5. For they consult with all their might, 6. The tents of Edom, and the brood, 7. Gebal and Ammon there conspire, Whose bounds the sea doth check. 8. With them great Ashur also bands, And doth confirm the knot: All these have lent their armed hands 9. Do to them as to Midian bold, To Sisera; and, as is told, Thou didst to Jabin's host, 10. At Endor quite cut off, and roll'd As Zeba and Zalmunna bled, 12. For they amidst their pride have said, 13. My God, oh make them as a wheel, Like stubble from the wind. The greedy flame runs higher and higher 15. So with thy whirlwind them pursue, 16. And, till they yield thee honour due, 17. Asham'd, and troubled, let them be, With shame, and'scape it never. 18. Then shall they know, that thou, whose name Art the Most High, and thou the same PSALM LXXXIV. 1. How lovely are thy dwellings fair! O Lord of Hosts, how dear The pleasant tabernacles are, Where thou dost dwell so near! 2. My soul doth long and almost die Thy courts, O Lord, to see; My heart and flesh aloud do cry, O living God, for thee. 3. There even the sparrow, freed from wrong, Hath found a house of rest; The swallow there, to lay her young And home they fly from round the coasts 5. Happy, whose strength in thee doth bide, "And in their hearts thy ways! 6. They pass through Baca's thirsty vale, That dry and barren ground; As through a fruitful watery dale, Where springs and showers abound. 7. They journey on from strength to strength With joy and gladsome cheer, Till all before our God at length In Sion do appear. 8. Lord God of Hosts, hear now my prayer, O Jacob's God give ear; 9. Thou God, our shield, look on the face 10. For one day in thy courts to be, Than in the joys of vanity A thousand days at best. Than dwell in tents, and rich abode, With sin for evermore. 11. For God, the Lord, both sun and shield, No good from them shall be withheld 12. Lord God of Hosts, that reign'st on high; Who only on thee doth rely, PSALM LXXXV. 1. THY land to favour graciously 2. The iniquity thou didst forgive 3. Thine anger all thou had'st remov'd, From thy fierce wrath which we had prov'd 4. God of our saving health and peace, Thine indignation cause to cease Wilt thou thy frowning ire extend 6. Wilt thou not turn and hear our voice, That so thy people may rejoice By thee preserv'd alive? 7. Cause us to see thy goodness, Lord, Thy saving health to us afford, And life in us renew. 8. And now, what God the Lord will speak, I will go straight and hear, For to his people he speaks peace, And to his saints full dear, To his dear saints he will speak peace; Return to folly, but surcease, 9. Surely, to such as do him fear Salvation is at hand; And glory shall ere long appear To dwell within our land. 10. Mercy and Truth, that long were miss'd, Now joyfully are met; Sweet Peace and Righteousness have kiss'd, 11. Truth from the Earth, like to a flower, 12. The Lord will also then bestow Whatever thing is good; Our land shall forth in plenty throw Her fruits to be our food. 13. Before him Righteousness shall go, Then will he come, and not be slow, PSALM LXXXVI. 1. THY gracious ear, O Lord, incline, 2. Preserve my soul; for I have trod 3. Pity me, Lord, for daily thee Thy servant's soul; for, Lord, to thee I lift my soul and voice. 5. For thou art good, thou, Lord, art prone To pardon, thou to all Art full of mercy, thou alone, To them that on thee call. 8. Like thee among the gods is none, Of all that other gods have done Like to thy glorious works. 9. The nations all whom thou hast made Shall come, and all shall frame To bow them low before thee, Lord, 10. For great thou art, and wonders great Remainest God alone. 11. Teach ine, O Lord, thy way most right, I in thy truth will bide; To fear thy name my heart unite, So shall it never slide. 12. Thee will I praise, O Lord my God, Thee honour and adore With my whole heart, and blaze abroad 13. For great thy mercy is toward me, And thou hast freed my soul, Even from the lowest Hell set free, From deepest darkness foul. 14. O God, the proud against me rise, And violent men are met To seek my life, and in their eyes No fear of thee have set. 15. But thou, Lord, art the God most mild, Readiest thy grace to shew, Slow to be angry, and art styľ'd Most merciful, most true. 16. O, turn to me thy face at length, Unto thy servant give thy strength, 17. Some sign of good to me afford, And be asham'd; because thou, Lord, PSALM LXXXVII. 