EPIGRAMS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 265, 14 November 1885, Page 5

EPIGRAMS.

(By J. Mubkay Mooiik, M.D.)

Tin; word epigram is a Greek ono — epigrmnma, and indicates its classical origin, namely, from the Greeks, tho quickestwittcii nation of antiquity. It originally meant morcly an inscription, whether on altar, statuo, tomb or tablet, in memory of some deceased friend, or in honour of tho god to whom success in the public games or in war was attributed, Tho small space available for such inscriptions led to tho brevity ■ of tho epiijmmma, and tho desire to cay as | much truth in as few words as possiblo conduced to its point, in fact .to the "Attic ; salt " which soon came to be characteristic of tho epigram. Nobly torso was tlio " epigram " composed by tho poofc Simonidcs (v.c. 535) for tho moinunont to tho.threo hundred heroes who fell at Thormopyke : Go, toll tht: Spartans, tliou that passoat by, That here, obedient to choir laws, we lie. Tho earliest Cheek opigrams do not aim at wit, or to starllo ono with somo surprising play upon words, or double entendre, but aro moral, or didactic, or pathetic, and eomotimos contain just a fpico of humour. In this one — Swift kindnesses aro host, a lons delay In kindness cakes '.lie kindness all a way —wo soo whence tho Latin proverb originated, " liin da/, tjnieilo rfat." A thoroughly pessimist epigram was composed by Poseidippus (dato uncertain, probably 100 b.0.), and ia thus rondored by Sir J. Beaumont: Show mo Bonic patu ofiife! Tin: marketplace Breo.ls only quarrrl imd hard Imrwinliiss, St..yiiiK nl liomi: iiiec-nanr, worry brinf,':!; OC norklnß In ho Held oik; tiros upaci; ; WIIO I,'OIW 10 1 IVI tl COUMt.:l.!il lll'tl'ilt Illl.S face. Ami If oiiu tri'.v. 1. fuiirn for pri'dulia things Torment,—if ono h.tt. none, Uui liickiiiK slings, ;-o, rteli or pi.or. hard i) i.ho tr.-ivolloi'sense. Jiiirri'Kl, wli.iloarc! sun^N.', wrwit Inn, Hneaa! Children lirlnwc Borrow, blank I ho cliilillii-s lie. Foolish in jouth, aivl old k><- lisiktH i|iiito. Here lies the only choice, I imi-t. onfosa Not to bo ho n into this world of strif■> Or utraitjlit to die, bavins but just seen li^ht. Out of a number of Greek opitapha beforo mo, which aro " epigrammatic," I select the following two : — I. On i in-: Tomb of tiik Sailor Nicktas. Oh, why. my brother mariners, so near tho boisterous wave Of ocean, liavo ye hollowed out my solitary grave ( 'Twero hotter much that farther oil' a sailor's tomb should W. For I dread my rude destroyer—l dread tho roaring sea: But m-iy the smiles of fortuno, and may I'jvfl and peace await AH ye who shed a pitying tear tvr poor Nleotas'1 fa:e. ' 11. Ok a Youth Named Aster Hn English, •■Star'] Aster, in life our morciDß itar, a lovoly light you shod. Atd now you thine as Hesperus, a star among the dead. There is not only humour, but a pointed moral in tho following antiques: — Fathor of flatterers, gold! Of pain and care bogot— A care it is to have thee, and a pain to have thco not. Beany on which no gntcos wait May plenso. hill not retain, Juit as, without tlu> barb, the bait Floats useless on the main. Ox A IIAKU-MIKHOII. Venus, tuko ihis votive glass Sinoo lira not. ivhutl was. Wluitlshnllhi! matter bo, Verm i. let mo never see! Theeo extract?, from Lord Neave's spirtte 1 and graceful translations in iiin "Greek Anthology," may llnfeh with two amusing bits :— A blockhead, bis by (lea*, nut out 'ho liAt. And, ehui-kiiiii,', cried. " Now you can't si?e to bite " A v per bit a Cfti)p:ulooian's hide. Hut'(«! ih ! rilicr, not tho man tin', dial. Gradually tho epigram assumed a purely satirical form, anil was often very stinging in its personal application. Towards tho period of tho Augustine ago ol Human literature, it conformed to the neat definition of some modern writer — The (lualitie* r.uc in a boo that w<> moet In an ii'i'-'i'aui never should f*il; Tho body chmild ill.va>Hb.i HUM im.lMvict. And a sting should bo left in its tall. Amon;4 the Komau poots, Catullu sand Martial' were tho chief cpigramnirttistß, though it would bo easy to pick out of Horace's Letters, Satires, and Odes many clioieo epigrams also. Martial's neatest opigram was, straiiL'O to say, composed npo'.i tho miracle performed at Cana in Galilee. VUUI .7 n-übuil lympha ptidlcn /Jut in--The molest water haw in l/ird an 1 lilualiod, But nourly all his upigrams are (uiutodly iiotdonal, such as theso throu : I. TO I'AL'I.A. l'atila. thnu wonld'at lo Prisoua weddo I be. Thou'rt wist>, and he's wise 100, he won't wed thco. It. To Ij.kma. Thine hair and teeth thou'rt not ashamed to buy. Whut would'st tho i do didst loiio tho other cyo! [11. T ■ A FlUKxn. In all thy humours, whothor grovo or inollow, Thou'rl such a lively, tcsiy. plcnsini fellow. Hast so much wit, a d mirth, ami aplcon about thef, There la no living with theo or without thoo. Wo can hero and clsowhero throughout tho classical literature of tho lighter kind lind tho quips and punning allusions of many modern epigrams. As a part of tho Renaissance of everything Greek and Roman in tho 15th contury, those compositions were revived. Even tho grave and pious Philip Mclancthon, the close- filond of Luther, wroto epigrams, and Clemont Marot, tho Huguenot, tirst translator of tho Psalms of David into motrical Fronch, was a notable epigrammatist. Tho title of " epigram " was now oxtonded so widely that it becamo ono of tho most catholic of literary forms. An epigram, from tho 10th contury down to our times, liuh taken any of those shapes - a futiro, an elogy, a oulogy, a love-poem, an embodiment of proverbial' philosophy, a torso do scription of a fact, place, or person, or a witticism sot off with a couple of rhymes. Tho genius of tho Fronch and tho forms of their highly lloxiblo language rojoiced in epigrammaticoxprossion. Boilcau, Lebrun, Marmontel, Kousacau, and Voltaire wroto many good ones, while all the 18th and 19th contury dramatists -- take for instance Moliure and Victor Uugo—aro full of thoao pleasantries. Hugo's romances abound in them also. Tho maxims of La Rochefoucauld are, many of them, real opigrams, some of which have received the greatost tributo of appreciation—that of becoming an international proverb. Two quotations will illustrate this author: 1, Hypocrisy is the homago that vice pays to virtue. . 2. There aro two kinds of curiosity. Ono arises from interest, which makes us desirous to learn what may bo useful to us ; thoothor from pride, which mnkeßus desirous to know what othors are ignorant of. Tho power of tho epigram over the French mind was singularly illustrated during tho reign of Lo Grand Monatque, which was desoribad an a Uospatuun tempered by opigrama ! This recalls G. A. Sala'- (not original) description of Russian Government m a despotism tempered by aseaßsiuation ! Napoleon's epigram, Grattez k JtiisM, d run.: Irouveres In laitare; was founded on his own experience and has bocomc a ptovorb much quoted by Russophobists 1" Eirgland our heavier Anglo-Saxon himour does not run into opigrams so rittdily. Our abundant loyalty since the restoration of Charles 11. has restrained our humourists from attacking tho occupant of the throne in this particular way._ Many a time must tho Jolly Monarch have laughed at tho witty Rochester's impromptu opigram, to be used as an epitaph : Here lies our sovereign lord the King, Whose word no man rejies on, Wlio never Slid a foolish thing, And never did a wine one.

