them some extracts from the different books, accompanied by the original, and as these have not been selected from any preference discoverable in their translation, they may be considered as a fair specimen of the whole.
The Sacrifice of Iphigenia is a picture of high rank in the gallery of the poet, and demands our notice. Lucretius, after celebrating the genius of Epicurus, whose doctrine first put to flight the terrors of superstition, thus proceeds:
Illud in his rebus vereor, ne forte rearis
Impia te rationis inire elementa, viamque
Endogredi sceleris: Quod contra, sæpius olim
Religio peperit scelerosa atque impia facta,
Aulide quo pacto Triviaï virginis aram
Iphianassaï turpârunt sanguine fœde
Ductores Danaûm, delecti, prima virorum.
Cui simul infula virgineos circumdata comptus
Ex utraque pari malarum parte profusa 'st,
Et mæstum simul ante aras adstare parentem
Sensit, et hunc propter ferrum celare ministros ;
Aspectuque suo lacrymas effundere civeis;
Muta metu terram genibus summissa petebat;
Nec miseræ prodesse in tali tempore quibat,
Quod patrio princeps donârat nomine regem.
Nam sublata virûm manibus tremebundaque ad aras
Deducta 'st, non ut, solenni more sacrorum
Perfecto, posset claro comitari Hymenæo:
Sed casta inceste nubendi tempore in ipso
Hostia concideret mactatu moesta parentis,
Exitus ut classi felix, faustusque daretur
Tantum Religio potuit suadere malorum.
Nor deem, the truths Philosophy reveals
Corrupt the mind, or prompt to impious deeds.
No Superstition may, and nought so soon,
But Wisdom never. Superstition 'twas
Urg'd the fell Grecian chiefs with virgin blood
To stain the virgin altar :-barb'rous deed,
And fatal to their laurels! Aulis saw,
For there Diana reigns, th' unholy rite.
Around she look'd, the pride of Grecian maids,
The lovely Iphigenia,-round she look'd,
The sacred fillet o'er her tresses tied,
And sought in vain protection. She survey'd
Near her her weeping sire, a band of priests
Repentant half, and hiding the keen steel;
And crowds of citizens and damsels pale
Fixt in each tragic attitude of woe.
Dumb with alarm, with supplicating knee,
And lifted eye, she sought compassion still,
Fruitless and unavailing !-Vain her youth,
Her innocence and beauty: vain the boast
Of regal birth; and vain that first herself
Lisp'd the dear name of father, eldest born.
Forc'd from her suppliant posture, straight she saw
The altar full prepar'd: not there to blend
Connubial vows, and light the bridal torch;
But at the moment, when mature in charms,
While Hymen call'd aloud, to fall, e'en then,
A father's victim, and the price to pay
Of Grecian navies favour'd thus with gales.-
Such are the crimes that Superstition prompts !
The lines in Italics, both in the original and translation, are equally pathetic and strong.
Some of the most pleasing passages in Lucretius are those in which he commemórates his poetical and philosophical predecessors; the two ensuing extracts have immortalized Ennius and Empedocles: they are written with all the enthusiasm of admiration, and glow with warmth and beauty. I cannot forbear, too, expressing a high sense of the merits of the version which is given con amore, with a felicity, indeed, that leaves little to wish for.
Ignoratur enim quæ sit natura animaï,
Nata sit, an, contra, nascentibus insinuetur,
Et simul intereat nobiscum morte dirempta,
An tenebras Orci visat, vastasque lacunas,
An pecudes alias divinitus insinuet se,
Ennius ut noster cecinit, qui primus amæno
Detulit ex Helicone perenni fronde coronam,
Per genteis Italas hominum quæ clara clueret,
Et si præterea tamen esse Acherusia templa
Ennius æternis exponit versibus, edens:
Quo neque permanent animæ, neque corpora nostra ;
Sed quædam simulacra modis pallentia miris
Unde sibi exortam semper-florentis Homeri
Commemorat speciem, lacrumas et fundere salsas
Capisse, et rerum naturam expandere dictis.
Yet doubtful is the doctrine, and unknown
Whether, coeval with th' external frame,.
The soul first lives when lives the body first,
Or boasts a date anterior: whether doom'd
To common ruin and one common grave,,
Or thro' the gloomy shades, the lakes, the caves
Of Erebus to wander or, perchance,
As Ennius taught, immortal Bard! whose brows
Unfading laurels bound, and still whose verse
All Rome recites entranc'd, perchance condemn'd
The various tribes of brutes, with ray divine,
To animate and quicken: tho' the bard,
In deathless melody, has elsewhere sung
Of Acherusian temples, where nor soul
Nor body dwells, but images of men
Mysterious shap❜d, in wond'rous measure wan.
Here Homer's spectre roam'd, of endless fame
Possest: his briny tears the bard survey'd,
And drank the dulcet precepts from his lips.
Quorum Acragantinus cum primis Empedocles est:
Insula quem Triquetris terrarum gessit in oris:
Quam fluitans circum magnis amfractibus æquor
Ionium glaucis aspergit virus ab undis:
Angustoque fretu rapidúm mare dividit undis
Italiæ terraï oras à finibus ejus :
Hic est vasta Charybdis, et hic Ætnæa minantur
Murmura flammarum rursum se conligere iras,
Faucibus eruptos iterum ut vis evomat igneis:
Ad cœlumque ferat flammaï fulgura rursum ;
Quæ cùm magna modis multis miranda videtur.
Gentibus humanis regio, visendaque fertur,
Rebus opima bonis, multa munita vitum vi:
Nil tamen hoc habuisse viro præclarius in se,
Nec sanctum magis, et mirum, carumque videtur.
Carmina quin etiam divini pectoris ejus
Vociferantur, et exponunt præ clara reperta;
Ut vix humana videatur stirpe creatus.
Thus sung Empedocles-in honest fame
First of his sect; whom Agrigentum bore
In cloud-capt Sicily. Its sinuous shores
Th' Ionian main, with hoarse, unwearied wave
Surrounds, and sprinkles with its briny dew:
And, from the fair Italian fields, divides
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