DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.30697#0015
7
Florence; 1494.] GREEK ANTHOLOGY.
work, equally disting'uished for its fidelity and elegance ; and exhibiting
one of the most successful poetical versions from the Greek, of which
any country can boast.
525. Astronomi Veteres. Gr. et Lat. Printed
hy Aldus. Venice. 1499. 2 vols. Folio.
There are few Aldine publications more beautiful and interesting
than the present. Renouard has been particular in his account of it,
but we may add to his description. On the recto of the first leaf
(sign. * i,) we read tlie title, which informs us that the impression con-
That with a sigli the tragic muse
Around her path majestic strews;
And I will twine, these ssowers among,
Menander, prince of comic song!
Pluck’d from thy many garlands bright,
So charming once and new to sight,
Some honours spared by age and clime,
That live to grace an after-time.
Our unavailing sorrows mourn
Thy roses paie, thy lilies torn ;
Thy garden rissed of its bloom,
Thy violets robb’d of their perfume:
Thy gaudy tulips now have lost
Their smiles by many a chilling frost;
Thy spring’s rich wardrobe now is scant;
And now some sad and winteiy plaut,
Some wither’d shrub of power malign,
Of all that graced thy garden fine
Remains of thee, or sickly yew
Where buds of heavenly fragrance grew,
Or mourner cypress spreads a shade,
Or plant os Daphne, hapless maid!
Yet ’mid the melancholy night,
Some scatter’d honours give delight;
And here and there a rose is found
Neglected on the chilly ground,
And a cbance lily sheds its sriow
Beneath tlie darker shrubs of woe.
Oh, not as erst, thou modest wreath,
Shall thou of all thy fragrance breathe!
Oh, not as erst, when Genius knew
To give thy colours to the view,
And Taste was ready to display
The ssowers that fell in Fancy’s way !
Florence; 1494.] GREEK ANTHOLOGY.
work, equally disting'uished for its fidelity and elegance ; and exhibiting
one of the most successful poetical versions from the Greek, of which
any country can boast.
525. Astronomi Veteres. Gr. et Lat. Printed
hy Aldus. Venice. 1499. 2 vols. Folio.
There are few Aldine publications more beautiful and interesting
than the present. Renouard has been particular in his account of it,
but we may add to his description. On the recto of the first leaf
(sign. * i,) we read tlie title, which informs us that the impression con-
That with a sigli the tragic muse
Around her path majestic strews;
And I will twine, these ssowers among,
Menander, prince of comic song!
Pluck’d from thy many garlands bright,
So charming once and new to sight,
Some honours spared by age and clime,
That live to grace an after-time.
Our unavailing sorrows mourn
Thy roses paie, thy lilies torn ;
Thy garden rissed of its bloom,
Thy violets robb’d of their perfume:
Thy gaudy tulips now have lost
Their smiles by many a chilling frost;
Thy spring’s rich wardrobe now is scant;
And now some sad and winteiy plaut,
Some wither’d shrub of power malign,
Of all that graced thy garden fine
Remains of thee, or sickly yew
Where buds of heavenly fragrance grew,
Or mourner cypress spreads a shade,
Or plant os Daphne, hapless maid!
Yet ’mid the melancholy night,
Some scatter’d honours give delight;
And here and there a rose is found
Neglected on the chilly ground,
And a cbance lily sheds its sriow
Beneath tlie darker shrubs of woe.
Oh, not as erst, thou modest wreath,
Shall thou of all thy fragrance breathe!
Oh, not as erst, when Genius knew
To give thy colours to the view,
And Taste was ready to display
The ssowers that fell in Fancy’s way !