While I, as oft, in witching thought shall rove THE SNAKE. My love and I, the other day, "See," said the maid, with laughing eyes— Never did mortal thought occur In more unlucky hour than this; I rose to kill the snake, but she "No," said the girl-and many a spark One might, perhaps, have cause to dread it; But when its wicked eyes appear, And when we know for what they wink so, One must be very simple, dear, To let it sting one-don't you think so?" Nor long did the soul of the stranger remain Unbless'd by the smile he had languish'd to meet : Though scarce did he hope it would soothe him again, Till the threshold of home had been kiss'd by his But the lays of his boy-hood had stol'n to their ear, name, And they told him, with flattery welcome and dear, That they found in his heart something sweeter than fame! Nor did woman-oh, woman! whose form and whose Are the spell and the light of each path we pursue! That magic his heart had relinquish'd so long, Oh! bless'd be the tear, and in memory oft The stranger is gone-but he will not forget, When at home he shall talk of the tcil he has known, To tell, with a sigh, what endearments he met. ALONE by the Schuylkill a wanderer rov'd, In a smile from the heart that is dearly our own! THE FALL OF HEBE. A DITHYRAMBIC ODE.' When the immortals at their banquet lay; Sparkled with starry dew, The weeping of those myriad urns of light, 1 Though I call this a Dithyrambic Ode, I cannot presume to say that it possesses, in any degree, the characteristics of that species of poetry. The nature of the ancient Dithyrambie is very imperfectly known. According to M. Burette, a licentious irregularity of metre, an extravagant research of thought and expression, and a rude embarrassed construction, are among its most distinguishing features. He adds, "Ces caractères des dityrambes se font sentir à ceux qui lisent attentivement les odes de Pindare." Memoires de l'Acad. vol. x. p. 306. And the same opinion may be collected from Schmidt's dissertation upon the subject. But I think if the Dithyrambics of Pindar were in our possession, we should find, that, however wild and fanciful, guishes the present demagogues of the United States, and they were by no means the tasteless jargon they are repre has become indeed too generally the characteristic of their calls "un beau désordre." Chiabrera, who has been styled sented, and that even their irregularity was what Boileau countrymen. But there is another cause of the corruption the Pindar of Italy, and from whom all its poetry upon the of private morals, which, encouraged as it is by the govern Greek model was called Chiabreresco (as Crescimbeni inment, and identified with the interests of the community, forms us, Lib. i. cap. 12.) has given amongst his Vendem seems to threaten the decay of all honest principle in Ame-mie, a Dithyrambic, "all' uso de' Greci:" it is full of those rica. I allude to those fraudulent violations of neutrality compound epithets which, we are told, were a chief charac to which they are indebted for the most lucrative part of ter of the style (ouvroue de kegses amoloov., SUID A.Supaa. their commerce, and by which they have so long infringed 8.88) such as and counteracted the maritime rights and advantages of this country. This unwarrantable trade is necessarily abetted by such a system of collusion, imposture, and perjury, s cannot fail to spread rapid contamination around it. R Briglindorato Pegaso But I cannot suppose that Pindar, even amidst all the li The Olympian cup Burn'd in the hands Of dimpled Hebe, as she wing'd her feet Up The empyreal mount, To drain the soul-drops at their stellar fount;' As the resplendent rill Flamed o'er the goblet with a mantling heat, Would cool its heavenly fire In gelid waves of snowy-feather'd air, In those enchanted lands2 Where life is all a spring and north winds never blow! Sweet Hebe, what a tear And what a blush were thine, Along the studded sphere, With a rich cup for Jove himself to drink, Raising its amorous head To kiss so exquisite a tread, And all Heaven's host of eyes In lapse of loveliness, along the azure skies!' Amid the liquid sparkles of the morn! The wanton wind, Its spirit with the breathing rings 1 Heraclitus (Physicus) held the soul to be a spark of the stellar essence. "Scintilla stellaris essentia."-Macrobius, in Somn. Scip. Lib. i. cap. 14. 