places it in the plain wherein Thebes is situated, through which also the rivers Asopus and Ismenus flow. Therefore it can hardly be doubted that Virgil calls Amphion Dirceon from this famous fountain of Boeotia, because he built the walls of the Boeotian Thebes.

Nec sum adeo informis.] "This is a modest expression of his own beauty. Thus Cicero in his oration for Coelius; ut eum pœniteut non deformem esse natum, where he means very handsome." Servius.

O tantum libeat, &c.] In this paragraph Corydon invites Alexis to live with him in the country, and partake of his rural labours; and promises him in recompense to teach him to play on the shepherd's pipe like Pan himself.

Figere cervos.] Some understand these words to mean the fixing of the forked poles, called furca or cervi, to support the cottages. Nor does it seem amiss, that Corydon, having just mentioned the cottages or huts of the shepherds, should immediately add, the props which support them. He is not inviting Alexis to partake of pleasures, but to engage with him in rural labour, to content

himself with living in a poor hut, fixing poles, and driving goats; as a reward for which labour, he promises to teach him to excel in music. This sense is not wholly to be rejected. But the general opinion is, that the poet means hunting in this place, which is confirmed by a similar passage in the first Georgick, ver. 308.

Imitabere Pana canendo.] "You shall play on the pipe with me, after the example of a deity. For Pan is the god of the country, formed after the similitude of nature. Hence he is called Pan, that is, universal: for he has horns in likeness of the rays of the sun, and of the horns of the moon: his face is red, in imitation of the æther: he has on his breast a starry nebris, or spotted skin, to represent the stars: his lower part is rough, for the trees, shrubs, and wild beasts: he has goats' feet, to shew the solidity of the earth: he has a pipe of seven reeds, because of the celestial harmony, in which there are seven sounds: he has a crook, because of the year, which returns into itself: because he is the god of all nature, he is said to have fought with Cupid, and to have been overcome by him, because, as

we read in the tenth eclogue, Omnia vincit amor. Therefore, according to fables, Pan is said to have been in love with the nymph Syrinx, who being pursued by him, implored the aid of the earth, and was turned into a reed, which Pan, to sooth his passion, formed into a pipe." Servius.-Pan was esteemed by the ancients to be the god of the shepherds, and to preside over rural affairs. Herodotus, in his Euterpe, tells us that the people of Mendes, in Egypt, esteemed Pan as one of the eight deities, whom they looked upon as prior to the twelve: that they represented him as having the face and legs of a goat: that they also worship all goats, especially the males; that both Pan and a goat are called Mendes in the Egyptian language; and that some abominable rites were used in this goat-worship.

Pan primus calamos, &c.] Thus he is mentioned by Bion, as the inventor of the shepherd's pipe. The fable of Pan being in love with the nymph Syrinx, who fled from him till she came to a river that stopped her flight, where she was turned into reeds, is related in the first book of Ovid's Metamorphoses. This poet tells us, that Pan, grasping his arms full of reeds instead of

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the nymph, stood sighing by the river side; where observing the reeds, as they were moved by the wind, to make an agreeable sound, he cut some of them, and joining them together with wax, formed a shepherd's pipe.

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Est mihi disparibus, &c.] Having represented the excellence of music, the shepherd now endeavours to allure Alexis, by setting forth the great value of the pipe which he possessed, and by a present of two beautiful kids. The shepherd's pipe was composed of seven reeds, unequal in length, and of different tones, joined together with wax. The figure of it is to be seen in several monuments of antiquity. Theocritus, indeed, mentions a pipe of nine reeds; but seven was the usual number.

Cicutis.] Cicuta is commonly thought to be hemlock. It is not to be supposed that they ever made their pipes of hemlock, which is very offensive. It is probably used for any hollow stalk in general.

Damatas.] Catrou is of opinion that Virgil, under the name of Damotas, means the poet Lucretius, who was the reformer of the hexameter verse. This flute, says he, is a legacy which Virgil had left him by Lucretius,

who died the very day that Virgil put on his manly gown; that is, about the time when our author began his most early poems. But Lucretius was not a writer of Bucolicks; and it cannot be supposed that Virgil, at the age of sixteen or seventeen years, could be thought of consequence enough to be a successor to a poet of so established a reputation as Lucretius.

Nec tuta valle.] He augments the value of these kids, by telling Alexis in what a dangerous place he had found them. It was in a valley, probably between two rocks, of difficult and dangerous access; or perhaps exposed to wild beasts or robbers.

Reperti.] La Cerda understands this word to express that these kids had been lost, and found again. Dr. Trapp is earnest for this interpretation, because he says they must have been stolen by Corydon, if they had not been his own before; and therefore ought to be restored to the right owner. But we may suppose them to have

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been wild kids; and it is plain that they were taken from the dam, because they are put to a sheep to nurse.

Sparsis etiam nunc pellibus albo.] "Kids at first have white spots, which alter and lose their beauty afterwards. Therefore he says, I reserve two kids for you, which have not yet lost the white spots out of their skin." Servius.

Huc ades, &c.] The shepherd being in doubt, whether these presents of the pipe and kids are sufficient to engage Alexis, renews his invitation by offering him a present of flowers, to be gathered by the hand of a fair nymph, to which he adds some fruits, which he proposes to gather himself, and intermix with leaves of the finest odour

Pallentes violas.] The Romans called stock-gilliflowers viola alba. It is, therefore, plain that they comprehended both them and common violets under the general name of viola. It is probable also, that when they intended to express any one particular sort, they added some epithet to distinguish it. Thus