.

'Tis no kiss my fair bestows ; Nectar 'tis whence new life flows ; All the sweets which nimble bees In their ozier treasuries ■With unequall'd art repose, In one kiss her lips disclose. These, if I should many take, Soon would me immo'rtal make, Rais'd to the divine abodes, And the banquets of the Gods.

Be not, then, too lavish, fair ! But this heav'nly treasure spare, '.Less thou'lt too immortal be : For without thy companie, What to me are the abodes, Or the banquets of the gods ?

Stanley's poems, kisses.


KISSES. 25


Jove's radiant crown I'd scorn to wear, Unless thou mightst such honours share ; Unless thou, too, with equal sway, Mightst rule with me the realms of day.


26 BASIA.


BAS1UM V.


UUM me mollibus, hinc & hunc, lacertis Astrictum premis, imminensque toto Collo, pectore, lubricoque vultu, Dependes humeris, Nesera, nostris : Componensque meis lobelia labris, Et morsu petis & gemis remorsa ; Et linguam tremulam, hinc & inde, vibras ; Et linguam querulam, hinc & inde, sugis ;


[Dependes humeris, &c] Mons. Dorat has thus prettily turned this part ;

Belle Thai's, 6 toi que j'idolatre, Dans des bras amourcux quand je tombe eperdu,

Et qu'a tes epaules d'albatre Entrelacant les miens, je reste suspendu.

DOSAT. BAISER 6.

[Et linguam tremulam, &c] A French writer seems to have paraphrased these thoughts with no small degree of merit :

Et qu'en ces jeux nos langues fretillardps

S'etreignent mollement ;

Quand je te baise, un gracieux zephire, Un petit vent moite et doux qui soupire, Va mon cceur eventant.

I, M3BE DESr^RTCS,


KISSES. 17


KISS V.

WHILE you, Nejera, close entwine In frequent folds your frame with mine ; And hanging o'er, to view confest, Your neck, and gently-heaving breast ; Down on my shoulders soft decline Your beauties more than half divine ; With wand'ring looks that o'er me rove, And fire the melting soul with love :

"While you, Neaera, fondly join Your little pouting lips with mine, And frolic bite your am'rous swain, Complaining soft if bit again ; And sweetly-murm'rmg pour along The trembling accents of your tongue. Your tongue ! now here now there that strays, Now here now there delighted plays ;


Our tongues in humid pleasures roll ; And, mid the frolic, blend each soul.

Whene'er thy lips a kiss impart ; Moist breezes, with voluptuous sighing, Exhale rich nectar as they're dying :

Breezes that cool rm fever'd heart !


28 BASIA.

Aspirans animce suavis auram Mollem, dulci-sonam, humidam, me<cque Altricem miserce, Necera, vitie : Hmiriens animam meam caducam, Flagrantem, nimio vapore coctam, Coctavi ! pectoris impotentis cestu ; Eludisque meets, Nesera, jlammas, Flalro pectoris haurientis itstum, O, jucunda mei caloris aura !


[0, jucunda, &c] An expression so beautifully, so deli- cately metaphorical, cannot sure be found in any writer. Petrarch very frequently applies the word gale to his mistress, for the sake of the concetti, so peculiar to Italian poetry ; L'aura, the gale, signifying also her name, Laura.

L'aura serena, che fra verdi fronde Mormorando, a ferir nel volto viemme.

PETRAR. SONETTO CLXIII,

Soft gale ! that murmurs thro' the verdant grove, Plays o'er my face, and playing whispers love.


KISSES. 29


That now my humid kisses sips, Now wanton darts between my lips j And on my bosom raptur'd lie, Venting the gently-whisper'd sigh ; A sigh ! that kindles warm desires, And kindly fans life's drooping fires ; Soft as the zephyr's breezy wing, And balmy as the breath of spring :

While you, sweet Nymph ! with am'rous play, In kisses suck my breath away ; My breath ! with wasting warmth replete, Parch'd by my breast's contagious heat ; Till, breathing soft, you pour again Returning life thro' ev'ry vein 5 And thus elude my passion's rage, Love's burning fever thus assuage : Sweet Nymph ! whose sweets can best allay Those fires that on my bosom prey ; Sweet as the cool refreshing gale That blows when scorching heats prevail !


L'aura mia sacra al mio stanco riposo Spira i\ spesso. sonetto cccvii.

Oh my sweet gale .' gale dear to lost repose, Breathing so frequent !

But such conceits cannot compare with this one exquisite line of Secundus.


30 BASIA.

Tunc, dico, " deus est Amor deorum ! " Et nullus deus est Amore major ! " Si quisquam tamen est Amore major, " Tu, Tu, sola mihi es, Neaera, major f"


[Tunc, dico, &c] Thus beautifully again the French imitator :

Alors je renais, et m'ecrie ; L' Amour soumet la Terre, assujettit les Cieux, Les Rois sont a ses pieds, il gouverne les Dieux, 11 mele en se jouant des pleurs a l'ambroisie, 11 est maitre absolu ; mais Thais aujourd'hui L'emporte sur les Rois, sur les Dieux, etsurlui.

DORAT. BA1SER VI.


KISSES. 31


Then, more than blest, I fondly swear, " No pow'r can with love's pow'r compare ! " None in the starry court of Jove " Is greater than the god of love ! " If any can yet greater be, " Yes, my Neaera ! yes, 'tis Thee !"


32 BASIA.


BASIUM VI.


J_JE meliore notd lis basia mille paciscens Basia mille dedi, basia mille tuli.

ExpUsti numerum, fateor, jucunda Neraea ! Expleri numero sed nequit ullus amor.

Quis laudet Cererem numeratis surgere aristis ? Gramen in irrigud quis numeravit humo P

Quis till, Bacche, tulit pro centum vota racemis ? Agricolumve Deum mille poposcit apeis ?

Cim plus irrorat sitienteis Juppiter agros, DeciducE guttas non numeramus aquie.

Sic quoque, cum vends concussus inhorruit air, Sumpsit & iratd Juppiter arma manu,


[Agricolumve Peum, &c] Aristaeus, one of the rural deities, who is said to have first discovered the use of honey ; vide Pausanias, in Arcadicis. A pretty history of him may be found in Virgil, Georg. iv.


KISSES. 33


Rest of the kisses

KISS VI.


1 WO Thousand Kisses of the sweetest kind, 'Twas once agreed, our mutual love should bind ; First from my lips a rapt'rous Thousand flow'd, Then you a Thousand in your turn bestow'd ; The promis'd Numbers were fulfill'd, I own, But Love suffic'd with Numbers ne'er was known ! What mortal strives to count each springing blade, That spreads the surface of a grassy mead ? Who prays for number'd ears of rip'ning grain, When lavish Ceres yellows o'er the plain ? Or to a scanty hundred wou'd confine The clust'ring grapes, when Bacchus loads the vine ? Who asks the Guardian of the honied Store To grant a thousand bees, and grant no more ? Or tells the drops, while o'er some thirsty field The liquid stores are from above distill'd ? When Jove with fury hurls the moulded hail, And earth and sea destructive storms assail, Or when he bids, from his tempestuous sky, The winds unchain'd with wasting horror fly,


D


34 BASIA.

Grandine confusd terras cif coerula pulsat, Securus sternat quot sata, quotve locis.

Seu bona, seu mala sunt, veniunt uberrima coelo : Majestas domui convenit ilia Jovis.

Tu quoque cum dea sis, diva formosior ilia, Concha per cequoreum quam vaga ducit iter ;

Basia cur numero, coelestia dona, coerces ? Nee numeras gemitus, dura puella, meos ?

Nee lachrymas numeras, qme per faciemque, si-

numque, Duxerunt rivos semper -euntis aqiue ?


[Concha per wquoreurn, &c] The shell of Venus has been celebrated by classics, both ancient and modern ; Et faveas concha Cypria vecta tua.

TIBULL. LIB. III. EL. III.

And aid me, Venus! from thy pearly car.

GRAINGER.

And thus Hercules Strozza :

Nabat Erythraea materna per asquora concha, Qualis erat spumis edita, nuda Venus.

HERC. STROZ. AMO. L. II. EL. 5.

In Erythrean shell the sea-born Queen

Rode on her native waves, her native beauties seen.

[Duxerunt rivos semper-euntis, &c] Sidronius Hoss- chius, a Latin poet, of Marke, in Germany, who flourished


KISSES. 35


The God ne'er heeds what harvests he may spoil,

Nor yet regards each desolated soil :

So, when its blessings bounteous Heav'n ordains,

It ne'er with sparing hand the Good restrains ;

Evils in like abundance, too, it show'rs ;

Well suits profusion with immortal Pow'rs !

Then since such gifts with heav'nly minds agree,

Shed, Goddess-like, your blandishments on me ;

And say, Neaera ! for that form divine

Speaks thee descended of oetherial line ;

Say, Goddess ! than that Goddess lovelier far

Who roams o'er ocean in her pearly car ;

Your kisses, boons celestial ! why withhold ?

Or why by scanty numbers are they told ?

Still you ne'er count, hard-hearted Maid ! those

sighs Which in my lab'ring breast incessant rise ;


in the beginning of the 17th century, in like manner ex- presses Love's perpetual sorrow.

Utque per attritas rivum sibi duck arenas, Quae riguo manat r'onte perennis aqua ; Sic exesa tibi sulcos duxere per ora Ex oculis imbres qui tibi semper eunt.

S. F. HOSSCH. LACRIM. ELEG. X.

As wears the furrow'd sands, with ceaseless wave, The stream, that some exhaustless fount supplies ;

So show'rs thy tear-worn beauties ever lave, Sad show'rs, that stream incessant from thine eyes !


36 BASIA.

Si numeras lachrymas, numeres licet oscula ; sed si Non numeras lachrymas., oscula ne numeres.

Et mihi da, miseri solatia vana doloris, Innumera innumeris basia pro lachrymis.


KISSES. 37


Nor yet those lucid drops of tender woe, Which down my cheeks in quick succession flow. Yes, dearest Life ! your kisses number all ; And number, too, my sorrowing tears that fall : Or, if you count not all the tears, my fair ! To count the kisses sure you must forbear. But let thy lips now soothe a lover's pain ; (Yet griefs like mine what soothings shall restrain !) If tears unnumber'd pity can regard, Unnumber'd kisses must each tear reward.


39 BASIA.


BA SI UM VII.


C ENTUM basia centies, Centum basia millies, Mille basia millies, Et tot millia millies, Quot gutUe Siculo mart,

Quot sunt sidera coelo,

[Quot guttce Siculo, &c] This idea, though now com- mon, was perhaps originally Catullus's. Quasris, quot mihi basiationes Tuae, Lesbia, sint satis, superque ? Quam magnus numerus Libyssse arena Laserpiciferis jacet Cyrenis, Oraculum Jovis inter aestuosi, Et Ba f ti veteris sacrum sepulchrum ; Aut quam sidera multa, cum meet nox, Furtivos hominum vident amores ; Tarn te basia multa basiare Vesano satis, et super Catuilo est ; Quae nee pernumerare curiosi Possint, nee mala fascinare lingua.

CATULL. CAHM. VII.

How many sweet kisses (my Lesbia oft cries)

Will suffice my fond Bard, nay, more than suffice? —

As many as sands that in Libya are found

Near thirsty Cyrene, for Benzoin renown'd,


KISSES. 39


KISS VII.


KlSSES told by Hundreds o'er ! Thousands told by Thousands more ! Millions ! countless Millions ! then Told by Millions o'er again ! Countless ! as the drops that glide In the Ocean's billowy tide, Countless ! as yon orbs of light Spangled o'er the vault of Night,

From where burning Jove's lofty fane is display'd To where sleeps old Battus's reverend shade ; As many as stars that illume the gay night, And silently witness love's stolen delight ; So many (insatiate Catullus replies) Will suffice thy fond Bard, nay, more than suffice ; So many no spy vainly-curious can tell, Or ever with slander bewitching reveal. Marshal, also, has the same thought, Epig. 34. Lib vi. which epigram is very happily paraphrased, by Sir Charles Han. Williams, in the well-known ballad of " Come, Chloe, and give me sweet kisses." The following is a stanza of it, ap- plicable to our subject :

Go number the stars in the heaven,

Count how many sands on the shore j When so many kisses you've given, I still shall be craving for more.


40 BASIA.

Istis purpureis genis, Jstis turgidulis labris, Ocellisque loquaculis, Ferrinn continuo impetu ;

O, formosa Nesera !

Sed dum totus inhcereo Conchatim roseis genis, Conchatim rutilis labris, Ocellisque loquaculis ; Non datur tua cernere Labra, non roseas genas, Ocellosque loquaculos,

Mplleis nee mihi risus :

Qui, velut nigra discutit Coelo nulila Cynthius,

[Turgidulis labris, &c] These words might perhaps be best translated by applying Suckling's beautiful description of a lip, in the following stanza •.

Her lips were red ; and one was thin, Compar'd to that was next her chin ;

Some bee had stung it newly; But (Dick) her eyes so guard her face, I durst no more upon them gaze

Than on the sun in July.

Suckling. Ballad upon a Wedding. [Ocellisque loquaculis, 8rc~\ How delicate is this expres- sion! It reminds me of the following I met with in some old Latin author.


KISSES. 41


I'll with ceaseless love bestow On those Cheeks of crimson glow, On those Lips of gentle swell, On those Eyes where raptures dwell.

But when circled in thy arms, As I'm panting o'er thy charms, O'er thy Cheeks of rosy bloom, O'er thy Lips mat breathe perfume, O'er thine eyes so sweetly-bright, Shedding soft-expressive light ; Then, nor Cheeks of rosy bloom, Nor thy lips that breathe perfume, Nor thine eyes' expressive light, Bless thy lover's envious sight ; Nor that soothing smile, which cheers All his tender hopes and fears : For, as radiant Phoebus streams O'er the globe with placid beams, Whirling thro' th' aetherial way The fiery- axled car of day, And from the tempestuous sky, While the rapid coursers fly, All the stormy clouds are driv'n, Which deform'd the face of heav'n ;

O blandos oculos, & O facetos,

Et quadam propria nota loquaces ! poet. vet.

Oh delightful, pretty eyes !

Where a secret meaning lies.


42 BASIA.

Pacaeumque per aethera

Gemmatis in equis micat,

Flavo lucidus orle ;

5ic nutu eminus aureo Et meis lachrymas genis,

Et curas animo meo,

Et suspiria pellunt :

Heu ! quae sunt oculis meis

Nata prcelia cum labris !

Ergo ego mihi vel Jovem

Rivalem potero pati P

Rivales oculi met

Nonferunt mea labra.

[Sic Nutu eminus, &c] The amorous master of Italian poetry attributes the same power to the smile of his mistress. Vero e, che'l dolce mansueto riso Pur acqueta gli ardenti miei desiri, E mi sottragge al foco de' martiri, Mentr 'io son' a mirarvi intento e fiso.

PETRARCA. SON. XV.

'Tis true ; thy tender, thy heart-soothing smile Appeases all my fierce, enflam'd desires ; Allays the tortures of love's potent fires ; As on thy charms I fondly gaze awhile. [Ergo ego mihi vel Jovem, &c] Propertius speaks to the same purpose, thus ;

Rivalem possum non ego ferre Jovem.

PROPERT. ELEG. XXXII. LIB. II.

What though 'twere Jove, no rival cou'd I bear.


KISSES. 43


So, thy golden smile, my fair ! Chases ev'ry am'rous care ; Dries the torrents of mine eyes, Calms my fond, tumultuous sighs.

Oh ! how emulous the strife 'Twixt my Lips and Eyes, sweet Life ! Of thy charms are These possest, Those are envious till they're blest : Think not, then, that, in my love, I'll be rivall'd e'en by Jove, When such jealous conflicts rise 'Twixt my very Lips and Eyes.


44 BASIA.


BASIUM VIII.


(alUIS te furor, Neaera, Inepta, quis jubebat Sic involare, nostram Sic vellicare linguam, Ferociente morsu ?

An, quas tot unus abs te Pectus per omne gesto Penetrabileis sagittas, Parum videntur ? istis Ni dentibus protervis Exerceas nefandum Membrum nefas in Mud? Quo ! scepe sole primo, Quo ! s<epc sole sero, Quo ! per diesque longas, Nocteisque amarulentas, Laudes tuas canebam?

[Istis ni dentibus, &c] Mons. Dorat has thus beautifully paraphrased this passage ;

Tes dents, ces perles que j'adore, D'oii s'echappe a mon ceil trompe Ce sourire developpe. Transfuge des levres de Flore ;


KISSES. 45


KISS VIII.


_r\_H ! what ungovem'd rage, declare, Neaera, too capricious Fair ! What unreveng'd, unguarded wrong, Could urge thee thus to wound my tongue ?

Perhaps you deem th' afflictive pains Too trifling, which my heart sustains j Nor think enough my bosom smarts With all the sure, destructive darts Incessant sped from ev'ry charm ; That thus your wanton teeth must harm, Must harm that little tuneful Thing, Which wont so oft thy praise to sing j What time the Morn has streak'd the skies, Or Ev'ning's faded radiance dies ; Thro' painful Days consuming-slow, Thro' ling'ring Nights of am'rous woe.


