Illic, ut perhibent, aut intempesta silet nox
Semper et obtenta densentur nocte tenebrae,
Aut redit a nobis Aurora diemque reducit;
Nosque ubi primus equis Oriens adflavit anhelis,
Illic sera rubens accendit lumina Vesper[305],—
where through the evanescent mists of early science we discern the enduring substance of poetic creation, there is no trace in either of the Greek writers. Again, in the passage at i. 410, imitated from Aratus—
Tum liquidas corvi presso ter gutture voces, etc.,—
the mere natural phenomenon is given in greater detail in the original passage; but the lines which communicate to it the touch of tender sympathy—
iuvat imbribus actis
Progeniem parvam dulcesque revisere nidos[306],—