Me my young mistress, Lucy, fair and sweet, Nursed in her bosom, from my dam so fleet Caught, yet a suckling, in the woods astray:
-She loved to watch my quick ears' quivering play, And feed me with spring-flowers; nor I, the while, Pined for a parent's love, beneath her smile, Nor miss'd the care-but ah! too fondly fed Even thus I sicken'd; till she wept me dead: Then, close beside her bower, she laid me here, That still in dreams my form might visit her.
While yet a little leveret beneath my dam I lay, Was I, Long-Ear and Swift-Foot, torn from her side away, And given to lovely Phanion, who fondled with delight In her sweet breast, and fed on flowers her happy favourite. I pined not for my mother-of whom I thought no more- Nor for the pleasant places where I had play'd before- All daintiest delicates to me my mistress still supplied, And thus of kindness overmuch I surfeited and died.
Here, close beside her bower, she wish'd my bones should buried be, That always, as she slept, my tomb she in her dreams might see.
BENJAMIN KEEN.
(PARAPHRASE.)
I was erewhile young Lesbia's pet, A nimble long-ear'd leveret ; Short was my sojourn upon earth, But from the hour that gave me birth, By Lesbia's tender hands carest, Or to her fostering bosom prest, The object of her ceaseless cares, I lived the happiest of hares.
For me the gentle maid would bring The sweetest flowers that greet the Spring;
For me in Summer's heat she sought The pinks with richest perfumes fraught, For me the choicest herbs she cull'd, For me the freshest parsley pull'd,
The epigram is to us easy; but some people have thought it difficult, and the close oracular. Jacobs complains of its obscurity, and in his notes, proposes Evεg (in the shades) for EV OVELS, (in dreams) casting off the s like a pair of old stockings, for sake of the feet; and for xorns (couch) he substitutes ovns, (luxury,) and thus renders the passage, "ut apud in feros quoque nunquam non videam -i. e. habeam sepulchrum pabulo propinquum."—that the ghost of Puss might still have the pleasure of feasting on the ghosts of springplants, early lettuce, sea-kail, and the more delicate cabbages-a notion perfectly in the spirit of antiquity. Manso, a fine scholar, and elegant Latinist (look at his version)-indulges his feeling and fancy in a still more dainty idea; and makes Mawkins say that her mistress buried her ad stabulum," that the "epulum funebre" might be with the deceased in pleasant dreams. And what was this "epulum funebre?" "Phanion," says Manso, "had nourished her pet on milk"-milk from her own bosom. He therefore, in death as in life," epicuri sectator," is glad to be buried "prope stabula," that he may always have the cause of his death before his eyes-Phanion's breast of milk. For it is manifest, adds Manso, that these words are said not in blame but in praise of the Puella. Phanion, then, though a Puella, was (we hope) a married woman, and her child (we hope) had died of teething, (we hope,) as it must otherwise have been much incommoded, and indeed defrauded, by that hairy foster brother. If this be Manso's
Till, by her love too well supplied, A surfeit seized me, and I died. Young Lesbia mourn'd my early doom, Her fair hands dress'd my simple tomb, And placed it close beside her bed, Where oft, when visions fancy-bred Present my cherish'd form to view, Fresh tears her lovely breast bedew. Blest drops! that sparkle as ye flow, And trickling to the tomb below, Sure pledge, that though the maiden sleeps
Soft pity still due vigil keeps, And prompts her never to forget Her nimble, long-ear'd leveret.
meaning-and we can give no other interpretation to his Lacte Phanium nutriverat leporem"-we cannot help thinking Phanion transferred her affection rather oddly from her dead infant to her living leveret― and that the epigram is too much in the style of Sir John Suckling. Graeffe sees a deeper meaning in the concluding distich-a moral. Grotius, he thinks, has not given the whole force of the last line in his
Frederick thinks Hugo should have said
"Ut videat somnis proxima fata suis." For he believes that Meleager intended that the hare should say that Phanion buried him near her bed, that her heart-even in dreams-might be led to meditate on this image of near death," hanc propinquæ mortis ima ginem." And he says this " epigrammatis conversio," pleases the reader the more, "quo minus prævidebatur." Rather far-fetched, my good fellow, Frederick Graeffe. Affection for her favourite would naturally prompt a tender-hearted girl like Phanion (she was no wet nurse) to bury the fur near her couch; but at that time of life, girls in good health are not so fond of the image of death as to desire to have one, simply for death's sake, near their pillow. Jacobs, and Manso, and Graeffe, and every body else, are the best of commentators and Christians; but Phanion, a Greek girl, sorry that her pet had died of too much kind
ness, begged her own Lawrence Macdonald to imagine an exquisite design for a marble monument to her poor dear hare, and having got one, she then asked Meleager for an epitaph, who returned one by post, as punctually as her poets obey Maga.