2 The country of the Hyperboreans; they were supposed to be placed so far north, that the north wind could not af fect them; they lived longer than any other mortals; passed their whole time in music and dancing, etc. etc. But the cense of dithyrambics, would ever have descended to ballad-most extravagant fiction related of them is that to which the language like the following: Bella Filli, e bella Clori Non piu dar pregio a tue bellezze e taci, esser vorrei Coppier, E se troppo desiro Deh fossi io Bottiglier. Rime del Chiabrera, part ii. p. 352. two lines preceding allude. It was imagined, that instead of our vulgar atmosphere, the Hyperboreans breathed nothing but feathers! According to Herodotus and Pliny, this idea was suggested by the quantity of snow which was observed to fall in those regions; thus the former: Ta wr πτερα εικάζοντας την χίονα τους Σκύθας τι και τους πε proixous Sonew sys.-Herodot. lib. iv. cap. 31. Ovid tells the fable otherwise. See Metamorph. lib. xv. Mr. O'Halloran, and some other Irish Antiquarians, have been at great expense of learning to prove that the strange country, where they took snow for feathers, was Ireland, and that the famous Abaris was an Irish Druid. Mr. Rowland, however, will have it that Abaris was a Welshman, and that his name is only a corruption of Ap Rees! 1 This is a Platonic fancy; the philosopher supposes, in his Timæus, that, when the Deity had formed the soul of the world, he proceeded to the composition of other souls; in which process, says Plato, he made use of the same cup, though the ingredients he mingled were not quite so pure as 3 I believe it is Servius who mentions this unlucky trip for the former; and having refined the mixture with a little which Hebe made in her occupation of cup-bearer; and of his own essence, he distributed it amongst the stars which Hoffman tells it after him; "Cum Hebe pocula Jovi admiserved as reservoirs of the fluid. TXUT' x Xnistrans, perque lubricum minus cauté incedens, cecidisset επι τον πρότερον κρατήρα εν ω την του παντος ψυχην κι ραννος επισχε, κ. τ. λ. revolutisque vestibus"in short, she fell in a very awkward manner, and though (as the Encyclopédistes think) it would 2 We learn from Theophrastus, that the roses of Cyrene have amused Jove at any other time, yet, as he happened were particularly fragrant. EvTATA TO SE TO V Ku-to he out of temper on that day, the poor girl was dismissed from her employment. Fell glowing through the spheres Now, with a humid kiss, It thrill'd along the beamy wire That whisper from the planets as they roll, By all their sighs, meandering stole! Beheld the hill of flame Descending through the waste of night, Thought 'twas a planet, whose stupendous frame Had kindled, as it rapidly revolv'd Around its fervid axle, and dissolv'd Into a flood so bright! The child of day, Within his twilight bower, Lay sweetly sleeping On the flush'd bosom of a lotos-flower;" 1 The arcane symbols of this ceremony were deposited in the cista, where they lay religiously concealed from the eyes of the profane. They were generally carried in the proces sion by an ass; and hence the proverb, which one may so often apply in the world, "asinus portat mysteria." See the Divine Legation, Book ii. sect. 4. 2 In the Geoponica, Lib. ii. cap. 17, there is a fable some what like this descent of the nectar to earth. Ev oupave των θεών ευωχούμενων, και του νεκταρος πολλού παρακειμι του, ανασκίρτησαν χορεία τον Έρωτα και συσσεισαι T00 πτέρω του κρατήρος την βασιν, και περιτρέψαι μεν αυτόν TO SE VERTAP BIS THY YAY EXXUJEV, X. T. λ. See Auctor. de Re Rust, edit. Contab. 1704. 3 The constellation Lyra. The astrologers attribute great virtues to this sign in ascendenti, which are enumerated by Pontano, in his Urania: -Ecce novem cum pectine chordas 4 The Egyptians represented the dawn of day by a young boy seated upon a lotos. E AIGUITYS Impaxos apxy ανατολής παιδςον νεογιον γράφοντας επί λωτω καθεζόμενον. Plutarch. p T μn xрav oμμETP. See also his treatise sid. et Osir. Observing that the lotos showed its head above water at sun-rise, and sank again at his setting, they conceived the idea of consecrating it to Osiris, or the sun. This symbol of a youth sitting upon a lotos, is very frequent on the Abraxases, or Basilidian stones. See Mont faucon, Tom. ii. planche 158, and the Supplément. etc. Tom. ii. lib. vii. chap. 5. 1 The ancients esteemed those flowers and trees tho sweetest upon which the rainbow had appeared to rest; and the wood they chiefly burned in sacrifices, was that which the smile of Iris had consecrated.