ODE IX. DUNCAN's WARNING. BY J. AIKIN, M. D. As o'er the heath, amid his steel-clad Thanes, Where, full to view, high-topp'd with glittering vanes, Macbeth's strong towers o'erhung the mountain's side; In dusky mantle wrapp'd, a grisly form Stop, O King! thy destin'd course, Hear'st thou not the raven's croak? Feel'st thou not the loaded sky? Lo, yon' castle banners glare Murder, like an eagle waits Let not plighted faith beguile; Honour's semblance, Beauty's smile : Fierce Ambition's venom'd dart Rankles in the fest'ring heart. Treason, arm'd against thy life, Steels his unrelenting soul, Now 'tis time; ere guilty night Closes round thee, speed thy flight. If the threshold once be crost, DUNCAN! thou'rt for ever lost. NOTES ON ODES OF THE FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD CLASS. NOTES ON ODES OF THE FIRST CLASS. ODE XL. Page 8. THE Attic sage exhausts the bowl,] Socrates, who was condemned to die by poison. 9. See there the injured Poet bleed !] Seneca, born at Corduba, who, according to Pliny, was orator, poet, and philosopher. He bled to death in the bath. ib. Lo! there the wild Assyrian queen,] Semiramis, cum ei circa cultum capitis sui occupatae nunciatum esset Babylonem defecisse; altera parte crinium adhuc soluta protinus ad eam expugnandam cucurrit: nec prius decorem capillorum in ordinem quam tantam urbem in potestatem suam redegit: quocirca statua ejus Babylone posita est, &c. Val. Max. de Ira. 10. Absorb'd in thought, great NEWTON stands ;] A noble statue of Sir Isaac Newton, erected in Trinity-College chapel by Dr. Smith. |