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aut lit ad naturam arboris humilis, nec admo- 

 dum patulis respiciatur, aut ut rata non urgen- 

 durn sit, ut Eel. 5. 7. The passage to which 

 he refers in the fifth Eclogue, is 



Sive sub incertas Zephyris mutantibus umbras: 

 Sive antro potius succedimus : aspice ut antrum 

 Silvestris raris sparsit labrusoa racemis. 



And he observes upon it, " raris autem hie non 

 urgenduui, uti Burm. & Martin, faciunt; 

 alias in vitio hoc esset, quod rari sunt racemi : 

 sed simpliciter notat naturam racemorum sive 

 uvarum, passim e palmitibus per antri ostium 

 serpentibus pendentium, ut adeo per intervallos 

 dies intret." Ita. & Eel. 7-46. "Et qua? vos 

 rara viridis tegit arbutus umbra." As far as 

 these observations relate to the vine, and to the 

 whole of that passage, they are.perfectly just ; 

 but I do not think they will apply to the ar- 

 butus, or to the general spirit of the other. In 

 the one passage the imagery is playful and vary- 

 ing, the air fresh and in motion, the' Zephyrs 

 blowing, and quickly changing the shadows; 

 and from the pliant texture of the vine, the 

 extremities of its trailing branches, as well as 

 its pendant clusters, are easily agitated by the 

 wind : and the expression is, raris sparsit race- 

 mis. In the other, every thing announces the 

 stillness and repose of summer heat, when the 

 close and compact, texture of the arbutus leaves, 

 and its stiff branches, which yield less to the 

 c c 4 



