Swear, in thy foul no latent frauds remain, 10 Swear, by the Vow which never can be vain. The Goddess swore: then feiz'd my hand, and led Four faithful handmaids the foft rites prepare; H5 Nymphs fprung from fountains, or from fhady woods, One o'er the couches painted carpets threw, Whose purple luftre glow'd against the view: V. 414. Four faithful handmaids, &c.] This large defcription of the entertainment in the Palace of Circe is particularly judicious; Ulyffes is in an house of pleasure, and the Poet dwells upon it, and fhews how every circumftance contributes to promote and advance it. The attendants are all Nymphs, and the bath and perfumes usher in the feaft and wines. The four verses that follow, are omitted by Dacier, and they are mark'd in Euftathius as fuperfluous; they are to be found in other parts of the Odyssey; but that, I confefs, would be no argument why they should not ftand here, (fuch repetitions being frequent in Homer) if they had a due propriety, but they contain a tautology; we fee before a table spread for the entertainment of Ulyffes, why then should that circumstance be repeated? If they are omitted, there will no chaẩm or incoherence appear, and therefore probably they were not originally inserted here by Homer. Ал 425 An ample vafe receives the smoking wave, A veft and tunick o'er me next fhe threw, The golden ew'r a nymph obfequious brings, I wafh'd. The table in fair order fpread, 440 Of choiceft fort and favour, rich repaste! 445 Abfent I ponder, and absorpt in care : Some hoard of grief close harbour'd at his heart. Can Can yet a doubt, or any dread remain, SO When fworn that oath which never can be vain? I anfwer'd, Goddefs! Human is thy breaft, Ill fits it me, whofe friends are funk to beafts, 55 Me wou'dft thou please? for them thy cares imploy. And them to me restore, and me to joy. With that, fhe parted: In her potent hand Then haft'ning to the ftyes fet wide the door," Now touch'd by counter-charms, they change agen, "Till all the form in full proportion rife, More young, more large, more graceful to my eyes. v. 468. More young more graceful to my eyes.] Homer excellently carries on his allegory; he intends by this expreffion of the enlargement of the beauty of Ulyffes's companions, to teach that men who turn from an evil courfe, into the paths of Virtue, excel even themfelves.; having learn'd the value of Virtue from the miferies they fuffer'd in purfuit of Vice, they become new men, and as it were enjoy a fecond life. Enftathius. They They faw, they knew me, and with eager pace 470 Clung to their mafter in a long embrace: Sad, pleafing fight! with tears each eye ran o'er, Oh much-enduring, much-experienc'd man! Then bring thy friends, fecure from future harms, I quit the place, and haften to the strand. (When loaded cribs their evening banquet yield) The v. 485. As from fresh paftures and the dewy field, &c.] If this fimile were to be render'd literally it would run thus; "as calves "feeing the droves of cows returning at night when they are fill'd "with their pafturage, run skipping out to meet them; the ftalls "no longer detain them, but running round their dams they fill "the plain with their lowings, &c." If a fimilitude of this nature were to be introduced into modern Poetry, I am of opinion it would fall under ridicule for a want of delicacy: but in reality, images drawn from Nature, and a rural life, have always a very good The lowing herds return; around them throng With leaps and bounds their late-imprison'd young. › And ecchoing hills return the tender cry: So round me press'd exulting at my fight, Not that lov'd country for whose fight we mourn, good effect; in particular, this before us enlivens a melancholy description of forrows, and fo exactly expreffes in every point the joy of Ulyffes's companions, we fee them in the very description. To judge rightly of comparison, we are not to examine if the fubject from whence they are deriv'd be great or little, noble or familiar, but we are principally to confider if the image produc'd be clear and lively, if the Poet have skill to dignifie it by Poetical words, and if it perfectly paints the thing it is intended to reprefent. This rule fully vindicates Homer, tho' he frequently paints low life, yet he never ufes terms which are not noble; or if he ufes humble words or phrases, it is with fo much art, that, as Dionyfius obferves, they become noble and harmonious: In fhort, a Top may be used with propriety and elegance in a fimilitude by a Virgil, and the Sun may be dishonour'd by a Mavius; a mean thought exprefs'd in noble terms being more tolerable, than a noble thought difgrac'd by mean expreffions. Things that have an intrinfic greatnefs need only to be barely reprefented to fill. the foul with admiration, but it fhews the skill of a Poet to raise a low subject, and exalt common appearances into dignity. I anfwer'd I |