Alcæus strung his sounding lyre, And smote it with a hand of fire, To Sappho, fondest of the fair, Chanting the loud and lofty air. Whilst old Anacreon, wet with wine, And crown'd with wreaths of Lesbian vine, * * * * * * E'en Sophocles, whose honey'd lore Rivals the bee's delicious store, Chorus'd the praise of wine and love, Choicest of all the gifts of Jove. Euripides, whose tragic breast No yielding fair one ever press'd, At length in his obdurate heart Felt love's revengeful rankling dart, * * * * * * 'Till vengeance met him in the way, And bloodhounds made the bard their prey. Philoxenus, by wood-nymphs bred On famed Cythæron's sacred head, And train'd to music, wine, and song, 'Midst orgies of the frantic throng, When beauteous Galatea died, His flute and thyrsus cast aside; And wand'ring to thy pensive coast, Sad Melos! where his love was lost, Each night through the responsive air Thy echoes witness'd his despair: Still, still his plaintive harp was heard, Soft as the nightly-singing bird. Philetas too in Battis' praise Sung his long-winded roundelays; His statue in the Coan grove Now breathes in brass perpetual love. The mortified abstemious sage, Deep read in learning's crabbed page, Pythagoras, whose boundless soul Scaled the wide globe from pole to pole, Earth, planets, seas, and heav'n above, Yet found no spot secure from love; With love declines unequal war, And trembling drags his conqueror's car; Theano clasp'd him in her arms, And wisdom stoop'd to beauty's charms. E'en Socrates, whose moral mind With truth enlighten'd all mankind, When at Aspasia's side he sate, Still found no end to love's debate; For strong indeed must be that heart, Where love finds no unguarded part. Sage Aristippus by right rule Of logic purged the Sophist's school, Check'd folly in its headlong course, And swept it down by reason's force; 'Till Venus aim'd the heart-felt blow, And laid the mighty victor low.—CUMBERLAND. _The same._ I. Orpheus,—Œagrus' son,—thou know'st full well,— The Thracian harper,—how with magic skill, Inspired by love, he struck the chorded shell, And made the shades obedient to his will, As from the nether gloom to light he led His love Agriope. He to Pluto's land, Baleful and cheerless, region of the dead, Sail'd far away,—and sought th' infernal strand,