A narrow compass! and yet there Dwelt all that's good, and all that's fair. Give me but what this riband bound, Take all the rest the sun goes round. EXERCISE XXIII. Chloris! yourself you so excel, When you vouchsafe to breathe my thought, That eagle's fate and mine are one, Had Echo, with so sweet a grace, But of his voice, the boy had burn'd. EXERCISE XXIV. Go, lovely Rose ! Tell her that wastes her time and me, That now she knows, When I resemble her to thee, How sweet and fair she seems to be. Tell her that's young, And shuns to have her graces spied, In deserts, where no men abide, Thou must have uncommended died. Small is the worth Of beauty from the light retir'd; Bid her come forth, Suffer herself to be desir'd, And not blush so to be admir'd. Then die! that she The common fate of all things rare May read in thee, How small a part of time they share That are so wondrous sweet and fair! EXERCISE XXV. Prometheus, chained to a rock, laments his fearful destiny. His lamentations are interrupted by the approach of the Nymphs of the Ocean, whom he addresses. Ω δῖος αἰθήρ, καὶ ταχύπτεροι πνοαί, διακναιόμενος τὸν μυριετῆ χρόνον ἀθλεύσω. τοιόνδ' ὁ νέος ταγὸς μακάρων ἐξεῦς ̓ ἐπ ̓ ἐμοὶ δεσμὸν ἀεικῆ. દે φεῦ, φεῦ· τὸ παρόν, τό τ' ἐπερχόμενον πῆμα στενάχω. πῆ ποτε μόχθων χρὴ τέρματα τῶνδ ̓ ἐπιτεῖλαι ; καίτοι τί φημι; πάντα προεξεπίσταμαι σκεθρῶς τὰ μέλλοντ', οὐδέ μοι ποταίνιον πῆμ' οὐδὲν ἥξει. τὴν πεπρωμένην δὲ χρὴ αἶσαν φέρειν ὡς ῥᾷστα, γιγνώσκονθ' ὅτι τὸ τῆς ἀνάγκης ἔστ ̓ ἀδήριτον σθένος. ἀλλ ̓ οὔτε σιγᾷν, οὔτε μὴ σιγᾷν τύχας τάσδ ̓ ἐστί, θνητοῖς γὰρ γέρα πορών, ἀνάγκαις ταῖσδ ̓ ἐνέζευγμαι τάλας ναρθηκοπλήρωτον δὲ θηρῶμαι πυρὸς πηγὴν κλοπαίαν, ἣ διδάσκαλος τέχνης πάσης βροτοῖς πέφηνε, καὶ μέγας πόρος. τοιάσδε ποινὰς ἀπλακημάτων τίνω, ὑπαίθριος δεσμοῖαι πασσαλευτὸς ὤν. α, α, α, α, οἷόν τέ μου τίς ἀχώ, τίς ὀδμὰ προσέπτα μὲ ἀφεγγής, ή θεόσυτος, ἢ βρότειος, ἢ κεκραμένη ; φεύ, φεύ, τί ποτ' αὖ κινάθισμα κλύω πᾶν μοι φοβερὸν τὸ προσέρπον. Prom. V., vv. 88—127. EXERCISE XXVI. In this sublime chorus, Sophocles celebrates the beauty of his native place, Colonos, and the olives, steeds, and fleets of Attica. Εὐίππου, ξένε, τᾶσδε χώρας τὸν ἀργῆτα Κολωνόν. ἔνθα λίγεια μινύρεται χλωραῖς ὑπὸ βάσσαις, τὸν οἰνῶπ ̓ ἀνέχουσα κισσὸν, καὶ τὰν ἄβατον θεοῦ φυλλάδα μυριόκαρπον, ἀνάλιον, ἀνήνεμόν τε πάντων χειμώνων· ἵν ̓ ὁ βακχειώτας ἀεὶ Διόνυσος ἐμβατεύει, θείαις ἀμφιπολῶν τιθήναις. Κηφισοῦ νομάδες ῥεέθρων, ἀλλ ̓ αἰὲν ἐπ ̓ ἤματι ὠκυτόκος πεδίων ἐπινίσσεται, ἀκηράτῳ ξὺν ὄμβρο, στερνούχου χθονός. ἐδὲ Μουσᾶν χοροί ἀπεστύγησαν, οὐδέ γ' & χρυσάνιος ̓Αφροδίτα. ἔστιν δ ̓ οἷον ἐγὼ γῆς ̓Ασίας ἐκ ἐπακούω, οὐδ ̓ ἐν τῷ μεγάλᾳ Δωρίδι νάσῳ Πέλοπος ποτε βλαστὸν, φύτευμ ̓ ἀχείρωτον, αὐτόποιον, ἐγχέων φόβημα δαίων, ὃ τῇδε θάλλει μέγιστα χώρα, χ ̓ ἁ γλαυκῶπις ̓Αθάνα. ἄλλον δ ̓ αἶνον ἔχω ματροπόλει τάδε, κράτιστον δῶρον τοῦ μεγάλου δαίμονος, εἰπεῖν, αὔχημα μέγιστον, εὔϊππον, εὔπωλον, εὐθάλασσον. ὦ παῖ Κρόνου, σὺ γάρ νιν εἰς στροφή β'. αντιστρ. β'. |