Among our poets lope, and among prosewriters Porson, Vincent Bourne, and Lauder have indulged in this kind of writing, and here and there wo come across, an epigram among less known writers. Treason doth never prosner; what's treason» Why. if it pio^pcr, none daru call it tieason. is by Harrington. The satirical Samuel Rogers evolved a neat ono— • Ward has no nearr.' th-y say, but I deny it! Uo has a hearr.-and prcta his Bpeechcs by it. The learned professions afforded a favourita subject for epigram in tho 18th century, as, for instance, in those verses :- How D.U. ewagKera, M.I), roll?., . I dub them both a brace ot noddies i Old D.U takes tbo " cure of Boule. And at I) tske^ thn care of bodies. Between thorn both what treatment rare niir souls and bodios most, cnauiv.! too takes tho cum without'ho care. T'other the care without the cura.

And even a fashionable physician, Dr. Isaac Lettsom, pxpresses his sceptisim in his own treatment thus humorously : Whatever pallesUepme to me T nlirßioß, biee.i^ ",.1 sweats 'em : H after that. th. y choose to die

J Tho most witty oxpression of the possession of a wholly unmusical ear came out in a well-known epigram by the famous Dean Switfc at, a period when Handel was struggling with a cortnin Italian Binging-mas-ter, whoeo namo has been rescued from oblivion solely by this rhyme, for tho musical supremacy in London.

