ODE XI.

THE DEATH OF HOEL.

SELECTED FROM THE GODODIN a.

HAD I but the torrent's might,

With headlong rage and wild affright
Upon Deira's squadrons hurled,

To rush, and sweep them from the world!

Too, too secure in youthful pride,

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By them, my friend, my Hoel died,

Great Cian's son: of Madoc old
He ask'd no heaps of hoarded gold;
Alone in nature's wealth arrayed,
He asked, and had the lovely maid.

To Cattraeth's vale in glittering row
Twice two hundred warriors go;

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a Of Aneurim, styled the Monarch of the Bards. He flourished about the time of Taliessin, A. D. 570. This Ode is extracted from the Gododin, (see Mr. Evans's Specimens, p. 71 and 73,) and now first published.-MASON.

Ver. 11. To Cattraeth's vale in glittering row.] The Bards of those days did not claim the privilege of Archilochus or Horace: they could fight as well as sing. Thus the Gododin of

Flushed with mirth and hope they burn:
But none from Cattraeth's vale return,
Save Aëron brave, and Conan strong,
(Bursting through the bloody throng,)
And I, the meanest of them all,

That live to weep, and sing their fall.

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24

Aneurim is an heroic poem, in celebration of a combat, in which he himself, with three hundred warriors of the first rank, was engaged. He and two others alone survived, and there seems to have been some reason for this destruction. The Welshmen of that generation were, like their high-spirited descendants, very fond of ale, or at least of a beverage which then supplied all the purposes of it; and it was this fatal passion, as appears from the original extract annexed, which ruined the fortunes of the day at Cattraeth.

Ver. 24. That live to weep and sing their fall.] The lively writer of a poem, entitled " Prospectus and Specimen of an intended National Work," has reprobated the tone of sentimental modesty which our author has here given to the warrior-bard : "And bold Aneurim, all bedripped with gore Bursting by force from the beleaguered glen, Arrogant, haughty, fierce, of fiery mood, Not meek and mean, as Gray misunderstood."

I find amongst Mr. Gray's papers a few more lines taken from other parts of the Gododin, which I shall here add, with their respective Latin versions. They may serve to shew succeeding poets the manner in which the spirit of these their ancient predecessors in the art may best be transfused into a modern imitation of them.

HAVE ye seen the tusky boar,
Or the bull, with sullen roar,
On surrounding foes advance?
So Caradoc bore his lance.

Quando ad bellum properabat Caradocus,
Filius apri silvestris qui truncando mutilavit hostes,
Taurus aciei in pugnæ conflictu,

Is lignum (i. e. hastam) ex manu contorsit.

CONAN's name, my lay, rehearse,

Build to him the lofty verse,
Sacred tribute of the bard,
Verse, the hero's sole reward.
As the flame's devouring force;
As the whirlwind in its course;
As the thunder's fiery stroke,
Glancing on the shivered oak;
Did the sword of Conan mow

The crimson harvest of the foe.

Debitus est tibi cantus qui honorem assecutus es maximum,
Qui eras instar ignis, tonitrui, et tempestatis,

Viribus eximie, eques bellicose, Rhudd Fedel, bellum meditaris.

From the extract of the Gododin, which Mr. Evans has given us in his "Dissertatio de Bardis," in the forementioned book,

I shall here transcribe those particular passages which Mr. Gray selected for imitation in this Ode.

Si mihi liceret vindietam in Deirorum populum ferre,
Æque ac diluvium omnes unâ strage prostrarem.
Amicum enim amisi incautus,

Qui in resistendo firmus erat.

Non petiit magnanimus dotem a socero
Filius CIANI ex strenuo Gwyngwn ortus.

Viri ibant ad Cattraeth, et fuêre insignes,

Vinum et mulsum ex aureis poculis erat eorum potus.
Trecenti et sexaginta tres aureis torquibus insigniti erant ;
Ex iis autem, qui nimio potu madidi ad bellum properabant,
Non evasére nisi tres, qui sibi gladiis viam muniebant;
Scilicet bellator de Acron, et Conanus Dacarawd,
Et egomet ipse (scilicet Bardus Aneurinus) sanguine rubens:
Aliter ad hoc carmen compingendum non superstes fuissem..

Whoever compares Mr. Gray's poetical versions of these four lyrical pieces with the literal translations which I have here inserted, will, I am persuaded, be convinced that nothing of the kind was ever executed with more fire, and, at the same time, more judgment. He keeps up through them all the wild romantic spirit of his originals; elevates them by some well-chosen epithet or image where they flag, yet in such a manner as is perfectly congruous with the general idea of the poems; and if he either varies or omits any of the original thoughts, they are only of that kind which, according to our modern sentiments, would appear vulgar or ludicrous: two instances of this kind occur in the latter part of this last Ode. How well has he turned the idea of the fourth line: "Ex iis qui nimio potu madidi!" and the conclusion, " Aliter ad hoc carmen compingendum," &c. The former of which is ridiculous; the latter insipid..

SONNET

ON THE

DEATH OF MR. RICHARD WEST.

In vain to me the smiling mornings shine,
And reddening Phoebus lifts his golden fire:
The birds in vain their amorous descant join;
Or cheerful fields resume their green attire:
These ears, alas! for other notes repine,

A different object do these eyes require :
My lonely anguish melts no heart but mine;

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And in my breast th' imperfect joys expire. Yet morning smiles the busy race to cheer, And new-born pleasure brings to happier men: 10

If what Boileau says be true in his " Art Poetique," that "Un sonnet sans defauts vaut seul un long poeme," the merit of this little poem is decided. It is written in strict observance of those strict rules, which the poet there lays down. Vide "Art Poetique, Chant. ii. line 82." Milton, I believe, was the first of our English poets who exactly followed the Italian model: our author varies from him only in making the rhymes in the two first quartetts alternate, which is more agreeable to the English ear than the other method of arranging them.MASON.