The Queen of Power tossed high her jewelled head, And o'er her shoulder threw a wrathful frown: The Queen of Pleasure on the pillow shed Scarce one stray rose-leaf from her fragrant crown. Still Fay in long procession followed Fay; And still the little couch remained unblest: But, when those wayward sprites had passed away, Came One, the last, the mightiest, and the best. Oh glorious lady, with the eyes of light And laurels clustering round thy lofty brow, Who by the cradle's side didst watch that night, Warbling a sweet strange music, who wast thou? Yes, darling; let them go;" so ran the strain : "Yes; let them go, gain, fashion, pleasure, power, And all the busy elves to whose domain Belongs the nether sphere, the fleeting hour. "Without one envious sigh, one anxious scheme, "Fortune, that lays in sport the mighty low, Age, that to penance turns the joys of youth, Shall leave untouched the gifts which I bestow, The sense of beauty and the thirst of truth. "Of the fair brotherhood who share my grace, "There are who, while to vulgar eyes they seem Of all my bounties largely to partake, Of me as of some rival's handmaid deem, And court me but for gain's, power's, fashion's sake. "To such, though deep their lore, though wide their fame, Yes; thou wilt love me with exceeding love; "For aye mine emblem was, and aye shall be, The ever-during plant whose bough I wear, Brightest and greenest then, when every tree That blossoms in the light of Time is bare. "In the dark hour of shame, I deigned to stand "I brought the wise and brave of ancient days I lighted Milton's darkness with the blaze Of the bright ranks that guard the eternal throne. "And even so, my child, it is my pleasure That thou not then alone shouldst feel me nigh, "Not then alone, when myriads, closely pressed "No: when on restless night dawns cheerless morrow, "Thine, where on mountain waves the snowbirds scream, Where more than Thule's winter barbs the breeze, Where scarce, through lowering clouds, one sickly gleam Lights the drear May-day of Antarctic seas; "Thine, when around thy litter's track all day White sandhills shall reflect the blinding glare; Thine, when, through forests breathing death, thy way All night shall wind by many a tiger's lair; "Thine most, when friends turn pale, when traitors fly, When, hard beset, thy spirit, justly proud, For truth, peace, freedom, mercy, dares defy "Amidst the din of all things fell and vile, Hate's yell, and envy's hiss, and folly's bray, Remember me; and with an unforced smile See riches, baubles, flatterers, pass away. "Yes they will pass away; nor deem it strange : TRANSLATION FROM PLAUTUS. (1850.) [The author passed a part of the summer and autumn of 1850 at Ventnor, in the Isle of Wight. He usually, when walking alone, had with him a book. On one occasion, as he was loitering in the landslip near Bonchurch, reading the Rudens of Plautus, it struck him that it might be an interesting experiment to attempt to produce something which might be supposed to resemble passages in the lost Greek drama of Diphilus, from which the Rudens appears to have been taken. He selected one passage in the Rudens, of which he then made the following version, which he afterwards copied out at the request of a friend to whom he had repeated it.] Act. IV. Sc. vii. DEMONES. O Gripe, Gripe, in ætate hominum plurimæ Fiunt transennæ, ubi decipiuntur dolis Atque edepol in eas plerumque esca imponitur. Quam si quis avidus pascit escam avariter, Decipitur in transenna avaritia sua. Ille, qui consulte, docte, atque astute cavet, Mi istæc videtur præda prædatum irier: Ut cum majore dote abeat, quam advenerit. Egone ut, quod ad me adlatum esse alienum sciam, Semper cavere hoc sapientes æquissimum est, Ne conscii sint ipsi maleficiis suis. Ego, mihi quum lusi, nil moror ullum lucrum. GRIPUS. Spectavi ego pridem Comicos ad istum modum Sapienter dicta dicere, atque iis plaudier, Quum illos sapientis mores monstrabant poplo; Sed quum inde suam quisque ibant diversi domum, ΔΑΙΜ. Ω Γρῖπε, Γρῖπε, πλεῖστα παγίδων σχήματα ἴδοι τις ἂν πεπηγμέν ̓ ἐν θνητῶν βίω, καὶ πλεῖστ ̓ ἐπ ̓ αὐτοῖς δελέαθ ̓, ὧν ἐπιθυμία ὀρεγόμενός τις ἐν κακοῖς ἁλίσκεται· ὅστις δ ̓ ἀπιστεῖ καὶ σοφῶς φυλάττεται καλῶς ἀπολαύει τῶν καλῶς πεπορισμένων. ἅρπαγμα δ' οὐχ ἅρπαγμ ̓ ὁ λάρναξ οὑτοσὶ, ἀλλ ̓ αὐτὸς, οἶμαι, μᾶλλον ἁρπάξει τινά. τόνδ' ἄνδρα κλέπτειν τἀλλότριο — εὐφήμει, τάλαν ταυτήν γε μὴ μαίνοιτο μανίαν Δαιμονῆς. τόδε γὰρ ἀεὶ σοφοῖσιν εὐλαβητέον, μή τί ποθ' ἑαυτῷ τις ἀδίκημα συννοῇ· κέρδη δ ̓ ἔμοιγε πάνθ ̓ ὅσοις εὐφραίνομαι, κέρδος δ ̓ ἀκερδὲς ὃ τοὐμὸν ἀλγύνει κέαρ. ΓΡΙΠ. κἀγὼ μὲν ἤδη κωμικῶν ἀκήκοα σεμνῶς λεγόντων τοιάδε, τοὺς δὲ θεωμένους |