. Works; from the text of Heyne and Wagner. of Theocritiis, therefore, were deeply felt by hlm; tlie Istand IXth Eclogues, in which he attempted to convey their spirit in his nativetougue, have been already noticed, Martyn, however, conjectures that the Alexisand Pakemon were the earliest in point of compositiou, from the followiugpassage in tlie Daphnis:— Hac nos te fragili donabimus ant^ cicuta: HffiC nos: Formosum Corj^don ardebat Alexin : Htec eadem docuit: Cujum pecus? an Meliboei? He then makes the Daplinis the third in order. His argument is: As thepoet does not give the least hint here
. Works; from the text of Heyne and Wagner. of Theocritiis, therefore, were deeply felt by hlm; tlie Istand IXth Eclogues, in which he attempted to convey their spirit in his nativetougue, have been already noticed, Martyn, however, conjectures that the Alexisand Pakemon were the earliest in point of compositiou, from the followiugpassage in tlie Daphnis:— Hac nos te fragili donabimus ant^ cicuta: HffiC nos: Formosum Corj^don ardebat Alexin : Htec eadem docuit: Cujum pecus? an Meliboei? He then makes the Daplinis the third in order. His argument is: As thepoet does not give the least hint here of his having composed any other, it seemsprobable that these were the three first Eclognes which ourauthor composed.^The snhject is scarcely of sufBcient importance to demaud a formal refutation ofMartyns argument, which is certainly defective: suffice it to state that aboutthis time ihe Bucolics were completed. It will be preferable to take a sketch ofthe Bucolic Muse, as she appeared attired in the Latian garb by the hand of No depaitment of Greek poetry promised less to the Latin imitator than thepastoral. The poems of Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus, are distinguished by asimplicity equally reraote from epic majesty and sordid rusticity. Every charniof the country has been rifled to adorn them, and almost every deformity care-fully concealed. If the Romans were uufortunate in possessing no Attic dialectfor dramatic expression, the want of a Doric was a still greater obstacle to suc-cess in the pastoral, This dialect at once removed the reader from the town,while it afForded the Muse every facility of utterance. The lordly language of 1 On tlie order of the Eclo^es, see Biihr. Gesch. d. Eom. Lit. § 1S7, and the refereacea. a XVlll BIOGRAPniCAL MEMOIK OF TIRGIL. imperial Ronic was ill suitcd to convcy tlie uiiiircnictlitatcd ofTusions of unletteredherdsnicn. If Airgil, tiierefore, lias fnlicn vcry far sliort of liis great prototype,thc diflicuhy of his attcnipt mu
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