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Thomas Gray to Richard West, [June 1738]

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Barbaras ædes aditure mecum,
Quas Eris semper fovet inquieta,
Lis ubi latè sonat, et togatum
Æstuat agmen!
Dulcius quanto, patulis sub ulmi
Hospitæ ramis temerè jacentem
Sic libris horas, tenuiqb inertes
Fallere Musâ?
Sæpe enim curis vagor expeditâ
Mente; dum, blandam meditans Camænam,
Vix malo rori, meminive seræ
Cedere nocti;
Et, pedes quò me rapiunt, in omni
Colle Parnassum videor videre
Fertilem sylvæ, gelidamqb in omni
Fonte Aganippen.
Risit & Ver me, facilesqb Nymphæ
Nare captantem, nec ineleganti,
Manè quicquid de violis eundo
Surripit aura:
Me reclinatum teneram per herbam;
Quà leves cursus aqua cunque ducit,
Et moras dulci strepitu lapillo
Nectit in omni.
Hæ novo nostrum ferè pectus anno
Simplices curæ tenuere, cœlum
Quamdiú sudum explicuit Favonî
Purior hora:
Otia et campos nec adhuc relinquo,
Nec magis Phœbo Clytie fidelis;
(Ingruant venti licet, et senescat
Mollior æstas.)
Namque, seu, lætos hominum labores
Prataqb & montes recreante curru,
Purpurâ tractus oriens Eoos
Vestit, et auro;
Sedulus servo, veneratus orbem
Prodigum splendoris: amœniori
Sive dilectam meditatur igne
Pingere Calpen;
Usque dum, fulgore magìs magìs jam
Languido circum, variata nubes
Labitur furtim, viridisqb in umbras
Scena recessit.
O ego felix, vice si (nec unquam
Surgerem rursus) simili cadentem
Parca me lenis sineret quieto
Fallere letho!
Multà flagranti radiisqb cincto
Integris ah! quam nihil inviderem,
Cum Dei ardentes medius quadrigas
Sentit Olympus?

Ohe! amicule noster, et unde, sodes, tu μουσοπάτακτος adeo repente evasisti? jam te rogitaturum credo. Nescio hercle, sic plané habet. Quicquid enim nugarum ἐπὶ σχολῆς inter ambulandum in palimpsesto scriptitavi, hisce te maxumè impertiri visum est, quippe quem probare, quod meum est, aut certè ignoscere solitum probé novi: bonâ tuâ veniâ sit si fortè videar in fine subtristior; nam risui jamdudum salutem dixi; etiam paulè mœstitiæ studiosiorem factum scias, promptumque, Καινοῖς παλαιὰ δακρύοις στένειν κακά.

O lachrymarum fons, tenero sacros
Ducentium ortus ex animo; quater
Felix! in imo qui scatentem
Pectore te, pia Nympha, sensit.

Sed de me satis. Cura ut valeas.
Letter ID: letters.0057 (Source: TEI/XML)

Correspondents

Writer: Gray, Thomas, 1716-1771
Writer's age: 21
Addressee: West, Richard, 1716-1742
Addressee's age: 22[?]

Dates

Date of composition: [June 1738]
Date (on letter): [Jun. 1738]
Calendar: Julian

Places

Place of composition: [Cambridge, United Kingdom]

Content

Languages: Latin, Greek
Incipit: Ohe! amicule noster, et unde, sodes, tu...
Mentioned: Ad C: Favonium Aristium
[Alcaic Fragment]

Holding Institution

Availability: The original letter is unlocated, a copy, transcription, or published version survives

Print Versions

  • The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings by W[illiam]. Mason. York: printed by A. Ward; and sold by J. Dodsley, London; and J. Todd, York, 1775, letter xiv, section i, 30-33
  • The Works of Thomas Gray, 2 vols. Ed. by Thomas James Mathias. London: William Bulmer, 1814, section I, letter XIV, vol. i, 159-161
  • The Works of Thomas Gray, 2 vols. Ed. by John Mitford. London: J. Mawman, 1816, section I, letter XIV, vol. ii, 25-26
  • The Letters of Thomas Gray, 2 vols. in one. London: J. Sharpe, 1819, letter XIV, vol. i, 27-29
  • The Works of Thomas Gray, 5 vols. Ed. by John Mitford. London: W. Pickering, 1835-1843, section I, letter XIV, vol. ii, 29
  • The Letters of Thomas Gray, including the correspondence of Gray and Mason, 3 vols. Ed. by Duncan C. Tovey. London: George Bell and Sons, 1900-12, letter no. XI, vol. i, 12-13
  • The Correspondence of Gray, Walpole, West and Ashton (1734-1771), 2 vols. Chronologically arranged and edited with introduction, notes, and index by Paget Toynbee. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1915, letter no. 79, vol. i, 184-187
  • Correspondence of Thomas Gray, 3 vols. Ed. by the late Paget Toynbee and Leonard Whibley, with corrections and additions by H. W. Starr. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971 [1st ed. 1935], letter no. 53, vol. i, 85-87