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Translations from Homer/Notes to Battle of the Frogs and Mice

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4534708Translations from Homer — Notes to Battle of the Frogs and MiceWilliam John BlewHomer

NOTES

TO THE

BATTLE OF THE FROGS AND MICE.


Note1, p. 45.] Awake my song.

Musa, tu che cantasti i fatti egregiDel Re de Topi e de le Rane antiche,Si che ne sono ancor fioriti e fregiLa per le piagge d'Elicona apriche.Tassoni Secchia Rapita, c. v, s. 23.
Muse, who didst sing the wondrous exploits doneBy the stout king of Mice, and Frogs of yore,Whence mid the sunny lawns of HeliconStill fresh they bloom, and deckt with flowerets o'er.—

Note2, p. 45.]

And shamed in might the giant's earth-born brood.

Non tantos motus, nec tam memorabile bellum,Mæonius quondam sublimi carmine vatesLusit; ubi totam strepituque armisque paludemMiscuit: hic (visu miserabile!) corpora muram. Sparsa jacent juncis transfixa, hic gutture rancoRana dolet, pedibusque abscisso poplite ternisReptat humi, solitis nec sese saltibus effert.Addison, ΠΥΤΜΑΙΟ-ΓΕΡΑΝΟΜΑΧΙΑ, 46.
Not such the rout, not such the immortal fray,Erst by the bard portray'd in loftiest lay,Mæonia's bard—when all the fen's fierce swarmsHe stirr'd with tumult and the bray of arms.Here, woeful sight, with reeds thrust thro' and thro'Vast forms of Alice the encumbered plains o'erstrew;There, with hoarse throat, the Frog bewaileth sore—Dοom'd to three feet, quadrupedal no more:Shorn of one leg, along the ground he creepsSlow—nor essays henceforth his wonted leaps.

Note3, p. 46.]

What sire begat thee, and what mother bore?
Justice. What is thy name?Son. My name's Tom Jenkins, alias I have noneTho' orphan'd and without a friend—Justice. ————————Thy parents?Son. My father dwelt in Rochester—and was,As I have heard,—a fishmonger—no more.Critic, act. iii, s. 1.

Note4, p. 47.]

Ne'er yet from battle's withering shout I fled.

Son of the sea, I never fled. Ossian, Carthon, vol. i, p. 90.

Note5, p. 49.]

Caitiff! on land I am thy better far,To cuff and kick, to wrestle, run, and spar.

So king Creillus, in the Galeomyomachia, describes himself as a knight, sans tache, sans peur.

ουκ εθελησα ζην τον απονον βιον. 157. κ. τ. λ.
No sluggard life was mine—my sole delightHath been to mingle with the men of might,Ev'n from a boy—the lance, glaive, targe to wield,Mount the fleet car, and thread the battle-field,The foe to smite with timely stroke and stout,Draw the tough bow and lanch the death shaft out;—In one short word, to learn—hath been mine aim—All feats of war, as warrior best became.

Note6, p. 50.]

Lay rock'd and rolling on the deep-sea billow.

Beside some fen shall his tomb be seen; it shall rest without a song, his ghost shall hover in mist over the reedy pool.

Ossian, Tem. vol. ii, p. 107.

Note7, p. 50.]

For death hath tornFrom me three gallant bairns.

So king Sheep's-eye (Κρεἲλλος) in the Cat-and-Frog-fight.

καὶ γἁρ προ καιποῦ τὴν ἐμὴν θυγατἐρα. l. 34. κ. τ. λ.
Yes, all untimely, in her spring of youth,My daughter fair, my loved Lick-Lamp-a-toothWoe worth the day! did curst Grimalkin pawBefore these eyes.Loquitur Chip-cheese.I too have felt her claw:Pride of my heart, my gentlest Gibletine,She clutch'd, and Eat-Wheat, that brave boy of mine,Her death-shriek heard—nought lingering—undismay'd—He rush'd to avenge his slaughtered sister's shade.

Note8, p. 50.]

Uprise ye then, and don the arms of death.
Τοινον κελεύω τοὺς ἐμὸι τεφιλμένουσ.Galeomyomach, 173, κ. τ. λ.
Heed then my call, my liegemen dear ye are,Up one and all, and throng the files of war.With skill, with vengeance, valour, strength, go forthFull arm'd—"let gentle blood shew generous worth."

Arise to battle, my thousands! pour round me like the echoing main. Gather round the bright steel of your king: strong as the rocks of my land; that meet the storm with joy; and stretch their dark pines to the wind.Ossian, Fingal, b. i.

Exalt, ye sons of Erin, exalt the spear, and bend the bow: rush on the foe in darkness, as the spirits of stormy nights!

Ossian, Fingal, b. ii.

Note9, p. 52.]

By Centaur-chief or earth-born giant led.

Not such the numbers, nor the host so dread,By Northern Brenn or Scythian Timur led.Heber's Palestine.

Note10, p. 53.]

