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Page 4
And it is worthy of notice that this passage corresponds with the first
line of Giannini's translation of the Elegy, as quoted by J.F.M.:--
"Piange la squilla 'l giorno, che si muore."
I must add, however, that long before Lord Byron thought of writing _Don
Juan_, Mr. Cary, in his excellent translation of the Italian poet, had
noticed this plagiarism in Gray; and what is more, had shown that the
principal thought, the "giorno che si muore," was borrowed by Dante from
Statius's
"Jam moriente die."
HENRY H. BREEN.
St. Lucia, West Indies, Nov. 1850.
[The preceding communication was accompanied by several others, and by
the following gratifying letter, which we print as a fresh proof that
our paper is fulfilling the object for which it was instituted, namely,
that of promoting literary intercourse between men of letters
throughout the world and that it is as favourably received by our
fellow countrymen abroad, as it has been by those who are enabled to
receive it wet from the press:--
"Owing to the difficulty of procuring the early numbers of 'NOTES AND
QUERIES,' especially at this distance from Britain, I have been
compelled to wait for its publication in a collected form. I am now in
possession of the first volume, and beg leave to offer you a few Notes
which have occurred to me on perusing its contents. I am fully sensible
of the disadvantage of corresponding with you from so remote a corner
of the globe, and am prepared to find some of my remarks anticipated by
other correspondents nearer home; but having deeply suffered from the
literary isolation consequent upon a residence of twenty-one years in
this country, I shall gladly submit to any disadvantage which shall not
involve a total exclusion from the means of inter-communication so
opportunely afforded by your excellent periodical.
"HENRY H. BREEN."]
* * * * *
THE NINEVEH MONUMENTS AND MILTON'S NATIVITY ODE ILLUSTRATED FROM LUCIAN.
Layard in his _Nineveh_, vol. ii., p. 471., in his description of "the
sacred emblems carried by the priests," says, they are principally the
fruit or cone of the pine.
"... and the square utensil which, as I have already remarked, appears
to have been of embossed or engraved metal, or of metal carved to
represent wicker work, or sometimes actually of wicker work."
He adds, that M. Lajard "has shown the connection between the cone of the
cypress and the worship of Venus in the religious systems of the East;"
that it has been suggested that "the square vessel held the holy water,"
that, "however this may be, it is evident from their constant occurrence on
Assyrian monuments, that they were very important objects in religious
ceremonies. Any attempt to explain their use and their typical {36}
meaning, can at present be little better than ingenious speculation."
There is a passage in Lucian _De Dea Syria_, � 13., which may serve to
elucidate this feature in the Nineveh marbles. He is referring to the
temple of Hierapolis and a ceremony which Deucalion was said to have
introduced, as a memorial of the great flood and the escaping of the
waters:
[Greek: "Dis ekastou eteos ek thalass�s yd�r es ton n�on apikneetai;
pherousi de ouk irees mounon alla pasa Syri� kai Arabi�, kai per�then
tou Euphr�te�, polloi anthr�poi es thalassan erchontai, kai pantes yd�r
pherousai, ta, pr�ta men en t�i n��i ekchrousi,"] &c.
"Twice every year water is brought from the sea to the temple. Not only the
priests, but" all Syria and Arabia, "and many from the country beyond the
Euphrates come to the sea, and all bring away water, which they first pour
out in the temple," and then into a chasm which Lucian had previously
explained had suddenly opened and swallowed up the flood of waters which
had threatened to destroy the world. Tyndale, in his recent book on
Sardinia, refers to this passage in support of a similar utensil appearing
in the Sarde paganism.
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