Devroient-elles blesser, dis moi,

Une organe tendre et fidelle, Qui t'assure ici de ma foi,

Et nomma Thais la plus belle ?

DORAT. BAISEK 11.


46 BASIA.

H<ec est, iniqua, (nescis ?) H(EC, ilia lingua nostra est, Quie, tortileis capillos, Qucc, poetulos ocellos, Quce, lacteas papillas, Quce, colla mollicella, Venustultc Neoerse, Molli per astra versu, Ultra Jovis calores, Coelo invidente, vexit.

Qwe, te meam salutem, Qiite, te meamque vitam, Animce meceque Jlorem, Et te meos amores, Et te meos lepores, Et te meam Dionen, Et te meam columlam, Allamque terturillam, Venere invidente., dixit.


{Qua, te meam salutem, &c] Bonefonius thus distin- guishes his mistress by a series of appellative contrarieties :

Salve melque meum, atque amaritudo ; Otiumque meum, negotiumque ; Meus phosphorus, hesperusque salve ; Salve luxque mea, et meae tenebrae ; Salve errorque meus, mensque portus ; Salve spesque mea, et rriei pavores ; Salve nilque meum, meumque totum : Sed quid pluribus ? O ter, ampiiusquc, Salve tota Acharisque Pancharisque.

BONEF. BAS1UM VIII.


KISSES. 47


This tongue, thou know'st, has oft extoll'd Thy hair in shining ringlets roll'd, Thine eyes with tender passion bright, Thy swelling breast of purest white, Thy taper neck of polish' d grace, And all the beauties of thy face, Beyond the lucid orbs above, Beyond the starry throne of Jove j Extoll'd them in such lofty lays ! That Gods with envy heard the praise.

Oft has it call'd thee ev'ry name Which boundless rapture taught to frame ; My life ! my joy ! my soul's desire ! All that my wish cou'd e'er require ! My pretty Venus ! and my love ! My gentle turtle ! and my dove ! Till Cypria's self with envy heard Each partial, each endearing word.


All hail! thou sweet-imbitter'd fair; My fondest ease, ray tenderest care ; My star of morn, my star of night ; At once my darkness, and my light ; My dreaded rock, my harbour dear; My only hope, my only fear ; My nothing, yet my valued all : But, oh ! what further shall I call My homely love, my beauteous bliss ? Jn one sweet word, hail, Pancharisf


48 BASlA.

An verb, an est id ipsum Quod tejuvat, superba, Inferre vulnus illi, \

Quam, Idsione nulla, Formosa, posse nosti Ira tumere tantd ; Quin semper hos ocellos • Quin semper luec lobelia ; Et, qui sibi, salaceis, Malum dedi're, denteis, Inter suos cruores Balbutiens, rccantet ? O, vis sviperba formae !


[Inter suos cruores, &c] And again, how impassioned is the strain of the French poet :

Crois-tu le contraindre a se taire ? Non, non, il brave en ce moment Tous les maux que tu peux lui faire. Viens, renouvelle son tourment ; Assailli des fleches brulantes, De ces dards percans du baiser, II veut sur tes levres ardentes, II veut encore les aiguiser; Et, charge d'heureuses blessures, Doux vestiges de volupte, Essayer meme aii-lieu d'injures, De nouveaux chants a ta beaute.

DORAT. BAISEU XI.

[O, Mb, &c] Muretus has a similar expression ; U vis eximiae superba formae!

MURETI EF1GRAM.

O tyrant pow'r of beauty's form !


KISSES. 4§


Say, beauteous Tyrant ! dost delight To wound this tongue in wanton spite ? Because, alas ! too well aware That ev'ry wrong it yet could bear Ne'er urg'd it once in angry strain Of thy unkindness to complain ; But suff'ring patient all its harms, Still wou'd it sing thy matchless charms ! Sing the soft lustre of thine eye ! Sing thy sweet lips of rosy dye ! Nay, still those guilty teeth 'twould sing t Whence all its cruel mischiefs spring : E'en now it lisps, in fault'ring lays, While yet it bleeds, Neoera's praise : Thus, beauteous Tyrant ! you controul, Thus sway my fond, enamour'd soul !


50 BASIA.


BAS1UM IX.


IS/ ON semper udum da mihi basium, Necjuncta llandis sibila risibus, Nee semper in meum recumbe Implicitum, moribunda, collum.

Mensura rebus est sua dulcibus ; Ut quodque menteis suavius officii, Fastidium sic triste secum Limi'te proximiore ducit.

Quum te rogabo ter tria basia ; Tu deme septem, nee nisi da duo,


[Mensura rebus est, &c] Shakespeare expresses the same thought in the fatherly reproof of the old Friar to Romeo i

These violent delights have violent ends,

And in their triumph die ; like fire and pewder,

Which, as they meet, consume. The sweetest honey

Is loathsome in its own deliciousness,

And in the taste confounds the appetite.

SHAK. ROMEO AND JULIET.


KISSES. 51


KISS IX.


V/EASE thy sweet, thy balmy Kisses ;

Cease thy many-wreathed smiles ; Cease thy melting, murm'ring blisses ;

Cease thy fond, bewitching wiles :

On my bosom soft-reclin'd, Cease to pour thy tender joys :

Pleasure's limits are confin'd, Pleasure oft- repeated cloys.

Sparingly your bounty use;

W hen I ask for Kisses Nine, Sev'n at least you must refuse,

And let only Two be mine :

Yet let These be neither long, Nor delicious sweets respire !

But like Those which Virgins young Artless give their aged sire :


52 BASIA.

Utrumque nee longum, nee udum Qualia, teli-gero Diana

Dat casta fratri ! qualia, dat patri Experta nullos nata cupidines ! Mox e meis, lasciva, ocellis Curre procid natitante plantar


\Tv deme septem, &c] All polite voluptuaries have ever admired these little wanton cruelties in their mistresses ; thus Horace speaks with the greatest rapture of his Licymnia : Dum fiagrantia detorquet ad oscula Cervicem, aut facili saevitia negat, Quae poscente magis gaudeat eripi, Interdum rapere occupet.

HOR. LIB. II. ODE XII.

While now her bending neck she plies

Backward to meet the burning kiss ; Then with an easy cruelty denies,

And wishes you would snatch, not ask the bliss.

FRANCIS.

Boileau's imitation of this passage of Horace is too beau- tiful to be denied a place here, where he speaks of a kiss snatched from the lips of Iris :

Qui mollement resiste, et par un doux caprice, Quelquefois le refuse, afin qu'on le ravisse.

boileau. Art Poelique. Chant, n.

[Natitante planta, &C.] Milton has a very happy expression similar to this in the following passage :


KISSES. 53


Such ! as, with a sister's love, Beauteous Dian may bestow

On the radiant Son of Jove, Phoebus of the silver bow.

Tripping-light, with wanton grace, Now my lips disorder'd fly,

And in some retired place

Hide thee from my searching eye :

Then in sportive, am'rous play, Victor-like, I'll seize my love ;

Seize thee ! as the bird of prey Pounces on a trembling dove.

Each recess I'll traverse o'er,

Where I think thouliest conceal'd ;

Ev'ry covert I'll explore,

Till my Wanton's all reveal'd.


So saying, by the hand he took me rais'd, And over fields and waters, as in air Smooth-sliding without step, last led me up A woody mountain.

MIITON. PAR. LOST, ROOK VIII.


54 BASIA.

Et te remotis in penetralibus, Et te latelris aldito in intimis : Sequar latelras usque in imas, In penetrale sequar repostum ;

Prcedamque, victor fervidus, in meant Utrinque herileis injiciens manus, Raptabo ; ut imlellem columbam Unguibus accipiter re-curvis.

Tu de-precanteis victa dabis manus, Hcerensque totis pendula brachiis y Placare me septem jocosis Basiolis cupiesy inepta !

Errabis ; — illud crimen ut eluam, Septenaj ungam basia septies., Atque hoc chtenatis lacertis Impediam, fugitiva, collum.


[Et te remotis, &c] Cornelius Gallus mentions the same ■amorous dalliance :

Erubuit vultus ipsa puella meos,

Et nunc subridens latebras fugitiva petebat.

CORN. GALL.

At sight of me, deep-blush'd the lovely maid, Then side-long laugh'd, and flying sought the shade.

DUNKIN.


KISSES. 55

Now your arms submissive-raising,

Round my neck those arms you'll throw ;

Now Sev'n Kisses sweetly-pleasing For your freedom you'll bestow :

But those venal Sev'n are vain ; —

Sev'n-times-sev'n's the price, sweet Maid !

Thou my Pris'ner shalt remain, Till the balmy ransom's paid.


And such dalliance was equally grateful to Horace :

Nunc et latentis proditor intimo Gratus puellae risus ab angulo.

HOR. ODE IX. LIB. I.

The laugh, that from the corner flies, The sportive fair-one shall betray.

FRANCIS.

In like manner, too, frolicked the mistress of Virgil's shepherd ;

Malo me Galatea petit, lasciva puella, Et fugit ad salices, sed se cupit ante videri.

VIRG. ECLOG. III.

Which Pope thus beautifully imitates :

The sprightly Sylvia trips along the green, She runs, but hopes she does not run unseen ; While a kind glance at her pursuer flies, How much at variance are her feet and eyes'.

ror-E. PASTORAL J.


56 BASIA.

Dum, per-solutis emnibus osculis, Jurabis omneis per veneres tuas, Te scepiiis posnas easdem Crimine velle pari subire.


The beginning of this kiss, as translated by Mr. Stanley, possesses no small share of tender enthusiasm ;

Not alwayes give a melting kiss,

And smiles with pleasing whispers join'd .;

Nor alwayes extasi'd with bliss

About my neck thy fair arms wind.

The weary lover learns by measure

To circumscribe his greatest joy ; Lest, what well-husbanded yields pleasure,

Might by the repetition cloy.

When thrice three kisses I require,

Give me but two, withhold the other ;

Such as cold virgins to their sire, Or chaste Diana gives her brother.

Stanley's poems, kisses.


KISSES. 57


Paying, then, the forfeit due,

By thy much-lov'd Beauties swear, Faults like these you'll still pursue, Faults ! which Kisses can repair.


55 BASIA.


BAS1UM X.


J\ ON sunt certa meant moveant ^wtf?basia mentem ;

Uda labris udis conseris, udajuvant. Nee sua basiolis non est quoque gratia siccis ;

Fluxit ah his tepidus Scepe sub ossa vapor. Duke quoque est oculis nutantibus oscxxizferre,

Autoresque sui demeruisse mail : Sive genis totis, totive incumbere collo,

Seu nive'is humeris, seu sinui niveo : Et totas livore genas, collumque notare,

Candidulosque humeros, candidulumque sinum.


[Collumque notare, &c] The tender Tibullus most pro- bably gave Secundus the hint of these voluptuous ideas :

At Venus inveniet puero succumbere furtim, Dum tumet, et teneros consent usque sinus ;

Et dare anhelanti pugnantibus uvida Unguis Oscula, et in collo figere dente notas.

TIBULL. LIB. I. EEG. IX.

But fav'ring Venus, watchful o'er thy joy, Shall lay thee secret near th' impassion'd boy ;


KISSES. 5(j


KISS X.


J N various Kisses various charms I find,

For changeful fancy loves each changeful kind :

Whene'er with mine thy humid lips unite,

Then humid Kisses with their sweets delight ;

From ardent lips go ardent Kisses please,

For glowing transports often spring from these.

What joy ! to kiss those eyes that wanton rove,

Then catch the glances of returning love ;

Or clinging to the cheek of crimson glow,

The bosom, shoulder, or the neck of snow,

What pleasure ! tender passion to assuage,

And see the traces of our am'rous rage

On the soft neck or blooming cheek exprest,

'Twixt yielding lips, in ev'ry thrilling kiss,

To dart the trembling tongue — what matchless bliss !

Inhaling-sweet each other's mingling breath,

While Love lies gasping in the arms of death !


His panting bosom shall be prcst to thine, And his dear lips thy breathless lips shall join ; With active tongue he'll dart the humid kiss, And on thy neck indent the eager bliss.


60 BASIA.

Seu labris querulis titubantem sugere Unguam, Et miscere duas juricta per ora animals,

Inque peregrinum diffundere corpus utranque; Languet in extremo cum moribundus amor.

Me breve, vie longum capiet, laxumque, tenaxque, Seu mihi das, seu do, lux, tibi basiolum.

Qualia sed sumes, nunquam mihi talia redde : Diversis varium ludat uterque modis.

At quern deficiet variandafigura priorem, Legem submissis audiat hanc oculis.

" Ut, quot utrinque prius data sint, tot basia solus " Dulcia victori det, totidemque modis."


[Et miscere ducts, &c] Lernutius thus imitates this- pas- sage of Secundus in his book of Kisses.

Dum sensim oppresso blanda inter suavia sensu, lmmittam exanimatam illius ori animam ;

Mox lingua avidula fugitivam et dente secutus, Miscebo binas juncta per ora animas.

While show'rs of kisses o'er each sense prevail, . My vagrant soul I'll through her mouth exhale ; But poignant love-bites, and the nimble tongue, Shall the dear wanderer recal ere long ; Then our twin souls in rapture wild we'll blend, As lips with lips sweet-kissing shall contend.

[Legem submissis, &c] This kissing-match reminds me of one something similar to it in Guarini's Pastor Fido, where the Megarensian nymphs agree to try among each other who fan kiss best :


KISSES. 61


While soul with soul in ecstasy unites,

Intranc'd, impassion'd with the fond delights !

From thee receiv'd, or giv'n to thee, my Love !

Alike to me those kisses grateful prove ;

The kiss that's rapid, or prolong'd with art,

The fierce, the gentle, equal joys impart.

But mark , — be all my kisses, beauteous Maid !

With diff'rent kisses from thy lips repaid ;

Then varying raptures shall from either flow,

As varying kisses either shall bestow :

And let the first, who with an unchano'd kiss

Shall cease to thus diversify the bliss,

Observe, with looks in meek submission dress'd,

That law by which this forfeiture's express'd :

" As many kisses as each lover gave,

" As each might in return again receive,

" So many kisses, from the vanquish'd side,

" The victor claims, so many ways applied."


Bacianne, e si contenda

Tra noi di baci, e quella, che d' ogni altra,

Baciatrice piu scaltra

Gli sapra dar piu saporiti e cari,

N' havra per sua viltoria

Questa bella ghirlanda.

Guarin. Pastor Fido. Atto 11. Seen. I.

Let's kiss, and wage a kissing war :

Then she, who with superior art

The sweetest, fondest kisses can impart,

We'll deem the conqueror ;

And to her brow with one consent decree

This beauteous wreath, the meed of victory.


62 BASIA.


BASIUM XL


JljASIA lauta nimis quidam mejungere dicunt, " Qualia rugosi non didicSre patres.

" Ergo, ego cum cupidis stringo tua colla lacertis, " Lux mea, basiolis immoriorque tuis ;

" Anxius exquiram quid de me quisque loquatur ? " Ipse quis, aut ubi sim, vix meminisse vacat."

Audiit, & risit formosa Neaera, meumque Hinc collum nive'i cinxit & inde manu ;


[" Ipse quis," &c."] Virgil makes Dido express the wanderings of her mind much in the same strain, though they proceeded from a very opposite cause ; hers arose from despair, our poet's from rapture ;

Quid loquor? aut ubi sum ? qua menteni insania mutat?

VIRG. JENEID. IV.

What do I say? — where am I ? — whence is wrought This change that tortures my distracted thought ?

[Hinc collum niveu, &c] Thus, too, Venus caressed her husband Vulcan, who was somewhat uncomplying, when she entreated him to forge the armour for iEneas ;


KISSES. 63


KISS XI.


qOME think my kisses too luxurious told, " Kisses ! they say, not known to sires of old : " But, while entranc'd on thy soft neck I lie, " And o'er thy lips in tender transport die, " Shall 1 then ask, dear Life ! perplex'd in vain, " Why rigid Cynics censure thus my strain ? " Ah, no ! thy blandishments so rapt'rous prove, " That every ravish'd sense is lost in love ; " Blest with those blandishments, divine I seem, " And all Elysium paints the blissful dream." Nesera heard ; — then, smiling, instant threw Around my neck her arm of fairest hue ;

Dixerat, niveis hinc atque hinc Diva lacertis Cunctantem amplexu molli fovet.

VIRG. iNEID VIII.

She spoke, and wantonly the queen of charms Circles the ling'ring god with snow-white arms.

From this, and the preceding note, as well indeed as from many others, it is pretty clear that Secundus had well stu- died Virgil ; every page of his works might furnish instances of his having borrowed expressions from that author.


64 BASIA.

Basiolumque dedit ; quo non lascivius unquam lnseruit Marti Cypria hlanda suo :

" Et, quid, fait,) metuis turlte decreta sever c e? " Caussa meo tantiim competit ista foro."