Snuff the rich steam and wet the whiskered lip.

In accordance with this, Sheep's-eye's threat to Jupiter, in the Cat-and-Mouse Fight, savoureth somewhat of pot valour.

ὡς εἲπερ ὀυ θήσει με νικητὴν μέγαν.104, κ. τ. λ.
Hear then, O Jove, the oath I swear,—if thouFail at my feet to make all nations bow,Fail but to crest my war-plume, battle-tost,With victory's wreath—thou failest to thy cost:
No stop, no stay,—thy victim-steaming cellI force,—and feed this godlike belly well.

Note11, p. 54.]

Thunder'd amain and flash'd the sign of war.
οὐδέποτ᾽ αὐτοῖςΆργαλἐον πόλεμον τεκμαἱπεται εὐρὑοπα Ζεὐς.Hesiod. Opera et Dies. lib. i, 226. 
Ne'er unto them doth Jove, all-seeing god,Hang the fierce signs of wasting war abroad.

Note12, p. 54.] Forth flew the soul.

Dark clouds come o'er my eyes, farewell, good night:Good night—my mighty soul's inclined to roam,So make my compliments to all at home.Bomb. Furioso. 

Note13, p. 54.] Then on the bank did Pool.

Captain. Yes Poole.Suffolk.Poole?Captain.Poole? sir Poole? lord [Poole]?Ay, kennel, puddle, sink; whose filth and dirtTroubles the silver spring where England drinks.Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth,For swallowing the treasure of the realm.Henry Sixth, Part ii, act. iv, s. 1. 

Note14, p. 56.]

Ye gods! I faint, my spirit faints with fright.

Note15, p. 56.] And earth's grim race.

Talis erat belli facies, cum Pelion ingensMitteret in cœlum Briareus, solioque Tonantem Præcipitem excuteret; sparguntur in æthere totoFulminaque scopulique: flagrantia tela deorsumTorquentur Jovis acta manu, dum vasta gigantum,Corpora fusa jacent, semiustaque sulphure fumant.Addison, ΠΥΤΜΑΙΟ-ΓΕΡΑΝΟΜΑΧΙΑ, 132. 
Such war's fierce front, when erst Briareus soughtTo heave huge Pelion into heaven, and thoughtTo thrust the Thunderer from his throne on high;Bolts and red rocks are vollied thro' the sky,Lanch'd from Jove's hand the writhen fire-shafts fly:While the vast giants, blasted by the stroke,Bite the black dust, and sear'd with sulphur smoke.
  οὐδ᾽ ἄρ᾿ αρ ἔτι Ζεὐς ἴσχεν ἑὸν μένος.κ. τ. λ.Hesiod. Theog. 687.
Jove curb'd his might no longer, but at lengthDilate, did all his soul wax full of strength,And his whole power brake out,—forth moved the godFrom heaven's bright hill, and lightened as he trodUnceasingly:—fast from his stout right handFlew the fork'd bolts, by eddying whirlwinds fann'd.From the rich earth the roar of burning came,And the deep forest crash'd beneath the flame,Yea, the whole earth boil'd up-the ocean's streamAnd wide waste sea,—while clouds of scorching steamWrapp'd round the earthy Titans,—thro' the skyCareer'd a sheet of fire, and every eye,Albeit of forms that nought till now could scare,Quail'd and grew dim before that blasting glare.Combustion seized on chaos;—heard ye thenWith mortal ear, or viewed with mortal ken,It would have seemed as heaven and earth were dash'dIn one,—with din so terrible they clash'd,—Heaven downward plunged, and earth in air uprent:Thus roar'd the shock of gods in fiery hosting blent.
See too the sixth Book of Parad. Lost, and Dante's Inferno, c. 31.

Note16, p. 50.] Then shall the stoutest fall.

Then shall the mighty tremble, the spear shall fall from the hand of the valiant.Ossian, Temora, b. i.

Note17, p. 57.]

The pale mice halted, trembled, turn'd, and fled.

The mice would appear to have experienced, in some former campaigns, the fatal chance of war.

οὐκ οἶσθα τῶς πρὶν συνιοτῶντες τὸν μόθον.Galeomyomach. 71. κ. τ. λ.
Chip-Cheese loquitur. What? know'st thou not, on wounds and slaughter bent, To front the Cats' and Frogs' fell armament, What clouds of friends we gathered?—Know'st thou not— Sheep's Eye.Full well I know the terrors of our lot: Friends, kinsmen, comrades, sons and sires, all fell,—Scarce we ourselves escaped the harrowing tale to tell.

Note18, p. 57.]

'Twas silence all, their one day war was done.
What midnight darkness does invade the day, And snatch the victor from his conquered prey? Is the sun weary of this bloody fight, And winks upon us with the eye of light?'Tis an eclipse! this was unkind, oh! moon, To clap between them and the sun so soon; Foolish eclipse! thou this in vain hast done; Their brighter honour had eclipsed the sun, And now behold eclipses two in one. Rehearsal, act v.