There is much-ado-about-nothing, too, among the commentators, on Tgos-2015-which may mean either Phanion's or her hare's cote, couch, or bower. 'Tis an agreeable ambiguity depending on μου; but μου νικον, every body may know who chooses it, is good and common Greek for "me dead;" so you may make what you will of gos is, and it matters little or nothing to which puss it refers-for they either slept together, or Long-ear lay in a sort of cradle at the foot of Phanion's bed.
It has been questioned too, you will perceive, whether gav be the seeing of-we should rather say the perception by-Puss or Phanion. Jacobs and Manso make the hare the seer. Perhaps good-natured grammarians will excuse us for hinting that Jacobs-in his construction of the lineviolates a general rule-to which we can recollect no exceptions-to witthat when the personal pronoun is left out before an infinitive, the subject of that infinitive is always the subject of the introductory verb. Thus, in the line before us, exgula, exguas, Exgus sgav, denote respectively, I, Thou, He or She buried-that I, Thou, He or She might see, according to the person of the introductory verb. We have so translated it; and so have all our correspondents, though more than one of them were aware of the interpretation of Jacobs. And Merivale's First Volume is nearly out of print-and a Second is announced to appear in Spring? That shews there is some sense of beauty in people's minds yet, in spite of the Penny-Reform-Bill that has wrought,
they say, a new era in Literature. The Second Volume cannot be a more delightful one than the first, nor a richer mine for plunder-but we are no plunderers. Merivale and North are fellow-labourers in the same shaft; working sometimes at the same, sometimes at a different vein; nor in friendly rivalry ever quarrelling about the division of the golden ore. Each is provided with a safety-lamp-danger none of explosion-and as one or other raises up the light for a survey of the walls, how they sparkle with starry gems like the vault of heaven!
Series ended! Why 'tis but beginning; and the First of March-inclement though may be the season
shall wear a Crown of Attic Flowers. January too must have her Diadem and February her Tiars "alike, but oh! how different;" nor shall April need to be ashamed of an unadorned forehead. But for each month there is preparing a characteristic crown. And remember-oh! ye kind contributors to March-that dim gem nor faded flower can be woven into such wreaths; and that all that is sent must be new as the dawn-dew Earth offers as incense to Phœbus.
Our paper is done our pen blunt-our ink dry; and, hark, ae wee short hour ayont the twal!" So Burns eerily calls what Shakspeare eerily called the "witching time of night," and what that watchman is eerily calling "past ane o'clock and snaw!" Yet are we broad awake as the beautiful Mediterranean Ser looking out by moonlight for a Flee from England; and snow-white ships come gliding down upon us-apparitions in still possession of the whole night-scene from waves to clouds! Phantoms all of our Imagination teeming with Poems!
Printed by Ballantyne and Company, Paul's Work, Canongate.
ABRANTES, Duchess of, her Memoirs,
Aird, Thomas, A Father's Curse, by, 814. Alpine Horn, the, by Mrs Hemans, 858. America, No. I. 285-its institutions
not applicable to older countries, ib.- American character, 289-naval offi- cers, 290-democratic spirit, 291- stability of its government doubtful, 293-talents not appreciated, 294- not improving in taste and intellect, 296-state of the press, 298--and of religion, 299-defects in its political regulations, 300-description of the President's levee, 306. No. II. How viewed by a Briton, 549-American breakfast, 554-men of education, 555 -ladies,ib.-dandy, 557-dinner party 558-houses, 559-servants, ib.-ho- tel dinner, 560-breakfast in a steam- er, 561-equality merely nominal, 565-degree of knowledge, 567. Anthology, the Greek, No. II. 115- No. III. 259-No. IV. 373-Appen. dix to, 407-No. V. 961. Authors, how treated by publishers, 413. Barbadoes, a poem, by M. J. Chapman, 503-specimens of, 518.
