With joy the merry harp I'll play,
And thrill the jovial song.
ODE XLIX.—TO A PAINTER.
Dear artist, while I wake the string,
Paint thou the lovely scenes I sing:
First, let my fix'd, delighted eyes,
Behold a well-built city rise;
And with inventive skill portray
Its people happy, blithe, and gay.
Describe the Bacchanalian throng,
Engaged in festive dance and song;
Where, while the shrill-voiced pipe is mute,
Is heard the softly-breathing flute.
And if the crowded space permit,[1]
To make the blissful scene complete,
Let happy pairs be seen to rove,
Intent on life's best bus'ness—love.
ODE L.—ON BACCHUS.
See! the youthful god descends;
Bacchus, who the youth befriends,
- ↑ Allusion is here again made to the famous shield of Achilles, thus described by Homer:—
"Two cities radiant on the shield appear,
The image one of peace, and one of war;
Here sacred pomp and genial feast delight,
And solemn dance and hymeneal rite;
Along the streets the new-made brides are led,
With torches flaming, to the nuptial bed:
The youthful dancers in a circle bound
To the soft flute and cittern's silver sound;
Through the fair streets the matrons in a row
Stand in the porches, and enjoy the show."
Pope's Homer's Iliad.
