228 
Though lightnings flash, and storms ob- 
: struct my way 5 
Nor fear the swelling wave thy bed to gain, 
Nor the hoarsethunder of the roaring main ; 
But, Hellespontus’ straits by swimming 
cross’d, 
A sea-borne spouse, Ill nightly seek thy 
coast, 
Haying thus announced his inten- 
tions, he requests her to have a light 
burning at the top of the tower to serve 
him as a guide in his perilous enter- 
prise. She promises to do so, and the 
lovers part for the present. Leander’s 
first visit to Hero, the darkness of the 
night, and the gloomy aspect of the 
waves, his appeal for protection to 
Venus, as being herself the goddess of 
love and sprung from the sea, are all 
admirable, but too long for extracting. 
The enamoured youth fearlessly defies 
all danger, plunges into the sea, and, 
Aapropstvou 8 tomevdey dit xelleveeylin AUY YoU 
*Aulig Zwy épérng, duTosdhoc, auto pawTog WIIUS* 
He hastens tow’rds the light by Hero 
shewn, 
The vessel, pilot, rower, all in one. 
He reaches her abode, is received 
with the cordial welcome of affection, 
and obtains the consummation of his 
desires. There is something truly pa- 
thetic and affecting in the poet’s picture 
of their clandestine union. 
“Hy yciproc, ddd ax Sgevtog* eyy AEXog AAA arp 
ULV. 
"Ou Cuyiny fephy cig Emeuphyuncev dorddr 
Ov daidwy noeamte céidas Sarapantoroy 2uyiy 
"oud? morvenceS aio th execniornce yarein, 
"Quy, Hubei dace mere xcs Morice paniTne* 
PAARAG AE OC Sopioace TEAETTLY@{AOICLY ty wperg 
Liyh masay eanSev, tvypoxdpance & deri Any 
Kal yajrog fy dercvev Sey cderdoprévwy Dyreveriwy. 
NDE pxey Evy xéryoure yerpnocdros: ovsimar’ Awe 
Nuprpioy Ede Afcevdgoy eiprynsrors Ev Aéxrparg. 
Such were the nuptials of the youthful 
pair, 
Nor festive choir, nor holy hymn were 
there ; 
No torches o’er the couch diffus’d their 
light, 
Nor poet’s lay proclaim’d the bridal rite ; 
There were no nimble daucers’ sportive 
train, 
Nor parents sune the Hymeneal strain ; 
But silence brooded o’er the marriage bed, 
In love’s congenial hours of darkness spread, 
Night only deck’d their couch ;—by break 
of day, 
He from the well-known spot was far 
away. 
The detail of Leander’s last fatal 
attempt, and his melancholy end, is 
one of the most powerful passages to be 
found in the whole range of poetry. 
Lyceum of Ancient Literature.—No. XX XV. 
[Apu 1, 
The agitation of the tempest-stirred sea 
is depicted with awful minuteness, and 
the fruitless efforts of the unfortunate 
lover to struggle against its violence, 
are described with a touching fidelity. 
The conclusion of the poem is marked 
by that exquisite simplicity which ap- 
pears almost unattainable in modern 
languages, but which constitutes one of 
the greatest charms of ancient poetry. 
Kadd“Hpw rédonne ody crhrvpsbw trepaxoirn 
Addihwy 8 amovavro xc ty TupeaTw Tip OAT pie 
Thus a like fate with his did Hero prove, 
Nor death itself could disunite their love. 
From the concise synopsis of this 
production of Muszeus, which we have 
here submitted to the reader, it will 
soon be perceived how judiciously that 
writer has availed himself of the slen- 
der materials afforded him by tradition, 
with what art he has connected and 
embellished the incidents of the story, 
and how much dramatic interest he has 
found means to impart to it. Some 
idea, too, may be formed from the speci- 
mens here given, of the nature of his 
style, which, in point of purity, may 
be considered faultless, and is charac- 
terised alike by pathos and energy. 
The Ionic dialect predominates through- 
out the poem ; and in the strength and 
harmony of his versification he has been 
pronounced by some of the best judges 
little inferior to Homer. It is much 
to be regretted, that of an author to 
whom we are so much indebted, no- 
thing certain is known, except that he 
flourished in or about the fourth cen- 
tury. The Muszeus of whom Virgil 
makes such honourable mention in his 
Eneid,* where he describes him as at- 
tended in the Elysian fields by a crowd 
of poets, over whom he rises taller by 
the head, is a different person from the 
author of the loves of Hero and Lean- 
der. The former was a son or disciple 
of Linus or Orpheus; he flourished 
more than a thousand years before the 
birth of Christ, and none of his compo- 
sitions have come down to us. 
The poetical reader who delights to 
compare the efforts of kindred genius 
in different ages, will not be displeased 
at our subjoining a specimen of the 
manner in which a great poet of our 
own day has alluded to the pathetic 
story which Musvus selected for the 
subject of his poem. 
The winds are high on Helle’s wave, 
As on that night of stormy water, 
* En. 6. v. 677. 
When 
