2'"» S. N» 67., Jan. 31. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



81 



LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 1857. 



£RROB IN SOUTHEy's COMMON-PLACE BOOK. 



FBANCISCO IJE RIOJA. 



At p. 268. of the Fourth Series of Soutbey's 

 Common- Place Booh, some verses are given, be- 

 ginning, — 



" Even as the river swift and silent flows 

 Toward the sea " 



and ending, — 



" a little peaceful home 



Bounds all my wants and wishes, add to this 

 My book and friend — and this is happiness." 



Either Sonthey's memory failed him here, or, what 

 is more probable, he found the original in some 

 edition of the " Jiinvas " of Durtolome Leonm^do de 

 Argensola, lor they are given as an extract from 

 an epistle of that writer. The fact is that they 

 are a paraphrastic version of part of the noble 

 " Epistolii Moral " of Franchco de Rioja^ a poet of 

 Seville contemporary with Herrera, of whom what 

 little is known may be found in Mr. Tioknor's 

 Historrj of Spanish Literature, vol. ii. p. 507. ; who 

 has not, 1 think, done justice to the poet in his 

 critical opinion. The epistle may be found in the 

 Parnaso Espahol, in the ilr.st volume of Quintana's 

 selection, and in the collections of llamon Fer-f 

 nandes and Bohl de Faber. It begins, — 



" Fabio, las esperanzas cortesanas 

 Prisiones son do el ambicioso niuere 

 y donde almas astuto nacen cauas." 



The passage Southey has versified begins, — 



" Como los rios que en veloz corrida 

 Se llevau a la mar," &c. 



And ends, — 



" Un angulo me basta entre mis lares, 

 Un Hbro y un amigo, un sueoiio breve 

 Que no perturben deudas ni pesares." 



It is most probable that these verses of Southey 

 had been elsewhere printed long since, for the 

 three last lines appear as a motto on the title-page 

 of Drake's Literary Hours, and are there rightly 

 given to Rioja. 



It appears that the poet was a friend of Lope de 

 Vega, who has addressed a poem to him entitled 

 "El Jardin de Lope de Vega," which is to be 

 found in a volume printed in 1621, called La Fi- 

 lomena. In this poem, which is interesting from 

 the notices it contains of the celebrated contem- 

 poraries of the poet, he enumerates the statues 

 which should decorate the spot, among which 

 are, — 



" algunos ingenios Castellanos, 



Anddaluzes tambien, y Portugueses." 



And he adds, — 



" Quien duda que tu aqui lugar tuviesses." 



The poem opens thus, — 



" Divin ingenio, aquieu sugetas 

 Komanas musas, Griegas, y Espafioles 



Que enoblezes, aumentas; y interpretas 



Claro Fkbo Andaluz," &c. 



And in his Laurel de Apolo, 1630, Lope, in an 

 epistle addressed to Don Michael de Solis Ovando, 

 again pays this tribute to the merits of his iiiend : 



" Dedicarle a Eioja, honor v gloria 



Del Betis, que oy sus alabancas canta. 

 Kioja, aquel varon, cuya memoria 

 De Herrera, de Paclieco, de Medina 

 Escurecio la merecida historia." 



To the lover of Spanish poetry who may not be 

 yet acquainted with the few remains of this dis- 

 tinguished Andalusian, I think I may promise a 

 degree of pleasure quite eciual to that which any 

 of his better known contemporaries afford. 



S. W. SlNGEiJ. 



South Lambeth. 



•' AUREA CATENA HOMERI." 



{Continued from p. 65.) 



The " Aurea Catena Homeri " derives its name, 

 of course, from the celebrated passage just at the 

 beginning of the eighth book of Homer's Iliad. 

 To save space, it must suffice to quote it in a 

 translated ibrm : accordingly, I give it in Cow- 

 per's version. The Olympic 2Ieus thus asserts his 

 supremacy over all other powers, in this chal- 

 lenge : — 

 " . . . Let ye down the goldkx chain 

 From Heaven, and pull at its inferior links 

 Both Goddesses and Gods. But Me your King, 

 Supreme in wisdom, ye shall never draw 

 To Earth from Heaven, strive with Me as ye may. 

 But I, if willing to exert My power, 

 The earth itself, itself the sea, and j-ou, 

 Will lift with ease together, and will wind 

 The Chain around the spiry summit sharp 

 Of the Olympian, that all things upheaved 

 Shall hang in the mid Heav'n. So much am I 

 Alone superior both to Gods and Men." — LI. 19 — 30. 



The allusions to this Homeric Chain in old 

 writers are very numerous, I shall select the 

 most remarkable with which I am acquainted. 



In Paradise Ijost, Chaos observes, in his speech 

 to Satan, — 



" Now latety Heaven and Earth, another VVorld, 

 Hung, o'er my realm, link'd in a Golden Chain 

 To that side Heav'n from whence your legions fell." 



Book ii. 1. 1004. 



A little further on, in the same book, I. 1050., 

 Milton again alludes to it : 



" And fast by, hanging in a Golden Chain 

 This pendent World, in bigness as a Star 

 Of smallest magnitude, close by the Moon." 



Plato's comment is somewhat superficial and 

 unsatisfactory. In hia TketetelvA, Socrates argues 



