That moment, did the mingled eyes Of Heaven and earth my madness view, Did not a frown from you ́reprove, A DREAM OF ANTIQUITY. I JUST had turn'd the classic page, Upon the bank awhile I stood, My heart was full of Fancy's dream, Entangling in its net of smiles So fair a group of elfin isles, I felt as if the scenery there Were lighted by a Grecian skyAs if I breathed the blissful air That yet was warm with Sappho's sigh ! And now the downy hand of rest To polish Virtue's native brightness, Can give to pearls a smoother whiteness! † * GASSENDI thinks that the gardens which Pausanias mentions, in his first Book, were those of Epicurus; and STUART says, in his Antiquities of Athens, "Near this convent (the convent of Hagios Asomatos) is the place called at present Kepoi, or the Gardens: and Ampelos Kepos, or the Vineyard Garden; these were probably the gardens which Pausanias visited." Chap. ii. vol. 1. + This method of polishing pearls, by leaving them awhile to be played with by doves, is mentioned by the fanciful CARDANUS, de Rerum Varietat. lib. vii. cap. 34. 'Twas one of those delicious nights So common in the climes of Greece, When day withdraws but half its lights, And all is moonshine, balm, and peace! And thou wert there, my own beloved! And dearly by thy side I roved Through many a temple's reverend gloom, And many a bower's seductive bloom, Where beauty blush'd and wisdom taught, Where lovers sigh'd and sages thought, Where hearts might feel or heads discern, And all was form'd to soothe or move, To make the dullest love to learn, To make the coldest learn to love! And now the fairy pathway seem'd To lead us through enchanted ground, Soft lamps, that hung like burning flowers, And scented and illumed the bowers, Seem'd, as to him, who darkling roves That sparkle in the leaves at night, And from their wings diffuse a ray Like any blooming soul of bliss, That wanders to its home above Through mild and shadowy light like this! But now, methought, we stole along Than ever lived in Teian song, Or wanton'd in Milesian story! † * In Hercynio Germaniæ saltu inusitata genera alitum accepimus, quarum plumæ, ignium modo, colluceant noctibus. PLIN. lib. x. cap. 47. tThe Milesiacs, or Milesian fables, had their origin in Miletus, a luxurious town of Ionia. Aristides was the most celebrated author of these licentious fictions. See PLUTARCH (in Crasso), who calls them axoλasa Bibdia. And nymphs were there, whose very eyes Seem'd almost to exhale in sighs; As if with soul and passion fill'd! * Shedding the flowery wines of Crete, And, as they pass'd with youthful bound, The onyx shone beneath their feet!† While others, waving arms of snow Entwined by snakes of burnish'd gold, § And showing limbs, as loth to show, Through many a thin Tarentian fold, ** * "Some of the Cretan wines, which Athenæus calls ovos avDoopias, from their fragrancy resembling that of the finest flowers."-BARRY on Wines, chap. vij. + It appears that, in very splendid mansions, the floor or pavement was frequently of onyx. Thus MARTIAL: "Calcatusque tuo sub pede lucet onyx."-Epig. 50. lib. xii. § Bracelets of this shape were a favourite ornament among the women of antiquity. Οι επικαρπιοι οφεις και αἱ χρυ σαι πεδαι Θαιδός και Αρισαγόρας και Λαίδος Φαρμακα. PHILOSTRAT. epist. xl. LUCIAN too tells of the Caxto08 deaxovTES. See his Amores, where he describes the dressing-room of a Grecian lady, and we find the "silver vase," the rouge, the tooth-powder, and all the "mystic order" of a modern toilet. ** Ταραντινίδιον, διαφανες ενδυμα, ωνομασμένον απο της Ταραντινων χρήσεως και τρυφης.-Pollux. |