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University of Virginia Library

Poems on Various Subjects

By Henry James Pye ... In Two Volumes. Ornamented with Frontispieces

Pye, Henry James (1745-1813)

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I.

TO WILLIAM MITFORD, Esq.

ODE ON THE DIVINE OMNIPRESENCE. A COLLEGE EXERCISE.

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ODE ON THE BIRTH OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.

I.

II.

ODE TO LIBERTY.

ODE TO HARMONY.

Sent to Dr. HAYES, with the ODE to HARMONY.

VERSES addressed to a LADY.

Written on a LADY's FAN.

Written in the Year 1779, when the Combined Fleets were off Plymouth.

EPITAPH ON CHARLES D'AUSSEY, ESQUIRE,

Sent to Mr. HAYLEY, on reading his EPISTLES on EPIC POETRY.

Mr. HAYLEY's ANSWER.

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I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

THE MYRTLE AND BRAMBLE.

THE TRIUMPH OF FASHION. A VISION.

ON THE WRECK OF THE HALSEWELL.

THE PARSONAGE IMPROVED.

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SIX OLYMPIC ODES OF PINDAR.

THE FOURTH OLYMPIC ODE. To Psaumis of Camarina, on his Victory in the Chariot Race.

THE SIXTH OLYMPIC ODE. To Agesias of Syracuse, on his Victory gained by the Apené, or Chariot drawn by Mules.

THE EIGHTH OLYMPIC ODE. To Alcimedon, on his Olympic Victory; Timosthenes, on his Nemean Victory; and Melesias, their Preceptor.

THE NINTH OLYMPIC ODE. To Epharmostus of Opus, on his Olympic and Pythian Victories.

THE TENTH OLYMPIC ODE. To Agesidamus, son of Archestratus, an Epizephyrian Locrian, on his Victory obtained by the Cæstus.

THE THIRTEENTH OLYMPIC ODE. To Xenophon of Corinth, on his Victory in the Stadic Course, and Pentathlon, at Olympia.

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TWO FRAGMENTS OF PINDAR's THRENI,

ON THE SITUATION OF THE BLEST.

ON THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.

A GREEK SCOLION, OR SONG,

A FRAGMENT OF SIMONIDES.

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II.

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FARINGDON HILL.

I.

II.

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THE PROGRESS OF REFINEMENT.

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II.

III.

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Sent with the Second Edition of the Poem to his Majesty the King of PRUSSIA.

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THE ART OF WAR.

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II.

III.

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V.

VI.

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289

A GREEK SCOLION, OR SONG,

By CALLISTRATUS, On HARMODIUS and ARISTOGEITON .

In myrtle wreaths my sword I bear,
As, fir'd by zeal, the illustrious pair
Conceal'd from view the avenging sword
The haughty Tyrant's breast that gor'd,
And Athen's equal rights restor'd.

290

Belov'd Harmodius! Death in vain
O'er thee usurp'd a transient reign.
Those happy Isles thy footsteps tread
Where amaranthine flowers are shed
On Peleus' Son, and Diomed.

In myrtle wreaths my sword I bear,
As, fir'd by zeal, the illustrious pair
Their patriot weapons veil'd from sight,
When in Minerva's solemn rite
Hipparchus sunk to endless night.

291

Eternal glory's deathless meed
Shall, lov'd Harmodius, crown thy deed,
And brave Aristogeiton's sword,
Because the Tyrant's breast ye gor'd,
And Athens' equal rights restor'd.

Harmodius and Aristogeiton, who are celebrated in this Scolion, slew Hipparchus the Tyrant of Athens, in the Panathenæan Festival; concealing their swords in the branches of myrtle that were carried on that occasion. This Song was in such request, as to be constantly sung at every Entertainment during the Athenian Republic; insomuch, that the saying, such a Person had never sung Harmodius with one, was equivalent to saying he never had eaten at one's house. The present Bishop of London, in his Prelections on the Sacred Poesy of the Hebrews, partly imputes the effectual expulsion of the Pisistratidæ to the popularity of this Song. The last instance the Athenians gave of their Democratical Spirit, was the erecting the Statues of Brutus and Cassius, by those of Harmodius and Aristogeiton.