Barrington, Colonel, anecdote of, 581. Barrington, Sir Jonah, Historic Memoirs of Ireland, by, 573.
Barry, the painter, remarks on, 491- Burke's letter on painting to, 492. Bavaria, conduct of the Liberals in, 57. Beards, Thoughts upon, 670-negroes want, ib.
Bird, the Academician, 879--defects in Cunningham's Life of, 850. Blackwood, Sir Henry, memoir of, 1— his entry into the navy, 2-accused of treason before the French Conven- tion, 3, note-Captain Pakenham's high opinion of, 4-his account of his daring action with two French frigates, jb.-important share in the capture of the Guillaume Tell, 6-Nelson's let- ter acknowledging his gallant conduct, 7-appointed to watch the movements of the combined fleets of France and Spain, 8-Nelson's letters to, ib.-his letters to his wife before and after the battle of Trafalgar, 10, 11-opinion of Collingwood, 12-services noticed by the latter, 14-appointed to command the Ajax, 15-his letter detailing the loss by fire of that ship and half her crew, ib.-holds the command at Chatham, 22-his death, 23-sketch of his character, ib. Bourbons, cause of their decline after the Restoration, 100, 906.
Boyton, Rev. Charles, character of, 171. Britain, change in her foreign policy, 803-and its effects, ib.
British tropical colonies, M'Queen's letters on, No. I. 231-mistaken con- clusions of Mr Stanley as to the state of, 233-economy of a sugar estate described, 237.-No. II. 611-popu- lation and crops, 618-value of pro- perty, 620-slave population, 634- vexatious conduct of Government au- thorities to the agricultural proprie- tors, 636-unwise and unjust mea sures pursued by Government, 638. Brother's Dirge, the, by Mrs Hemans, 859.
Burke, Edmund, Part III. 25-forfeits the favour of his constituents at Bis- tol by advocating the cause of Ireland, ib.-object of his motion on economi- cal reform, 26-extracts from his speech on that subject, ib.-neglected by his party on account of his political vir- tue, 32-Dunning and Gibbon's opi- nion of his speech, ib.-criticisms on it, 33-address to his constituents at Bristol, vindicating his conduct, ib.- an example of the inability of the multi- tude to decide on the merits of public men, 35-returned member for Malton, ib.-instances of his disregard of public calumnies, 38-his application to the Prince of Wales in favour of a curate, ib.-befriends Crabbe the poet, 39- repels the charge of aristocratic prin- ciples, 40-extract from his speech on the right of taxing America, 41-con- nexion with the Rockingham admini- stration, 43-speech on the India bill, 45-Part IV. 317-Grattan's pane- gyric on, 318-his speech on the Na- bob of Arcot's debts, 320-motives for impeaching Hastings, 328-pas- sages of his speech on opening the impeachment, 330-his knowledge of the human heart, 337-peroration of his speech, 338-character of his elo. quence, 342. Part V.-His labours in the impeachment served to prepare him for more important duties to his country, 486-feelings with which he regarded the commencement of the struggle for liberty in France, 489- and correspondence on it, 490-varied acquirements, 491-supposed to be the chief writer of Sir Joshua Rey- nolds's Discourses, ib.-letter to Barry, 492-quits the Opposition on account of their attachment to the French Revolution, 497-character of his Re-
flections on the French Revolution, 499-and tributes of admiration paid him on account of that work by the highest authorities, 500-degree of LL.D. conferred upon him by the Dub- lin University, ib.-correspondence with Paine, 502. Part VI. 739-Cor- respondence with Mercer regarding France, 742-notice of, and passages from his Reflections, 746-castigation of Dr Price, 756-celebrated fragment on the Queen of France, 760. Calder, Sir Robert, his victory broke Na- poleon's designs upon England, 666. Carlos, Don, disputes the crown of Spain, 804-his claim considered, 805. Carnatic, Burke's description of Hyder Ali's dreadful invasion of the, 322. Cathedral Establishments, English, 677