1. AMONG the holy mountains high Is his foundation fast; There seated in his sanctuary, His temple there is plac'd. 2. Sion's fair gates the Lord loves more Of Jacob's land, though there be store, 3. City of God, most glorious things Of thee abroad are spoke ; 4. I mention Egypt, where proud kings Did our forefathers yoke. I mention Babel to my friends, Philistia full of scorn; And Tyre with Ethiops' utmost ends, Lo this man there was born: 5. But twice that praise shall in our ear Be said of Sion last; This and this man was born in her; 6. The Lord shall write it in a scroll That this man there was born. 7. Both they who sing, and they who dance, With sacred songs are there; In thee fresk books, and soft streams glance, And all my fountains clear. PSALM LXXXVIII. 1. LORD God, that dost me save and keep, All day to thee I cry; And all night long before thee weep, 2. Into thy presence let my prayer And to my cries, that ceaseless are, 3. For, cloy'd with woes and trouble store Surcharg'd my soul doth lie; My life, at Death's uncheerful door, 4. Reckon'd I am with them that pass Down to the dismal pit; I am a man, but weak alas! And for that name unfit. 5. From life discharg'd and parted quite Them, from thy hand deliver'd o'er, Where thickest darkness hovers round, In horrid deeps to mourn. 7. Thy wrath, from which no shelter saves, Full sore doth press on me; Thou break'st upon me all thy waves, 8. Thou dost my friends from me estrange, And mak'st me odious, Me to them odious, for they change, And I here pent up thus. 9. Through sorrow, and affliction great, My hands to thee I spread. 10. Wilt thou do wonders on the dead? And praise thee from their loathsome bed Thy faithfulness unfold? ̧ 12. In darkness can thy mighty hand Of dark oblivion? 13. But I to thee, O Lord, do cry, Ere yet my life be spent ; And up to thee my prayer doth hie, Each morn, and thee prevent. 14. Why wilt thou, Lord, my soul forsake, And hide thy face from me, 15. That am already bruis'd, and shake 16. Thy fierce wrath over me doth flow; 18. Lover and friend thou hast remov'd, And sever'd from me far: hey fly me now whom I have lov'd, T And as indarkness are. A PARAPHRASE ON PSALM CXIV. This and the following Psalm were done by the WHEN the blest seed of Terah's faithful son, 221 For his, &c. Who, by his wisdom, did create Who did the solid earth ordain Who, by his all-commanding might. And caus'd the gold entressed Sun The horned Moon to shine by night, He, with his thunder-clasping hand, For his, &c. JOANNIS MILTONI LONDINENSIS POEMATA. QUORUM PLERAQUE INTRA ANNUM ÆTATIS HAC quæ sequuntur de authore testimonia' tametsi ipse intelligebat non tam de se quàm supra se esse dicta, eò quòd præclaro ingenio viri, nec non amici, ita ferè solent laudare, ut omnia suis potiùs virtutibus, quàm veritati congruentia, nimis cupidè affingant, noluit tamen horum egregiam in se voluntatem non esse notam; cùm alii præsertim ut id faceret magnoperè suaderent. Dum enim nimiæ laudis invidiam totis ab se viribis amolitur, sibique quod plus æquo est non attributum esse mavult, judicium interim homi. num cordatorum atuue illustrium quin summo sibi honori ducat, negare non potest. Joannes Baptista Mansus, Marchio Villensis, Neapolitanus, ad JOANNEM MILTONIUM Anglum. Ur mens, forma, decor, facies mos, si pietas sic, Non Anglus, verùm herclè Angelus, ipse fores. Ad JOANNEM MILTONEM Anglum triplici poeseos laurea coronandum, Græca nimirum, Latinê, atque Hetrusca, Epigramma Joannis Salsilli Romani. CEDE, Meles; cedat depressâ Mincius urnâ ; GRECIA Mæonidem, jactet sibi Roma Maro nem, Anglia Miltonum jactat utrique parem. Selvaggi, Al Signor Gio. Miltoni Nobile Inglese. ODE. ERGIMI all' Etra ò Clio Perche di stelle intreccierò corona La Fronde eterna in Pindo, e in Elicona, Non puo del tempo edace Furar dalle memorie eccelso onore, Del Ocean profondo Cinta dagli ampi gorghi Anglia resiede Separata del mondo, Però che il suo valor l' umano eccede: Questa feconda sà produrre Eroi, Ch' hanno a region del sovruman tra noi. Alla virtù sbandita Danno ne i petti lor fido ricetto, Perche in lei san trovar gioia, e diletto; Lungi dal Patrio lido Spinse Zeusi l' industre ardente brama; Cosi l' Ape Ingegnosa