
1801.} 
from this circumftance, been occafionally 
applied to collections both of old Englifh 
pfalms and ballads. Hafiz, however, is 
net the inventor of this exquifite fimile, 
Ui 
lO) 
Mr. Good on Oriental Poetry. 
523 
though it is generally attributed to him. 
He borrowed it from the Hamafa of the 
Arabian poet Abu 'Temam, who thus 
anticipates him: 
§ bel 1S! LAU! die 
- Ww e ~ 
; bau! ol ye i > 9 _s® 
Fine thoughts in profe a luftre pour around 
Like gems at random fcattered o’er the ground ; 
But, fet in verfe, they then the page bedeck, 
Like rows of pearls that clafp the fair-one’s neck. 
> 
$n the fourth gazel of Hafiz under the letter On according to the order of Mex 
niniki, we meet with the following exquifite couplet: 
ghle odpaT aph UP! pat 96 
Orgel yO py 4 ae OF ame 
O might I clafp her like her neareft veft! 
My panting bofom woula be foon at reft. 
With this the reader may compare the 
following of Anacreon, ode xx. 
Eyw yitTwy yevolmryy” 
‘Orws aes Goons we* 
SLdwe Yerw yever oat, 
*OTrws ce YowTa ABTW. 
Transform me to the veft that holds 
Thy panting form within its folds 3 
Or to the ftream whofe liquid arms 
Enclafps thy full-develop’d charms. 
. The comparifon of the pleafures of 
love to a feaft is not uncommon among 
the Greek and Roman poets. With the 
latter it feems, however, almoft confined 
to the folid viands of which the banquet 
confifts. Hence, Martial, ix. 60. 2. 
Infpexit molles pueros, oculifque comedit. 
His eyes furveyed, and on their tender 
charms 
Voluptuous fed. 
_ And hence the inimitable defcription of 
Mars repofing on the bofom of Venus 
in Lucretius i. 36 
Atque ita, fufpiciens tereti cervice rem, 
potta, 
Pafcit amore avidos inhians in te, Dea, 
vifus 3 
Eque tuo pendet refupini fpiritus ore. 

—— With uplifted gaze 
On thee he feeds his longing, lingering 
eyes, 
And all his foul hangs quivering from 
thy lips. 
To the joys of the banquet the Per- 
fians apply more frequently ftill for a 
metaphor to delineate the rapturgs that 
proceed from the fmiles or kiffes of their 
miftreffes; but, probably from the dif+ 
ference of their climate and manners, and 
the fuperior enjoyment afforded them 
by the limpid fountain and the flowing 
cup, they rarely fpeak of feedingon the 
charms of the affenting fair-ones, but of 
drinking the delicious neétar they afford. 
Thus in the following of Hafiz, from 
the firft gazel under the letter (y$ 
yess Le 
WU 0dly Oi giy Lila ga% 
From Hafiz learn, and kiffes {weet as wine 
Drink from the dulcet cheek of maids divine. 
: 3X2 & 
