Fear thou the wild and horned bull:" he said, in melting ruth,"
Brooding upon the destiny of that too venturous youth.'
The boy too lent his ear, but seem'd as listening to the wind,''
And careless wanton thoughts play'd light in his capricious mind.
When suddenly before the god with love fraternal warm'a, 18
An awful sign of shorten'd days its moving presage form’d.
For from a rock all sheath'd in scales one horn'd of serpent race
Uprose, and bore a youngling fawn to a near altar's base:
Here gored him with its ghastly horns,* and left him stretch'd along ;
The hill-fed hind's stray spirit fled as with shrill note of song.
Herald of blood-shedding to come, the stony altar's hue,
Like'wine outpour'd in sacrifice, blush'd red with sanguine dew:
And Bacchus view'd the murderous snake, and in the ravish'a hind
Beheld that reckless youth, and, moved with fluctuating mind,
Groans from him burst as nigh to death he saw the fated youth,
Yet laughter at the thought of wine would mingle with his ruth.
And still his feet the lovely boy in all his haunts would trace,
Across the mountain, by the shore, and through the woodland chase :
To look upon him was his joy; and when beheld no more,
His eyes with drops of tenderness were ever running o'er :
And oft with Bacchus at the board reclining side by side,
The boy upon the pipe his strain uncouth and broken tried;
And though he marr'd the notes, the god, as though to piping sweet,
: Would strike his hands, and smite the floor with breezy-bounding feet;
And place his palm upon the lips that were the source of joy,
And fondling chain the stammering tones of that unskilful boy;
And swear that never Pan had breathed a carol so renown'd,
Nor e'er Apollo warbled forth such luxury of sound.

DEATH OF AMPELUS.
Bụt Ate, she who beareth death, look'd on the daring boy,
And like a youth of kindred age, with mien that breathed of joy,
Approach'd him in the mountain chase, from Bacchus far away,
And thus enticed with words of fraud that flatter'd to betray.
“ Undaunted boy! we hear in vain this Bacchus call’d thy friend,
To grace of his companionship thou dost in vain pretend:
Not thou the panthers curb’st, that whirl the chariot of thy god,
But Maron holds the jewel'd reins, and shakes the ruling rod.
What gifts are thine from him who wields the spear with ivy bound ?
The Fauns and Satyrs have their pipes and timbrels deep of sound ;
The very priestesses on manes of mountain lions ride;
What favours can’st thou boast from him whose friendship is thy' pride?
Oft seated on Apollo's car Atymnius soar'd on high,
And cut the air, a shadowy speck, careering up the sky;
And thou hast heard how Abaris a flying shaft bestrode,
And sent by Phæbus through the heavens on buoyant ether rode;
And Ganymede could rein and turn an eagle through the sky,
Which híd the shape of him who nursed thy Bacchus in his thigh:
But when did Bacchus gripe thy flank, or bear thee up with wings on high?
The fortune of the Phrygian boy was higher far thau thine,
A cup-bearer in Jove's own house he pours the ruby wine.
But now, dear youth, 'who longest still the harness'a team to guide,
Beware the steed's unstable course, nor yet his back bestride :
With troubled motion of his hoofs, with whirlwinds round his feet,
The steed is like a storm, and hurls the rider from his seat.

0

Cunæus finds out that this is a thing “ beyond belief," and refers us to our natural history for the fact, that the horns of the cerastes partake of the soft nature of those of the snail. What would this cautious critic have said, if the poet had introduced griffin 2

Thus did the phrenzy-smitten mares the prostrate Glaucus trampling

tear, t,i ? And thus the horse of winged hoofs cast down Bellerophon from air : But herds are mine when shepherds pipe in leafy green retreat, Thou shalt bestride a lovely bull with gallant lofty seat; Thy king be sure will praise thee more, thy king of horned brow, When on the god-resembling bull he sees thee mounted now, Safe such a courser; fear him not; which e'en a virgin rides, Grasping the horn instead of rein, she prances through the tides." Persuasion gilds the speech ; in air the spectral stripling glides. And sudden from a neighbouring cliff a bull loose-roaming burst, With open mouth and lolling tongue he stoop'd and slaked his thirst; Then stood, as rational, before the youth who nearer drew, Nor toss'd his horn, but placid gazed, as he his herdsman knew. The boy adventurous climb’d, and sate upon the curly head, Stroking with fearless touch the horns that in a crescent spread; The forest-pastured bull inflamed his ardour to command And rein the mountain-ranging beast unyoked by mortal hand. He pluck'd the stems of bulrushes deep-waving in the wind, And woven with twigs and lighter shoots a mimic scourge entwined: He gather'd ivy's flexile sprays, and wreathed them for a rein;

