20 Epigrams, Fragments, and Fugitive Pieces, frjim the Greeh [Aug. 1, 



oiiwht to be nearly equivalent, as Johnfon 

 cbierves, with diris dc-joiiere : — 

 UnbSeft, abandoned to the wrath of Jove. 

 The piil'.ve Gods beheld the Greeks defiie 

 Tiieir temples, and abaridoii to the Tpoil 

 Their own abodes. 



Shakefpeare's If fie be fo ahandcnd 

 to her forrowj, is a ftrong metaphor. — 

 It is a hyperbol.cal one to lay, a man 

 abandons ait hope of regaining the good 

 graces of his mijhcfs : but waim paflions 

 tend to hyperbole. 



An abandoned m-^n is (i) one who ex- 

 periences moral intolerance, (2) one who 

 merits moral intolerance. But this laft 

 fenle, however ufaal, is nearly intlefen- 

 fibie ; it would, on the cnrtrary, be cor- 

 rect to fay, His perfon is in cuftody of 

 the bailiff, and his furniture abandoned 

 toauflion. 



{To be (ontinued.) 



For the Monthly Magazine. 

 EPIGRAMS, FRAOMtNrs, and fugi- 

 tive PIECES, from the greek. — 

 (^Continued from page 54.5, No. 130.) 



NO. VI. P.\RT III. 



IT is a mtlancholy and flnkir.g fiery, 

 nnd it well accords with ihefe gloomy 

 uncomfortable ideas to which the ancient 

 philofophers, as well as poits, too much 

 i'ui rendered thenfifelve's,' which Plato re- 

 lates of Aoameriei and Trophjniiis, who, 

 after building the Temple of Apollo, hav- 

 ing prayed lorfjme fpecial inftar.ce of the 

 God's legard, and being affurcd that their 

 prayer was grahted, fell adiep and awaked 

 no more. Of tie lame nature is the well- 

 known ftoiy of Cleobis and Bitoo, who 

 drew the chariot of their mother, the 

 Piieftefs of the Sun, at Argos. 



Of the many pofiiive evils to which hu- 

 rnan life is lubje6f, and the frequency and 

 variety of which appear to juiHty in a 

 great meafure the mL-iancholy complaints 

 and aloomy fancies of the ancients on this 

 fiibjecl, old-age holds the foremoft rank 

 with its concomitant curfes. 



•'Exult, oh man, i . the flrength of thy 

 youth ! (i'ays Ofii:,n) Age is dirk and 

 unlovely." Tne fame fcniiment is dilated 

 by Mimnermiis, in the mnft beautiful 

 fragment ihat furvives to us of his works. 

 The principal recommendation to the in- 

 riulgence of love and plealure among the 

 writers of " the olden time,"' was drawn 

 from the fliort duration of tile ("pace allow, 

 ed 10 it by Nature. Mimnernius was a 

 philofopher as well as poet. His tffu- 

 fiors were not thofe of fancy and of ge- 

 nius merely, but the refults of profound 



deliberation and the fcrlous dof^rines 

 which he delivered to his followers.* Htf 

 was the inventor of elegy, a fpecies of 

 poetry to which (in its original uncor- 

 nipted flate) the mod nobie and honour- 

 able qualiiii'S were afcnbed, which (as 

 B.Ihop L')w;h De Sacra Foefi Hehr. ob- 

 feivcs) was " wife, holy, fcvere ; the 

 guide of life, the miftrels ot morally ; the 

 the condu'^ilreis of (tales, the foreiuimer of 

 virtue." The verlcs referred to are the 

 following : 



Tij Jc Sloi t' Ji Tfpirvov ktej ;:/(>!;5-ii);'A<f>!3S'iTi;; 

 Oh what is life by golden love unblaft ? 

 Be mine, ere then, eternally to re(t ! 

 The tartive kil'a (fofc pledge) and genial tye 

 Are flow'rs of youth that, palling, fmile and 



die. 

 Old-age fucceeds, and dulls each finer fenfe. 

 When all we hope at moft is reverence. 

 Age brh^gs misfortune clearer to our view. 

 And choaks the Ipring whence all our joys 



we drew, 

 And fcatters frowns, and thins the filvery 



hair. 

 Hateful to youth, unlovely to the fair.**** 

 **** Ah me I alike o'er youth and age I 



f'gh. 

 Impending a^e, and youth that haftens by. 

 Swift as a thought the flying moments roil. 

 Swift as a racer fpeeds to reach the goal. 

 How rich, how happy the contented gueft 

 Who leaves the ban<juet foon, and finks to 



reft I 

 Damps chill my brow, my pulfes fluttering 



beat, ' 

 Whene'er the vij'ious pride of youth I meet, 

 Fleafant and lovely ; — hopeful to the view 

 As golden vifions, and as tranfient too. 

 But ah I no terrors flop, nor vows afTuage, 

 The coming gloom of unrele-nting age. 



Homer, fpenking of Amphiaraus, (i); 

 prophet who aitended Adrallus to the 

 ficge of Thebei, iays, 



Toy 'TTi^t xopi <5iXJi 7,Eu; t'cij/i';;^?? iy 'A'!5ro'?.X«y 

 naVTjii) (fiAomr' 'aJ'"iX£TO j/ijpao; 'uSav. 



♦' He was beloved by Jupiter and Apollo 

 with fiiperi-T affection ; and he never 

 reached the thrcfli ild of old-age." The 

 fauie great poet has given us, in his O iyf- 

 ley, one of iiie molt complete and affecting 

 piftu;es cf the weaknefs, mslanclioly, and 

 «' vvretchednels" of an unhappy old-age 

 thit can be imagined, in the charailer of 

 L;ier;es. Two lints of Mcnander, pre- 



* The peculiar dcftrines of Mimnermus, 

 perhaps the very poem I am now illurtrating, 

 v/cre alluded to in the w;ll-known lines of 

 Hor.:ce : 

 SI, Mimnermus uti cenfct, fine an*.ore jocif., 



que 

 Nil eft jucundum, vivas in amore jocifque. 