[Basiolumque dedit ; &c] This was certainly one of those kisses, mentioned by Horace,

Quae Venus Quinta parte sui nectaris imbuit.

HOB. LID. I. OD. XIII.

Which the fair Cyprian pow'r Bathes in a fifth of all her nectar'd store.

M. Dorat's kiss on this subject is so beautiful, that I cannot deny it a place here ; he calls it, la Couronne de Fleurs :

Renverse doucement dans les bras de Tha'is, Le front ceint d'un leger nuage, Je lui disois ; lorsque tu me souris, Peut-etre sur ma tete il s'eleve un orage.

Que pense-t-on de mes ecrits? Je dois aimer mes vers, puisqu'ils sont ton ouvrage. Occuperai-je les cent voix De la vagabonde Deesse ? A ses faveurs pour obtenir des droits, Suffit-il, 6 Tha'is, de sentir la tendresse ? Thais alors sur de recens gazons Cueille de fleurs, en tresse une couronne. Tiens, c'est ainsi que je repons; Voila le prix de tes chansons, Et c'est ma main qui te le donne : Renonce, me dit-elle, a l'orgueil des lauriers ; Laisse ces froids honneurs qu'ici tu te proposes ;

11 faut des couronnes de roses A qui peignit l'Amour, & chanta les baisers.

DOAT. liAISER XX.


KISSES. 65


And kiss'd me fonder, more voluptuous far, Than Beauty's Queen e'er kiss'd the God of War : " What ! (cries the nymph) and shall my am'rous

" bard '* Pedantic wisdom's stern decree regard ? if Thy cause must be at my tribunal tried, " None but Neaera can the point decide."


66 BASIA.


BASIUM XII.


h[UID vultus removetis hinc pudicos, Matronseque, Puellulseque castce ? Non hicfurta Deum jocosa canto, Monstrosasve lilidinum jiguras : Nulla hie carmina mentulata ; nulla Quce non, discipulos ad integellos, Hirsutus legat in schola magister. Inermcis cano basiationes., Castus Aonii chori sacerdos : Sed vultus adhilent modb hue protervos Matronseque, Puellulseque cuncUe ; Ignari quia forte mentulatum Verlum diximus, evolante voce. Ite hinc, ite procul, mclesta turba, Matronaeque, Puellulreque turpes ! Quanto castior est Neaera nostra ?


KISSES. .67


KISS XII.


MODEST Matrons, Maidens, say, Why thus turn your looks away ? Frolic feats of lawless love, Of the lustful pow'rs above ; Forms obscene, that shock the sight, In my verse I ne'er recite ; Verse ! where nought indecent reigns ; Guiltless are my tender strains ; Such as pedagogues austere Might with strict decorum hear, Might, with no licentious speech, To their youth reproachless teach. I, chaste vot'ry of the Nine ! Kisses sing of chaste design : Maids and Matrons yet, with rage, Frown upon my blameless page ; Frown, because some wanton word Mere and there by chance occurr'd, Or the cheated fancy caught Some obscure, tho' harmless thought. Hence, ye prudish Matrons ! hence. Squeamish Maids devoid of sense !


68 BASIA.

Quce certe, si?ie rnentula., lihellum Mavult, quam, sine rnentula, po'etam !


[Qua certe, sine, &c] Here our poet, or rather his mis- tress Neaera, dissents in opinion from the amorous Catullus, who would inculcate the following opposite principle :

Nam castum esse decet pium poetam

Ipsum, versiculos nihil necesse est :

Qui turn denique habent salem, ac leporem,

Si sunt molliculi, ac parum pudici,

Et quod pruriat incitare possunt ;

Non dico pueris, sed his pilosis,

Qui duros nequeunt movere lumbos.

CATULLUS. CARM. XVI.

In manners, let the learned bard Severest chastity regard ; In poetry, this rule were vain ; For when luxurious phrases reign, And modesty resigns her sway, Then, only then, delighis the lay ; The lay ! that moves a Youth's desires, And sluggish Age alike inspires.

Such, too, was the doctrine of Martial, after the example of the poet of Verona :

Versus scribere me parum severos, Nee quos praelegat in schola magister, Comeli, quereris : sed hi libelli, Tanquam conjugibus suis mariti, Non possunt sine rnentula placere.

MART. EPIC XXXVI. LIB. I.


KISSES. tfy


And shall these in virtue dare With my virtuous maid compare ? She ! who in the bard will prize What she'll in his lays despise ; Wantonness with love agrees, But reserve in verse must please.


To me Cornelius thus complains ; " Too wanton are thy frolic strains, " With decency so little fraught, " They can't in public schools be taught." I answer : " Numbers such as these, " Unless licentious, will not please ; " No more than he, who guides his life " By chastity, can please a wife."


70 BASIA.


BASIUM XIII.


jLjANGUIDUS e dulci cer famine, vita, jacelam

Exanimis, fusd per tua colla manu. Omnis in arenti consumptus spiritus ore,

Flamine non poterat cor recreare novo. Jam Styx ante oculos, £«f regna carentia sole,

Luridaque annosi cymla Charontis erat. Cum tu, suaviolum educens pulmonis ah imo,

Affl&sti siccis irriguum laliis. Suaviolum ! Stygia quod me de valle reduxit ;

Etjussit vacua curre nave senem.


[Lunguidus e dulci, &c] Congreve, perhaps, had in view this line of Secundus when he wrote,

See, after the toils of an amorous fight,

Where weary and pleas'd still panting she lies ;

While yet in her mind she repeats the delight, How sweet is the slumber that steals on her eyes !

congreve's semele, act II. SCENE II.

[Etjussit vacua currcre, &c.] Secundus here seems to have copied the following lines of Pronertius ;

Solus amans novit, quando periturus, et a qui Morte ; neque hie Boreas flabra, neque arma timet.

Jam licet et Stygia sedeat sub arundine remex, Cernat et infernEe tristia vela ratis ;

Si modo clamantis revocaverit aura puella?, Concessum nulla lege redibit iter.

PROPER. LIB. II. ELEG. XXVI.


KISSES. 71


KISS XIII.


VV ITH am'rous strife exanimate I lay, Around your neck my languid arm I threw ;

My trembling heart had just forgot to play, Its vital spirit from my bosom flew :

The Stygian lake ; the dreary realms below, To which the sun a chearing beam denies ;

Old Charon's boat, slow-wand'ring to and fro, Promiscuous pass'd before my swimming eyes :

When you, Neoera ! with your humid breath, O'er my parch'd lips the deep-fetch'd kiss be- stow 'd ;

Sudden, my fleeting soul return'd from death, And freightless hence th' infernal pilot row'd.


The youth, whom love instructs, may read his doom ; What death he'll die, and when that death shall come : Nor Boreas' rage, nor hostile steel he fears; In vain for him on Acheron appears The ghastly mariner ;— in vain his sail Swells proud, distended by th' infernal gale ; If the dear nymph, whom most his soul adores, With grateful breath his wish'd return implores : Her pow'rful voice, with rapture, he'll obey ; And, spite of fate, review life's cheerful day.


7$ BASIA.

Erravi : — vacua non remigat ille carina, Flebilis ad maneis jam natat umbra mea.

Pars animce, mea vita, tuce hoc in corpore vivit ; Et dilapsuros sustinet articulos.

Quce tamen, impatiens, in pristina jura reverti Scepe per arcanas nititur, cegra, vias.

Ac, nisi dilectd per tefoveatur ah aurd y Jam collabenteis deserit articulos.

Ergo, age, labra meis innecte tenacia labris, Assidueque duos spiritus unus alat.


[Pars atiima, &c] This transfusion of soul is a conceit which the elegant Voiture has very happily touched upon in the following stanzas :

Mon ame sur ma levre estoit lors toute entiere, Pour savourer le miel qui sur la vostre estoit :

Mais en me retirant, file resta derriere, Tant de ce doux plaisir 1'ajnorce l'arrestoit.

S'esgarant de ma bouche, elle entra dans la vostre, Yvre de ce nectar qui charmoit ma raison :

Et sans doute, elle prit une porte pour l'autre, Et ne luy souvint plus quelle estoit sa maison.


KISSES. 7»


Yet soft, — for, oh ! my crying senses stray ; — Not quite unfreighted to the Stygian shore

Old Charon steer'd his lurid bark away, My plaintive shade he to the Manes bore.

Then since my soul can here no more remain, A part of mine, sweet life ! that loss supplies ;

But what this feeble fabric must sustain, If of thy soul that part its aid denies ?

And much I fear : — for, struggling to be free, Oft from its new abode it fain would roam ;

Oft seeks, impatient to return to thee, Some secret pass to gain its native home.

Unless thy fost'ring breath retards its flight, It now prepares to quit this falling frame ;

Haste, then, to mine thy clingy lips unite, And let one spirit feed each vital flame !


Mes pleurs n'ont pu depuis flescher cette inftdelk, A quittet un sejour qu'elle trouva si doux ;

Et te suis en langueur, sans repos, et sans elle,

Et sans moy-mesme aussi, lors que je suis sansvous.

Elle ne peut laisser ce lieu tant desirable,

Ce beaa temple ou l'amour est de nous adore;

Pour entrer derechef en l'enfer miserable, Oil le ciel a voulu qu'elle ait tant endure.

voiture.


74 BASIA.

Donee, in expleti post tcedia serafuroris, Unica de gemino corpore vitajluet.


There is a little epigram in Manillas which contains the same thought as this Basium ; it is so neatly and delicately turned, that I am certain my readers will not be displeased to see it inserted here •.

Suaviolum invitae rapio dum casta Neaera,

Imprudens vestris liqui animam in labiis. Exanimiisque diu, cum nee per se ipsa rediret,

Et mora laethalis quantulacumque foret, Misi cor quaesitum animam, sed cor quoque blandis

Captum oculis nunquam deinde mihi rediit. Quod nisi suaviolo, flammam quoque casta Neaera

Hausissem, quae me substinet exanimum, Ille dies misero mihi crede supremus amanti

Luxisset, rapui cum tibi suaviolum.

MARUL. EP1G. LID. II.

A kiss from chaste Neaera's lips I stole, But on those lips, in kissing, left my soul. Incautious youth!— long time the loss 1 mourn'd, And waited long, my soul still ne'er return'd ; At length, exanimate with slow delay, I sent my heart to seek my soul astray ; But my poor heart, by beauty's pow'r enchain'd, With my lost soul, and with the nymph remain'd : Then, oh ! unless, to foster this sad frame, I from Nesra's lips draw vital flame, That day I kiss'd thee must for ever prove Wretched to me, the greatest wretch in love !


KISSES. 75


Till, after frequent ecstasies of bliss,

Mutual, unsating to th' impassion'd heart,

From bodies thus conjoin'd, in one long kiss, That single life which nourish'd both shall part.


76 BASIA.


BAS1UM XIV.


(c^UlD prqfers mihi flammeum labeUum ? Non te, non volo basiare, dura ! Duro marmore durior, Nesera ! Tanti istas ego ut osculationes Imbelleis faciam, superba, vestras ; Ut, nervo toties rigens supino, Pertundam tunicas meas, tuasque ; Et desideriofurens inani, Tabescam, miser, icstuante vena ? Qubfugis ? — remane ! nee hos ocellos, Nee nega mihi flammeum labellum : Te jam, te volo basiare mollis ! Molli mollior anseris medulla !


[Quid profers mihi, &c] The reader must easily per- ceive, that the beginning of this kiss very much resembles, and is evidently written in the same spirit with, the begin- ning of the ninth kiss ;

Non semper udum da mihi basium, &c.

[Molli mollior, &c] This singular expression is imitated from the licentious Catullus :

Cinsede Thalle, mollior cuniculi capillo,

Vel anseris medullula. catui-l. carm. xxv.

Voluptuous Thallus ! softer far Than softest down, than softest hair.


KISSES. 77


KISS XIV.


1 HOSE tempting lips of scarlet glow, Why pout with fond, bewitching art ?

For to those lips, Neoera ! know, My lips shall not one kiss impart.

Perhaps you'd have me greatly prize, Hard-hearted fair ! your precious kiss ;

But learn, proud mortal ! I despise Such cold, such unimpassion'd bliss.

Think'st thou I calmly feel the flame

That all my rending bosom fires ? And patient bear, thro' all my frame,

The pangs of unallay'd desires ?

Ah ! no ; — but turn not thus aside Those tempting lips, of scarlet glow !

Nor yet avert, with angiy pride,

Those eyes, from whence such raptures flow \

Forgive the past, sweet-natur'd maid !

My kisses, love ! are all thy own ; Then let my lips o'er thine be laid,

O'er mine ! more soft than softest down !


78 BASIA.


BAS IUM XV.


ADDUCTO, Puer Idalius, post tempora, nervo, Stahat in exitium, pulchra Neaera, tuum.

dm front em, sparsosque videns injronte capillos ; Luminaque argutis ir-requieta notis;

Flammeolasque genas, & dignas matre papillas ; Jecit ah ambigui tele remissa manu :


[Cum frontem, sparsosque, &c.] The turn of this line differs but little from the following of Propertius :

Seu vidi ad frontem sparsos errare capillos.

PROP. ELEG. I. LIB. II.

If o'er that brow your playful hair I view'd.

In short, traces of Propertius appear throughout all the writ- ings of Secundus.

[Jecit ab nmlngua, &c] Of all the various instances of the force of female charms, I remember none so happy as this. Madame Dacier remarks, that the manner in which Helen's appearance wrought on the Grecian sages, as they sat at the Scaean gate to view the decisive combat between Menelaus and Paris, is the greatest panegyric on beauty she knows in any classical writer.

OV ^ tlr uv e.'oov EXei/>iv ^» CTV^ycv Itscav,

Ou vqj.£(Ti;, T?^c;s /-&• tvxvYi^Sas 'Ax afd f To(>;3' Kju.<(>i yuvaixt iroXuv %%lwv aTvysa vavyv--/.

HOMER. ILIAD. LIB. III.


KISSES. 79


KISS XV.


J. H' Idalian boy, to pierce Neaera's heart, Had bent his bow, had chose the fatal dart ; But when the child, in wonder lost, survey'd That brow, o'er which your sunny tresses play'd ! Those cheeks, thatblush'd the rose's warmest dye ! That streamy languish of your lucid eye ! That bosom, too, with matchless beauty bright ! Scarce Cypria's own could boast so pure a white ! Tho' mischief urg'd him first to wound my fair, Yet partial fondness urg'd him now to spare ; But, doubting still, he linger'd to decide ; At length resolv'd, he flung the shaft aside :


These, when the Spartan Queen approach'd the tovv'r, In secret own'd resistless beauty's pow'r ; They cry'd, no wonder such celestial charms For nine long years have set the world in arms.

POPE'S HOMEIl's ILIAD. BOOK III.

Very wonderful indeed are the powers which Tibullus as- cribes to the charms of his mistress :

Ssepe ego tentavi curas dcpellere vino ;

At dolor in lacrimas verterat omne merum. Saepe aliam tenui ; sed jam quum gaudia adirem,

Admonuit domino, deseruitque Venus.


80 BASIA.

lnque tuas cursu ejfusus, pueriliter, ulnas,

Mille tihifixit basia, mille modis ;

Quce succos tili myrteolos, Cypriosque liquor es, Pectoris affiarunt usque sub ima tui :

Jaravitque Deos omneis, Veneremque parentem, Nil tili post unquam velle movere mali.

Et miremur adhuc, cur tam tua basia fragrent f Duraque cur miti semper amore vaces ?


Tunc me devotum descendens femina dixit.

Et, pudet heu, narrat scire nefanda mea. Non facit hoc verbis ; facie tenerisque lacertis

Devovet, et flavis nostra puella comis.

TIRULL. ELEG. VI. LIB. I,

With wine I strove to soothe my love-sick soul, But vengeful Cupid dash'd with tears the bowl : All mad with rage, to kinder nymphs I flew ; But vigour fled me, when I thought on you. Balk'd of the rapture, from my arms they run, Swear I'm devoted, and my converse shun ! By what dire witchcraft am I thus betray'd? Your face and hair unnerve me, matchless maid !

GRAINGER.

For an explanation of the word devovere, see the notes of Tibullus's commentator, Broekhusius, or those of this tran- slator. — But, surely, no example of the effects of beauty can equal the delicate one Secundus gives us in this Kiss.

[Et miremur adhuc, &c] What can be more delicately beautiful than this happy fiction, which at the same time accounts for the delicious sweetness of Ntsera's kisses, and the extreme coldness of her heart ?


KISSES. 61


Then rush'd impetuous to thy circling arms, And hung voluptuous o'er thy heav'nly charms : There, as the boy in wanton folds was laid, His lips on thine in various kisses play'd ; With ev'ry kiss he tried a thousand wiles ; A thousand gestures, and a thousand smiles ; Your inmost breast with Cyprian odours fill'd. And all the myrtle's luscious scent instili'd : Lastly, he swore by ev'ry pow'r above ! By Venus' self, the potent queen of love ! That thou, blest nymph ! for ever shouldst remain Exempt from am'rous care, from am'rous pain. What wonder, then, such balmy sweets should Mow In ev'ry grateful kiss thy lips bestow ! What wonder, then, obdurate maid ! you prove Averse to all die tenderness of love !


