Now rise, and haste to yonder woodbine bow'rs, Ver. 99. was originally, VARIATIONS. The turf with country dainties shall be spread, P. SUMMER: THE SECOND PASTORAL, OR ALEXIS. TO DR. GARTH. A SHEPHERD'S Boy (he seeks no better name) Led forth his flocks along the silver Thame, Where dancing sun-beams on the waters play'd, And verdant alders form'd a quiv'ring shade. NOTES. Ver. 3. The Scene of this Pastoral by the river side, suitable to the heat of the season; the Time, noon. VARIATIONS. Ver. 1, 2, 3, 4, were thus printed in the first edition : Ver. 3. Originally thus in the MS. There to the winds he plain'd his hapless love, ÍMITATIONS. Ver. 1. Spenser's Shepherd's Calendar, January: P. P. Warburton. When Winter's wasteful spight was almost spent, Led forth his flock, that had been long ypent. Bowles. Soft as he mourn'd, the streams forgot to flow, 5 Ye shady beeches, and ye cooling streams, Defence from Phoebus', not from Cupid's beams, To you I mourn; nor to the deaf I sing, 10 15 The woods shall answer, and their echo ring. NOTES. Ver. 9. Dr. Samuel Garth, Author of the Dispensary, was one of the first friends of our Poet, whose acquaintance with him began at fourteen or fifteen. Their friendship continued from the year 1703 to 1718, which was that of his death. P. He was a man of the sweetest disposition, amiable manners, and universal benevolence. All parties, at a time when party violence was at a great height, joined in praising and loving him. One of the most exquisite pieces of wit ever written by Addison, is a defence of Garth against the Examiner, 1710. Warton. Ver. 16. The woods shall answer, and their echo ring.] Is a line out of Spenser's Epithalamion. P. IMITATIONS. Ver. 8. And Jove consented] "Jupiter et læto descendet plurimus imbri." Virg. P. Ver. 15. Nor to the deaf I sing,] "Non canimus surdis, respondent omnia sylvæ." Virg. P. The sultry Sirius burns the thirsty plains, 25 Where stray ye, Muses, in what lawn or grove, While your Alexis pines in hopeless love? In those fair fields where sacred Isis glides, Or else where Cam his winding vales divides? As in the crystal spring I view my face, Fresh rising blushes paint the wat'ry glass; NOTES. Ver. 27. As in the crystal spring] This is one of those passages in which Virgil, by too closely copying Theocritus, has violated propriety; and not attended to the different characters of Cyclops and Corydon. The sea, which is a proper looking-glass for the gigantic son of Neptune, who also constantly dwelt on the shore, was certainly not equally adapted to the face of the little Landshepherd. The same may be said of the cheese and milk, and numerous herds of Polypheme, exactly suited to his Sicilian situation, and the rude and savage state of the speaker, whose character is admirably supported through the whole eleventh Idyllium of Theocritus. Warton. VARIATIONS. Ver. 27. Oft in the crystal spring I cast a view, IMITATIONS. Ver. 23. Where stray ye, Muses, &c.] "Quæ nemora, aut qui vos saltus habuere, puellæ Nam Ver. 27. Virgil again, from the Cyclops of Theocritus, nuper me in littore vidi, Cum placidum ventis staret mare; non ego Daphnim, P. P. P. 30 35 But since those graces please thy eyes no more, That taught the groves my Rosalinda's name: NOTES. Ver. 35, 36. Care,] The only faulty rhymes, care and sheer, perhaps in these poems, where versification is in general so exact and correct. Warton. Ver. 39. Colin] The name taken by Spenser in his Eclogues, where his mistress is celebrated under that of Rosalinda. P. Ver. 42. Rosalinda's] This is the Lady with whom Spenser fell violently in love, as soon as he left Cambridge and went into the North; it is uncertain into what family, and in what capacity. Her name is an Anagram, and the letters of which it is composed will make out her true name; for Spenser (says the learned and ingenious Mr. Upton, his best Editor) is an Anagrammatist in many of his names: thus Algrind transposed, is Archbishop Grindal; and Morel is Bishop Elmer. He is supposed to hint at the cruelty and coquetry of his Rosalind in B. 6. of the Fairy Queen, in the character of Mirabella. Warton. IMITATIONS. Ver. 40. Bequeath'd in death, &c.] Virg. Ecl. ii. P. |