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ON THE DEATH of TIBULLUS.
Et tangunt magnas tristia fata Deas;
And Human Ills can give Immortals Pain;
O Sable ELEGY! Thy Tresses loose—
Too justly now That Name becomes the Muse.
The Gentle Soft TIBULLUS is no more.
See! the poor Boy, the Child of VENUS Mourns!
His Smother'd Torch no longer Blazing Burns.
His Empty Quiver hangs Revers'd—and, lo!
He droops His Wings, and breaks His useless Bow,
And beats his naked Breast, in rage of Woe.
Bedew'd with Tears his Locks o'erspread his Eyes,
And his Dear little Heart e'en bursts with Sighs.
In such sad Plight, with such a Piteous Moan
He Wail'd the Trojan Chief his Mother's Son.
Nor does the Goddess less Her Grief express,
ADONIS' Fate scarce gave her more Distress.
Stile Us Divine? Of Fame the Sov'reign Lords?
Frail Deities, alas! but of a Day,
Whom Death's cold Hand soon turns to Common Clay.
His Boasted Skill? or His Cœlestial Race?
That He and LINUS own'd One Heav'nly Sire?
That Beasts grew Tame Admonish'd by His Lyre?
Ah LINUS! LINUS! in Condoling Strains
The Lofty Pines Reply, the Sire Complains.
Add We to His the Great Mæonian Name,
Whose Fruitful Fount, feeds each Poetick Stream,
Ev'n He could not the least Exemption have.
His Works indeed still Triumph o'er the Grave.
In Them, tho' long since ruin'd, TROY survives;
And Chaste PENELOPE's Example lives.
Thy Name too DELIA, NEMESIS and Thine,
Alike Recorded shall alike too Shine.
And Thou sweet NEMESIS his latest Care.
But, what's the Fruit now of Our Pious Fears?
Our Daily Sacrifice? Our Nightly Prayers?
If Good Men suffer thus (Forgive me JOVE)
Who can Believe a Providence Above?
Nor Faith, nor Purity can stop Our Doom:
Death drags Us from the Altar to the Tomb.
Is Verse Thy Pride? See! where TIBULLUS lyes—
How small an Urn will Those Remains suffice.
And have then Fun'ral Flames without controul
Laid Waste the Temple of that Tuneful Soul?
O Perish, Perish the Rever'd Abodes,
The Glitt'ring Temples of the Faithless Gods,
Who Patient could Behold the Guilty Scene,
That drew ev'n Tears from Beauty's Tyrant Queen.
To meet his Fate, than on a Foreign Strand,
Huddled in Dirt by some Phœacian Hand.
His Mother here Her kind Concern could shew;
Close his Dim Eyes, and Give a last Adieu:
His Sister Testifie Her tender Care
With Hands Uplifted, and Dishevel'd Hair:
And the Fair Partners in His Heart too prove
Rivals in Sorrow as before in Love.
DÆLIA, Departing from the Mournful Train,
Cry'd, “Hapless Object of my Present Pain!
“I Charm'd Thee once, nor Charm'd Thee then in vain;
“Vigour and Joy Danc'd sparkling in thy Eyes.”
Stung with the Thought, Proud NEMESIS Replies:
“ His Last Faint Dying Grasp Confirm'd His Truth.”
To seek new Seats, and more Indulgent Skies,
TIBULLUS sure will That Elysium find
Where Dwell the Brave, the Virtuous, and the Kind.
There Learn'd CATULLUS shall Salute His Ghost,
And Gen'rous CALVUS meet Him on the Coast.
Compell'd the Heroe to that sad Extream)
Well-pleas'd shall entertain the Gentle Guest
Who now augments the Number of the Blest.
And here may no rude Hand disturb His Bones.
Light fall the Cov'ring Earth, and Decent lye the Stones.
The Name of One of the MUSES as well as of That Kind of POESY over which She Presided, and in which TIBULLUS excelled.
Instead of Ælinon, as it is usually Printed, it should be αι λινον, i. e. ah Linon. LINUS was Son of APOLLO, and Instructed ORPHEUS in Musick: But notwithstanding His high Descent and extraordinary Talents, Perish'd like a Common Mortal.
TIBULLUS attending MESSELLA in his Expedition to the EAST, was seiz'd with a Violent Sickness, and had like to have Died in the Island of Corfu, formerly called Phænicia. See Tibull. Lib. I. Eleg. III.
TIBULLUS in his First Elegy, the Latter Part of which is Addressed to DELIA, makes her a very fond Insinuation of his Constancy in these Two Beautiful Lines:
Te teneam morient deficiente manu.
OVID artfully introduceth NEMESIS repeating the Last of Them in a kind of Triumph over Her Rival, who had, 'tis probable, been Neglected for some time by Her Lover, while the other Enjoyed those very Marks of his Endearment which she had been flattered with the Hopes of.
CATULLUS, although He Died very Young, had the Reputation not only of Great Wit, but of Excellent Learning, and that in the Opinion of the most Learned, and which may still seem more Extraordinary, in That of the most Witty of the Age in which He lived.
If Violated Fame, &c. To make this Passage Familiar to the ENGLISH Reader, it will be necessary to enter a little into the History of GALLUS. He was a Person whom AUGUSTUS had raised from a Private Condition to the highest Degree of Trust and Power. He was afterwards Accused of having Abused his Master's Favour, not only by an Arbitrary Administration, and great Oppression in ÆGYPT, over which Kingdom He had been sent to Preside, when it was reduced into a Province; but also by an Insolent and Neglectful Behaviour towards the EMPEROR Himself, especially if He happened to be Heated with Wine. The Malice of his Enemies, and his own imprudent Conduct at length Disgraced Him. And (as the Ingratitude of One Man is generally Punished by the Treachery of Another) his Bosom-Friend and most Intimate Companion. VALERIUS LARGUS, was the Chief Instrument in his Prosecution and Ruin. His Resentment of the severe Proceedings in the SENATE against him. (They having Condemned HIM to Banishment, and his ESTATE to Confiscation) and the Indignation he conceived at the base Treatment he met with from ONE he had so much Caressed and Obliged, tempted him to lay violent Hands upon Himself. AUGUSTUS expressed His Concern for his Death in a Style worthy so Great and so Gracious a PRINCE; and, in a sort of Rebuke to the SENATE for their Harsh Sentence, Complained of His hard Fate, who Alone, said He, was not Allowed to Chastise the Failings of His FRIENDS after his own Manner. GALLUS was a most Accomplished ROMAN, and is Celebrated by VIRGIL and all the Best POETS of his Age. The Judicious will observe, that though OVID touches upon this Subject with great Delicacy, yet in those Days it was thought no Crime to do Honour to the Memory of a Fallen COURTIER, who had many Shining and Valuable Qualities.
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