82 BASIA.


BASIUM XVI.


LiATONJE niveo sidere Uandior ! Et stelta Veneris pulchrior aurea .' Da mi basia centum.

Da tot basia, quot dcdit

Vati multivolo Lesbia, quot tulit: Quot llandce Veneres, quotque Cupidines Et lobelia per-errant, Et genas roseas tuas ;


[Vati multivolo, &c] Catullus is here meant, alluding most probably to the following lines ;

Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus, Rumoiesque senum severiorum Omnes unius aestimemus assis. Soles occidere, et redire possunt: Nobis, cum semel oecidit brevis lux, Nox est perpetua una dormienda. Da mi hasia mille, deinde centum, Dein mille altera, da secunda centum, Deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum : Dein cum millia multa fecerimus, Conturbabimus ilia, ne sciamus, Aut ne quis mains invidere possit, Cum tantum sciant esse basiorum.

CATULL. CARM. V.


KISSES. 83


KISS XVI.


BRIGHT as Venus' golden star ! And as silver Cynthia fair ! Nymph, with ev'ry charm replete ! Give an hundred kisses sweet ;


My dearest Lesbia ! let's employ

Youth's transient date in am'rous joy ;

Nor heed, tho' fretful age reprove

The raptures of unbounded love :

Each sun that sets again shall rise ;

Not so, when death has seal'd our eyes ;

Life's little gleam of sunshine o'er,

We sleep, alas ! to 'wake no more !

A thousand tender kisses give,

Let me an hundred more receive,

A second thousand grant me still,

A second hundred now fulfil,

Another thousand o'er again,

Another rapt'rous hundred then :

And, when the thousands num'rous grow,

Let's cease to count, that none may know

What endless sums of bliss I owe.

[Quot hlandce Veneres, &c] The French versificator has imitated the beginning of this kiss with exquisite delicacy ;

Oui ; de ta bouche en f antine Donne moi dans ces vergers Autant de furtifs baisers Qu' Ovide en prit a Corine ;


S4 BASIA.

Quot vitas oculis, cjuotque neceis geris, Quo t spes, cjuotque metus, quot que perennibus Mist a gaudia curis, Et suspiria amantium.

Da, quam multa meo spicula pectori Insevit volucris dira manus Dei : Et quhm multa pharetrd Conservavit in aurect.


Autant (je n'en veux plus)

Qu'il nait d' Amours sur tes traces,

Qu'on voit jouer de Venus

Et de beautes et de graces,

Sur ton sein, entre tes bras,

Dans ton delicat sourire,

Dans tout ce que tu sais dire, —

Et ce que tu ne dis pas ;

Autant que ton oeil de flamme,

Arme de seductions,

Lance d'aimable rayons,

Et de traits qui vont a l'ame,

De voluptucux desirs,

De rapides esperanccs,

Et d'amoureuses vengeances,

Signal de nouveaux plaisirs ;


KISSES. 8.5


Then as many kisses more O'er my lips profusely pour, As th' insatiate bard could want, Or his bounteous Lesbia grant ; As the vagrant loves, that stray On thy lip's nectareous way ; As the dimpling graces spread On thy cheeks' carnation'd bed j As the deaths thy lovers die ; As the conquests of thine eye ; Or the cares, and fond delights, Which its changeful beam incites •> As the hopes and fears we prove, Or th' impassion'd sighs, in love ; As the shafts by Cupid sped, Shafts ! by which my heart has bled \ As the countless stores, that still All his golden quiver fill.


Autant que nos tourterelles Roucoulent de tendres feux, Quand le printems de ses ailes Semble caresser ces lieux.

DORAT. RAISER V.


80 BASIA.

Adde & blanditias, verbaque publico,, Et cum suavi-crepis murmur a sibilis, Risu non sine grato,

Gratis non sine morsibus :

Qualeis Chaoniae gnrrula motihus Alternant tremulis rostra columbuhe, Cum se dura remittit Primis Bruma Favoniis.


[Qualeis Chaoniae, &c] Chaonia was a part of Epirus, consisting of wooded mountains, abounding in doves ; hence doves are often called, by the Latin poets, Chaoniae Columbae. Non me Chaonia? vincunt in amore columbae.

PROPER. ELEG. IX. LIB. I.

Chaonian doves are not more fond than me.

Tasso thus prettily mentions the caresses of two turtles :

Mira la quel Colombo, Con che dolce susurro lusingando, Bacia la sua compagna.

TASSO. AMINTA, ATTO I.

See, as yon flatt'ring turtle woos, His tender love how fond he coos ; And frequent to his faithful mate Gives many a billing kiss so sweet!


KISSES. 87


Whisper'd plaints, and wanton wiles ; Speeches soft, and soothing smiles ; Teeth-imprinted, tell-tale blisses j Intermix with all thy kisses : So, when zephyr's breezy wing Wafts the balmy breath of spring, Turtles thus their loves repeat, Fondly-billing, murm'ring-sweet ; While their trembling pinions tell What delights their bosoms swell.

Now, when joys o'erwhelm thy mind, On my glowing cheek reclin'd, All around, in am'rous trance, Let thine eyes voluptuous glance ; And, sufrus'd with passion's flames, Dart their sweetly-trembling gleams : Then, soft-languishing, and sighing, With delicious transport dying, Say to thy officious swain, " Now thy fainting fair sustain." In my fond, encircling arms I'll receive thy melting charms ; While the long, life-teeming kiss. Shall recal thy soul to bliss : And, as thus the vital store From my humid lips I pour.


88 BASIA.

Incumlensque meis mentis inops genis, Hue, illuc, oculos volve natatileis, Ex-anguemque, lacertis. Die, te sustineam meis.

Stringam nexililus te, te ego Irachiis, Frigentem calido pectore comprimam, Et vitam till longi

Reddam afflamine basii.

Donee suc-ciduum me quoque spiritus Istis roscidulis linquet in osculis, Lalentemque, lacertis, Dicam, collige me tuis.

Stringes nexililus me, mea, Irachiis, Mulcelis tepido pectore Jrigidum : Et vitam mihi longi af- Jlalis rore suavii.


[Incumlensque meis mentis, &c] Mr. Stanley has trans- lated this and the three following stanzas with great fidelity, if not with some degree of poetic harmony :


KISSES. 89


Till, exhausted with the play,

All my spirit wastes away ;

Sudden, in my turn, I'll cry,

" Oh ! support me, for I die."

To your fost'ring breast you'll hold me,

In your warm embrace enfold me ;

While thy breath, in nectar'd gales,

O'er my sinking soul prevails j

While thy kisses sweet impart

Life and rapture to the heart.

Thus, when youth is in its prime, Let's enjoy the golden time ;


Rest on my cheek in ecstasie, Ready to close thy dying eye ;

And as thou faintest away Me to uphold thee pray ;

My arms about thee I will twine ;

My warm to thy cold bosome joyn,

And call thee back from death, With a long kiss's breath ;

'Till me like fate of life bereave, Who in that kiss my spirit leave, And as I sink away Thee to uphold me pray ;

Thy arms about me thou shah ty, Thy warm to my cold breast apply, And summon me from death With a long kiss's breath.


90 BASIA.

.Siccevi, mea lux, tempora Jioiidi Carpamus simul. En, jam viiseralileu Curas cegra senectus

Et morbos trahet, & necem.


[Sic cevi, &c] Horace gives much such advice to his fair

friend Leuconoe :

Dum loquimur, fugerit invida ./Etas. Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.

HOI! OD. XI. LIB. I.

Even while we talk in careless ease, Our envious minutes wing theii flight!

Instant the fleeting pleasure seize, Nor trust to-morrow's doubtful light.

FRANCIS.

Hear in how eloquent a strain an English bard warns his mistress of the short duration of youth and beauty; urging her to make present use of them :

Take heed, my dear, youth flies apace ;

As well as Cupid, Time is blind : Soon must those glories of thy face The fate of vulgar beauty find : The thousand love's that arm thy potent eye Must drop their quivers, flag their wings, and die.

$? w tt ^P ^r 'R?

Haste, Cselia, haste, while youth invites ;

Obey kind Cupid's present voice ; Fill ev'rv sense with soft delights, And give thy soul a loose to joys : Let millions of repeated blisses prove That thou all kindness art, and I all love.

PRIOR. AN ODE.


KISSES. 91


For, when smiling youth is past, Age these tender joys shall blast : Sickness, which our bloom impairs Slow-consuming, painful cares ; Death, with dire remorseless rage ; All attend the steps of age.


92 BASIA.


BAS1UM XVII.


C^UALEM purpureo diffundit mane colorem Quce rosa nocturnis roribus im-maduit :

Matutina rubent dominse sic oscula nostrce Basiolis, longd nocte, rigata meis.

Quce circhm fades niveo candor e coronal ; Virginis ut violam cum tenet alba manus.

Tale novum seris cerasum sub Jloribus ardet ; JEstatemque, & ver cum simul arbor habet.

Me miserum ! quare, cionflagrantissiniajungis Oscula, de thalamo cogor abire tuo P


[Tule novum seris, &c] This simile bears no small re- semblance to the following, which Ovid has in the story of Narcissus :

Dumque dolet, summa vestem deduxit ab ora, Nudaque marmoreis percussit pectora palmis. Pectora traxerunt tenuem percussa ruborem. Non aliter, quam poma solent ; qua; Candida parte, Parte rubent. Aut ut variis solet uva racemis Ducere purpureum, nondum matura, colorem.

OVID. METAM, LIB. III.


KISSES. 93


KISS XVII.


JaOSES, refresh'd with nightly dew, display, New beauties blushing to the dawn of day; So, by the kisses of a rapt'rous night, Thy vermil lips at morn blush doubly bright ; And from thy face, that's exquisitely fair, That vermil brightness seems more bright t' appear Deep purpled vi'lets thus a deeper glow, Held in some virgin's snowy hand, will show ; And early- rip'ning cherries thus assume, 'Mid the late blossoms, a superior bloom ; When spring and summer boast united pow'r, At once producing both the fruit and fiow'r. But why, when most thy kisses fire my heart, Why, from th' endearing transport must I part ?


Then, as he wept, he tore away his vest, And smote with marble hands his naked breast ; His breast, where printed with each frantic blow. In stains of deep'ning red began to glow ; So apples shew, one white u-nripen'd side Contrasting one with streaky crimson dy'd ; So clust'ring grapes with partial purple shine, Ere autumn well matures the loaded viae.


94 BASIA.

O saltern, lahris serva hunc, formosa, rulorem ; Dum tibi me referet noctis opaca quies !

Si tamem interea cnjusquam basia carpent, Ilia meis jiant pallidiora genis.


[Ilia meis Jiant pallidiora genis.'] i. e. paler than my cheeks shall become at seeing this evident testimony of infidelity, viz. your lips losing their rosy colour. The idea of infide- lity's being punished by some failure of beauty is also Horace's :

Ulla si juris tibi pejerati

Peena, Barine, nocuisset unquam :

Dente si nigro fieres, vel uno

Turpior ungui ; Crederem ; &c.

hor. lib. ii. on. viu.

If ever injur'd pow'r had shed The slightest vengeance on thy head, If but a nail or tooth of thee Were blacken'd by thy perjury, Again thy falshood might deceive, And I the faithless vow believe.

FRANCIS.

And thus Ovid to the same purpose :

Esse Deos credamne ? — fidem jurata fefellit, Et fades illi, quae fuit ante, manet.

Quam longos habuit, nondum perjura, capillos, Tam longos, postquam numina lassit, habet.

OVID. AMOR. LIB. HI. ELEG. 111.

Can there be Gods ? — the perjur'd fair-one swore, Yet looks as lovely as she look'd before. Long flow'd the careless tresses of her hair, While yet she shone as innocent as fair ; Long flow the tresses of the wanton now, And sport as trophies of her broken vow.

d u N k 1 n .


KISSES. 95


Oh ! let that crimson on those lips remain Till ev'ning brings me to thy arms again : Yet should those lips ere then some rival bless, Some youth whom thou in secret shalt caress ; Then may they cease for ever to disclose That beauteous blush, which emulates the rose ! Then paler turn, than my pale cheek shall prove, Whene'er I view this mark of faithless love !


g6 BASIA.


BASIUM XVIII


\yUM lahra nostrce cerneret puellae, Inclusa circo candidce figurce j (Ut si quis ornet, arte curiosd, Corallinis eburna signa baccis ;) Flevisse fertur Cypris, & gemendo Lascivienteis convocasse amores ; Et, " quid'juvat fdixissej purpuratis " Vicisse in Ida Palladem label lis,


[Ut si quis ornet, &c] Secundus here seems to have had m eye to the following lines of Virgil :

lndum sanguineo veluti violaverit ostro

Si quis ebur, f.ut mista rubent ubi lilia multa

Alba rosa.

V1RG. .ENE1D. XII.

So looks the beauteous iv'ry, stain'd with red ; So roses, mix'd with lilies in the bed, Blend their rich hues.

PITT.


KISSES. 97


KISS XVIII.


W HEN Cytherea first beheld Those lips with ruby lustre bright,

Those lips ! which, as they blushing swell'd, Blush'd deeper frcm th' incircling white,,

(So, when some artist's skill inlays

Coral mid iv'ry's paler hue, That height'ning coral soon displays

A warmer crimson to the view;)

Then, urg'd by envy and by hate, Which rising 3ighs and tears betray'd,

She called her wanton loves ; — and strait The wanton loves her call obey'd :

To whom the queen in plaintive strain ; — " Ah 1 what, my boys, avails it now,

" That to these lips the Phrygian swain " Decreed the prize on Ida's brow?

H


98 EASIA.

" Et pronubam magni Jovis sororem

" Sub arbitro pastore P Cum Neaera

" Hccc ante-cellat, arbitro poeta ?

u At vos, furentes, itc in hunc poetam,

" Et, dira plenis tela de pharetris,

" In illius medullulas tenellas,

" Peetusque per, jecurque per jocosum,

" Distringite acres perstrepente cornu.

    • At ilia nullo pertepescat igne,

" Sed tacta pectus plumbed sagittd

" Torpescat imas congelata venas."


[Et pronubam magni, &c] Pronuba is a title given to Juno, from her being supposed to preside over marriages.

[Sub arbitro pastore f &c] The story of the judgment of Paris is too well known to be related here ; Paris gives a beau- tiful description of it, in the epistle which Ovid makes him writes to Helen, — Vide Ovid. Epist. xvi. Paris Helenas.

[Plumbed sagittd, &c] The God of love was said to have two kinds of darts ; one of gold, causing love ; the other of lead, causing hate. Ovid, in the story of Apollo and Daphne, thus mentions them :

Eque sagittifera prompsit duo tela pharetrl Diversorum operum. Fugat hoc, facit illud amorem. Quod facit, auratum est, ct cuspide fulget acuta : Quod fugat, obtusum est, ethabet sub arundine plumbum^

OVID. METAM. LIB. I.


KISSES. 99


" That prize ! for which, elate with pride, " The martial maid contentious strove ;

" That prize ! to Juno's self denied, " Tho' sister, tho' the wife of Jove :

" If, to pervert this swain's decree, " A poet's partial judgment dare

" His mortal nymph prefer to me, " Her lips with lips divine compare !

" Swift, then, ye vengeful Cupids, fly " With loaded quivers to the bard ;

" Let all the pangs ye can supply " His matchless insolence reward :

" Go, practise ev'ry cruel art

" Revenge can frame, without delay ; " His bosom pierce with ev'ry dart

" Which love's soft poison may convey :

' ' But wound not with such darts the fair, " Her breast must ever cold remain ;

" Your shafts of lead lodge deeply there, '* To freeze the current of each vein.


Two shafts he drew from the full quiver's store ; As one caus'd love, so one repell'd its pow'r; Sharp was the shaft which caus'd, and gold the head ; That which repell'd was barb'd with blunted lead.


100 BASIA.

Evinit : imis uror in medulfis, Et torrido jecur liquescit igne ; Tufulta pectus asperis pritinis Et caute, qualeis aut maris Sicani, Aut Adriae undo, tundit ustuosa, Secura ludis impotentem amantem ; Ingrata ! propter ista labra rubra Laudata plector . Heu ! misella, nescis y Cur oderis : nee ira quid Deorum Effrena possit, & furor Diones !


[Qualeis aut maris Sicani, &c] The Sicilian sea, form- ing a part of the Ionian, is remarkable for those terrors to navigators, Scylla and Charybdis. See a beautiful description of them in Virgil, iEneid iii. — And the Adriatic sea, or Gulph of Venice, is celebrated for being tempestuous by many classics. Thus Horace, by way of comparison; ,

Et improbo Iracundior Adria.

HOR. OD. IX. lib. in. More angry than the Adrian sea.


".gain,


Fretisacrior Adrise Curvantis Calabros sinus.

