
1799. ] 
A quiver from his back depends, 
Nor vainly—fince he ftrikes the blow 
E’er heedlefs men difcernthe foe 
Nor ever may the wretch depart © 
Uninjured by his cruel dart.— 
In me remain his form, his ftings, 
But fure the child has loft his wings. 
a. 
_ In addition te this imagery, he is fome- 
times defcribed as bearing a torch; and 
his arrows are faid to’ be burning. Fire and 
flame have from all times been metaphors 
for the amorous paffion. Another em- 
blematical circumftance is, his being 
blind, or rather hood-winked ; in allufion 
to the want of difcernment fo notorious in 
lovers. But this fymbol, though of it- 
felf fufficiently appropriate, is manifeftly 
incompatible with his allegorical charac- 
ter of an archer, and fo {killful an one, 
that Apollo himielf acknowledges him to 
be the better markfman. 
Certa quidem noftra eft; noftra tamen una 
fagitta 
Certior, in vacuo que vulnera pectore fecit. 
Metam. i. 5 Ig. 
My fhaft isfure; but that’s a furer dart 
With which love pierced my yet unwounded 
heart. 
And, indeed, neither Propertius in the 
paflage above quoted, nor Anacreon, 
Mofchus, Ovid, Virgil, Horace, or any 
other of the firft poets of antiquity, re- 
prefents love as blind; and I fufpect this 
conception originated rather with the 
philofophers than the poets. He is like- 
wife painted naked ; beécaufe, fay the jo- 
cular critics, it is the property ot love to 
ftrip people. I rather imagine, however, 
that this circumftance was meant to cor- 
refpond with his childifh form ; and, that 
it denoted artlefsnefs and fimplicity ; or, 
perhaps, the impoflibility of concealing a 
Violeat paffion. 
Among the innumerable defcriptions 
of Jove by the poets of fo many ages, I 
~ find fcarcely any variation from the pre- 
' ceding portrait; though in the a€tion, 
and fome external accompanyments of 
this deity, a degree of invention has been 
difplayed. There is a defcription of the 
cruel and imperious Cupid by Spenfer, 
drawn with much ftrength, and even fub- 
Perfonifications.... Remarks on MUilton. 
293 
Taught to obey the manage of that elf, 
That man and beaft with power imperious 
Subdueth to his kingdom tyrannous : 
His blindfold eyes he bade awhile unbind, 
That his proud fpoil of that fame dolorous 
Fair dame he might behold in perfe& kind ; 
' Which feen, he much rejoiced in his cruel 
mirad. 
Of which, full proud, himfelf uprearing 
high, 
He looked round about with tern difdain, 
Anddid furvey his goodly company, 
And marthalling the evil-order’d train ; 
With that, the darts which his right hand 
did ftrain, s 
Full dreadfully he thook, that all did quake, 
And clapt on high his coloured wingés twaing 
That all his many it afraid did make : 
Then blinding him again, his way he forth 
gid take. 
F, 2. Wii 72: 
Every reader, I think, will feel how 
much this fine defcription is injured by 
the circumitance of hood-winking the 
God; and how ill it correfponds with 
that imperial power and haughtinefs, 
which is fo well fuppoited in the reft of 
the defign.’ Vereen 
(To be continued. ) 

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
I fhall be much obliged to any of your 
correfpondents who will inform us 
how the ancient Romans performed the 
different calculations, which are fo rea- 
dily performed by our prefent charaé¢ters, 
as it is generally fuppofed, they had ne 
other figns of numbers but the letters 
we call numerical. Yours, Ze 

To the Editor of the Monihly Magazine. 
SIR, 
oe you have occafionally permitted 
other correfpondents to make mif- 
cellaneous remarks and _ obiervations 
upon various writers, or fubjects, in 
your truly valuable Magazine, I hope 
you will oblige me with the fame in- 
dulgence. 
Although Mr. Hay Ley, in bis life of 
‘* Milton,” has anticipated feveral of the 
remarks of Mr. WAKEFIELD in’ your 
\ limity. It is in the ma/yue fo often re- 
[ ferred to; where, after a long train of 
-allegorical perfonages, repretenting dif- 
| ferent mental affections, clofed by the 
difimal figure of a lady, whole heart is cut 
out of her breaft, and borne before her in 
triumph; the poet fays, 
Next after her, the winged god himfelf 
} Came riding on a lion ravenous, 
Monruty Maa. No. xiv. 


laft Magazine, yet this latter gentleman, 
by his fuperior penetration of mind, and 
unrivaled claffical knowledge, has. fur- 
nifhed the admirers of Milton with fome 
new and firong arguments againft their 
bigotted opponents. I do not recollect 
that any other writer has given fuch an 
ingenious and ‘adequate explanation’’ 
of the latter diftich of the elegy in quef- 
Pp tion. 
44 iS 