answer to objections against the service in, ib.—original intention of, 684-eminent men reared in, 686, 691. Chapman, M. J., Barbadoes, and other Poems, by, 503-account of, 515. Claneboy, the Return of, 929. Clare, the late Lord, account of, 590. Coleridge, Dr, eulogy on, 527. Colonies, British Tropical, Letter I., on the, 231-Letter II. 611. Colonists, West India, vindication of, 242-their grievances, 636. Colours, various characters of, 311. Corporation Commission, its object, 801. Cousin, his admiration of the Prussian system of education, 67. Crabbe the poet, anecdote of, 39. Cringle, Tom, his Log, Chap. XXII. Third Cruise of the Wave, 71-Chap. XXIII. The Last of the Log-Tom Cringle's Farewell, 141. Cunningham, Allan, strictures on his Lives of British Artists, 880. Cyril Thornton, Men and Manners in America, by the author of, 286; 518. David's picture of Napoleon asleep in his study, lines suggested by, 813. Democracy, in what circumstances prac- ticable, 102-in America, 214. Democratic changes, progress of, 777. Democrat, life of a, a sketch of Horne Tooke, Part II. 206.
Drama, the Hindu, No. I. 715. Duckworth, Sir John, not blameable for
the failure before Constantinople, 19. Duels, remarks on, 586-list of Irish, 587. Dupleix, his career in India, 327. Early Riser, morning monologues by an, No. I. 430.
English Cathedral Establishments, 677. False Medium, the, 440.
Family Poetry, No. IV. The Country Seat, 820.
Far o'er the Sea, by Mrs Hemans, 859. Financial Policy of Mr Pitt and his suc- cessors, 179.
First Session of the Reformed Parlia ment, 776.
Fox, his character as a party leader, 40– popular qualities, 43-coalition with Lord North, 44-India bill, ib.-eulo- gizes the French Revolution, 498- Burke's separation from, ib.
France, state and prospects of, 95- prosperity under the Restoration, 96— all her calamities the fruits of the Revolution, ib.-dreadful effects of irreligion, 102-degradation of cha- racter, 103-character of the present Government, 104-Burke's prediction concerning her realized, 105-liberti- nism led to the Revolution, 739. France in 1833, No. I. Its political state, 641-irresistible power of the Central Government at Paris, ib- immense military force, 644-liberty of the press, 647-the National Guard the ruling power, 648-and cause of their allegiance to Louis Philippe, ib.- insignificance of the Chambers, 649— causes that threaten the stability of the Central Government, 651-great in- crease of taxation, 655. No. IL Effects of the Revolution of the Barricades on Government, religion, morals, and li- terature, 902-causes of the mild go- vernment of the Bourbons and the despotism of the present dynasty, 903 -republicanism of the press, 910- France admits of a despotic Guverc ment only, 912-approaches to orien- tal despotism, 913-prevalence of infi- delity, 915-depressed condition of the clergy, 916-pleasure and excite- ment the universal objects of pursuit, 918-manners of the capital, ib-de- praved state of literature, 921-speci mens of the drama, 923.
French Revolution, its commencement how viewed in England, 220—its trae spirit never yet fully developed, 495- had been long maturing, 739. Gentoos, their national peculiarities, 33 Germany, democratic principles in, 56. Godwin, Mrs, Lyrics of the East, by, No. VII. 596-No. VIII. 597-No. IX. ib. Governments, democratic, ever the most profuse, 181-three bases of, 656. Grainger, Dr, his poetry, 507. Greek Anthology, No. II. 115-No. IIL 258-No. IV. 373, Appendix to the three Articles on, 407-No. V. 961. Green Cloth, Court of the, 30. Hall, Captain, charges brought against him as a traveller, 552. Hamilton, Miss E. M., a Character, by, 604-Knowledge, by, 605-A Few Years, by, 606-The Weeping Ash, by, 607-Fragment, by, 608-To a Lover of Autumn, by, 865.
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