Est in secessu longo locus: insula portum
Efficit obiectu laterum, quibus omnis ab alto

at which he touched from the time when
he set out from burning Troy, until he
finally anchored in the waters of the
Tiber, and associating with each place
some incident as narrated by Vergil. Cf.
1. 34, and III. 715. It will be seen that
the present is his twelfth landing-place.

159-69. This exquisite picture of the home of the Nymphs has its counterpart, more or less complete, in many other poets, whether imitators or not.

Spenser gives us substantially the same picture (F. Q. II. XII. 30) :

And now they nigh approched to the sted
Whereas those Mermayds dwelt. It was
a still

And calmy bay, on th' one side sheltered
With the brode shadow of an hoarie hill;
On th'other side an high rocke toured still,
That twixt them both a pleasaunt port
they made,

And did like an halfe theatre fulfill.

Vergil in line 161 imitates Geo. IV. 420. Milton thought this scene worthy of a place in Eden:

And overhead upgrew
Insuperable height of loftiest shade,
Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching
palm,

A sylvan scene, and as the ranks ascend
Shade above shade, a woody theatre
Of stateliest view. - P. L. IV.

While Goldsmith's Traveller sees:
Far to the right, where Apennine ascends,
Bright as the summer, Italy extends:
Its uplands sloping deck the mountain's
side,

Woods over woods in gay theatric pride.
Tasso (Ger. Lib. XV. 42, 43) imitates
still more closely :

160

Where, to a crescent curved, the shore extends

Two moony horns, that in their sweep
embrace
A spacious bay, a rock the port defends;
Inward it fronts, and broad to ocean bends
Its back, whereon each dashing billow
dies,

When the wind rises and the storm de-
scends;

While here and there two lofty crags arise, Whose towers, far out at sea, salute the sailor's eyes.

Safe sleep the silent seas beneath; above,

Black arching woods o'ershade the circled

Scene:

Within, a grotto opens in the grove, Pleasant with flowers, with moss, with ivies green,

And waters warbling in the depths un

seen;

Needed nor twisted rope nor anchor there
For weary ships; into that so serene
And sheltered hermitage, the maiden fair
Entered, her slender sails unfurling from
the air.

Vergil himself seems to have borrowed his description from Homer (Od. XIII. 117-126):

A port there is in Ithaca, the haunt Of Phoreys, Ancient of the Sea. Steep shores

Stretch inward toward each other, and roll back

The mighty surges which the hoarse

winds hurl

Against them from the ocean, while within

In one they find a lone sequestered Ships ride without their hawsers, when

Frangitur inque sinus scindit sese unda reductos.
Hinc atque hinc vastae rupes geminique minantur
In caelum scopuli, quorum sub vertice late
Aequora tuta silent; tum silvis scaena coruscis
Desuper horrentique atrum nemus imminet umbra.
Fronte sub adversa scopulis pendentibus antrum;
Intus aquae dulces vivoque sedilia saxo,
Nympharum domus. Hic fessas non vincula naves
Ulla tenent, unco non alligat ancora morsu.
Huc septem Aeneas collectis navibus omni
Ex numero subit; ac magno telluris amore
Egressi optata potiuntur Troes harena,
Et sale tabentes artus in litore ponunt.
Ac primum silici scintillam excudit Achates,
Suscepitque ignem foliis, atque arida circum
Nutrimenta dedit, rapuitque in fomite flammam.

Have passed the haven's mouth. An

olive tree

With spreading branches at thefarther end
Of that fair haven stands, and overbrows
A pleasant shady grotto of the Nymphs.
Ovid approaches the same description
(Met. XI. 229-234):

Est sinus Haemoniae curvos falcatus in

arcus,

Bracchia procurrunt: ubi, si foret altior unda,

Portus erat; summis inductum est aequor harenis.

165

170

175

166. 'Saxis pendentibus,' from Luer. VI. 195, "Speluncasque velut saxis pendentibu' structas," who in turn has imitated an old poet (supposed to be Ennius) in Cic. Tusc. Disp. I. 16, "Per speluncas saxis structas asperis, pendentibus."

CON.

169. And there is a safe haven, where
no need

Of cable is; no anchor there is cast,
Nor hawsers fastened to the strand, but
they

Who enter there remain until it please

Litus habet solidum, quod nec vestigia The mariners, with favorable wind,

164. Silvis, 140.- Scaena, 236.- 165. Umbra, 140.-171. Telluris, 87.-Amore, 141.

-172. Harena. 144.

Tum Cererem corruptam undis Cerealiaque arma
Expediunt fessi rerum, frugesque receptas
Et torrere parant flammis et frangere saxo.

Aeneas scopulum interea conscendit et omnem
Prospectum late pelago petit, Anthea si quem
Iactatum vento videat Phrygiasque biremes
Aut Capyn, aut celsis in puppibus arma Caici.
Navem in conspectu nullam, tres litore cervos
Prospicit errantes; hos tota armenta sequuntur
A tergo, et longum per valles pascitur agmen.

