70
PRINCIPLES OF
Chap. IV.
A striking example of this kind has been remarked by Mr Melmoth[1]. It is the translation of that picture in the end of the 8th book of the Iliad, which Eustathius esteemed the finest night-piece that could be found in poetry:
Ὡς δ΄ ὀτ εν ουρανῶ αστρα φαεινην αμφι σεληνην,
Φαίνετ΄ ἀριπρεπέα, ὅτε τ΄ ἔπλετο νἠνεμος αιθὴρ,
Ἔκ τ΄ ἔφανον ωἅσαι σκοπιαί, καὶ ῶρώονες ἄκροι,
Καὶ νάπαι· οὐρανὸθεν δ΄ ἄῤ ὑωεῤῥάγη ἄσωετος αιθὴρ,
Πάντα δέ τ΄ ἔιδεται ἄςτρα· γέγηθε δέ τε φρένα ποιμήν·
Φαίνετ΄ ἀριπρεπέα, ὅτε τ΄ ἔπλετο νἠνεμος αιθὴρ,
Ἔκ τ΄ ἔφανον ωἅσαι σκοπιαί, καὶ ῶρώονες ἄκροι,
Καὶ νάπαι· οὐρανὸθεν δ΄ ἄῤ ὑωεῤῥάγη ἄσωετος αιθὴρ,
Πάντα δέ τ΄ ἔιδεται ἄςτρα· γέγηθε δέ τε φρένα ποιμήν·
"As when the moon appears in the serene canopy of the heavens, surrounded with stars, when every breath of air is hush'd, when every hill, every valley, and every forest, is distinctly seen; when the sky appears to open to the sight in all its boundless extent;
- ↑ Fitzosborne's Letters, l. 19.
"and
