Sweet as the cloister'd virgin's vesper hymn, Of joyful wonder roused the astonish'd Maid, She drew back, << Thou then art come, my first and dearest friend!» The well known voice of Madelon began; << Thou then art come! and was thy pilgrimage Nay,» Theodore replied, «She hath not yet fulfill'd her mortal work. Soon be that work perform'd!» the Maid exclaim'd: « O carliest friend! I felt the hour draw on: but who can speak They met what joy was theirs Rose bolder up, in part abrupt and bare, A broken stream, whose shallows, though the waves A child might tread. Behind, an orange-grove, Survey this scene!>> They pass; and hither from that better state « Even such, so bless'd, Ere man had learnt to bow the knee to man. Blasts like the pestilence; and Poverty, A meagre monster, who with withering touch The reign of Love, and earth shall once again Oh age of happiness!» the Maid exclaim'd, « Such,» the blessed spirit replied, He spake, and led her near a straw-roof'd cot, Labour was there, his crisp locks floating loose, The snow-drop hung its head, 9 that seem'd to grow Her When pleasing. Hymning him the song was raised. That strew the thorny path of life with flowers! Gleam with the mother's smile. Thrice happy he I have met with a singular tale to illustrate this spiritual theory of dreams:-Guntrum, king of the Franks, was liberal to the poor, and he himself experienced the wonderful effects of divine liberality. One day as he was hunting in a forest he was separated from his companions, and arrived at a little stream of water with only one comrade. Here he found himself oppressed by drowsiness, and reclining his head upon the servant's lap went to sleep. The servant saw a little beast creep out of the mouth of his sleeping master, and go immediately to the streamlet, which it vainly attempted to cross; he drew his sword and laid it across the water, over which the little beast past and crept into a hole of a mountain on the opposite side; from whence it made its appearance again in an hour, and returned by the same means into the king's mouth. The king then awakened, and told his companion he had dreamt that he was arrived upon the bank of au immense river, which he had crossed by a bridge of iron, and from thence came to a mountain in which a great quantity of gold was concealed. The servant then related what he had beheld, and they both went to examine the mountain, where upon digging they discovered an immense weight of gold.—I stumbled upon this tale in a book entitled SPHINX, Theo logico-Philosophica. Autore Johanne Hiedfeldio, Ec- the circumstance which occasioned it. Facilius elephas clesiaste Ebersbachiano. 1621. The same story is in Matthew of Westminster; it is added that Guntrum applied the treasures thus found to pious uses. For the truth of this theory tliere is the evidence of a monkish miracle. When Thurcillus was about to follow St Julian and visit the world of souls, his guide said to him, «Let thy body rest in the bed, for thy spirit only is about to depart with me; and lest the body should appear dead, I will send into it a vital breath.» The body, however, by a strange sympathy, was affected like the spirit; for when the foul and fetid smoke which arose from the tithes withheld on earth had nearly suffocated Thurcillus, and made him cough twice, those who were near his body said that it coughed twice about the same time.-Matthew Paris. Note 3, page 81, col. 1. Werter. An outcast forth. Note 4, page 81, col. 2. Or deeper sable dyed. These lines strongly resemble a passage in the Pharonnida of William Chamberlayne, who has told an interesting story in uncouth rhymes, and mingled sublimity of thought and beauty of expression with the quaintest conceits, and most awkward inversions. On a rock more high Than Nature's common surface, she bebolds The mansion house of Fate, which thus unfolds Its sacred mysteries. A trine within A quadrate placed, both these encompast in A perfect circle was its form; but what Its matter was, for us to wonder at, Is undiscover'd left. A tower there stands The impartial Parcæ dwell; i' the first she sees From immaterial essences to cull The seeds of life, and of them frame the wool For Lachesis to spin; about her flie Warm'd with their functions in, whose strength bestows Her next of objects was that glorious tower In sanguine pleasures: some in glittering pride No thread was wholly free from. Next to this Of death and horrour, in each room repleat Fear was the dreadful porter, which let in It is possible that I may have written from the recollection of this passage. The conceit is the same, and I willingly attribute it to Chamberlayne, a poet to whom I am indebted for many hours of delight. Note 5, page 82, col. 2. Shall the huge camel pass. I had originally written cable instead of camel. The alteration would not be worth noticing were it not for per foramen acus, is among the Hebrew adages collected by Drusius; the same metaphor is found in two other Jewish proverbs, and this appears to determine the signification of xzundos, Matt. xix, 24. Note 6, page 82, col. 2. Large draughts of molten gold. The same idea, and almost the same words, are