to attempt to die {as well}. What
consolations did not Phoebus apply? and he advised him to grieve with
moderation, and according to the occasion. Still did he lament, and as a
last favour, he requested this of the Gods above, that he might mourn
for ever. And now, his blood quite exhausted by incessant weeping, his
limbs began to be changed into a green colour, and the hair, which but
lately hung from his snow-white forehead, to become a rough bush, and,
a stiffness being assumed, to point to the starry heavens with a
tapering top. The God {Phoebus} lamented deeply, and in his sorrow he
said, "Thou shalt be mourned by me, and shalt mourn for others, and
shalt {ever} attend upon those who are sorrowing[23] {for the dead}."

[Footnote 18: _Resembling the cone._--Ver. 106. In the Roman
Circus for the chariot races, a low wall ran lengthways down the
course, which, from its resemblance in position to the spinal
bone, was called by the name of 'spina.' At each extremity of this
'spina,' there were placed upon a base, three large cones, or
pyramids of wood, in shape very much like cypress trees, to which
fact allusion is here made. They were called 'metae,' 'goals.']

[Footnote 19: _Studded with gems._--Ver. 113. Necklaces were much
worn in ancient times by the Indians, Persians, and Egyptians.
They were more especially used by the Greek and Roman females as
bridal ornaments. The 'monile baccatum,' or 'bead necklace,' was
the most common, being made of berries, glass, or other materials,
strung together. They were so strung with thread, silk, or wire,
and links of gold. Emeralds seem to have been much used for this
purpose, and amber was also similarly employed. Thus Ovid says,
in the second Book of the Metamorphoses, line 366, that the amber
distilled from the trees, into which the sisters of Phaeton were
changed, was sent to be worn by the Latian matrons. Horses and
favourite animals, as in the present instance, were decked with
'monilia,' or necklaces.]

[Footnote 20: _A silver ball._--Ver. 114. The 'bulla' was a ball
of metal, so called from its resemblance in shape to a bubble of
water. These were especially worn by the Roman children, suspended
from the neck, and were mostly made of thin plates of gold, being
of about the size of a walnut. The use of these ornaments was
derived from the people of Etruria; and thou