And roses culld and dewy leaves to deck and to restrain ; tAnd o'er the forehead daffodils and twisted lilies hung,

And round the neck anemones of purple blossom strung.
With hollow'd hands he scoop'd the slime, where nigh the river roll’d,
And smear'd the horns that yellow'd shone with glistering grains of gold;
Then cast a furry skin athwart the bull's broad loins, and rose
Into his seat, and on the hide let fall the lightsome blows
From his mock scourge; as though in sooth he back'd a maned steed;
And lash'd his murderer on with rash and inconsiderate speed.
Then lifting to the bull-faced moon a look of daring glee--
“ Horn'd moon!” he cried, “thy team of bulls and thou must yield to me!
I too cạn curb a bull, and horns surmount my satyr's brow.'
Thus to the silver-orbing moon he spoke, high-glorying now:
But the moon's eye, with jealous light, through fields of boundless air
Saw Ampelus on that sad bull transported soft and fair ;
She sent a gad-fly forth that bears the herd-provoking sting;
The goading insect, round the bull still flitting on the wing,
Drove him with restless pace along, even like a vaulting steed,
O'er mountainous ridges; and the youth, deserted at his need,
Beheld him thus o'er peaked hills bound headlong far and wide,
And toil-aghast with plaintive voice thus supplicantly cried :-
“'Stop, oh, my bull, to-day, and thou shalt on the morrow run;
Slay me not here on lonesome rocks, lest, when the deed is done,
Bacchus should hear; nor yet resent that I have gilt thy horn;
Nor let the friendship of the god now move thy envious scom.
If thou wilt slay, and heedest not the love that Bacchus bears,
Nor pitiest him who holds thy rein, who weeps, and who despairs ;
If nor his flower of opening years, nor Bacchus' friendship, moves,
Convey me where the satyrs haunt, and crush me in their groves,
That they at least may mourn my dust: my adjuration hear, !
Oh friendly bull! and he who warn'd may drop a pitying tear. 1
If thou must quell thy rider thus, who bears the satyr's sign,
The rounding horns upon the brow, and aspect like to thine,
With vocal organs tell my death, ungrateful as thou art,
To Ceres; she in Bacchus' grief be sure will bear a part.”
So said the rose-cheek boy, as now he hover'd o'er his grave,
O'er trackless ridges of the hills the bull high-bounding drave,
And from his back shook down the boy: the jointed neck was broke
With crushing sound; rolld o'er and o'er beneath the pointed stroke
Of goring horns he lay, and all his body blush'd with gore:
A satyr saw him stretch'd in dust; the heavy tidings bore;

rose.

And Bacchus hasten'd like the winds : ev’n Hercules was slow,
Who ran when nymphs drew Hylas down in envious waves below,
And the fair ravisher of streams refused to let her bridegroom go.
So Bacchus printed with his feet the soil that smoked beneath,
And look'd upon the youth, who seem'd in pulseless death to breathe ;
And in his mantle wrapp'd the dead, and velvet deer-skins threw
O'er the cold Nmbs; and on the feet, though lifeless, buskins drew;
And cropp'd the brief anemone to wreathe his hair with fading hue;
Placed in his hand the ivied spear; the purple robe o'erspread,
And tore a tress from unclipp'l locks to grace the martyrd dead;
And from his mother Rhea's band he took th' ambrosial shower
To bathe his wounds, anon to yield the fragrance of their flower,
And springing into vine-shoots breathe their own ambrosial power.
No longer paleness overspread the rosy body's hue,
As graceful at his length he lay, and breezes fitful blew,
Lifting the hair and sighing soft the wavy ringlets through.
Lovely he lay upon the soil, though all with dust defiled,
And beauty had not left the dead, for still, though dead, he smiled ;
And honied utterance seem'd to hang on the mute lips of that fair child;
And Bacchus cried with plaintive voice, whilst looking on the dead,
And his calm brow's serenity with lowering wrath was overspread:
“ Dear boy! thy lifeless lips retain Persuasion's rosy breath,
It blooms upon thy glistening cheek, and those fair eyes yet laugh in