Tra con industria il suo liquor pregiato Dal giglio e dalla rosa, E quanti vaghi fiori ornano il prato; Di bella gloria amante I più profondi arcani Ch' occulta la natura e in cielo e in terra Troppo avara tal' hor gli chiude, e serra, Non batta il Tempo l'ale, Fermisi immoto, e in un fermin si gl' anni, Scorron di troppo ingiuriosi a i danni; Dammi tua dolce Cetra Se vuoi ch' io dica del tuo dolce canto, Di farti huomo celeste ottiene il vanto, Tento spiegar tuo merto alto, e preclaro E ad ammirar, non a lodarlo imparo ; Del sig. ANTONIO FRANCINI, gentilhuomo JOANNI MILTONI. LONDINENSI: Juveni patria, virtutibus, eximio ; VIRO, qui multae peregrinatione, studio cuncta orbis terrarum loca, perspexit; ut novus Ulysses omnia ubique ab omnibus apprehenderet: Illi, in cujus virtutibus evulgandis ora Fama non sufficiant, nec hominum stupor in laudandis satis est, reverentiæ at amoris ergo hoc ejus meritis debitum admirationis tributum offert Cas rolus Datus Patricius Florentinus, Tanto homini servus, tantæ virtutis amator PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS ON THE LATIN VERSES. Milton is said to be the first Englishman, who after the restoration of letters wrote Latin verses with classic elegance. But we must at least except some of the hendecasyllables and epigrams of Leland, one of our first literary reformers, from this hasty determination. In the elegies, Ovid was professedly Milton's model for language and versification. They are not, however, a perpetual and uniform tissue of Ovidian phraseology. With Ovid in view, he has an original manner and character of his own, which exhibit a remarkable perspicuity, a native facility and fluency. Nor does his observation of Roman models oppress or destroy our great poet's inherent powers of invention and sentiment. I value these pieces as much for their fancy and genius, as for their style and expression. That Ovid among the Latin poets was Milton's favourite, appears not only from his elegiac but his hexametric poetry. The versification of our author's hexameters has yet a different structure from that of the Metamorphoses: Milton's is more clear, intelligible, and flowing; less desultory, less familiar, and less embarrassed with a frequent recurrence of periods. Ovid is at once rapid and abrupt. He wants dignity: he has too much conversation in his manner of telling a story. Prolixity of paragraph, and length of only in some of his exordial invocations in the Pasentence, are peculiar to Milton. This is seen, not radise Lost, and in many of the religious addresses of a like cast in the prose-works, but in his long verse. It is to be wished that, in his Latin com Polyglotto, in cujus ore linguæ jam deperditæ sic reviviscunt, ut idiomata omnia sint in ejus laudibus infacunda; et jure ea percallet, ut ad-positions of all sorts, he had been more attenmirationes et plausus populorum ab propriâ sative to the simplicity of Lucretius, Virgil, and pientiâ excitatos intelligat : Tibullus. Illi, cujus animi dotes corporisque sensus ad admirationem commovent, et per ipsam motum cuique auferent ; cujus opera ad plausus hortantur, sed venustate vocem laudatoribus adimunt, Dr. Johnson, unjustly I think, prefers the Latin poetry of May and Cowley to that of Milton, and thinks May to be the first of the three. May is certainly a sonorous versifier, and was sufficiently accomplished in poetical declamation for the continuation of Lucan's Pharsalia. May is scarcely an author in point. His skill in in parody; and he was confined to the peculiarities of an archetype, which, it may be presumed, he thought excellent. As to Cowley when com But Cui in memoriâ totus orbis ; in intellectu sapientia; in voluntate ardor gloriæ; in ore eloquentia; harmonicos cœlestium sphærarum sonitus, astronomiâ duce, audienti; characteres mirabilium naturæ per quos Dei magnitudo de-pared with Milton, the same critic observes, scribitur, magistrâ philosophiâ, legenti; antiquitatum latebras vetustatis excidia, eruditionis ambages, comite assiduâ autorum lectione, Exquirenti, restauranti, percurrenti. "Milton is generally content to express the thoughts of the ancients in their language: Cowley, without much loss of purity or elegance, accommodates the diction of Rome to his own conceptions.-The advantage seems to lie on the |