Somesiy that. Sign or liuoncini Compared to Handel is a ninuy j While others say that to him Handel h hardly lie to hold a candle. Strange that such difference there should b.i Twist 'Iwccilledum EndTwccdlolcc i

Epigrammaticdofiiutions aro often useful, as well as witty, in fixing ono characteristic at least of tho thing defined in our memories.

" Etymology," soys Voltaire, "isascionce in which tho vowols count for nothing and tho consonant.s for vory littlo."

Clitics are tho men who havo failed in litcra tureand in art. Diskabli, Qonius 'a au in liniteciipftcity for taking pains. Carlyle. Clcnins is lino observation etretwthened by fixity of purpoau. Dl'Lwek liYTI'ON.

In our H)th century literature it is not easy to distinguish botweon an aphorism, a paradox, a maxim, and an epigram, What shall wo stylo tho following pithy but cynical description of lifu '!— Youth Is a iiiisUlco, manhood a strug^lo, and old as;o a regret. I consider it a genuine epigram. So also is tho wise apophthegm of Bacon : — Reading niukcili a full man ; convorafttion a ready man ; and writing an uxaot man. Tho works of Byron, Fuller, Zimmerman, Lytton, Disraoli, and especially George Eliot, aro full of what I term epigrams in tho widest and deopost, moa'iingof the word. Shakespeare's plays, of course, afl'ord an inexhaustible mine of them. Lot us take Bonw examples from theso writers: — Ox Fame. ' J'i.i like a snowball, which ilorivoa nadielunco l'Yom ovory llako aiulsUU rolls on the same, K'oii till tin iceberg it nny clinnco to grow j Jitu iifcer all 'tis nothing but cold snow. Uyiion, Fame may lie romvnired to s. ecoM ;tho best way to bilunoo her is to let her alone, und Bho will nt last do out of brcalh iv blowing her own trumput I'Ylush. In lfamn's temple thpro I* always a nieho to bo found for lich dunces, huportunaio scoundrels, and successful butchers oC the human idCO. ZIMMIBMIX. Tho poet Cowper's epigram on Knowledge and Wisdom is oxcollont: — Knowledge anil Wiadom, far fro.n being ono, Havo oft-times no connection. Knowledge dwells In heads ruplct i with tbouelitH ol other men ; VV'isdjui in niimla ntionlivu to thcii- own. Knowledge, n rude, unprolltiiblo niaßS--Tho more materials wi h which Wisdom

buiids— Till smoothed, nud squared, and lilted into

place. Does but uucumbor what, it seems to enrich ; Knowledge i 3 prowl that ho has learned so

much— Wisdom ia humble that ho knows no moro,

Among tho epigrammatic sontencos in tho writings of Buhver Lytton, thoso havo caught my eyo from timo to timo : —

" Destiny - it is destiny ! Phraso of tho weak human heart ! It is destiny ! Dark apology for every orror ! Tho strong and tho virtuous admit no destiny. On earth guides conscience—in heaven watches God. Ami destiny is but the phantom wo awake t«i s-ilonce the one, and to dothrono tho other."

" SellUhno9». —The greatest happiness of tho greatest number is best secured by a prudent consideration for uumbor ono." ' Odd Numbers.— Thero is safety in numbers, especially in odd numbers. Tho Threo Graces never married, nor did tho Nine Musts."

" In the old times it was through tho Temple of Honour that ono passed to tho Tomplo of Fortune. In this wise ago tho process is reversed." " Middlo lifo is never with today ; ita home is in tomorrow Anxious

and scheming, desiring and wishing this plot ripened and that hopo fulfilled, while every wavo of the forgotten time brings it nearer and nearer to the end of till thing*. Half our lifo is consumed in longing to bo nearer death."

■ In Disraeli's novel "Lothair " occur a few clever epigrams, which go to redeem tho whole work from entire dulnoss. Tho first I shall quote co exactly fitted its sub ject, l'rofcssor Goldwin Smith, as to mako him attack tho author in a public utter-

"Tho O.vford Professor was quito a young man, of advanced opinion on all sub-jects-religious, social, ami political. Jlo was clover, extremely well-intoracd so far as books can mako a man knowing, but unable to profit ovon by that limited oxportonco of lifo from a restless vanity and overflowing conceit, which prevented him from over observing or thinking of anything but himself. He was gifted with great command of words, which took tho form of endless exposition varied by sarcasm and passages of ornato jargon." This is less torso, but quito aa slinging as the author's description ot Gladstone (I think in "Endymion")as " a sophistical rhetorician, intoxicated with thoexuborancoof his own verbosity."

