Musaeus Grammaticus

“ With more than speech seduces; Hero sees
The Traytor's ambush'd arts, she sees, and smiles
Conscious of charms celestial; oft her vest
The blushes' sweet suffusion clos'd, but soon
Fondly accordant her uplifted look
Meets her Leander; transport fills his soul,
While the lov'd Hero half-reluctant owns
A corresponding flame; the hour he seeks
Sacred to Cyprian vows, when Phœbus' rays
Verge to the Main declining, and thy star,
Meek Hesper, glimmers through the veil of night.
Soon as dim twilight o'er th' horizon sheds
The last, faint blush of day, the darkling scene
Inspires him ”

“ Sing, Muse, the conscious torch, whose nightly flame,
(The shining signal of a brighter dame,
Thro' trackless waves the bold Leander led,
To taste the dang'rous joys of Hero's bed:
Sing the stol'n bliss in gloomy shades conceal'd,
And never to the blushing morn reveal'd.
I see the lovely youth triumphant ride
O'er the proud billows of th' insulted tide;
And lo! a light shoots glimm'ring from afar,
Of nuptial sweets the kind-presaging star:
A light! which (would propitious Jove encline)
In brighter glory should for ever shine ”

“ League in discordant union, and the Deep
Rouse to fierce conflict; inauspicious hour,
Leander nought regards thee, all his soul
Pants for the well-known joys, once more the Main
Bears its devoted burden; wave on wave
Dashes, his mountains angry Neptune heaves
Ev'n to the foot of Jove, the tempests shake
Creation's wide domain; the surly East
Wars with the Western blast, the ruder North
Blows havock on the South, the mingled roar
Of thunder bellows thro' the mad profound.
⁠Whelm'd in the gulph, and toss'd from surge to surge,
What pangs were thine, Leander! ”

“ Tho' winds, and flames, and floods command my stay.
These arms the foaming surges shall withstand,
Insult their rage, and oar me safe to land.
Thus ev'ry night to thy embrace I'll fly,
Shiv'ring with cold, all pale and breathless lye,
And when full warm'd, with bliss dissolve, and die.
Justly you ask the country, whence I came;
Know then, Abydos is my neighb'ring home.
Ah! from thy turret let some friendly light
Chase the thick darkness, and direct my sight:
Thou the delicious land of love shalt be,
And I the ship, steer'd by that star to thee. ”

“ Unmindful of Leander; pray'rs are vain,
Deaf ev'ry Pow'r, for Love can never boast
A conquest o'er the Fates; unhappy Youth,
Sport of contending elements, whose force
Compelling veers thee diverse, scarce thy feet
Faint, and more faint move heavily, thy arm
Drops in lethargic languor, ev'ry surge
Swells thy embitter'd draught; the faithful Torch
Expires amid the tempest, thy fond eye
Just views the falling light, and sinks in death.
⁠Full o'er the Deep impatient Hero por'd,
Pond'ring the long delay ”

“ Who-e'er thou art, that hither bend'st thy way,
Oh! for a while the pleasing coast survey!
This, this the tow'r, whence the kind light did guide
The swimming lover to his Sestian bride:
That the fam'd Hellespont, he nightly crost,
Which still in murmurs groans Leander lost.
But haste we love's soft triumphs to relate,
From the first dawnings to its ripen'd state:
And whence the youth so passionate became,
And how the nymph glow'd with as fierce a flame. ”

“ The piercing anguish of Palemon's Love,
Could tend amidst the Wreck his parting groan,
And for his Tale of Grief forget thy own,
Oh! if the Sacred Nine can sooth the Dead,
In Fancy's Realm the paths of Sorrow tread ”

“ The God of wit yields to the God of love.
Why need I Atalanta's fate declare,
Who wisely (as she thought) declin'd the snare?
While from Melanion's arms all ice she fled,
And shunn'd the pleasures of a nuptial bed:
Till she by Venus rage her follies mourn'd,
And love for love, and flame for flame return'd.
Let this Arcadian nymph instruct thy mind;
Thou art more beauteous, wou'dst thou be more kind! ”

“ For when its flame expires, I breathe my last.
What more?———Leander is the name I bear,
And only to be thy Leander swear.
Thus did the youthful pair resolve to know
From mutual love what mighty pleasures flow;
Secret they fix'd the place, the time to meet;
(For sweetest joys, if stoll'n, are doubly sweet)
When ebbing darkness seem'd to bid adieu,
And both unwilling by constraint withdrew.
She to her tow'r fled swifter than the wind,
The careful lover wisely stay'd behind ”

“ Ten thousand graces sporting in her eyes.
The bright immortal must with pleasure hear
A priestess, far above all mortals fair:
In beauty's charms (could beauty's cause be try'd)
If not a rival, surely near ally'd.
No wonder then each youth a flame confest,
And with heav'd hands the sweet enchantress blest:
None but inspir'd with tender thoughts, began
To wish himself (in vain!) the happy man.
Desiring eyes on the lov'd object hung,
Where-e'er she glided thro' the wond'ring throng,
And scatter'd pleasing ruin all along. ”

