Few passages in Latin poetry have been more frequently imitated, and none more deservedly, than the above-quoted verses of Catullus, who certainly excels almost all other writers, in the beauty and propriety of his similes. The greatest poets have not disdained to transplant this exquisite flower of song. Perhaps the most successful imitation is one by the Prince of the romantic bards of Italy, in the first canto of his _Orlando_, and which it may be amusing to compare with the original: “La Verginella è simile alla rosa, Che in bel giardin su la nativa spina, Mentre sola, e sicura si riposa, Nè gregge, nè pastor se le avvicina; L’aura soave, e l’alba rugiadosa, L’acqua, la terra al suo favor s’inchina: Giovini vaghi, e donne innamorate, Amano averne e seni, e tempie ornate. Ma non si tosto dal materno stelo Rimossa viene, e dal suo ceppo verde; Che quanto avea dagli uomini, e dal cielo, Favor, grazia, e bellezza tutto perde. La vergine, che il fior, di che più zelo, Che de begli occhi, e della vita, aver dè, Lascia altrui corre, il pregio, ch’avea dinanti, Perde nel cor de tutti gli altri amanti.” The reader may perhaps like to see how this theme has been managed by an old _French_ poet nearly contemporary with Ariosto: “La jeune vierge est semblable à la rose, Au beau jardin, sur l’épine native, Tandis que sûre et seulette repose, Sans que troupeau ni berger y arrive; L’air doux l’échauffe, et l’Aurore l’arrose, La terre, l’eau par sa faveur l’avive; Mais jeunes gens et dames amoureuses, De la cueillir ont les mains envieuses; La terre et l’air, qui la soulaient nourrir, La quittent lors et la laissent flétrir(498).” It is evident that Ariosto has suggested several things to the French poet, as he has also done to the imitators in our own language, in which the simile has been frequently attempted, but not with much success. Ben Jonson has translated it miserably, substituting doggerel verse for the sweet flow of the Latin poetry, and verbal antithesis and conceit for that beautiful simplicity of idea which forms the chief charm of the original: “Look how a flower that close in closes grows, Hid from rude cattle, bruised by no plows,” &c. One of the best of the numerous English imitations is that in the _Lay of Iolante_, introduced in Bland’s _Four Slaves of Cythera_: “A tender maid is like a flow’ret sweet, Within the covert of a garden born; Nor flock nor hind disturb the calm retreat, But on the parent stalk it blooms untorn, Refresh’d by vernal rains and gentle heat, The balm of evening, and the dews of morn: Youths and enamoured maidens vie to wear This flower—their bosoms grace, or twined around their hair.