177. Cererem. - Cerealiaque arma. Ceres was the goddess of grain and harvest, here used for the grain itself; so Bacchus for wine, Venus for love, Mars for battle, etc. Hence the Cerealia arma

CERES.

were the cooking utensils, including those necessary to grind the grain. Vergil here probably describes the implements of his own time.

180. When bright-haired Morning brought the third day round,

180

185

I took my spear and my good sword, and left

The ship, and climbed a height, in hope to spy

Some trace of human toil, or hear some voice.

HOMER, Od. X. 174.

181. Prospectum. Cf. Catullus LXIV. 241:

At pater, ut summa prospectum ex arce petebat.

182. Phrygias. Troy was situated in Phrygia Minor, and hence the epithet of the Trojans.

183. In puppibus arma, being those of the commander of the ship, perhaps in lieu of the name of the vessel.

186. Note the onomatopoeia in this line, and compare it with IV. 155. The first presents an array of heavy spondees, suggesting the peaceful herd, feeding lazily through the level valley, no action, no incident, nothing to break the monotony; a quiet, drowsy, rural scene. A striking contrast to this picture is found in the second passage, a line full of galloping dactyls, which fitly portray the

177. Cererem, 245, 5). 178 Rerum, 90.-182. Videat, 168.- 184. Litore, 153.

Constitit hic, arcumque manu celeresque sagittas
Corripuit, fidus quae tela gerebat Achates,
Ductoresque ipsos primum, capita alta ferentes
Cornibus arboreis, sternit, tum vulgus, et omnem
Miscet agens telis nemora inter frondea turbam;
Nec prius absistit, quam septem ingentia victor
Corpora fundat humi et numerum cum navibus aequet.
Hinc portum petit, et socios partitur in omnes.
Vina bonus quae deinde cadis onerarat Acestes
Litore Trinacrio dederatque abeuntibus heros,
Dividit, et dictis maerentia pectora mulcet :

O socii neque enim ignari sumus ante malorum —
O passi graviora, dabit deus his quoque finem.
Vos et Scyllaeam rabiem penitusque sonantes
Accestis scopulos, vos et Cyclopia saxa
Experti

revocate animos, maestumque timorem
Mittite forsan et hacc olim meminisse iuvabit.

190

195

200

199. Horace has: O fortes peioraque passi Mecum saepe viri, nunc vino pellite curas. Odes, I. VII. 30. Spenser gives similar encouragement: So when as fortune all her spight hath showne,

Some blisfull houres at last must needes

appeare.

F. Q. V. III. 1.

200. Scyllaeam. Cf. III. 420, note. 203. Forsan et seq.

For in the after-time

One who has suffered much and wandered
far

May take a pleasure even in his griefs.
HOMER, Od. XV. 509.

193. Fundat, 185. — Humi, 95. 195. Quae cadis, 226.
198. Ante, 225. ·Malorum, 88.-201. Accestis, 216.

Per varios casus, per tot discrimina rerum
Tendimus in Latium, sedes ubi fata quietas
Ostendunt; illic fas regna resurgere Troiae.
Durate, et vosmet rebus servate secundis.

Talia voce refert, curisque ingentibus aeger
Spem vultu simulat, premit altum corde dolorem.
Illi se praedae accingunt dapibusque futuris :
Tergora deripiunt costis et viscera nudant;
Pars in frusta secant veribusque trementia figunt;
Litore aëna locant alii, flammasque ministrant.
Tum victu revocant vires, fusique per herbam
Implentur veteris Bacchi pinguisque ferinae.
Postquam exempta fames epulis mensaeque remotae,
Amissos longo socios sermone requirunt,

A time will come, not distantly descried,
When to remember ev'ry past dismay
Will be no less a pleasure than a pride;
Hold then courageous on, and keep, I
pray,

Your noble hearts in cheer for that
victorious day.

TASSO, Ger. Lib. V. 91. Campbell's Pleasures of Hope is throughout a commentary on this noble line, as instances the following passage: Where is the troubled heart consigned

to share

Tumultuous toils, or solitary care,
Unblessed by visionary thoughts that

stray

To count the joys of Fortune's better day!
Lo, nature, life, and liberty relume
The dim-eyed tenant of the dungeon
gloom,

A long-lost friend or hapless child re-
stored,

205

210

215

Smiles at his blazing hearth and social board;

Warm from his heart the tears of rapture flow,

And virtue triumphs o'er remember'd

woe.

208-9. So spake the apostate angel, though in pain,

Vaunting aloud, but racked with deep despair.

MILTON, P. L. I. 125. 213. Litore aëna locant. This is probably an anachronism, for boiled meat was unknown in Homer's time; but, as Con. remarks, it would not be an anachronism if the water was heated for bathing purposes.

214. Fusique per herbam. Repeated from Geo. II. 527.

216. Mensaeque remotae. According to Con. this is the general phrase among the Romans for concluding a meal.

208. Curis, 136.—209. Corde, 150.- 210. Praedae, 103.-212. Pars secant, 227. — 215. Implentur, 215. — Bacchi, 94; 245, 5). — 217. Sermone, 141.