OD. XXXIII. LIB. I.

Fiercer than Adrian waves that roar, Winding the rough Calabrian shore.


KISSES. 101


She spoke : — now more than usual fire Consumes apace my melting soul ;

And now, fierce torrents of desire Tumultuous thro' my bosom roll :

While thou, whose icy heart betrays No more concern than rocks that brave

The fury of Sicilian seas,

Or Adria's rudely-dashing wave,

Canst, in unfeeling scorn secure, Mock all thy tortur'd lover's pain ;

Who for fond praise is doom'd t' endure, Ungrateful maid ! thy cold disdain.

Yet why, proud wretch ! you thus despise You know not ; — nor how fierce may prove

Th' ungovern'd anger of the skies, The vengeance of the queen of love I

But, oh ! no more pursue that scorn, Which ill becomes each outward grace ;

Sure, sweetest manners should adorn The nymph who boasts so sweet a face !

Then let thy lips to mine be prest,

Those honied lips ! which cause my care :

Imbibing from my inmost breast The latent poison rankling there :


102 BASIA.

Duros remitte, mollicella, fastus ; Isloquc dignos ore sume mores : Et, quae meorum caussa sunt dolorum, Mellita labris necte labra nostris : Haurire possis ut mei pusillum Prcecordiis ex intimis veneni y Et mutuis languerevictajiammis. At nee Deos, nee tu time Dionen : Formosa Divis imperat puella !


[Is toque dignos ore., etc.] When Secundus thus tenderly complains of the cruel behaviour of his Neeera, ill-suited to such divine beauty as her's ; I cannot help calling to mind a similar complaint, in Cowley, which is exquisitely delicate :

Love in her sunny eyes does basking play ;

Love walks the pleasant mazes of her hair; Love does on both her lips for ever stray ;

And sows and reaps a thousand kisses there: In all her outward parts love's alwayes seen ; But, oh ! he never went within !

cowley's aijstuess, thf change.


KISSES. 10!


And as you thus partake the smart Of all my torture, — in your turn

You'll catch the flame that warms my heart, And soon with mutual passion burn.

But fear not thou the pow'rs divine, Fear not the potent queen of love !

Beauty, well-guarded maid ! like thine, Can sway th' imperial souls above.


104 BASIA.


BASIUM XIX.


IyIeLLI-LEGM volucres \ quid adhuc thyma cana, rosasque, Et rorem vernae nectareum violae,

Lingitis ? autJLorem latc-spirantis anethi ? Omnes, ad dominae labra, venite, mece.

Ilia rosas spirant omneis, thymaque omnia sola, Et succum vernse nectareum vicJae :

Inde procul dukes aurce funduntur anethi : Narcissi veris ilia madent lachrymis ;


[Omnes, ad dominae, &c] The thirtieth and last Basium of Lernutius appears to be evidently a concise and not inele- gant imitation of this last of Secundus. I shall here tran- scribe it entire, for my readers to judge:

Extruite heic cellas, volucres florentis Hymetti, Et domina? in roseis mellifkate labris :

Nam quaecunque me<8 libaverit oscula Hyellae, Ultra Cecropias nectar habebit apes.

l.EKNUTII BASIUM XXX.


KISSES. 105


KISS XIX,


W HY wing your flight, ye bees \ from, flow'r

to flow'r ? Why, toiling thus, collect the luscious store From blossom'd thyme empurpling all the ground $ From the rich anise breathing odours round ? Why sip the vernal vi'let's nectar'd dew ? Or spoil the fragrant rose of blushing hue ? Fly to the lips, ye wantons ! of my fair j Arid gather all your balmy treasures there ;


Ye, that o'er sweet Hymettus wont to rove On busy wing, go seek my sweeter love ; Build on her roseate lips your waxen cells ; Those roseate lips, where genuine honey dwells ! For, know, Hyella's kiss such nectar yields As bees ne'er gather'd in Cecropian fields.

Since the Essay on the Life and Writings of Secundus, where Lernutius is mentioned, went to the press, I have been lucky enough to meet with the following short account of this author, in the supplement to Moreri's Dictionary : "Lernutius (Janus) de Bruges, naquit en 1545, & mourut en 1619. Etoit Poete ; mais il n'employa presque sa Muse qu'a chanter 1' Amour. On trouve ses Pieces de Poesie dans le 3 Tome des Delices Belgiques, p. 114. Voyez Sweertius, p. 382. Sanderus in Brugens. p. 47."


106 BAS1A.

Oebaliique incident juvenis fragrante cruore ; Qualis uterque liquor, cum cecidisset, erut ;

Nectareque cetkerib medicatus, & aire puro, Impleret foetu versi-colore solum.


[Foetu versi-colore, &c] This is certainly a metamor- phosis of Secundus's own invention : he must mean flowers variegated with red and white in general, and not any varie- gated flower in particular ; for we no where read, in the classics, of any such to have sprung from the tears of Nar- cissus, mixed with the blood of hyacinthus. Narcissus, ac- cording to Ovid, was turned into a daffodil ; and the blood of Hyacinthus produced the hyacinth. Vide Ovid. Metam. Lib. iii. Fab. 6. and Lib. x. Fab. 5. However this may be, Secundus, beyond a doubt, is indebted for the poetical ima- gery he makes use of, to the following lines of Ovid, in the story of Adonis being transformed to an anemony, by Venus sprinkling his blood with nectar:

Sic fata, cruorem Nectare odorato spargit ; qui tactus ab illo Intumuit: sic ut pluvio perlucida coelo Surgere bulla solet : nee plena longior hora Facta mora est, cum flos e sanguine concolor ortus.

OVID. METAM. LIB. X.

Which Mr. Eusden thus prettily turns into English :

Then, on the blood sweet nectar she bestows ; The scented blood in little bubbles rose ; Little as rainy drops which flutt'ring fly, Borne by the winds along a low'ring sky. Short time ensu'd, till where the blood was shed A flow'r began to rear its purple head.

EUSDEN.


KISSES. 107


Thence catch the fragrance of the blushing rose ; Thence sip that dew which from the vi'let flows ; Thence the rich odours of the anise steal ; And thence the blossom'd thyme's perfume inhale : Lips ! where those tears in genuine moisture dwell, That from Narcissus self-enamour'd fell ; Lips ! deeply-ting'd with Hyacinthus' blood, Which, with the tears in one commingled flood, Impregnating the fertile womb of earth, First gave the variegated flow'r its birth ; Soon, by the nectar'd show'rs that heav'n bestow'd, With fanning gales, the motley offspring blow'd : For drops of blood, lo ! crimson streaks appear ; And streaks uncolour'd for each lucid tear.


Nectar, according to the ancient poets, seemed a principal requisite for working any supernatural change in the vegeta- ble world. Nectar produced the rose, as the Teian Bard

c - in s s *•

Maxsftuv 3e3v 3' o/mKo;,

PoJoV a; T'EVOITO, V£KT«J

<*>urov ajX^OTOv Ata.'a

ANAC, OD. LIH.

But, first, th' assembled Gods debate

The future wonder to create:

Agreed at length, from heav'n they threw

A drop of rich nectareous dew ;

A bramble-stem the drop receives,

And straight the rose adorns the leaves.

The Gods to Bacchus cave the flower,

To srrace him in the srcnial hour. fawkes.


108 BASIA.

Sed me, jure meo lilantem mellea labra, Ingratae, socium ne prohihetefavis.

Non etiam totas, avicbe, distendite cellas, Arescant dominos ne semel ora mea •

Basiaque im-pressans siccis sitientia labris, Garrulus indicii tristeferam pretium.

Hcu l^non & stimulis com-pungite molle labellum: Ex oculis stimulos vibrat & ilia pareis.

Credite, non ullum patietur vulnus in-ultum ; Leniter in-nocu.c mella legatis apes.


At the end of these Poems it may not be improper to re- mark, that, though Secundus seems to make an indiscrimi- nate use of the three Latin words, signifying a kiss, Oscu- lum, Basium, and Suavium, yet they had different significa- tions among the ancient classics : Osculum was the kiss of duty, or of friendship ; Basium was the kiss of affection, and of love ; Suavium was the kiss of wantonness, the libidinous kiss ; tiiough some will have it that Basium is used in this last sense, and that Suavium is the kiss of chaster love. — ti. celebrated grammarian of antiquity has the following words upon this subject : " Oscula ofliciorum sunt, basia pudicorum affectuum, suavia libidinum vel amorum." /Elius Donatus.


KISSES. log


But still, ye bees well-favour'd ! grateful prove ; Let no unkind refusals pay my love, If e'er I claim (what's sure my rightful due) To share those lips, those honied lips ! with you : Nor suck insatiate all their balm away, And to your bursting cells die sweets convey : Lest, when to cool my fever'd lips I try, Necera's lips no cooling dews supply ; Then shall I justly reap the sad reward Of what misguided confidence declar'd.

And, oh ! to wound her tender lips forbear; Or dread die fatal vengeance of the fair ; Tho' sharp your stings, her eyes can scatter round Darts that with more tormenting stings may wound! Nor, as ye sip, inflict the slightest pain, For unreveng'd the wrong will ne'er remain ; But gently gather, from those precious rills, Th' ambrosial drops eacli humid lip distils.


EPITHALAMIUM.


i 1 2 EPI T HAL AMI UM.


EPITHALAMIUM.


JtlORA suaviculcu, &voluptuosai Hora blanditiis, lepore, risu j Hora deticiis, jocis, susurris ; Hora suaviols, parique mag?iis Cum Diis & Jove transigenda sorte Hora qua poterat beatiorem.


[Horn qua poterat, &c] Bonefonius thus imitates this passage :

Nox felicibus invidenda Divis, Qua nee Juno mihi beatiorem, Nee possit Venus ipsa polliceri.

BONEFON. PANCHARIS.

Thus rendered by an anonymous imitator;

That night, Which Gods wou'd envv if they knew ; A night so pleasant Juno can't bestow, Nor could the Queen of love with Mars a better know.

ANONYM.


EPTTHALAMIUM. 113


THE


EPITHALAMIUM.


JljL AIL, genial hour !

In myrtle bow'r Of young-eyed pleasure born ;

Whom wanton wiles,

And jests, and smiles, And roseate sports adorn. \

Sweet hour, all hail !

With envy pale Which Jove himself might see ;

And own, at least,

His nectar'd feast Equall'd, sweet hour ! by thee.

No happier hour The Gnydian pow'r

Could on blest man bestow : Nor he, who reigns O'er farthest plains,

God of the fatal bow,

T


114 EPITHALAM1UM.

Nee Gnydi Dea sancta polliceri ; Nee qui cum pharetrd pererrat orlem,


\Nec qui cum pharetrd, &c] Elegantly descriptive of the little winged deity as these lines of Secundus may be, the classical reader may not be displeased to see, in this place, an admirable picture of Cupid completely equipped, drawn by one of the first poetic painters of amorous subjects, who likewise explains the meaning of his different accoutre- ments ;

Quicunque ille fuit puerum qui pinxit Amorem,

Nonne putas miras hunc habuisse manus ? Is primiim vidit sine sensu vivere amantes,

Et levibus curis magna perire bona. Idem non frustra ventosas addidit alas, Fecit et humano corde volare Deum. Scilicet alterna quoniam jactamur in unda, Nostraque non ullis permanet aura locis. Et merito hamatis manus est armata sagittis,

Et pharetra ex humero Cnosia utroque jacet: Ante ferit quoniam, tuti quam cernimus hostem, Nee quisquam ex illo vulnere sanus abit.

PROPERT. ELEG. XII. LIB. II,

Whoe'er it was love's infant pow'r that drew, Did not vast skill his wond'rous hands endue ? He saw how small the judgment lovers share, That solid good they'd yield to trivial care : Flutt'ring o'er human hearts he feign'd the god, Nor vainly were his wanton wings bestow'd ; For they denote th' inconstancy of love, Denote the tumults am'rous bosoms prove ;


EPITHALAMIUM. 115

Young Cupid ! wild

As any child, Who shakes his purple wings ;

And some rich joy,

Delicious boy ! On ev'ry sorrow flings :

Nor thou, great queen !

UnrivalTd seen Witli wond'rous grace to move ;

At love's high feast

A bidden guest, Sister, and wife of Jove :


His youthful hand with bearded shafts he grac'd, Behind each shoulder the full quiver plac'd ; These mark the latent mischiefs of the boy, And that, if once he wounds, his wounds destroy.

Prior may have copied from the Latin Classic the following- similar portrait of the God of love •.

Fast in his hand the idol holds his bow :

A quiver by his side sustains a store

Of pointed darts ; sad emblems of his pow'r :

A. pair of wings he has, which he extends

Now to be gone ; which now again he bends

Prone to return, as best may serve his wanton ends.

rruou, solomon, hook ii.


116 EP1THALAMIUM.

Curls gaudia delicata miscens, Penna splendidus aurea Cupido ; Magni pronuba nee Soror Tonantis ; Nee quijloridulas Hymen paellas, Raptas e gremio tenace malrum, Involvit cupidu viri lacertis, Rupis incolajloriger canorae ;


[Curis gaudia, &c] Secundus, in mentioning this attri- bute of the God of love, seems rather to have improved upon the expression of Catullus ;

Sancte Puer, euris hominum qui gaudia misces.

Catul. Epithal. Pelei fif Tkctid.

Celestial youth ! 'tis thy delight to throw On human bliss some tinge of human woe.

Love, in like manner, is represented, by an English bard, blending joy and care ;

Come to my breast, thou rosy-smiling God ! Come unconfin'd ! bring all thy joys along, All thy soft cares, and mix them copious here.

THOMSON. SOPHONISBA.

Guarini has a beautiful antithesis, expressive of this idea : O, dolcezze amarissime d'amore !

GUARIN. PASTOR FIDO. ATTO 111.

O, most imbitter'd sweets of love!


EPITHALAMIUM. 117

Nor, Hymen ! thou,

Upon the brow Of tuneful mountain born ;

Who dwell 'st in bow'rs

Of am'rous flow'rs 5 And, from her mother torn,

Lead' st much afraid,

Much pleas'd, the maid, (Midst doubts, and hopes, and sighs)

To the dear youth,

Who full of truth, In wild expectance lies.


[Nee qui Jloridulas, &c] Murctus speaks in the very same words :

Sanctus Hymen, qui seductas a matre puellas Abripit, inque viri collocat ipse sinu.

MURET. ELEG. I.

Blest Hymen ! you to fonder youths convey Maids, whom from mothers fond you bear away.

But Catullus certainly furnished the thought to both our mo- dern poets :

Uranise genus, Qui rapis teneram ad virum Virginem.

Catul. Epithal. Manlii & Junice. Urania's child ! 'tis thine to bear To the fond youth his tender fair.


US EPITHALAMIUM.


Advecta est, serie rotante coeli. O, felix juvenis, puella felix !

Felix sponse ! cu'i cupitajlamma Jam nunc in geminis quiescet ulnis, Puella aetheria Leata forma !


[Puella atheria leata forma!] This line, concisely ele- gant, expresses more than the most laboured accuracy eoulil have done.

What images shall eloquence prepare To paint a form so perfect and divine ?

LANSDOWNE. HEROIC LOVE.

But of all the pens that ever yet attempted to delineate. the several component parts of personal beauty, I know of none that has succeeded so happily as the pen of the descriptive author of the Seasons :

The faultless form, Shap'd by the hand of harmony ; the cheek Where the live crimson, thro' the native white Soft-shooting, o'er the face diffuses bloom, And ev'ry nameless grace ; the parted lip, Like the red rose-bud, moist with morning-dew, Breathing delight; and, under flowing jet, Or sunny ringlets, or of circling brown, The neck slight-shaded, and the swelling breast ; The look resistless, piercing to the soul, And by the soul inform'd.

THOMSON. SUMMER.


EPITHALAMIUM. iuj

O hour of bliss !

To equal this Olympus strives in vain :

O happy pair !

O happy fair ! O happy, happy swain !

Hail, wedded boy !

Whose only joy Soon in thy arms shall rest ;

And face to face,

In fond embrace, Sink gently on thy breast :

She ! who all day

An infant lay Prattling at beauty's feet ;

Who kiss'd the child,

And, as it smil'd, Breadi'd o'er it ev'ry sweet ;

Breath'd charms so bright.

That at the sight Venus shrunk back with awe ;

And from her skies,

With envious eyes, Indignant Juno saw.


120 EP1THALAMIUM.


Qualem magna Venus ; velitque Juno ;

Et quae casside mart'ia refulget

Sancto vertice procreata, Pallas ;

Sijunctce statuant adire valleis

Umhrosas iterum virentis Idae ;

Qua spectanda, vel haec, vel haec, vel ilia,

(QuovisjudicioJ superla, malum,


[Sancto vertice, &c] The extraordinary birth of Pallas is well known ; thus Ovid,

De capitis, fertur, sine matre paterni,


Vertice cum clypeo prosiluisse suo.

OVID. FAST. LIB. III.

From her great father's pregnant brain, 'tis said, Arm'd like some warrior, sprang the martial maid.

