he sees the symbol of maidenhood; or where Ariadne is compared to the myrtles on the banks of the Eurotas, and to the "flowers of diverse hues which the spring breezes evoke"; and, again, the exquisite simile picturing the husband's love binding fast the bride's thoughts, as a tree is entwined in the clinging clasp of the gadding ivy—
Mentem amore revinciens,
Ut tenax hedera huc et huc
Arborem implicat errans.
Then we have the garland of Priapus with its felicitous epithets (xix., xx.).
It may be said of Catullus as Shelley said of his Alastor—
Every sight
And sound from the vast earth and ambient air
Sent to his heart their choicest impulses.
What rapture inspires and informs the lines to his yacht, and to Sirmio, as well as the Jam ver egelidos refert tepores!