in one of Ford's plays. The passage is a very fine one: There is a place, (List, daughter!) in a black and hollow vault, 'Tis pity she's a Whore. I wrote this passage when very young, and the idea, trite as it is, was new to me. It occurs I believe in most descriptions of hell, and perhaps owes its origin to the fate of Crassus. Note 7, page 84, col. 2. Titus was here. During the siege of Jerusalem, «the Roman commander, with a generous clemency, that inseparable attendant on true heroism, laboured incessantly, and to the very last moment, to preserve the place. With this view, he again and again intreated the tyrants to surrender and save their lives. With the same view also, after carrying the second wall, the siege was intermitted four days: to rouse their fears, prisoners to the number of five hundred or more, were crucified daily before the walls; till space, Josephus says, was wanting for the crosses, and crosses for the captives.»— Churton's Bampton Lectures. If any of my readers should enquire why Titus Vespasian, the delight of mankind, is placed in such a situation I answer, for this instance of a his generous clemency, that inseparable attendant on true heroism! » Note 8, page 86, col. 2. Inhaled the cool delight. In the cabinet of the Alhambra where the queen used to dress and say her prayers, and which is still an enchanting sight, there is a slab of marble full of small holes, through which perfumes exhaled that were kept constantly burning beneath. The doors and windows are disposed so as to afford the most agreeable prospects, and to throw a soft yet lively light upon the eyes. Fresh currents of air too renew every instant the delicious coolness of this apartment.-From the sketch of the History of the Spanish Moors, prefixed to Florian's Gonsalvo of Cordova. Note 9, page 87, col. 1. The snow-drop hung its head. The grave matron does not perceive how time has impaired her charms, but decks her faded bosom with the same snow-drop that seems to grow on the breast of the virgin.-P. H. Thalaba the Destroyer. A RHYTHMICAL ROMANCE. Ποιημάτων ακρατης η ελευθερία, και νόμος εις, το δόξαν τω ποιητή. LUCIAN, Quomodo Hist. Scribenda. PREFACE. Is the continuation of the Arabian Tales, the Domdaniel is mentioned; a Seminary for evil Magicians, under the Roots of the Sea. From this seed the present Romance has grown. Let me not be supposed to prefer the rhythm in which it is written, abstractedly considered, to the regular blank verse; the noblest measure, in my judgment, of which our admirable language is capable. For the following Poem I have preferred it, because it suits the varied subject; it is the Arabesque ornament of an Arabian tale. The dramatic sketches of Dr Sayers, a volume which no lover of poetry will recollect without pleasure, induced me, when a young versifier, to practise in this rhythm. I felt that while it gave the poet a wider range of expression, it satisfied the ear of the reader. It were easy to make a parade of learning, by enumerating the various feet which it admits; it is only needful to observe, that no two lines are employed in sequence which can be read into one. Two six-syllable lines, it will perhaps be answered, compose an Alexandrine: the truth is, that the Alexandrine, when harmonious, is composed of two six-syllable lines. One advantage this metre assuredly possesses,... the dullest reader cannot distort it into discord: he may read it prosaically, but its flow and fall will still be perceptible. Verse is not enough favoured by the English reader: perhaps this is owing to the obtrusiveness, the regular Jews-harp twing-twang, of what has been foolishly called heroic measure. I do not wish the improvisatoré tune;.. but something that denotes the sense of harmony, something like the accent of feeling... like the tone which every Poet necessarily gives to Poetry. Cintra, October, 1800. IV. No tear reliev'd the burthen of her heart; Stunn'd with the heavy woe, she felt like one Half-waken'd from a midnight dream of blood. But sometimes when the boy Would wet her hand with tears, And, looking up to her fix'd countenance, Sob out the name of MOTHER, then did she Utter a feeble groan, At length collecting, Zeinab turn'd her eyes To heaven, exclaiming, « Praised be the Lord! He gave, he takes away!3 The Lord our God is good!» She cast her eyes around, And then the wretched Mother bowed her head, XII. A sudden cry of wonder Amid a grove embower'd Nor crown'd the stately brow of Lebanon. In Rome, nor in the elder Babylon, Nor where the family of Greece And ray'd with feeble light, Star-like the ruby and the diamond shone: liere on the golden towers The yellow moon-beam lay, Here with white splendour floods the silver wall. XIII. They enter'd, and through aromatic paths At length, upon a mossy bank, Young he appear'd, for on his cheek there shope And the brown beard curl'd close around his chin. He slept, but at the sound Of coming feet awaking, fix'd his eyes In wonder, on the wanderer and her child. XIV. He heard, and he look'd up to heaven, « It is a human voice! I thank thee, O my God!.. Since the sweet sounds have visited my ear! It is a human voice!» |