, in which _Adonais_ is written, was used by Shelley
in only one other instance--his long ideal epic _The Revolt of Islam_.

BION AND MOSCHUS.

The relation of Shelley's Elegy of _Adonais_ to the two Elegies written
by Bion and by Moschus must no doubt have been observed, and been more
or less remarked upon, as soon as _Adonais_ obtained some currency among
classical readers; Captain Medwin, in his _Shelley Papers_, 1832,
referred to it. I am not however aware that the resemblances had ever
been brought out in detail until Mr. G.S.D. Murray, of Christ Church,
Oxford, noted down the passages from Bion, which were published
accordingly in my edition of Shelley's Poems, 1870. Since then, 1888,
Lieut.-Colonel Hime, R.A., issued a pamphlet (Dulau & Co.) entitled _The
Greek Materials of Shelley's Adonais, with Remarks on the three Great
English Elegies_, entering into further, yet not exhaustive, particulars
on the same subject. Shelley himself made a fragmentary translation from
the Elegy of Bion on Adonis: it was first printed in Mr. Forman's
edition of Shelley's Poems, 1877. I append here those passages which are
directly related to _Adonais_:--

'I mourn Adonis dead--loveliest Adonis--
Dead, dead Adonis--and the Loves lament.
Sleep no more, Venus, wrapped in purple woof--
Wake, violet-stoled queen, and weave the crown
Of death,--'tis Misery calls,--for he is dead.
... Aphrodite
With hair unbound is wandering through the woods,
Wildered, ungirt, unsandalled--the thorns pierce
Her hastening feet, and drink her sacred blood.

* * * * *

The flowers are withered up with grief.
* * * * *
Echo resounds, . . "Adonis dead!"
* * * * *
She clasped him, and cried ... "Stay, Adonis!
Stay, dearest one,...
And mix my lips with thine!
Wake yet a while, Adonis--oh but once!--
That I may kiss thee now for the last time--
But for as long as one short kiss may live!"

The reader familiar with _Adonais_ will recognise the passages in that
poem of which we here have the originals. To avoid repetition, I do not
cite them at the moment, but shall call attention to them successively
in my Notes at the end of the volume.

For other passages, also utilised by Shelley, I have recourse to the
volume of Mr. Andrew Lang (Macmillan & Co. 1889), _Theocritus, Bion, and
Moschus, rendered into English Prose