[Virentis Idae.] The place where Paris decided the pre-emi- nence of beauty between the three contending goddesses in favour of Venus, according to the fiction of the ancient poets, was mount Ida, to which the epithet virens is extremely ap- plicable, Homer frequently describing it as beautifully clothed with woods. Valerius Flaccus, in like manner, calls it fron- dosa Ida. — Vide Val. Flac. Lib. iv.

[Qua spectanda, &c] Propertius, too, was of opinion, that only a form such as his mistress possessed deserved the prize of beauty :


EPITHALAMIUM. 121


A nobler mien : E'en Wisdom's queen With female anger glow'd ; And ask'd what chance, At each proud glance,

Such matchless gifts bestow'd ?

Should they all three

Once more agree To visit Ida's shade,

And should again

The shepherd swain Be of the contest made


Cedite jam, Divse, quas Pastor viderat olim Idffiis tunicam ponere verticibus.

PROrERT. LIB. XI. ELEG. II.

Yield, beauteous pow'rs ! whom once the swain beheld Ontda's brow, with ev'ry charm reveal'd. An eminent English poet has the same thought ; but whe- ther borrowed either from Propertius, or Secundus, I shall not pretend to determine :

A rural judge dispos'd of beauty's prize ;

A simple shepherd was preferr'd to Jove : Down to the mountains from the partial skies, Came Juno, Pallas, and the Queen of love, To plead for that, which was so justly giv'n To the bright Carlisle of the court of heav'n.

Waller. The Country to my Lady of Carlisle.


122 EPITHALAMIUM.

Victrix, aureolum reportet astris. O t felix juvenis, puella felix !

Felix sponsa ! cui cupitus ardor Affusus modb lectulo in beato, Stringet colla tenacihus lacertis, Insigni juvenis venustus ore ! Istis qui roseis tuis labellis, Istis qui niveis tuis papillis. Is to qui rutilante crine tactus, Isto lumine qui loquace victus, Jampridem tacito voratur igni :


[Tacito voratur igni.] This expression is exquisitely deli- cate, and reminds me of an elegant little copy of verses, in the Spectator, upon a gentleman's loving a lady of superior rank to himself; in which are the following lines, beautifully descriptive of respectful, silent love.

Languish in secret, and with dumb surprise Drink the resistless glances of her eyes ; - At awful distance entertain thy grief, Be still in pain, but never ask relief.

SPECTATOR. NO. DXCI.


EPITHALAMIUM. 123

Sole judge: no more

To Paphos' bow'r Wou'd laughing Venus bear

The prize away ;

No longer say, " Pm fairest of the fair !"

But with one choice,

With one loud voice, Hers would the apple be,

In features, sense,

And elegance, Who most resembled thee.

O hour of bliss !

To equal this Olympus strives in vain :

O happy pair !

O happy fair ! O happy, happy swain !

Hail, happy bride !

Thy husband's pride, Who soon in eager fold,

The conscious bed,

With blushes red, Thy virgin neck shall hold.


124 EPITHALAMIUM.

Leniumque increpat, usque & usque solem ; Tardamque invocat, usque £ff usque lunam. O, felix juvenis, puella felix !

Votis, fervide sponse, parce votis ; Et suspiria mitte, mitte questus : Tempus accelerat suave : Mitis Exaudit gemitus Venus suorum :


[Lentumque increpat, &c] This, and the following line, admirably express the eager wishes of love ; and are not ex- celled even by the poetic strain, in which Shakespeare's Juliet vents her fond impatience :

Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds, Tow'rds Phoebus' mansion ; such a waggoner As Phaeton would whip you to the west, And bring in cloudy night immediately. Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night, That th' run-away's eyes may wink ; and Romeo Leap to these arms, untalkt of and unseen.

SHAKESPEARE. BOMEO AND JULIET.


EP1THALAMIUM. 125


Long hath the fire

Of slow desire His early prime consum'd ;

Marking, as blows

The opening rose, How thy young beauties bloom' d

Thy breasts of snow ;

Thy lips that glow In heal tli divinely warm ;

And thy bright hair,

With artless care Whose wanton ringlets charm.

" Ne'er will the sun

" His circuit run ?" Impatient of delay,

He sighing cries :

" O moon, arise ! " O come, O come away !

" Come, mildly bright,

" Pure orb of light !

  • ' To thee such scenes belong :

" Come, ev'ry star !

" And from afar «■* Begin the bridal song."


126 EPITHALAMIUM.

Condit Cynthius ora, condit ora ; Seque gurgite perluens Ibero Cedit nocti-vagae locum Sorori :


[Seque gurgite, &c] Virgil too describes night, by the sun immerging itself into the Iberian sea:

Continuo pugnas ineant, & praelia tentent ; Ni roseus fessos jam gvirgite Phcebus Ibero Tingat equos, noctemque die labente reducat ; Considunt castris ante urbem, & mcenia valiant.

VIRG. ^NEID. LIB. XI.

Soon had the heroes join'd the horrid fight ; But now the sun roli'd down the rapid light ; And plung'd, beneath the red Iberian sea, The panting steeds that drew the burning day. Before the city camp th' impatient pow'rs ; These to defend, and those to storm the tow'rs.

PITT.

[Cedit. nocti-vags, &c] This passage is likewise a very evident imitation from Virgil:

Jamque dies coelo concesserat, almaque curru Noctivago Phcebe medium pulsabat Olympum.

VIRG. ffiNElD. LIB. X.

Now day forsook the skies, and high in air Bland Phcebe sped her nightly-wand' ring car.


EPITHALAMIUM. 12;


O hour of bliss !

To equal this Olympus strives in vain :

O happy pair !

O happy fair ! O happy, happy swain !

Cease, cease thy fears,

Thy vows, thy tears, O, fervent bridegroom ! cease j

Soon shall thy heart,

No more to part, Resume its long-lost peace.

Soon from her throne

Of cygnet's down, With many a chaplet gay,

Love's constant friend !

Shall Venus bend, And chide the ling'ring day.

She chides ; — and see !

The burning sea Its radiant god receives :

Faintly he gleams,

And his shorn beams In blushing billows laves.


128 EPITHALAMIUM.

Et, quo gratior haud relucet ignis Conjunctis animis amore dulci, Producit caput, emicatque ccelo Ductor Hesperus aureee catervw. O, felix juvenis, puella fclix !


[Et, quo gratior, &c] Catullus, in like manner, men- tions the star of evening as grateful to love :

Hespere, qui coelo lucet jucundior ignis, Qui desponsa tua firmes connubia flamma ?

CATUI.L. CARM. NUPT.

What light in heav'n than Hesper shines more sweet, Wose ray confirms the nuptual bliss complete ?

[Ductor Hesperus, &c] The imagery contained in this line seems to have been copied by an old English bard ;

Did you not erst behold How Hesperus above yon clouds appear'd, Hesperus leading forth his beauteous heard ?

Randolph. An Eclogue to Mr. Johnson.

[Milton too has a similar expression, in these beautifully- descriptive lines :

Hesperus, that led The starry host, rode brightest, till the moon, Rising in clouded majesty, at length Apparent queen unveil'd her peerless light, And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.

MILTON. PAR. LOST, BOOK IV.


EPITHALAMIUM. i'2y

Sec, in her band

An ebon wand, How his lov'd sister guides

Her silver car,

Sweet wanderer ! Climbing heav'n's crystal sides.

Mark, too, that star,

To virgins dear, Hesper ! with glitt'ring head :

Who loves his train

O'er the blue plain In golden ranks to lead.

O hour of bliss !

To equal this Olympus strives in vain :

O happy pair !

O happy fair ! O h appy, happy swain !

Now shall the maid

At length be laid A rich, unspotted prize ;

Now, youth, beware.

Be thine the care, That she no maid arise


K


130 EPITHALAMIUM.

Jam virgo thalamum sulibit • unde Ne virgo redeat, marite, cur a. Jam virgo nive'is locata fulcris Adventum cupiet tuum, tremetque ; Perfusa ingenuo rubor e ma/ as : Forsan & lachrymis gence madebunt, Et suspiriafundet, & querelas : At tu nil remoratus, & querelas, Et suspiria, lachrymasque tolles ;


[Perfusa ingenuo, &c] Thus Bonefonius expresses the blush of modesty;

Et mox virgineo pudore leves Interfusa genas, et ora casto Spargens molliter imbre lachrymarum, Tota, inquit, &c.

BONEFON.

Her looks grow quiet and serene,

Her virgin modesty appears In her fair face ; hail, brightest scene ! Hence fly my vain, deluding fears! Now pearly drops flow gently down her cheeks, From chastity they flow, and thus her silence breaks.

ANONYM.


EPITHALAMIUM. 131


Now, plac'd in bed,

With unfeign'd red Her beauteous face shall glow ;

Now shall she fear

Thy tread to hear, And hope, and wish it now.

Perhaps a tear, As crystal clear, In trickling haste may flow 5 Perhaps with sighs Your heart she tries, Or murm'ring vents her woe.


Prior, in a style not inferior to that of Secundus, has draw n

a very happy picture of a beautiful young girl blushing in

bed :

Her blushing face the lovely maid

Rais'd just above the milk-white sheet ;

A rose-tree in a lilly bed

Nor glows so red, nor breathes so sweet.

PRIOR. THE DOVE.

[At tu nil remoratus, &c] For, as Artaxerxes tells his Amestris, in the language of Rowe :

These are the fears which wait on every bride, And only serve for preludes to her joys ; Short sighs, and all those motions of thy heart, .Are nature's call, and kindle warm desires.

Rowe. Ambitious Step-moth r


132 EP1THALAMIUM.

Abstergens oculos tuo ore ; dulce Murmur pro querimoniis reponens. O, felix juvenis, puella felix !

Ergo, membra ubi virginis decorce Felix Candida lectulus fovebit,

(Membra languidulo parata somno I)

Et molli quoque te toro lacatum,

Supra purpureos, beata, reges,

Supra constituel Jovem, Dione :


[Supra constituet, &c] Bonefonius here again imitates Secundus ;

Superi, tenete caelum, Vestram numina possidete sortem ; Dura te teneam, alma Pancharilla, Dum te possideam ; nee ipse ccelum, Nee vestram, superi, invidrbo sortem.

BONEFON.

Now, ye superior powers blest,

From envy free enjoy your state ; Jove! of thy thunder live possest ; Since I'm as happy, and as great ; Let me this little empire long retain ; Ye Gods ! your heavens keep, monarchs unenvied reign.

ANONYM.


EPITHALAMIUM. 133

But mind not thou

The tears that flow, Mind not the piteous sigh ;

Soft-soothing speak,

And her wet cheek Wipe with thy kisses dry.

O hour of bliss !

To equal this Olympus strives in vain :

O happy pair !

O happy fair ! O happy, happy swain 1

Thus when supine

With limbs divine She prints the nuptial bed ;

And, like a flow'r

With hasty show'r O'ercome, her virgin head

Hangs down in shame 5

When o'er her frame Soft languors gently creep ;

And the clos'd eye,

Unknowing why, Attempts in vain to sleep ;


134 EPITHALAMIUM.

Mox te blandidicis parare rixis, Mox te mollicuce parare pugnce, Motus occipies calore justo : Belli prosper a sign a non cruenti Figens mille protervus hie et illic, Collo basia multa, ?nulta malls ; Labris basia plura, plura ocellis : Repugnabit ; & " improbum" vocalit ;


[Repugnabit ; & " improbum" vocalnt.] It is evident, from this passage, that Secundus had Ovid for his amorous instructor :

Pugnabit primo fortassis, et " improbe" dicec ; Pugnando vinci sed tamen ilia volet.

OVID. ART. AMAT. LIB I.

Struggling, perhaps she'll cry, "nay, don't be rude;" Yet, in her struggles, hopes to be subdued.

Tibullus too, who ^'as perhaps equally well versed in love, advances the same doctrine ;

Tunc tibi mitis erit; rapias tunc cara licebit Oscula; pugnabit, sed tamen apta dabit. Rapta dabit primo : mox adferet ipse roganti. Post etiam collo se implicuisse volet.

TIEULL. ELEG. IV. LIE. I.


EPITHALAMIUM. 135

When at the side

Of thy dear bride Thou liest, Dione's care !

Happier in love

Than ani'rous Jove, Than monarch's happier far !

Then, in full tides

Whilst vigour glides Trembling thro' ev'ry vein,

Begin the fight

Of fierce delight, Of pleasure mixt with pain.

Then, let the kiss

Of humid bliss O'er her sweet body fly ;

O'er her warm cheek,

Her eyes, her neck, And lips of luscious dye.


Occasion smiles, then snatch an ardent kiss ; The coy may struggle, but will grant the bliss : The bliss obtained, the fictious struggle past; Unbid, they'll clasp you in their arms at last.

B-RAINGER.


13d" EP1THALAMIUM.


Et dicet, " satis est," tremente voce ; Arcibitque manu proterva lalra ; Propelletque manu manum protervam. O noctem ter, et amplius, beatam !

Piignety strenua ; pugnet, ilia : pasci Pugnando tcneri volunt Amores : Pugnando tibi duplicatus ardor Vireis siifficiet novas in arma.


[Pasci pugnando teneri, &c ] Muretus has expressed this idea nearly in the same words :

Sic age, pugnando teneri pascuntur Amores.

MURET. EPIG.

Then let sweet conflicts feed the tender loves.

But the thought, perhaps, originally belonged to a more an- cient author than Secundus, or Muretus ;

Unguibus, et morsu teneri pascuntur amores.

CORN. GALL. ELEG. III.

Each painless scratch, each am'rous bite improves The poignant bliss, and fosters the young loves.


E PITH ALA MIUM. 13/

Oft shall she cry,

" cruel, fyl' Oft weeping, say, "Forbear!"

Oft shall her hand

Your lips withstand ; Oft meet you, you know where.

O night of bliss !

To equal this Olympus strives in vain :

O happy pair,

O happy fair ! O happy, happy swain !

Much, in defence

Of innocence, Of virtue's nicest laws,

Will the dear maid

Affrighted plead,. And urge a moment's pause.

In vain she strives ;

Enjoyment lives On such endear'd delays y

And the wild fire

Of fierce desire, Oppos'd, the wilder plays.


138 EPITHALAMIUM.


Tunc per Candida colla, tunc per Mud Quod certat ebori nitore pectus, Nunc per crura tenella, perque ventrem, Et quae proxima sunt & hide & Mis, Saltu volve agili manum salacem : Et tot millia junge basiorum Quot caelum rutilos tenehit igneis. O, noctem, quater et quater, beatam !


X Saltu volve, &c] Thus Bonefonius :

Nunc saltu volucri insilire collo, Nunc candente genas notare dente. Nunc errare manu licentiore Ilia per femora, ilia perpolita, Ilia marmoreo superba luxu, Quibus janitor excubat Cupido, Et sacram Veneris tuetur arcem.

EONEFON.

Sometimes I kiss her snowy neck,

In raptures rove from grace to grace ; Then gently mark her rosy cheek ; At last her thighs I freely trace ; Thighs smooth as marble, white as snows that fall! Where Cupid centry stands, to guard his mother's all.

-_ ANONYM.


EPITHALAMIUM. 139


Hence, proud in arms,

O er her rich charms With nimblest strength you move;

Hence, bolder grown,

To the great throne Of love insatiate rove.

What vast excess

Of happiness, In show'rs of kisses veiPd,

When her soft cries

In softer sighs You drown, and win the field !

O night of bliss !

To equal this Olympus strives in vain :

O happy pair !

O happy fair ! O happy, happy swain !

Not but he'll speak

In accents meek, Pleading his tale of love 5

Soft ! as when plays

The silken breeze, That wakes the whisp'ring grove :


140 EPITHALAMIUM.


Nee desint tibi llanduleeque voces; Et qucecunque juvant perita verba ; Nee cum murmure sibiti sudves, Qualeis dant xephyro sonante blandum Frondes, quale columba, quale cygnus Annosus moriente spirat ore : Donee victa potentilus sagittis,


[Quale cygnus, &c] The swan is fabled to sing very harmoniously as it approaches towards its end ; Martial has the following epigram upon it :

Dulcia defecta modulatur carmina lingua Cantator Cygnus funeris ipse sui.

MART. EPIG. LXXVII. LIB. XIII.

The swan, melodious with its latest breath, Sings its own dirge ; and singing welcomes death. Thus too Shakespeare:

I am the cygnet to this pale, faint swan, Who chaunts a doleful hymn to his own death.

SHAKS. KING JOHN.

But it is not altogether clear whence this fiction had its ori- gin ; most probably from the story of Cycnus, who, as Ovid tells us in the second book of his Metamorphoses, was con- verted into a swan, while he mourned the loss of his friend Phaeton. Virgil makes elegant mention of this transforma- tion :


EPITHALAMIUM. 141


Soft ! as when coos The dove, that woos

His mate in vernal bow'rs ; Or, with sweet throat, When her last note

The swan expiring pours.

