That king surpassingly is excellent

For wealth, wide rule by sea and o'er much continent.

In many a region many a tribe doth till

The fields, made fruitful by the shower of Zeus :
None like low-lying Ægypt doth fulfil

Hope of increase, when Nile the clod doth loose,
O'er-bubbling the wet soil: no land doth use
So many workmen of all sorts, enrolled
In cities of such multitude profuse,

More than three myriads, as a single fold
Under the watchful sway of Ptolemy the bold.

Part of Phoenicia; some Arabian lands;
Some Syrian; tribes of swart Æthiopes;
All the Pamphylians, Lycians he commands,
And warlike Carians: o'er the Cyclades

His empire spreads; his navies sweep the seas;
Ocean and rivers, earth within her bounds

Obeys him and a host of chivalries,

And shielded infantry with martial sounds

Of their far-glittering brass the warrior-king surrounds.

His wealth, that daily flows from every side,

The treasure of all other kings outweighs ;
His busy people's days in quiet glide:
The monster-breeding Nile no hostile blaze
Doth overpass, the war-shout there to raise.
Nor hath armed foeman from swift ship outleapt
To seize the kine Ægyptian pastures graze;

For o'er the broad lands of that happy sept

The bright-haired Ptolemy strict ward hath ever kept.

His whole inheritance he cares to keep,

As a good king: himself hath garnered more:
Nor useless in his house the golden heap,
Increased like that of ants; for of his store
The gods have much, since them he doth adore
Ever with first-fruits, and his love commends
With other gifts; his bounty ne'er is poor;
To noble-minded princes much he sends,

And gives to cities much, and much to worthy friends.

None in the sacred games e'er took a part,
Skilled the melodious song to modulate,
Without a royal recompense of art:

Whence Ptolemy the muse-priests celebrate

For his munificence. What meed more great

Than good renown can wealthy man befall? This meed doth on the dead Atridæ wait; Their infinite spoil from Priam's ravaged hall In the thick gloom lies hid, from whence is no recall.

Only this prince hath in his fathers' ways
Exactly walked, and doth their stamp retain ;
Whence he to both his parents loved to raise
Temples, and placed their statues in each fane,
Of gold and ivory—never sought in vain
By prayer of mortals; on their altars red
Fat thighs of oxen burn the royal twain,
Himself and consort- one more furnished

With love and excellence ne'er clasped her spouse in bed.

Such were the nuptials of the royal pair,
Whom Rhea bore, the royalties divine
Of blest Olympus: Iris spread with care,

Iris the virgin yet, whose fingers shine

With fragrant brightness, when they would recline The marriage couch. Hail, Ptolemy! to thee And other demigods I will assign

Due praise. One word for after-men; to me

It seems, whatever good there is, from Zeus must be.

IDYL XVIII.

EPITHALAMIUM.

ARGUMENT.

A chorus of Spartan virgins of the highest rank chaunt the spousal song before the bridal chamber of Menelaus and Helen. The bridegroom is congratulated for his extraordinary happiness in obtaining such a wife. The singular beauty and exquisite graces and accomplishments of Helen are commemorated; and the song concludes with a prayer for the happiness of the bridal pair.

This exquisite poem has been abjudicated from Theocritus, because, forsooth, it differs from his general style; as though the same poet could not possibly excel in different styles.

P