Aug. 7. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



121 



" Terra parens venis sitientlbtis imbibit imbres ; 

 Tellurem atque imbres arbor alumna bibit; 

 Oceanus salso sparsos bibit ajquore ventos ; 



Sol avido oceanum flammeus ore bibit, 

 Solis inardentis radios bibit ebria luna ; 



Rursus et banc euri, terra, salumque bibunt : 

 Cuncta bibunt sursuni spirantla, sive deorsum ; 

 Dis Styga, Dii pleno nectar ab ore bibunt." 

 Prefixed to Barnes* edit, of Anac. p. Ix. : Lond. 17S4. 



Nonnus too, in his Dionysiacks^ has a passage 

 quite to our purpose : 



""HStj yap ^f<pvpoio irpodyyeXos ^7700$ &pri 

 (rx'^ofifvuv KoXvKbiv Spoatpoiis ifxtQuiTiv a/f]Tas' 

 Koi Mfvpi] ixtpSirffffft (TvveffTios eiapi K'l)pv^ 

 bpdpiov viryov &fj.(p<re AoAos rpv^ovcra x^'^-'S^f* 

 apTKpayijs kui yv/j.i'hi' an' ciidSyuoio Ka\inrTpr)s 

 flapivaii iyeXaaffe \f\ovfityov ivOos ifpcrais 

 ^uoy6vois." — Lib. iii. 10. 



Let us now come to Gray's " Ode on the Spring," 

 •which will abundantly occupy our time for the 

 present : 



" Lo ! where the rosy bosom'd Hours, 

 Fair Venus* train, appear. 

 Disclose the long-expecting flowers, 



And wake the purple year ! 

 The Attick warbler pours her throat. 

 Responsive to the cuckoo's note. 

 The untaught harmony of spring ; 



While, whisp'ring pleasure as they fly, 

 Cool zephyrs through the clear blue sky 

 Their gather'd fragrance fling." 



A hymn by Orpheus thus describes the Hours : 

 "'Clpai dvydrtpts ©e'yuiSos koI Zrjvos Ufaxros, 

 Evvon'iTj re, Ai'/crj re, Ka\ Elp-fjyr) Tro\vo\€f, 

 Eiaptva], XdixufLciSts, iro\vdvde!J.oi, ayval, 

 TlavT6xpoot, 7ro\voS(UO(, 4v avOfnoeiStcri tvoicus 

 "Clpai andaKits, TreptKuKKdSfs, r]5virp6<TccTrof 

 Tl4ir\ovs ivvvixivai Spoffepovs 6,v6<iiv iroXvdpiirTuiv" 



In representing the Hours as " Venus' train," 

 Gray had, most probably, the " Homeric Hymn to 

 Aphrodite" in mind (Hymn E.). It was they who 

 had received Venus as she issued from the foam of 

 the sea, and had introduced her to the immortal 

 gods. Indeed, these graceful beings were her 

 constant attendants ; and Theocritus represents 

 them as bringing Adonis also to her. (See Id. 

 XV. 102.; and the notes in Ringwood's charming 

 edition: Dublin, 1846.) 



In the same passage Theocritus also calls them 

 *^ na\aKaliroSfs Sipai" and describes them in a manner 

 which will exactly illustrate the "long expecting" 

 flowers of Gray : 



"B<£p5<<rTOJ naudpu)!', "Upai ^i\ai, aWa TroOeival 

 "Epxoyrai, Trdvreaai Pporois aid ti <pfpoiaai." 



Where Mr. Ringwood gives us this comfortable 

 note : 



" The impatience of expectation explains the epithet 

 * Ba'pSio-Toi ' in the text, as the ' nox longa,' ' dies lenta,' 

 and 'piger annus' of Hor. i. epist. 1. 20, 21," 



So in Romeo and Juliet^ Act III. Sc. 2. ; 



" So tedious is this day, 

 As is the night before some festival 

 To an impatient child, that hath new robes, 

 And may not wear them." 



Compare, too, " tardis mensibus," Virg. 



Georg., i. 32. It cannot be wrong also to com- 

 pare with this first part of Gray's "Ode" some 

 verses in the most beautiful of all pastorals, the 

 " Song of Solomon :" 



" Lo, the winter is past ; the rain is over and gone ; 

 the flowers appear on the earth ; the time of the sing- 

 ing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is 

 heard in our land," &c. — Chap. ii. v. 11. 



And again : 



" Awake, O north wind, and come, thou south ; blow 

 upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out." 

 — Chap. iv. V. 16. 



Nonnus calls the Hours {loZuiriZts Upat, lib. xi. 

 p. 210. : Antverpiae, 1569. But I suppose Gray's 

 epithet is borrowed from Milton. (See Mi*. Mit- 

 ford's note.) Anacreon asks, — 



•'Tt 5' &vev (16 Sou ytvoir' &v ; 

 'PoSoSoKTuAos fiiv 'Hus, 

 'Po5o7r7j;t€€S re fivfjicpat, 

 'PoS6xpovs re k' 'AippoSirri 

 Tlapd ra>v ao<pwv KaXe'irai." 



Ode 53. JiiRosam. 



Cowley is still closer to the point : 

 " Quicquid hoc mundo superoque pulchrum est 

 Optat et gaudet Roseum vocari. 

 Usee puellarum prope summa laus est, 



Summa dearuro. 

 Me colit princeps orientis alti 

 Memnonis mater, similesque nobis 

 Vel sibi tantum digitos habere 



Ducit honori. 

 Cum dies portu bipatente coeli, 

 Prodit aurato nitidus triumpho, 

 Casrulam nimbia Boseis plateam 



Molliter Horce 

 Dlvites spargunt.*' — Cowley, p. 185-6. 



" Avertens Rosea cervice refulsit." 



^neid, i. 406. 



Cum tu, Lydia, Telephi 

 Cervicem Roseatn," &c. 



Hor. Carm. lib. i. 13. 



" Now morn her Rosy steps in the eastern clime 

 Advancing, sowed the earth with orient pearl." 

 Par. Lost, iv. 1. 



" To whom tlie angel with a smile that glow'd 

 Celestial Rosy red love's proper hue." 



Id. viii. 618. 



" Crinibus et Roseis tenebras aurora fugarat." 



Virgil, Culex, 43. 



" Pulchraj Cypridi sacra Rosa." 



Milton's Elegy on Bishop Andrews, 1. 20. 