Till, vanquish'd quite In the fond light,

O'ercome by Cupid's dart ; She lends her ear In blushing fear,

And yields her virgin heart :


Namque ferunt luctu Cycnum Phaetontis amr.ti, Popukas inter frondes umbramque sororum Dum canit et msestum musa solatur amorem; Canentem molli plumaduxisse senectam, Linquentem terras, et sidera voce sequentem.

V1RG. £NE1D. LIB. X.

Tis said, as Cyenus, in the poplar grove,

Wept fallen Phaeton, with friendly love,

Beneath his sisters' shade ; and with those strains

The muse inspir'd reliev'd his heart-felt pains;

He found a sudden age his limbs surprise,

O'er all his frame a snowy plumage rise,

Till to a swan transform'd, singing, he soar'd the skies.

Umbramque sororum alludes to the sisters of Phaeton, who were changed into poplars. — Vide Ovid. Metam. lib. ii.


142 EPITHALAMIUM.


Et coeco Pueri volantis igne, Paulathn, minus & minus sever a, Ponet purpureum toro pudorem ; Collum in Irachia nexuosa dedens, Collo brachia nexuosa stringens. O, nectem quater, O, quater beatam !

Tunc, tunc oscula delicata sumes, Nullis contemerata quae rapinis Hcerelunt vario rnorata nexu.


[Paulatim, minus, &c] Armstrong in like manner re- presents the yielding maid :

Perhaps when you attempt The sweet admission, toyful she resists With shy reluctance ; nathless you pursue The soft attack, and warmly push the war, Till, quite o'erpower'd with love, the melting maid Faintly opposes.

Armstrong. Oeconomy of Love.

[ratio rnorata nexu.] Imitated from Propertius:

Quantum Oscula sunt labris nostra rnorata tuis !

I'liOPERT. ELLG. XV. LID. II.

Oh, how my kisses linger on thy lips !


EPITHALAMIUM. 143

Till, that she lies

All bare, and cries " Sweet, lovely murd'rer, come !"

Expands her arms,

Unfolds her charms, And panting waits her doom.

O night of bliss !

To equal this Olympus strives in vain :

O happy pair !

O happy fair ! O happy, happy swain !

Then shall thy lip,

Delighted, sip The dew of nectar'd bliss ;

Then shall thy soul,

Without controul, Enjoy the ling'ring kiss.

Then thy rich smiles,

And wanton wiles, As wanton she'll return ;

With raptures sweet

Thy raptures meet ; And, as thou burnest, burn.


T44 EPITHALAMIUM.


Tunc lusus simileis; pareisque virgo Reddet delicias ; & os hiulcum t Jampridem patulo Reenter ori Committens, anim.e libidinoso Fragrantis cupidum heahit haustu . Mix lusu quoque molliore ludens, Dicet hlanditias suaviores ; Emittet digitos licentiores ; Finget nequitlam salaciorem. O, noctem, nimis et nimis, beatam !


[Dicet llanditias, &c] Bonefonius copies this passage al- most verbatim :

Uterque Fingit blanditias proterviores, Facit nequitias salaciores, Omnes Cypridis induit figuras, Donee corpora miscuo furore In unum coeunt arnica corpus.

BONEFON.


EPTTHALAMIUM. 145


Then close to thine

Her mouth shall join, Sucking voluptuous breath ;

Till, in one sigh

Of ecstasy, Both touch the versre of death


1 o


Till that, more gay

In am'rous play, The genial couch she shakes ;

Warm, livelier sports

Inventive courts ; And what she wishes speaks,

O night of bliss !

To equal this Olympus strives in vain :

O happy pair !

O happy, fair ! O happy, happy swain !


Our souls their former joys renew,

We raise new sport and wanton jesting, Our eyes each other's charms review, In ev'ry form of love contesting : At last our bodies, warm'd with mutual fire, To prove each other's aid, to join in one. conspire.

ANON Y Mi L


146 EPITHALAMIUM.

Tunc arma expedienda ; tunc " ad arma" Et Venus vocat, et vocat Cupido : Tunc in vulnera grata proruendum. Hue, illuc agilis Jeratur hasta ; Quam crebro furibunda verset ictu Non Martis Soror, ast Arnica Martis,


[Et vocat Cupido.] Secundus is not the only author who has made a warrior of the God Cupid ; for thus Mr. Charles Hopkins, in his poem entitled the History of Love :

Believe me, Delia, lovers have their wars ; And Cupid has his camp, as well as Mars.

HOPKINS.

[Non Martis Soror.] Bellona, the goddess of war, is here alluded to ; though some writers affirm that she was not the sister, but the wife of Mars ; others, that she was only his companion and attendant. Be this as it may, she is frequently described as his charioteer, and the poets in general represent her with a bloody whip in her hand ; thus Virgil mentions her figure, as embossed on the shield of iEneas ;

Et scissa gaudens vadit Discordia palla, Quam cum sanguineo sequitur Bellona flagello.

VirtG. /ENEID. LIB. VIII.

There Discord stalk'd, all rent the garb she wore ; Bellona next, with scourge deep-dyed in gore.


EPITHALAMIUM. 147

Then, then, " To arms I"

The queen of charms ; " To arms !" young Cupid cries :

They hear, obey,

And urge the fray Of sweet, contentious joys.

She pants, she bleeds ;

The youth succeeds ; More close they now engage :

While, here and there,

Love's nimble spear, Quick-darting, fires their rage.

That won'drous spear,

Great god of war ! Which not thy sister guides j

But one more dear,

Thv mistress fair ! Who at these sports presides ;


Lucan too gives a similar picture of her;

Sanguineum veluti quatiens Bellona flagellum.

LUCAN. PHARSAL. tIB. VII.

As when her blood-stain'd lash Bellona shakes.

It is hardly necessary to remark, that Venus is understood by Arnica Martis.


148 EP ITHALAMIUM.

Semper lueta novo cruore, Cypris.

Nee quies lateri lalorioso

Detur, mohilibus nee ulla coxis : Donee deficiente voce anheld,.

Donee defieientibus medullis,

Membris languidulis, madens uterque

Sudabit varii liquoris undas.

O, noctem nimis, O, nimis, beatam !


fSudalit varii, &c] Thus again Bonefonius :

Haec nos praelia militamus inter Sudores varios anhelitusque, Dum fessa Venere artubusque tritis ; Et jam deficientibus meduilis, Et jam deficiente corde anhelo, Cogor languidulos inire somnos.

BONETON.

I Tir'd with war,

A gentle sweat our limbs bedews : Panting, we long engag'd ; but at the last Love flags, our spirits droop, the happy moment's past.

ANONYM.


EPITHALAMIUM. 149

Who, in such fights

Well-pleas'd, delights The rending wound to spy j

Who loves to see

Coy Chastity A bleeding victim lie.

Mark, with what heat

They struggling meet ! How ev'ry limbs employ'd !

Till at the last,

Consuming fast, Enjoying, and enjoy'd,

They gasp for breath :

A moment's death Th' enervate body knows ;

While, on each side,

Love's various tide In streams of pleasure flows.

O night of bliss !

To equal this Olympus strives in vain :

O happy pair !

O happy fair ! O happy, happy swain !


150 EPITHALAMIUM.

Sudate ut libet ; & diesque longas, Nocteisque exigite impotente lusu : Et brevi date liberosque dulceis, Et longo ordine blandulos nepotes j


[Sudate ut libet ; &c] Such is the wish with which Ca- tullus concludes his Epithalamiura :

Ludite ut Hbet, et brevi Liberos date.

Catul. Epithal. Manlii & Junice.

Oh, still pursue your sports of love ; And may those sports soon fruitful prove !

Which passage seems to have been copied also by the old English Poet, Randolph :

Thence may there spring many a pa'ir Of sons and daughters strong and fair ; How soon the gods have heard my prair !

Randolph. An Epilhalamium.

But no bard ever concluded a bridal poem with so elegant a complimentary wish as Martial, in his little epigram on the marriage of Pudens and Claudia :

Candida perpetuo reside, Concordia, lecto, Tamque pari semper sit Venus aequa jugo. Diligat ilia senem quondam : sed et ipsa marito, Tunc quoque cum fuerit, non videatur anus.

MARTIAL, EP1G. XIII. LIB. IV.


EPITHALAMIUM. 151


Rest, take your ease :

May sports like these, With many a conscious moon,

Be oft renew'd ;

As oft be view'd By many a blushing sun !

And, O blest pair !

May offsprings dear Soon crown your found embrace ;

Soon may there rise,

To glad your eyes, A long, and beauteous race !

Whose converse gay

Will chase away Each heart-consuming care ;

Whose infant smile

Those pains beguile, Those pains you're doom'd to bear !


O, may bland Concord ever guard their bed, Long on the pair her gifts may Venus shed ! O'er his white head when age has shower'd its snow, Still may her breast with wonted passion glow ; And may she seem, when blooming beauty flies, Still young and lovely in her husband's eyes'.


152 EP1THALAMIUM.

Quce volis senii minuta turla Olim sollicitos levahit annas, Arcebit querulos toro dolores, Languentum tremulos fovelit artus, Componet tumulo pios parentes. O, felix juvenis, puella felix !


[Olim sollicitos levahit, &c] These last sad offices, due from children to their aged parents, are beautifully expressed by those lines, which the author of a celebrated modern tragedy puts into the mouth of the affectionate Euphrasia :

The task be mine To tend a father with delighted care, To smooth the pillow of declining age, See him sink gradual into mere decay, On the last verge of life watch ev'ry look, Explore each fond unutterable wish, Catch his last breath, and close his eyes in peace.

MURPHY'S GRECIAN DAUGHTER.


EPITHALAMIUM. 153


And, when old age

Life's whitest page Shall from your sight remove,

Who on your bier

Will drop a tear, The tear of filial love !

Rest, take your ease ;

For sports like these New strength, new ardour gain

Rest, happy pair !

Rest, happy fair ! Rest, happy, happy swain !


FRAGMENTS.


FRAGMENT A & POEM AT A

QUMDAM,


IN


BASIUM.


F R A G M E N T U M* Ad LYDIAM.

JuYDLA, lella puella, Candida; Quce lene superas lac ct lllium, Albamque simul rosam rulidam, Aut expolitum elur indicum.

Pande, puella, pande capillalos Flavos, lucentes ut aurum nitidum


  • This little fragment is found among those pieces of Cor-

nelius Gallus, which are perhaps more justly attributed to a different poet, Maximianus Gallus.


SOME


FRAGMENTS AND POETICAL PIECES


ON THE


KISS.


A FRAGMENT. To LYDIA.

LOVELY Lydia, lovely maid ! Either rose in thee's display' d j Roses of a blushing red O'er thy lips, and cheeks are shed ; Roses of a paly hue In thy fairer charms we view. Now thy braided hair unbind ; Now, luxuriant, unconfin'd, Let thy wavy tresses flow ; Tresses bright, of burnish'd glow ! Bare thy iv'ry neck, my fair ! Now thy snowy shoulders bare :


158 FRAGMENT A.


Pande, puella, collum candidum, Productum bene candidis humcris :

Pande, puella, stellatos oculos ; Fiexaque super nigra cilia : Pande puella, geneas roseas, Perfusas rulro purpurece Tyrue.

Porrige labra, corallina ; Da columhatim mitia basia : Sugis amends partem animi : Cor mihi penetrant hcec tua basia.

Quid mihi sugis vivum sangui?iem ? Conde papillas, conde gemi-pomas, Compresso lacte quae modo pullidant ,


[Conde papillas, &c] 1 know not whether these Latin lines might furnish the hint of the following little sonnet, which certainly breathes the same soft spirit of amorous satiety :

Take, O take those lips away,

That so sweetly were forsworn ; And those eyes, the break of day,

Lights that do mislead the morn ; But my kisses bring again, Seals of love, but seal'd in vain !

Hide, O hide those hills of snow,

Which thy frozen bosom bears; On whose tops the pinks, that grow,

Are of those that April wears ; But my poor heart first set free, Bound in those icy chains by thee !

Beaumont and Fletcher's Bloody Brother'



FRAGMENTS. 159


Bid the vivid lustre rise In thy passion-streaming eyes ; See, the lucent meteors gleam ! See, they speak the watchful flame ! And how gracefully above, Modell'd from the bow of love, Are thy arching brows displayed, Soft'ning in a sable shade 1 Lei a warmer crimson streak The velvet of thy downy cheek : Let thy lips, that breathe perfume, Deeper purple now assume : Give me little billing kisses. Intermixt with murm ring blisses. Soft, my love ! — my angel, stay ! — Soft ! — you suck my breath away, Drink the life-drops of my heart, Draw my soul from ev'ry part ; Scarce my senses can sustain So much pleasure, so much pain ! Hide thy broad, voluptuous breast ! Hide that balmy heav'n of rest ! See, to feast th' enamour'd eyes, How the snowy hillocks rise ! Parted by the luscious vale, Whence luxurious sweets exhale : Nature fram'd thee but t' inspire Never-ending, fond desire !


160 FRAGMENT A.

Sinus expansa profert cinnama ; Undique surgunt ex te delicice. Conde papillas, quae me sauciant Candor e y et luxu nivei pectoris. Sseva, non cernis quod ego langueo ? Sic me destituisjam semi-mortunm ?


FRAGMENTS. 161

Again, above its envious vest, See, thy bosom heaves confest ! Hide the rapt'rous, dear delight ! Hide it from my ravish'd sight ! Hide it ! — for thro' all my soul Tides of madd'ning transport roll : Venting now th' impassion'd sigh, See me languish, see me die ! Tear not from me then thy charms ! Snatch, oh, snatch me to thy arms ! With a life-inspiring kiss, Wake my sinking soul to bliss !


162 FRAG ME NT A.


In L E S B I k M.


U UM me bzsxcAofovet salaci,

Et crebro petit excitatque morsu

Ilia Lesbia, quae tenelli Amoris

Belle surripuit jaces et arcum ;

Imis ardeo totis in medullis,

Et secreta calor per ossa currit.

Non tot astra polo nitent sereno,

Non tot vineafulgurat racemis,

Quot me delicice cupidinesque

Accensum exacuunt leatulumque.

Sed mi) Lesbia, fare, arnica, quid me

Tantum basioloybyes salaci ;

Et crebro petis excitasque morsu?

Te dulci liceat tenere lecto,

Te strictis liceat tenere in ulnis y

Blando dejicientem amoris cestu ;

Quin si deficias amoris cestu,

Mors tibi hoc pretio placebit herds !

Poet, rustic, littera. oti.


FRAGMENTS. i63


ON LESBIA.


W HEN beauteous Lesbia fires my melting soul, (She, who the torch and bow from Cupid stole,) By many a smile, by many an ardent kiss ; And with her teeth imprints the tell-tale bliss : Thro' all my frame the madding transport glows, Thro' ev'ry vein the tide of rapture flows. As many stars as o'er heav'n's concave shine, Or clusters as adorn the fruitful vine ; So many blandishments, voluptuous joys, T' inflame my breast, the wily maid employs. But, dearest Lesbia \ gentle mistress '. say, Why thus d'ye wound my lips in am'rous play ? With kisses, smiles, and ev'ry wantpn art, Why raise the burning fever of my heart ? Let us, my love ! on yon soft couch reclin'd, Each other's arms around each other twin'd, Yield to the pleasing force of strong desire ; And, panting, struggling, both at once expire \ For, oh, my Lesbia ! sure that death is s-#eet, Which lovers in the fond contention meet !


164 FRAGMENTA.


BONEFONII BASIUM XVI.


1J0NEC pressius inculo labellis, Et diduco avidus tuce, puella, Flosculos anhrice suave-olentes j Unus turn videor mihi deorum, Seu quid altius est beatiusve.]

Mox ut te eripis, ecce, ego repent? ; Unus qui superum mihi videbar, Seu quid altius est beatiusve; Orci ml videor relatus umbris, Seu quid inferiusve tristiusve.


FRAGMENTS. 165


KISS XVI. OF BONEFONIUS.


C/LASP'D, sweet maid ! in thy embrace ; While I view thy smiling face, And the sweets with rapture sip, Flowing from thy honied lip ; Then I taste, in heav'nly state, All that's happy, all that's great :

But, when you forsake my arms, And displeasure clouds your charms ; Sudden I, who prov'd so late All that's happy, all mat's great, Prove the tortures of a ghost, Wand' ring on the Stygian coast.


166 FRAGMENTA.


VENERIS LUSUS.


tLFFlNXIT quondam, llandum meditata lalorem, Basia lascivd Cypria diva manu :

Ambrosiae succos occulta temperat arte, Fragransque infuso nectare tingit opus ;

Sufficit et partem mellis, quod suldolus olim Non impunc favis surripuisset Amor j*

Decussos violssfoliis admiscet odores, Et spolia ctstivis plurima rapta rosis ;

Addit et illecebras, et milk et mille lepores, Et quot Acidaliae gaudia cestus habet :

Ex his composuit Dea basia ; et omnia libans, hivenias nitidic sparsa per ora Chloes.


  • See the nineteenth Idyllium of Theocritus, to which

this :il!udes.


FRAGMENTS. 167

THE

PASTIME OF VENUS.


