HEMIPTERA. 



33 



Some species of this tribe were known to the ancients. With them it was the emblem 

 of happiness and eternal youth ;* and if we examine the legends of pagan mythology, 

 we find they were deemed a race of creatures beloved by gods and men. The Athenians 

 wore golden Cicadas in their hair, to denote their national antiquity ; or that like those 

 creatures they were the Jirst bom of the earth ; and the poets feigned that they partook 

 of the perfection of their deities. f Anacreon depictures in glowing colours the unin- 

 terrupted felicity of this creature : his ode to the Cicada is appropriate to our inquiry.]; 



In the infant state of music, men seem to have preferred the natural sounds of some 

 animals to those of their uncouth instruments. We cannot otherwise account for the 

 extravagant praise bestowed on the noise of this little creature. It is true, authors agree 

 that the sounds of some kinds are exceeding loud and harmonious, and in the early ages 

 of the world these might have a powerful influence on the human mind. It is related 

 that the ancient Locri, a people of Greece, were so charmed with the song of the Cicada, 

 that they erected a statue to its honour.§ 



The ancients had attentively observed the manners of its life, though they indulged 



* Probably because it was supposed to live only a short time. The renewal of youth is illustrated by the 

 story of the Tithonus transformed by Aurora into a Cicada. 



+ These pagan deities were without flesh or blood, and composed of aerial and watery humours. Such 

 they imagined the moisture of the Cicada, and perhaps for that reason first assigned it a place among their 

 demi-gods. 



Happy creature ! what below 

 Can more happy live than thou ? 

 Seated on thy leafy throne, 

 (Summer weaves the verdant crown,) 

 Sipping o'er the pearly lawn 

 The fragrant nectar of the dawn ; 

 Little tales thou lov'st to sing, 

 Tales of mirth — an insect king : 

 Thine the treasures of the field, 

 All thy own the seasons yield ; 

 Nature paints for thee the year, 

 Songster to the shepherds dear : 

 Innocent, of placid fame, 

 What of man can boast the same ? 



Thine the lavished voice of praise, 

 Harbinger of fruitful days ; 

 Darling of the tuneful nine, 

 Phcebus is thy sire divine ; 

 Phoebus to thy notes has giv'n 

 Music from the spheres of heav'n : 

 Happy most, as first of earth, 

 All thy hours are peace and mirth ; 

 Cares nor pains to thee belong, 

 Thou alone art ever young ; 

 Thine the pure immortal vein, 

 Blood nor flesh thy life sustain ; 

 Rich in spirits — health thy feast, 

 Thou'rt a demi-god at least. 



Green s Trans. Ode 43. 



^ Some say, that once a certain player of Locri, contesting in the art of music with another, would have 

 lost the victory, by the breaking of two strings of his instrument, but a Cicada flew to his aid, and resting on 

 the broken instrument, sung so well, that the Locrian was declared victor. The Locrians erected a statue to 

 the Cicada as a testimony of their gratitude. It represented the player with the insect on his instrument. 



F 