"Lady St. Aldegondo had a roception in hor room. Thoro tho silent observation of tho evening found avonglng expression in sparkling criticism, and the summer lightning, though it generally blazed with harmloss brilliancy, occasionally assumed a moro arrowy character. Then is tho timo when characters aro never moro finely drawn or difficult questions moro accurately solved : knowlcdgo without reasoning, and truth without logic-the triumph of intuition I" Tho admirable gonius-so essentially a complex product of this contury—of George Eliot has furnishod us with a host of epigrams. Every saying of the witty Mrs l'oyser in "Adam Bode" is a proverb, a maxim, or an epigram Those throo are fair examples of Mrs I'.'s homely wits :—- ---"Thoro's folks would stand on their head, and thon say the fault was in their boots." " I'vo nothing to say against Craig,' only it's a pity he conldna' bo hatched o'er again, and hatched different." It's poor work allays sottin' the dead above Uio livin'. We shall all on us bo dead some time, J rockon ; it 'ud bo bottor if folks 'ud mako much on us beforehand, iatod 0' boginning whon wo'ro gone. It's but littlo good you'd do a watering last yoar's crop." Among numerous opigrama on human motives, actions, and character, tho following aro good excerpts: — " In the love of a brave and faithful man thero ie always a strain of maternal tenderness : ho gives out again those beams of protecting fondness which wore shed on him as he lay on his mother's knee." " They who truet us oducate us." " But ploasureloss yielding to tho small solicitations of circumstances is a commoner history of perdition than any single momontous bargain." "An ingoniouß web of probabilities is tho surest screen a wise man can place between himself and tho truth "

" Tho tsroublosomo ones in a family are usually either the wits or tho idiots." " In poor ttoKimond's mind thero was not room enough for luxuries to look small in." 11 Errors look so very ugly in persons of email means ; ono feels they are taking quite a liberty in going astray ; wherons, pooplo of fortune may naturally indulge in a few delinquencies. 'They've got tho money for it,' as tho girl said of her mistress who had mado herself ill with picklod salmon."

"It is only that freshnoss of our timo (youth) that the choico is possiblo which gives unity to lifo, and makes the memory a temple vhero all rolics and all votive offerings, all worship and all grateful joy are unbroken history, sanctified by one religion." From tho plays of the great world-poet, Shaltcspearo, spaco can only bo given for two or threo epigrams. A thoroughly cyni cal one is to bo found in " Timon of Athens," Act 1., Scene 2. • p

Ai'ira niub'm GRACE Before Meat. Immortal gods, I or:ve no pelf, T pi ay for no man but myf-olf. Orant thpt I may nover prove ao fond To trust man nn his 011 th or bond. Or almrlot Sir her wreping, iv a i'or thi'.t seems a-sl(-"ping, Or a kpeper for my freedom, Or my friends, if I should np.eii 'cm.

Kven iv many a single line, or line and a half, or couplot, lurks an epigram. Such lines as

love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds.

My poverty, hut not try will, consents. I pay thy poverty, and not thy will. •

Tho finest epigrams ever written upon " Sleep " aro to be found in the second part of Henry IV., Act 3, Scono I, and in Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 2. Tho lattor sums up, with exquisite felicity, the properties of "Gentle sleep, Nature's soft nurse ": -

Macbeth doth murder sleep—tti3 innocent

Sleap that knits up tho ravelin;] sleeve ot cure, 'I'hodca'h of each day's life, so c labour's bith. Balm of hurt minds, greit Naturt's second

course, ChicC nouriahorin life's feast.

Tho tempting subject of " Love," which has been tpipirammatised in all ages and iv every language,must be for the present dismissed with the lovely passage from a too-

little-known poem by Southey, called " Tho Curse of Kehama,"

Thoy sin who toll us lovo can die. With lifo all other passions lly, All others aro but vanity. In Heaven ambition ounnot dwell. Nor avarice in the vaults ot Hell. Kurthly these paesions of tho earth, Thoy norißh where-th=y had their birth, But lovo Is indestructiblo, Ita holy flams for ovoi" burneth, l'"roni Heaven it came, to Heaven roturneth, Too oft on Ciirth ti troublod guest., At times received, at times opprest. It hero iH tried und purinVd, Then hath in Heaven its perfect rrnt. If sowoth h ri wilh toil and ciro, Hut tho harv st- ime uf love U tucre,