Volume 1

Studies of the Greek poets / by John Addington Symonds.

  • John Addington Symonds
Date:
1877-1879
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Studies of the Greek poets / by John Addington Symonds. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    stars (ii. 118), which recalls to mind the saying of Kant, that the two things which moved his awe were the stars of heaven above him and the moral law within the soul of man : * oTS’ ’6tl Ovarbs ey& kcu i^d/xepos’ dXX, ‘6rav &arpuv fxaffTevca Trviavas ctfKpLbpb/jLOvs eAiKas, ou/cer’ 6iri\pava) yamis tvo(t\v, dXXa 7rap’ avrcp Zr)v\ OeorpeQeos TtijxivXaixai dfj.fipoaiys. The poem on human life, which has been attributed seve- rally to Poseidippus and to Plato Comicus, and which Bacon thought worthy of imitation, may take rank with the most elevated sonnets of modern literature (ii. 71) : + Trolrjv ns fiioroio rajurj rplfiov; elv dyopy fibv ve'iKea Ka\ npri^ies' iv 8e bofiois (ppovndes ‘ iv 8’ aypols Kafxdruv aAis‘ 4v 8e OaXacay TCtpfios' iirl £elvr]s 8’, t)j/ p.ei/ %XVS Tt» 8eW * ‘4 Though but the being of a day, When I yon planet’s course survey, This earth I then despise : Near Jove’s eternal throne I stand, And quaff from an immortal hand The nectar of the skies.” Philip Smyth. t Bacon’s version, “The world’s a bubble, and the life of man—” is both well known and too long to quote. The following is from the pen of (Sir John Beaumont : ‘ ‘ What course of life should wretched mortals take ? In courts hard questions large contention make : Care dwells in houses, labour in the field. Tumultuous seas affrighting dangers yield. In foreign lands thou never canst be blessed ; If rich, thou art in fear ; if poor, distressed. In wedlock frequent discontentments swell ; Unmarried persons as in deserts dwell. How many troubles are with children born ; Yet he that wants them counts himself forlorn. Young men are wanton, and of wisdom void ; Grey hairs are cold, unfit to be employed. Who would not one of these two offers choose, Not to be born, or breath with speed to lose ? ”