7816.) __ 
ctnsor, his Or Oe lofty, and soar 
beyond the flight of clegy. 
It is a great merit in Propertius, anid 
almost peculiar to him atid Tibu ue) 
that he rarely indulges in any thing like 
indecency of expression or allusion. 
Though several of his elegies betray 
considerable warmth and -passion, yet 
there are few in which _he gives ae 
the meretricious raptures of Ovid—still 
fewer, in which. he stoops to the coarse 
descriptions of Catullus. .The third 
elegy in the Monobiblos may exermphiy 
what we me: an ; where he describes him- 
self as repai ining late at night to his mis- 
tress, whom he finds as leep, and respect- 
fully forbears to interrupt her repose. 
There is in-this elegy ain image of, ex- 
quisite beauty; the moon in her coursé 
shining full upon. the face of Cynthia 
through the windows opposite her bed 
so as to awaken her: 
Donec diversas percurrens Luna fenestras, 
Luna moraturis sedula laminibus, 
Compositos levibus radiis patefecit ocellos. 
The reproach of Cyntina, coutdined in 
the subsequent lines, is also beautifully 
tender. "In some of his eH he 
indulges a sort of pathetic languor, 
which is extremely moving; particularly 
in the 7th, where he tells his friend Pon- 
ticus, that he prefers the tenderness of 
elegy to all the grandeur of heroics: — 
Nec tantum ingenio, quantum servire dolori 
Cogor, et xtatis tempora dura queri.* 
and consoles. himself with the refection, 
that the youth of future ages, who may 
experience the joys or the pangs of love, 
will hang over his tomb, and exclaiin: 
Ardoris nostri:magne poeta jaces, 
Whether in reality his Cynthia was less 
fickle than the Lesbia of Catallus, or that 
he was less given to jealousy than the 
bard of Verona, we have no means. of 
judging; but we meet with fewer com- 
plaints of infidelity. In the 15th elegy, 
indeed, he upbraids her with ‘her disre- 
gard of his misfortunes, and accuses her 
of perfidy; but we are not informed of 
the cause of his complaint, 
The 14th may be cited as truly Bios 
pertian, for the florid and sprightly de- 
scription it contains, and the exquisite 
: * Petrarch seems to have had this passage 
in view, in his 259d sonnet: 
E certo ogni mio, studio in quel temp’ era 
Pur di sfogare i doloroso core 
In qualche modo, non d’ ‘acquis tar fama. 
ger cercai, non gia del plante onore, | 
tuLy Mac, No, 206, - 
Condition of the Labouring Poor. 
das, 
friend? 
401 
polish of the verse. The i8th is also 
esteemed one of the mast plaint tive and 
tender in the volume, though if is not 
free from ambiguitt tes and obscurities in 
the text. ‘Phe elevies contained in the: 
remaining three books, being add ressed 
to different persons, and ai pon various 
sub} ects, are prohably Jess interesting to 
those Who admire the im ipassioned style 
and moving language of those addressed 
to Cynthia. Some aré Dp political ; others, 
particularly those imitated from: the 
Greeks, are learned, and abstruse. tn 
turning rapic ily over tle pages ef this 
author, we notice, for instance, the Ist 
elegy 1 in the four books, which abounds im 
all the learning of t Ke ancients. Of his 
satirical powers, the 16th of the she 
book, isa favourable specimen, muca 
praised by Bronkhusius and Vulpius 5 
though probably, 3 in its subject, too close 
an imitation of Catullas. 
Such, however, was the poet of Um= 
bria; aa in generae lt spat be found, that 
his merits surpass bis defects. He 1s, 
always respectably mentioned both by 
ancient and modern critic Qainul: an! 
assures us, that in his own ‘time he more 
than balanced the elegiac fame of Tibul= 
‘Pliny the younger, speaking: of 
Passients, who wrote elegies in imitation 
of Propertius, declares “him to be the 
best. model in that species of writl 
By 
we have occasionally consulted, he is 
mentioned in terms of just and candid, 
criticism. 
pout ess 
Propertius, 4to, 1472, absque loci ac typograe 
phi Ge 
Ald. Venet. 1502. 1515. Ce 
ee Scdlimert; Amt. toage> 9 hy 
————— Lug. Bat. 1591. ; 
Elzev. 1651. 
~——————Bronkhiusti, 4£o. Amst. 1702 and 
LI 27s 
a antniig 2 
_ 
vol. 4to. 1755. edit. Opt. 
Barthii, Lips. i777. rf 
nee 
To the [ditor of the Monthly Mo 
“SIR, 
ONCE IVING I had missed my way 
the other morning ip walking across 
Streatham Common, I hddressed a las 
bouring man who. was passing in the 
same direction, and findize he was wal Ihe 
ing to Battersea, 
destination, I 2ccompanied him; and) 
nearly the following dialogue took piace 
between us. 5 
What is your object 
SF 
Y pothe ae 
GAZNE. 
we 
Cc 
Wt. 
at Battersea, 
fe, , 
lan. 
ad 
Barthius, Lipsius, and others whom 
the pate of my own 
“ 
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