E: Lace veteres, et Jovis ora decebant 85 90 I nunc, confer opes, quisquis malesanus avitas 93 100 105 Nec vestri sum juris ego; securaque tutus 110 At tibi, care pater, postquam non æqua merenti Et vos, O nostri, juvenilia carmina, lusus, AD SALSILLUM, POETAM ROMANUM, ÆGROTANTEM. SCAZONTES. O Musa, gressum quæ volens trahis claudum, Nec sentis illud in loco minus gratum, O dulce divum munus, O Salus, Hebes Querceta Fauni, vosque rore vinoso Colles benigni, mitis Evandri sedes, 115 120 5 10 15 20 25 Giovanni Salsilli had complimented Milton at Rome in a Latin tetrastich, for his Greek, Latin, and Italian poetry: Milton, in return, sent these elegant Scazontes to Salsilli when indisposed.-T. WARTON. 1 Quam cum decentes flava Deiope, &c. As the Muses sung about the altar of Jupiter, in "Il Penseroso," v. 47.-T. WARTON. O dulce divum munus, &c. I know not any finer modern Latin lyric poetry, than from this verse to the end. The close, which is digressional, but naturally rises from the subject, is perfectly antique.T. WARTON. MANSOUSA ETIME Trass veringenii laude, tum literarum studio, necnon ares in primis est: ad quem Torquati Tassi Dialogus 'n Piss amicissimus: ab quo etiam inter Campanise culus Gerusalemme Conquistata,' lib. 20. sailer magnanimi, e cortesi, Στα αn summa benevolentia prosecutus est, multaque ei tape hospes the, antequam ab ea urbe disce Zoe carmen misit: Maase, the melitantur carmina laudi Perice abi Manse chronotissime Phœbi; Ta quoque, strenuum valet aura Camene, Te pridem nagno felix sencerdña Tasso 10 1 A- Naples Milton was ntroduced to Giovanni Battista Manso, Marquis of Villa, and at leaving Naples sent him this poem. He was a nobleman of distinguished rank and fortune, had supported a military charseter with high reputation, of unblemished morals, a poiite scholar, a cercorned wer, and a universal patron. It was among his chief honours, that he had been the Tiend of Tasso and this circumstance, above all others, must have made Milton ambitious of us sequin ance. He is not only complimented by name in the twentieth canto of the Gerusalemme," but Tasso addressed his Dialogue on Friendship to Manso. He died in 1645, aged eighty-four.-T. WARTON. mlle tuum dici se gaudet alumnum. Marino cultivated poetry in the academy of the Oriosi, of which Manso was one of the founders. Hither he was sent by the Muse, who was "non inscis," not ignorant ot his poetical abilities and inclinations, &c. for at first, against his will, his father had put him to the law.-T. WARTON. Dum canit, &c. The allusion is to Marino's poem "Il Adone."-T. WARTON. Ille itidem moriens tibi soli debita vates Vidimus arridentem operoso ex ære poetamo. Ergo ego te, Clius et magni nomine Phœbi, Sed neque nos genus incultum, nec inutile Phœbo, 15 20 25 30 33 40 45 • Vidimus arridentem operoso ex ære poetam. Marino's monument at Naples, erected by Manso. Marino died at Naples in 1625, aged fifty-six.-T. WARTON. P Mycalen qui natus ad altam Rettulit Folii vitam facundus Homeri. Plutarch, who wrote the "Life of Homer." He was a native of Bœotia, where Mycale is a mountain. -T. WARTON. The learned translator of this poem into English verse, the Rev. Joseph Stirling, observes that Herodotus is here intended; and that Mr. Warton is mistaken in supposing Milton to allude to Plutarch: for, he adds, "a mountain of the name of Mycale in Bœotia will not be found either in Pausanias or Strabo: Mycale was in Asia Minor, the country of Herodotus. The epithet facundus,' which Mr. Warton admires, is particularly applicable to the father of history; but I doubt whether it would be allowed to Plutarch on the banks of the Ilissus, though he is rich in biographical and moral reflections." TODD. Spenser. HURD. 9 Qua Thamesis, &c. Quin et in has quondam pervenit Tityrus oras. "Like me too, Chaucer travelled into Italy." In Spenser's "Pastorals," Chaucer is constantly called Tityrus.--T. WARTON. |