-Plutarch Sympos. Lib iv. cap. 2, where (as Vossius remarks) xxis, instead of xxx, is undoubtedly the genuine reading. See Vossius, for some curious particularities of the rainbow, De Origin. et Progress, Idololat. Lib. iii. cap. 13. But still the notes on LAMIA hung On whom but LAMIA could they hang! That kiss, for which, if worlds were mine, A world for every kiss I'd give her; Those floating eyes, that floating shine Like diamonds in an eastern river! That mould so fine, so pearly bright, Of which luxurious Heaven hath cast her, And LAMIA's lip that warbled there! Can learn to wake their wildest thrilling! And when you think heaven's joys await you, The nymph will change, the chord will breakOh Love! oh Music! how I hate you! TO MRS. ON SOME CALUMNIES AGAINST HER CHARACTER. Is not thy mind a gentle mind? Is not thy heart a heart refin'd? Hast thou not every blameless grace, That man should love, or Heaven can trace? No, no, be happy-dry that tear Though some thy heart hath harbour'd near Though all had grown congeal'd around; HYMN OF A VIRGIN OF DELPHI, AT THE TOMB OF HER MOTHER. OH! lost, for ever lost!-no more No more to Tempé's distant vale In holy musings shall we roam, By nature warm'd and led by thee, Thy looks, thy words, are still my ows Some laurel, by the wind o'erthrown, Shall flourish on the Delphic shrine! Though sunk awhile the spirit lies, Thy words had such a melting flow, Fond sharer of my infant joy! Is not thy shade still lingering here? When, meeting on the sacred mount, And danc'd around Cassotis' fount; As then, 'twas all thy wish and care, That mine should be the simplest mien, My lyre and voice the sweetest there, My foot the lightest o'er the green; So still, each little grace to mould, Around my form thine eyes are shed, Arranging every snowy fold, And guiding every mazy tread! And, when I lead the hymning choir, Thy spirit still, unseen and free, Hovers between my lip and lyre, And weds them into harmony! Flow, Plistus, flow! thy murmuring wave RINGS AND SEALS. Ώσπερ σφραγιδες τα φιλήματα, "Go!" said the angry weeping maid, "The charm is broken!-once betray'd, a rarity as this that I saw at Vendôme in France, which they there pretend is a tear that our Saviour shed over Lazarus, and was gathered up by an angel, who put it in a little 1 This alludes to a curious gem, upon which Claudian crystal vial and made a present of it to Mary Magdalene." has left us some pointless epigrams. It was a drop of pure-Addison's Remarks on several Parts of Italy. water inclosed within a piece of crystal. See Claudian. 1 The laurel, for the common uses of the temple, for Epigram. de Chrystallo cui aqua inerat. Addison men-adorning the altars and sweeping the pavement, was sup tions a curiosity of this kind at Milan. He says, "It is such plied by a tree near the fountain of Castalia. But upon all Oh! never can my heart rely I took the ring-the seal I took, "And then the ring-my love! recall His arms around that neck hath twisted, While thus I murmur'd, trembling too TO MISS SUSAN B-CKF-D. 1 MORE than once have heard, at night, But this was all a dream of sleep, And I have said, when morning shone, "Oh! why should fairy Fancy keep These wonders for herself alone?" I knew not then that Fate had lent Such tones to one of mortal birth; I knew not then that Heaven had sent From lips of dearest lustre shed; When I have felt the warbled word Upon a rose's bosom lying! Though form and song at once combin'd In thee, thou sweetest, living lyre, All that my best and wildest dream, In Fancy's hour, could hear or see Of Music's sigh or Beauty's beam Are realiz'd, at once, in thee! Through shades that frown'd, and flowers that smil'd, Flying by every green recess That woo'd him to its calm caress, Yet, sometimes turning with the wind, mportant occasions, they sent to Tempe for their laurel. We find in Pausanias, that this valley supplied the branches, of which the temple was originally constructed; and Plutarch says, in his Dialogue on Music, "The youth who 1 There is a dreary and savage character in the country brings the Tempic laurel to Delphi is always attended by a player on the flute." Axx XX TO XXтяROMICOVT immediately above these Falls, which is much more in harmony with the wildness of such a scene, than the cultivated την Τιμπικην δάφνην εις Δελφος παρομαρτεί αυλητής. 1 "There are gardens, supposed to be those of King Solo-lands in the neighbourhood of Niagara. See the drawing mon, in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem. The friars show a fountain which they say is the 'sealed fountain,' to which the holy spouse in the Canticles is compared; and they pretend a tradition, that Solomon shut up these springs and put his signet upon the door, to keep them for his own drinking." -Maundrell's Travels. See also the Notes to Mr. Good's Translation of the Song of Solomon. of them in Mr. Weld's book. According to him, the perpendicular height of the Cohos Falls is fifty feet; but the Marquis de Chastellux makes it seventy-six. The fine rainbow, which is continually forming and dissolving as the spray rises into the light of the sun, is per haps the most interesting beauty which these wonderful cataracts exhibit. |