“ Critical doubts have likewise arisen, with respect to the probability of Leander's 'watry excursion'—The latter must be determined by the distance. However practicable the Knight, or rather Night Errantry, I am contented to admire the Fable, as a sacrifice to the prevalence of Love, which is well known to remove (at least to attempt it) obstacles of the most forbiding aspect. Those, who wish to give the same air of ease to the present, which has been more recently experienced to attend Love-expeditions, may reduce at will the limits of the Hellespont to those of the Tweed ”

“ And Cyprus' flow'ry vales their youths resign;
Ev'n thou, Cythera, view'st thy widow'd groves,
No more the seats of Beauty; on the brow
Of spicy Libanus no tunes of mirth
Rouse to the genial dance; the Phrygian swain
Feels the warm impulse, and Abydos' shore
Exhausts her social numbers; not a youth,
Lesson'd in Cupid's school, brooks absence ”

“ Henry Stephens has exhibited the word ἀκόυω in all its meanings, and particularly introduces the above line.—See his Thesaur. Ling. Græc. He observes, that the construction would be harsh (dura conftructio) if turn'd otherwise than 'I hear the Sound of Leander swimming,' which would be a wretched version, particularly when we reflect that Sound cannot be applied to λύχνον the Torch; for that must necessarily be an object to the Eye. To obviate this great impropriety, I would construe ἀκόυω 'fando accipio'—I hear by report—I relate the received tale of Leander and the Torch. ”

“ A Friend is displeas'd with the occasional alteration in the foregoing words, which he esteems not classical. I think, that the liberty may be justify'd from the practice of Grecian writers, who exercis'd the 'poetica licentia' to a degree that banish'd nicety. It must indeed be acknowledg'd, that Ovid uses the word, Leander, in one uniform quantity ”

“ Virgil pays [2] a superior tribute to Musæus, whose name he celebrates in his Sixth Book of the Æneid without any intimation of Homer. In a writer of Virgil's candor this omission must be concluded to have arisen from the Antiquity of Musæus's Compositions; many whereof may be suppos'd to have existed in Virgil's days. [3] Their Excellence may be collected from the frequent mention of the Author's name with that of the ancient Orpheus, whose Muse has been recorded to have perform'd even magical operations. ”

“ Leander hangs
Gazing her charms intranc'd, he cannot quit
The fascinating object; the warm blush
Melts on her cheek, as dew-drops on the rose,
While bursts the silver note from Hero's tongue.
'Say, lovely Youth, what means the magic voice,
'Whose sound would soften adamant? What Pow'r
'Taught the commanding accent? Stranger, speak,
'Whence first thy course to Sestos? but in vain
'Thy eloquence of love; seducing Youth,
'Would'st thou unknown aspire to Hero's arms,
'To wishes, thou can'st never taste? The torch
'Of Hymen, if thy Hero yield her hand,
'Beams with no parent's favor ”

“ I speak as to the female sex; for Priests were frequently appointed, who were fathers of children, and indeed the name of Father was particularly honorable both in Greece and Rome. Minutius Felix, in his account of the profligate character, which recommended Priests and Priestesses, certainly alludes either to local degeneracy in Ancient Greece, or to later ages of Paganism ”

“ This last interpretation is illustrated by Henry Stephens from a verse in Homer Il. ω.
Καί σε γέρων τὸ πρὶν μὲν ἀκόυομεν ὂλζιον ἕιναι.
If any severer Critic is dissatisfy'd with the above, let him substitute ὀράω; and the passage will be clear, and unforc'd—Indeed the spirit of the phrase will be augmented by this Prosopopeïa, which consequently enforces the history related, by bringing it immediately to the Sight.
Orig.—Ἠροῡς νυκτιγάμοιο γαμόστολου άγγελιώτην V. 7. ”

“ The conduct of both the Poets merits attention. The conciseness of Musæus is well adapted to the situation of Leander, who was swimming—The more diffus'd stile of Ovid is equally fitted to Leander, while he continued on the Shore. ”

“ Pity and Love are confederate passions. Had the first version stood, it would have been necessary to substitute κάλλεγε for κάλλιπε ——— κάλλεγε Βορέην (illegible text) ἀμνήμοις.
Orig.—Πολλὴ δἁυτόματος χύσις ὕδατος ἔῤῤεε λἀιμῶ, V. 327. ”

“ Assirmavit enim mihi olim Michaël Sophianus coràm aliis plurimis, se vidisse Genuae librum veterem, qui inter alia poemata haberet istud ità inscriptum, Μουσαίου γραμματίκου τα καθ Ήρω, καὶ Αεανδραν, eumq; in cujus manibus liber erat, nominavit. Id autem mihi affirmans judicium meum confirmabat. Quùm enim antiquum Poema mihi non videri, nihilq; me τοῦ ἀρχαιoυ χνου ποιητίκου (ut ità loquar) in eo reperire dicerem (tantum abest, ut vetustissimo illi poetæ ascribendum putarem!) ”