1808.] Virgil’s Dessription of the Shield of Aineas. 
a good auxiliary practice, If a person 
be obliged to sleep in a strange bed, and 
apprehends that his rest may be disturb- 
ed by fleas or bugs, it is probable that a 
bag of camphor worn in his bosom may 
be more effectual than it was in the bo- 
som of Mrs. Lee. As to a remedy for 
the tumour occasioned by the bite of a 
bug or flea, should any be thought ne- 
cessary, I would recommend campho- 
rated spirit and distilled vinegar, equal 
parts. British fleas, it is true, are not 
animals of that magnitude and conse- 
quence which they are in Russia, where 
in the summer season they animate, in 
myriads, the dust of the high roads, and 
are of such a goodly stature, that a tra- 
veller, may en passant, view all their parts, 
and even their occupations and diver- 
sions; yet the former are troublesome 
enough, and they who will not be at the 
pains to destroy, may enjoy. 
I am, Sir, one who has ever desired to 
be, to the utmost of his extremely limited 
power, 
A FRIEND TO THE FRIENDLESS. 
ee ree 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
Fe a part of your Magazine has been 
devoted to the admission of clas- 
sical subjects, I have been induced to 
send you a literal translation of Virgil’s 
Description of the Shield of Aineas. It 
may be doubted, whether any part of the. 
iKneid displays greater descriptive abi- 
lity, or a more insinuating address, than 
this beautiful episode. The tompliment 
to Augustus is not so laboured and arti- 
ficial as that prefixed to the third book of 
the Georgics, which has met with such 
warm approbation from the late learned 
Bishop of Worcester. And with respect 
to the powers of description exhibited 
throughout the whale, I know of no part 
of the Eneid im which so much is ef- 
fected in so small a space. As the Poet 
is describing a piece of exquisite art 
and workmanship, so we may observe 
that all the circumstances selected are of 
a picturesque character, and such as 
would be the leading ideas of a painter 
who attempted the same subject. If we 
compare it with Tasso’s description of a 
shield presented to Rinaldo by the her- 
mit, we are enabled instantly to estimate 
the dithiculty of such episodes, and to 
perceive the great superiority of Virgil’s 
genius. I will not now detain the reader 
by any further observations; though at a 
future period I may perhaps enter fully 
On a survey of the comparative merits of 
7 
all the descriptions of a similar nature, in 
Homer, Hesiod, Nonnus, Statius, Silius 
Italicus, Tasso, Ariosto, and Fenelon, 
THE SHIELD OF 4ENEAS. 
Virg. £En, 1. 8, t. 608. 
66 Veil’d in a silv’ry cloud, the Cyprian 
queen : 
Glides down to earth. Her godlike son, re« 
tir’d 
In some lone vale, and near a shaded 
stream, 
She from afar beheld, and meeting hail’d. 
Lo! here, my son, the promis’d gifts 1 
bring 
Wrought by my consorts” art. 
these 
Fierce Turnus or the proud Laurentian host 
To challenge to the fight.” She said, and 
clasp’d 
The hero to her breast. 
arms | 
Dispos’d beneath a fronting oak, with joy 
fEneas views the gift divine, and scans 
With curious eye each well-constructed 
part. 
Nor thus content to gaze, the crested helm, 
Which flam’d aloft, he handles and re- 
views 5 : 
Lifts the destructive sword, and brazen mail, 
Which, like the azure cloud, that glows from 
far, 
Ting’d by the sun’s last rays, shone red as 
blood ; 
Nor jess the plated greaves, and iron spears 
And shield, that things ineffable display’d. 
Fear not with 
The glitt’ring 
Here the prophetic artist, skill’d in times 
As yet untold the Hesperian story grav’d. 
There the long race of young Iulus” blood, 
And all their wars in order grac’d the 
shield. 
In Mars’ green cave the parent wolf was seen 
To lick the fearless babes. They at her teat 
Lay sportive! while, with neck strech’d backy 
the dam 
Alternate fondles each; and with her tongue 
Fashions their pliant limbs. Near these was 
Rome, 
And from the crowded Circus rudely torn 
The Sabine maids, whose wrongs once more 
to arms ye 
Rouse the stern Cures, and their ancient 
king. 
At length, their rage appeas’d, at Jove’s high 
shrine 
The well-arm’d monarchs stood. 
hand 
A fed’ral goblet shone. The victim slain 
Confirm’d the plighted league. Not far ree 
mov’'d, 
Impetuous chariots piecemeal dragg’d’ the 
corse 
Of perjur’d Metius, whose torn limbs bedew 
The forest brambles, that *neath Tullus’ car 
Irriguous blush, and drop with human gore. 
There 
In either 