J.NTENT to frame some new design of bliss. The wanton Cyprian queen compos'd a kiss : An ample portion of ambrosial juice With mystic skill she temper'd first for use ; This done, her infant work was well bedew'd "With choicest nectar ; and o'er all she strew'd Part of the honey which sly Cupid stole, Much to his cost, and blended with the whole ; Then, that soft scent which from the vi'let flows She mixt, with spoils of many a vernal rose ; Each gentle blandishment in love we find, Each graceful winning gesture next she join'd ; And all those joys that in her zone abound Made up the kiss, and the rich labour crown'd. Consid'ring now what beauteous nymph might prove Worthy the gift, and worthy of her love ; She fixt on Chloe, as her fav'rite maid ; To whom the goddess, sweetly-smiling, said : " Take this, my fair ! to perfect ev'ry grave ; '* And on thy lips the fragrant blessing place."


168 FRAGMENTA.


BACIAMENTO RECIPROCO.


JjEN e soave cosa Quel bacio, che si prende Da una vermiglia, e delicata rosa Di bella guancia. e pur chi 'I vero intende, Com? intendete voi Auventurosi amanti, che 7 provate ; Diva, che quello c morto bacio, a ad La baciata lelta bacio non rende. Ma i colpi di due lahlra innamorate, Quando ciferir si va locca con bocca, E che in un punto scocca Amor con soavissima vendetta L'una, e I' altra saetta ; Son veri baci : ove con giuste voglie Tan to si dona altrui, quanto si toglic


FRAGMENTS. 169


MUTUAL KISSING.


VV HEN o'er the virgin cheek we meet Health's tender-blooming roses spread ;

To kiss those roses may be sweet, To kiss them on their native bed I

Full well experienc'd lovers know, And chief the few who blissful burn,.

That kiss is lifeless we bestow

On charms that yield no kind return :

But sure those kisses breathe delight, Where love the sweetly-vengeful dart

Exchanges, while fond lips unite, Lips echoing-soft as kisses part.

When one warm wish enflames the pair, Not less endearing kisses prove ;

Each gives, each takes an equal share j Sweet interchange of sweetest love I


170 FRAGMENTA.

Baci pur hocca curiosa, e scaltra

O seno, ofronte, o mono ; unqua nonjia

Che parte alcuna in lella donna baci,

Che baciatrice sia

Se non la hocca, ove I' uni' alma, e I' altra

Corre, e si bacia anclC ella, e con vivaci

Spiriti pellegrini

Da vita al lei tesoro

De' bacianti rubini :

SI cheparlan tra loro

Quegli animati, & spiritosi baci,

Gran cose in picciol suono,

E segreti clokissimi, che sono

A lor solo palesi, altrui celati.

Tal gio'ia amando prova • anzi tal vita,

Alma con alma unita :

E son come d' amor baci baciati

Gli incontri di duo cori amanti amati,

Guarini. Pastor Fido. At to n.


FRAGMENTS. 17 1


Kiss the dear lip, the swelling breast, The snow-white hand, the forehead kiss ;

'Tis by the lip the joy's exprest, 'Tis the kind lip repays the bliss.

When lovers' lips in transport join, Their souls to share that transport fly ;

And, as their mingling breaths combine, The purple gems with life supply :

Then each inspired kiss imparts,

In sounds half-utter'd, half-supprest,

The tender secrets of their hearts, Secrets to lips alone confest !

Where soul is thus with soul entwin'd, The living rapture is improv'd ;

'Tis rapture of the sweetest kind,

To kiss when kiss'd, to love when lov'd !


J 72 FRAGMENT J.


D' un BAG I 0.


U N bacio solo a tante pene y cruda ?

Un bacio cl tantafede?

La promessa mercede

Non si paga, baciando : il bacio e segno

Difuturo diletto ;

E par, che dica anch' egli, i' ti prometto

Con si soave pegno :

In tanto hor godi, e taci.

Che soil d' amor mute promesse i baci.


These Italian lines, which, as well as the foregoing, are from Guarini, seem to have been imitated rather happily by Randolph :

Are kisses all ? they but fore-run

Another duty to be done.

What would you of that minstrel say

That tunes his pipes and will not play ?

Say what are blossoms in their prime,

That ripen not in harvest-time ?

Or what are buds that ne'er disclose

The long'd-for sweetness of the rose ?

So kisses to a lover's guest

Are invitations, not the feast.

Randolph. J Pastoral Courtship.


FRAGMENTS. J/3


ON A KISS.


_/\_H ! canst thou, cruel nymph ! suppose One kiss rewards thy am'rous youth ;

Enough rewards his tender woes j

His long, long constancy, and truth ?

Think not thy promis'd kindness paid By simple kissing ; for the kiss

Is but an earnest, beauteous maid ! Of more substantial, future bliss :

Sweet kisses only were design'd Our warmer raptures to improve ;

Kisses were meant soft vows to bind, Were silent pledges meant of love.


174 FRAGMENTA.


AMORE FUGGITIVO*


UdITO ho, Citerea,

Che del tuo gremlo fore y

Fuggitivo il tuo figlio £ te si cela,

E promesso hai baciar chi te 'I rivela :

Non languir, bella Dea,

Se vai cercando Amore ;

No 'I cercar, dammi il bacio, io I' ho net core.


MARINI.


See the first Idyllium of Moschus on this subject.


FRAGMENTS. 175


CUPID STRAYED.


Y ES, beauteous queen ; — thy son, they say, Thy wanton son ! is gone astray : — Nay, Venus, more ; — 'tis said, from thee A kiss the sweet reward shall be To any swain, who truly tells Where 'tis the little wand'rer dwells : Then grieve no more, nor drop a tear ; For know the little urchin's here ; He, from the search of vulgar eyes, Conceal'd within my bosom lies : Now, goddess, as I've told thee this ; Give me, oh, give the promis'd kiss 1


176 FRAGMENT A.


HYMNE au BAISER, Par Monsieur DOR AT.


DON cileste, volupte pure, De I' univers moteur secret, Doux aiguillon de la nature, Et so?i plus invincible attrait, Eclair, qui, IriJant ce qu'il touche, Par I' heureux signal de la louche, Avertit torn les autres sens ; Viens jouer autour de ma lyre ; Qiion reconnoisse ton delire A la chaleur de mes accens.


  • Monsieur Dorat seems, in these verses, metaphorically

to apply the word kiss to that universal attraction which pre- vails through all matter.


FRAGMENTS. 177


HYMN TO THE KISS,

TRANSLATED.


\J, Choicest gift of heav'nly kind ! O, sacred source of joy refin'd ! Thou latent spring, whose vast controul Extends throughout the boundless whole '. Attraction strong ! all-pow'rful cause, Enforcing; nature's hidden laws ! Thou magic lightning, that canst burn Whate'er you touch, wheree'r you turn ! Touch but the lips, and you dispense The brisk alarm thro' ev'ry sense : Come, hover round my tuneful lyre, And ev'ry swelling note inspire ; So shall the warmth my strains express Thy rapture-giving pow'r confess.

N


178 FRAGMENT A.

II.

Tu vas sur tes sujets jideles

Dispersant des Jlcches defeu : Tu nourris de tes etincelles Lejlamleau de l'aveugle dieu. Sans toi que seroit le lei <ge ? 11 f rjfre son premier hommage, 11 s' cdaire de tes rayons : Et, des desirs hc'Uant livresse, Sur les Vevres de la jeunesse Tufais tes plus douces moissons.

III. Loin de V ceil cclatunt du monde,

Combien d' etres inf or tunes,

Dans une olscurite profonde y

A gcmir semblent condamnes f

Pour eux zephir est sans haleine,

Les epis qui dorent laplaine,

Rarement murissent pour eux ;

Toi seul les retiens a la terre,

Et, meme au sein de leur mislre,

Tu leur apprens V art d' etre heureux.


FRAGMENTS. t)/l


II.

To those, who own your gentle sway, You darts of pleasing flame convey ; Your kindling sparks, that ne'er can die, Blind Cupid's burning torch supply : How dull the spring of life wou'd prove, Without the kiss that waits on love ! Youth first to thee its homage pays, Becomes enlighten'd from thy rays ; And, hast'ning by your fost'ring fires The birth of all the gay desires, From youdiful lips you soon receive The richest harvests lips can give.

III.

Far from the world's more glaring eye, What crowds of wretched beings lie ; Who seem in dull oblivion doom'd For ever to remain entomb'd ! To them no zephyr's balmy wing Refreshing gales, or sweets can bring ; No rip'ning crops of golden grain For them adorn the waving plain : Yet, thy persuasive magic binds To this terrestrial orb dieir minds ; And bids them, in their gloomy state, Smile, nor regret their piteous fate.


180 FRAGMENT A.

IF. Lafleur qui pare nos prairies, Te doit son lustre et son odeur. Ces arhisseaux qicc tu maries, Sont tons eclos de ta chaleur. Ces ruisseaux fuyant sous I'omlrage, Cesjiots caressant leur rivage, Par ton souffle vont s'eml-rdser ; Pourquoi des levrcs dcmi-closes Ont-eiles la couleur des roses ? C' est B que siege le baiser.

V.

Lefroid scrupule en vain s'cffense

De tes hienfaits consolateurs ;

Tu tiens sous ton obHssance

Sages, heros, legislateurs.

Cesar quitte le capitole,

11 menace, il s'elance, il vole,

Tout cede cl ses travaux guerriers :

Mais il revient, Lriguant des ch.ai.nes>

Caresser les dames romaines

A f ombre mem.e des lauriers.


FRAGMENTS. 181


IV.

The flow'rs, that in yon meadow grow, To thee their bloom, their fragrance owe ; The blossom'd shrubs, in gaudy dress, Thy genial warmth, thy pow'r confess 5 The stream, that winds along the grove, And courts the shore with waves of love Is taught by thee the fond embrace, By thee is taught each rural grace : On gently-parted lips, say, why Is plac'd the rose's beauteous dye ? Because, on that soft seat of bliss Abides the rosy-breathing kiss.


Let rigid scruple furl her brow,

And blame the comforts you bestow :

The sage, the hero, thee obey ;

Nay, legislators own thy sway.

See threat'ning Caesar mounts his car,

To join th' embattled sons of war j

Swift from the capitol he flies,

And ev'ry hostile warrior dies :

But soon he quits the bleeding plain,

With transport hugs fair beauty's chain.

And, e'en beneath his laurel's shade,

Caresses many. a Roman maid.


182 FRAGMENT A.

VI.

Ce Mahomet, cefou sublime, Contre tons les perils armc 1 , Qui pour V erreur et pour le crime Avoit cru ce globe form?, Auroit-il, conqeurant austere, Supports I' ennui de la guerre. Sans les baisers de ses houris, Qui charmoient son ame inquiete, Et, dans le serrail du prophete, Realisoient son paradis ?

VII.

Mais des demeures fastueuses Tu crains I' appareil imposant ; Les passions trop orageuses En hannissent le sentiment. Ah ! sur des l':vres alterees, Et par I' ennui decolorees, Vondrois-tu done te reposcr ? Ces lam Iris don's, cetle es trade, Ces carreaux, ces lits de parade, Sont l' cpouvantail du baiser.


FRAG M ENTS. IS?,

VI.

Could Mahomet, whose dauntless soul

Superior rose to all controul,

Whose breast was nVd with hope sublime,

Who thought that ignorance and crime

Were destin'd o'er this globe t' have reign'd ;

Could that stern victor have sustain'd

The harsh, fatiguing toil of arms ;

Had not his Houris' soothing charms,

And tender kisses, lull'd to rest

The martial tumults of his breast ;

If the seraglio of this earth

Had not to those sweet joys giv'n birth.

Which, in the paradise of love,

The prophet hop*d to taste above ?

VI r.

But to\v"ring domes, that strike the eyes With outward grandeur, you despise ; There stormy passions govern sense,, And banish tender feelings thence. Say, couldst thou well-contented lie On lips with shrivell'd coldness dry, On lips, that no bright purple wear ! But pal'd by sickness or by care ? The gilded ceilings, beds of state, The gaudy chambers of the great, Th' embroider'd cushions they display, Must fright the gentle kiss away.


184 FRAGMENT A.


VIII. Fuis sous les feuillages champetres : C est Id que reside la paix, Et qu y a l' ombre desjeunes hetres On pratique tes doux secrets. Sur des gerbes, sur une tomie, he baiser s'y prend ou s'y donne ; Le plaisir n'y salt pas compter ; Et I' impitoyable etiquette Sur les levres d' une coquette Ne Vy fait jamais avorter.

IX. Mais : en quelqucs lieux qu' on /' appcllc ■ Ne dcserte point mon reduit ; Sif aipu te r ester jidele, Que tesjaveurs en soient le fruit ! Seme desjieurs surma jeunesse ; Jusques dans lafroide viellesse Renouvelle encor mes desirs, Et puisses-tu, pour recompense, Rencontrer souvent V innocence, Et la soumettre a tes plaisirs !


FRAGMENTS. 185

VIII.

Fly to the rural, shadowy dells ; There peace in calm retirement dwells ; And, underneath the beech's shade, Thy am'rous secrets are display'd ; There, on the hay-mow, or the grass, Sport the fond youth, and fonder lass : There, unconslrain'd in frolic play, A kiss they lend, a kiss repay ; Pleasures so num'rous round them flow. Envy can ne'er the number know ; Nor are the lips' sweet joys deny'd By prudes, affecting virtuous pride.

IX.

Tho' tempted hence your flight to take, My humble mansion ne'er forsake ; To you if constant I remain, Let kindness recompense my pain ! Around my youth fresh flow'rets shed, Till age shall silver o'er my head ; Then softly fan my drooping fires, And wake the half-extinct desires : So mayst thou, in thy wand' rings, meet Young innocence, who smiles so sweet ! And may she all-submissive prove, To thee, the guiltless guest of love ! .


1S6 FRAGMENT A.


X. Puisse a ce prix, irompant sa mere, Ldjeunejille de cjuinze ans, Dans sun alcove solitaire Mediter ton art dans mes chants, Interroger son ante oisive, Devorer V image expressive De I' amour euse volupte, Ne voir que baisers dans ses songes, Et soupconner dans ces mensonges Les douceurs de la verite !


FRAGMENTS. 3 87

X.

So may the nymph of gay fifteen, By strict maternal eyes unseen, To some scquester'd grove retire ; There, reading, nurse her infant fire j Free from a parent's stern controul. Explore her newly-op'ning soul ; And riot o'er my am'rous page, Soft-yielding to voluptuous rage ! So may sweet dreams of rapt' rous joy Her pleasing slumbers oft employ ; Till many a fond, illusive kiss Shall almost realize the bliss !


1S8 FRAGMENTS.


KISS,


AFTER THE MANNER OF SECUNDUS.


To C Y N T H I A.




L HE transient season let's improve,. That human life allots to love : Youth soon, my Cynthia ! flies away. And age assumes its frozen sway ; With eleganee and neatness drest, Come, then, in beauty's bloom confesi, And in my fond embrace be blest !

Faint smugglings but inflame desire, And serve to fan the lover's fire : Then yield not all at once your charms, But with reluctance fill my arms ;


F RAGMEN T S.


My arms ! that shall with eager haste

Encircle now your slender waist,

Now round your neck be careless hung,

And now o'er all your frame be flung :

About your limbs my limbs I'll twine,

And lay your glowing cheek to mine :

Close to my broader, manlier chest

I'll press thy firm, proud-swelling breast ;

Now rising high, now falling low ;

As passion's tide shall ebb, or flow :

My murm'ring tongue shall speak my bliss,

Shall court your yielding lips to kiss ;

Each kiss with thousands I'll repay,

And almost suck your breath away ;

A. thousand more you then shall give,

A nd then a thousand more receive :

In transport half-dissolv'd we'll lie,

Venting our wishes in a sigh !

Quick-starting from me, now display Your loose, and discompos'd array : Your hair shall o'er your polish'd brow In sweetly-wild disorder flow ; And those long tresses from behind, You us'd in artful braids to bind, Shall down your snowy bosom spread Redundant, in a soften'd shade ;


1.Q0 FRAGMENTS.


And from your wishful eyes shall stream The dewy light of passion's flame : While now and then a look shall glance ; Your senses lost in am'rous trance ; That fain my rudeness wou'd reprove, Yet plainly tells how strong your love : The roses, heightening on your cheek, Shall the fierce tide of rapture speak ; And on your lips a warmer glow The deepen'd ruby then shall show : Your breast, replete with youthful fire ; Shall heave with tumults of desire ; Shall heave at thoughts of wish'd-for bliss, Springing as tho' 'twould meet my kiss : Down on that heav'n I'll sink quite spent, And lie in tender languishment ; But soon your charms' reviving pow'r Shall to my frame new life restore : With love I'll then my pains assuage ; With kisses cool my wanton rage ; Hang o'er thy beauties till I. cloy ; Then cease, and then renew my joy !


FINIS.


Printed by J. t). Dtwick, AJ<k/s"a:e-st!cet.


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