death.
The palms of those so gentle hands are delicate as snows,
And through thy lifted lovesome locks the breeze shrill sighing blows;
Death's chilling blast has touch'd thy limbs, bút has not quench'd the
Oh dearest! wherefore wouldst thou rule th’ungovernable steer?
Why didst thou never breathe thy wish into this friendly ear,
And say that on storm-footed steeds thou wouldst career afar?
Then had I brought from Ida's tops the courser and the car.
Hadst thou but said • I need the car,' the chariot should have run,
Thy seat secure, and solid wheels in ringing circles spun.
Then Rhea's reins had fill'd thy hold, though grasp'd by none but me;
And thou hadst lash'd the dragon yoke, tame sliding on with thee.
Alas ! no more with satyr guests thou sing'st the lyral song,
No more with cymbal-clashing nymphs thou lead'st the dancing throng,
No more with Bacchus in the hunt thou ridest a youthful hunter strong.
Oh grave! oh grave unmerciful! that wilt not for the dead
Accept the price of treasures dug from earth's rich-veined bed!
All would I give to see again my Ampelus alive;
Ah, unpersuadable and stern! with one that cannot hear I strive:
Wouldst thou but listen, I would strip the river-trees that grow,
Dropping their amber jewels down, upon the banks of Po:
I'd cull Ind's ruby stone that glows with red transparent ray,
And all the gold of Alyba to bring him back to day.
Yes--for my boy, my lifeless boy, I'd give the grains of gold
In deep Pactolus' eddy tides immeasurable roll’å !”
Then looking on him as he lay upon the dust below,
Exclaiming pitiful, his voice broke forth again in cries of woe :
“ Ah! if thou lovest me, Jupiter ! and know'st that love was mine,
Let Ampelus but speak ; its prey the grave for one short hour resign;
That one, but one last speech may breathe its music on mine ear;
Why mournst thou, oh my Bacchus! him who yet revives not at thy

tear? Though ears are mine, yet they are deaf to thy bewailing cry; Though eyes are mine, I see thee not in this thy heart-broke agony; Give o'er thy grief; in vain beside her banks the Naiad weeps ; Narcissus' ear is dull and cold; in deathly waters calm he sleeps!””

VIDA.

THE ACADEMY OF TASTE FOR GROWN GENTLEMEN, OR THE

INFANT CONNOISSEUR'S GO-CART.'

BY JÁNUS WEATHERCOCK, ESQ.

a

No. I, not to be continued.
My dear friend and companion! if you should think me somewhat
sparing of my narrative on my first setting-out-bear with me,--and
let me go on, and tell my story my own way: or, if I should seem now
or then to trifle upon the road, - or should sometimes put on a fool's cap,
with a bell to it, for a moment or two as we pass along ,-don't Ay off,
but rather courteously give me credit for a little more wisdom than ap-
pears upon my outside ;-and, as we jog on, either laugh with me, or at
me, or, in short, do any things-only keep your temper.

Tristram Shandy.
Now every word of this, quoth my uncle Toby, is Arabic to me.
I wish, said Yorick, 'twas so to half the world.

Tristram Shandy again. I BELIEVE that theory and prac- fickle and wavering as “Giralda, that tice are the two'great original warring famous giantess of Seville."* But elements

. Fire and water have sym- still he perseveres! and though I pathetic particles, and lie open to a firmly believe he never will bring sort of reconcilement, but theory and about this match, I am equally sapractice-practice and theory-turn tisfied that, if it is to be accomplished them, and twist them, and beat during this generation, he is the man. them, and pound them, as much as This last paragraph, that is, this you please, and when all's done, first paragraph, has more utility in it away they roll asunder in their un- than any thing I ever penned—if you social

, unadulterate completeness, like apprehend it, and pull it, and stretch those confounded globules of quick- it,--and put your hand into it.—and silver which get out of your weather- don't be afraid of hurting it, I war. glasses, and worry little boys, whose rant it tough as-as- India rubber, combinative impulses begin to be ob- or let this comparison be- lest we jective. There is Mr. *****, who go farther and fare worse. O it is a knows more about painting and paint- seed, which set in good moist soil ings than all the Academy together would sprout up into whole royal (make three exceptions) --well Sir! quartos a philosophical Fortunahis whole lite has been employed in tus's purse! weighing these two things, one Yet I could give it an unmendable against the other, and strenuously en- slit. Shall I? No! for, whatever deavouring to achieve a horizontal rotten planks compose my flooring, “ a hair will do it!" in goes the hair ingratitude, if I know myself (O riand up goes ove scale to the heavens ! diculous "if?!) hath not place there; “Whew! There's something wrong and that paragraph hath served me about the scales!” and he rectifies and for a tolerably decent opening. I rectifies them as if they were spirits of amend my epithet; 'tis an excellent wine. “Now we have it!”-Lacka- opening,-excellent because approdaisy !." How? - Great Genius of me- priate, as I shall demonstrate in a taphysics ! but I spy au adventitious minute after, just insisting that the flaw in the wall, it's the wind that power of grasping and penetrating comes through that crack which turns propriety, in its high original sense, my and the putty is applied in- is the absolute key-stone of genuine stanter!-He turns (a voluntary Sisy- criticism. I dare say, gentlemen and phus) with fresh hope to his dear ladies, this seems to you like a selftorment, his cherished Nessus's shirt evident proposition; but if you

will still it singeth its old tune.

