As o'er the mountain's height,
The woodland Nymphs among,
I wing my rapid flight,
And tune my varied song,
Sweet as the melody of swans,-that lave
Their rustling pennons in the silver wave.
Of the harmonious lay the Muse is sovereign still:
Then let the minstrel follow, if he will—
But not precede: whose stricter care should be,
And more appropriate aim,
To fan the lawless flame
Of fiery youths, and lead them on
To deeds of drunkenness alone,
The minister of revelry—
When doors, with many a sturdy stroke,
Fly from their bolts, to shivers broke,
And captive beauty yields, but is not won.
Down with the Phrygian pipe's discordant sound!
Crackle, ye flames! and burn the monster foul
To very ashes-in whose notes are found
Nought but what's harsh and flat,-no music for the soul,— The work of some vile handicraft.
Great Dithyrambus! ivy-tressèd king!
I stretch my hand-'tis here-and rapidly
My feet in airy mazes fling.
Doric lay; to thee, to thee I sing.-J. BAILEY.
ALEXIS. (Book xiv. § 15, p. 991.)
Doctor prescribe, "Give him a porringer
Of ptisan in the morning," we despise him.
But in some brogue disguised 'tis admirable.
Thus he who speaks of Beet is slighted, while
We prick our ears if he but mention Bate,
As if Bate knew some virtue not in Beet.
SEMOS. (Book xiv. § 16, p. 992.)
Make way there, a wide space
Yield to the god;
For Dionysos has a mind to walk
Bolt upright through your midst.-J. A. ST. JOHN.
SEMOS. (Book xiv. § 16, p. 992.)
Bacchus, to thee our muse belongs,
Of simple chant, and varied lays;
Nor fit for virgin ears our songs,
Nor handed down from ancient days:
Fresh flows the strain we pour to thee,
Patron of joy and minstrelsy!-J. A. ST. JOHN.
ALCEUS. (Book xiv. § 23, p. 1000.)
Glitters with brass my mansion wide;
The roof is deck'd on every side
In martial pride,
With helmets ranged in order bright
And plumes of horse-hair nodding white,
A gallant sight-
-Fit ornament for warrior's brow-
And round the walks, in goodly row,
Refulgent glow
Stout greaves of brass like burnish'd gold,
And corslets there, in
Of linen roll'd;
And shields that in the battle fray
The routed losers of the day
(Book xiv. § 27, p. 1004.)
Where is my lovely parsley, say ?
My violets, roses, where are they?
My parsley, roses, violets fair,
Where are my flowers? Tell me where.-J. A. ST. JOHN,
PHILETERUS. (Book xiv. § 34, p. 1011.)
O Zeus! how glorious 'tis to die while piercing flutes are near,
Pouring their stirring melodies into the faltering ear;
On these alone doth Eros smile, within whose realms of night,
Where vulgar ghosts in shivering bands, all strangers to delight,
In leaky tub from Styx's flood the icy waters bear,
Condemn'd, for woman's lovely voice, its moaning sounds to hear.-J. A. ST. JOHN.
ATHENION. (Book xiv. § 80, p. 1056.)
A. What! know you not that cookery has much
Contributed to piety? attend,
And I will tell you how. This art at first
Made the fierce cannibal a man; impress'd
Upon his rugged nature the desire
Of better food than his own flesh; prescribed
Order and rule in all his actions; gave him
That polish and respect for social life
Which now makes up his sum of happiness.
B. Say by what means.
Attend and you shall hear.
Time was that men, like rude and savage beasts,
Prey'd on each other. From such bloody feasts
A flood of evils burst upon the world;
Till one arose, much wiser than the rest,
And chose a tender victim from his flock
For sacrifice; roasting the flesh, he found
The savoury morsel good, and better far
Than human carcass, from which time roast meat
Became the general food, approved by all.
In order to create variety
Of the same dish, the art of cookery
Began t' invent new modes of dressing it.
In off'rings to the gods we still preserve
The ancient custom, and abstain from salt;
For in those early days salt was not used,
Though now we have it in abundance; still,
In solemn sacrifices, we conform
To usage of old times: in private meals
He who can season best is the best cook,
And the desire of savoury meat inspires
The invention of new sauces, which conduce
To bring the art of cookery to perfection.
B. You are, indeed, a new Palæphatus.
A. Use gave experience, and experience skill.
As cooks acquired more knowledge, they prepared
The delicate tripe, with nice ingredients mix'd,
To give it a new relish; follow'd soon
The tender kid, sew'd up between two covers,
Stew'd delicately down, and smoking hot,
That melted in the mouth; the savoury hash
Came next, and that disguised with so much art,
And season'd with fresh herbs, and pungent sauce,
That you would think it most delicious fish.
Then salted meats, with store of vegetables,
And fragrant honey, till the pamper'd taste,
High fed with luscious dainties, grew too nice
To feed on human garbage, and mankind
Began to feel the joys of social life;
The scatter'd tribes unite; towns soon were built
And peopled with industrious citizens.
These and a thousand other benefits
Were the result of cookery alone.
B. Oh, rare! where will this end?
A.
The costly sacrifice, we slay the victims,
We pour the free libations, and to us
The gods themselves lend a propitious ear,
And for our special merits scatter blessings
On all the human race; because from us
And from ouf art, mankind were first induced
To live the life of reason, and the gods
Received due honour.
And leave religion out.-ANON.
The art of cookery drew us gently forth
From that ferocious life, when void of faith
The Anthropophaginian ate his brother!
To cookery we owe well-crder'd states,
Assembling men in dear society.
Wild was the earth, man feasting upon man,
When one of nobler sense and milder heart
First sacrificed an animal; the flesh
Was sweet; and man then ceased to feed on man!
And something of the rudeness of those times
The priest commemorates; for to this day
He roasts the victim's entrails without salt.
In those dark times, beneath the earth lay hid
The precious salt, that gold of cookery!
But when its particles the palate thrill'd,
The source of seasonings, charm of cookery! came.
They served a paunch with rich ingredients stored;
And tender kid, within two covering plates,
Warm melted in the mouth. So art improved!
At length a miracle not yet perform'd,
They minced the meat, which roll'd in herbage soft,
Nor meat nor herbage seem'd, but to the eye,
And to the taste, the counterfeited dish
Mimick'd some curious fish; invention rare!
Then every dish was season'd more and more,
Salted, or sour, or sweet, and mingled oft
Oatmeal and honey. To enjoy the meal
Men congregated in the populous towns,
And cities flourish'd, which we cooks adorn'd
With all the pleasures of domestic life.-D'ISRAELI.
Cook. Do you not know that cookery has brought More aids to piety than aught besides ?
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