just take the trouble to, scrutinize Here we go up, up, up,

some of our Reviews, I trust the reAnd here we go down, down, down a, mark will not be deemed impertinent:

a

* Vide Don Quixote's colloquy with the knight of the looking-glasses.

1

have you looked Sir? Ah! you pen filled with ink, but my conceit quite agree with me I see! your per- (I have not the vanity to affect a ceptions are extremely delicate and fancy, much less an imagination) acute. Now for the appropriateness, goes round like a whirligig, and then which you must be told arises out of shoots away in the very direction it its perfect reverse--pray Sir! don't should not. Our dear Editor is quite jump off the chair and run to the accustomed to this chance-medley door, I am not mad

method (that's a superlatively wrong

word! I wish you'd blot it, and inMy pulse as yours doth temperately keep sert a fitter) and dreams not of investime,

tigating nicely my intentions, or raAnd makes as healthful music.

ther my probabilities, but blandly en(By the bye, the present I am not quires " if there will be any thing for must be changed into the imperfect the next?"-What this present may I was not, what time you shall wield produce it is quite impossible to say. the ivory liberator of our close shut 1 had made up for the Dulwich Galwisdom.) "Arises out of its perfectlery, therefore I rather suspect the reverse," I think I said then comes crack-club, traveller's room, at the your quomodo ?” Thus, sweet Sir! White-horse Cellar, may be drawn You are aware, doubtless, that every from their cosey box in the corner for overture to an opera (I don't mean the amusement of the London's ConiEnglish ones) contains, or is believed tractors. * But it is absolutely neto contain, (which is just the same to cessary for my character as a logical me in this sentence) certain forebod- reasoner that I make out my propoings, prophecies, warnings of the sition; and how it is to be done I musical events, the harmonious main know not-except I cut off all symaction: which indications, and prog- pathetical connection betwixt the nostic notes, stand in the same re- foregoing and the hereafter of my lation and likeness to their after de- agreeable paper, in which case the velopment, as do the lightly-fleeting ins and the aps coalesce, and shine bloom-flowers to the red-gold harvest out as clear as the stars in the conof plumpy fruit.

stellation Ariaphlistron!! This theory of the mutual depen- We have been repeatedly told that dences of the opera and its overture many worthy folks would collect and is the same with my theory of the patronize genuine engravings and subject of an article (supposing, just etchings if they did but know how to for the sake of argument, an article begin; therefore, for the joint advanto have a subject, which is not al- tage of the said well-disposed perways the case; though that's neither sons, ourself the LONDON MAGAhere nor there :)-would you, dear ZINE ESTABLISHMENT, and Messrs. Dr. examine my cranium ? and per- Colnaghi, Hurst, Molteno, Smith, haps we may light on the confounded Woodburne, &c. we pronounce the Jack-o'-the lantern bump, whence collectaneal fundaments to be, first, spirt and squirt all these impedimen- a pair of shears, thirteen inches long: tal excrescences, these parentheses? secondly, a ream of tinted paper But I can't stop now, because I have (there is great variety at Heath's): a sentence getting cold, therefore I and thirdly, a - few loose himdreds. write, “and its proemium,” which (We'll not say thousands, lest beginthree words make it warm and air- mers be daunted.) tight,

Next it will be well to determine This theory is my delight and my on the nature of your design, whether night-mare. Its beauty begets my the collection shall be artistical or colJove, and my incapacity to obey its lectorical bir If the latter, have a coat commands drives me crazy. my constructed with pockets, enough practice is like Mr. M.'s mouth, “ail strong and spacious, to hold the sixon the other side." In vain I resolve teen volumes of Bartsch krise at and resolve this shall be on Mr. six in the morning, couch not till Angerstein's collection-this on Raf- twelve; and at the end of forty years faëllo!--this on modern embellished and as many thousand pounds, you books !—and so on. No sooner is my shall have some eight tomes of said

To contract is to take in, whence the substantive Contractors, people who take in any thing or body, such as magazines, horses, single gentlemen, and the like.