performs is to ascend to the image, which is over the altar, by a staircase from the Epistle side, kiss it reverently on the head, embrace it, and place this crown upon it, and then go down on the Gospel side. - Viage de Morales, t. xx. p. 154. "Ingens sub templo fornix, et claustra per umbras The sepulchre was thus closed by the first Archbishop, D. Diego Gelmirez, “ que ya de ninguna manera se puede ver, ni entenderse como está. Y esto hizo con prudentissimo consejo aquel gran Principe y valeroso Perlado, y con reverencia devota, porque cada uno no quisiese ver y tratar aquel precioso relicario comunmente, y sin el debido respete; que se pierde sin duda quando los cuerpos santos y sus sepulturas pueden ser vistas vulgarmente de todos." MORALES, 1. ix. c. vii. § 67. A print of the sepulchre, from an illuminated drawing in the manuscript of the Historia Compostelana, is given in the 20th volume of the España Sagrada. And in that history (pp. 5), 51) is the following characteristic account of the enlargement of the altar by D. Diego Gelmirez. "Among the other worthinesses, with the which the aforesaid Bishop in no inactive solicitude hastened to decorate his Church, we have been careful to defend from the death of oblivion whatsoever his restauratory hand did to the altar of the said Church. But, lest in bringing forward all singular circumstances we should wander into devious ways, we will direct our intention to the straight path, and commit to succeeding remembrance so far as our possibility may reveal those things which we beheld with our own eyes. For of how small dimensions the altar of Santiago formerly was, lest we should be supposed to diminish it in our relation, may better be collected from the measure of the altarlet itself. But as religion increased in the knowledge of the Christian faith, that another altarlet, a little larger than the other, was placed over it by those who were zealous for their holy faith, our ancient fathers have declared unto us as well by faithful words, as by the assured testimony of writings. But the aforesaid Bishop being vehemently desirous of increasing the beauty of his Church, and seeing that this little altar, though thus enlarged, was altogether unworthy of so great an Apostle, thought it worthy of pious consideration to aggrandize the Apostolical altar. Wherefore, being confirmed thereunto by the prudent counsel of religious men, although the Canons stoutly resisted him in this matter, he declared his determination to demolish the habitacle which was made in the likeness of the sepulchre below, in which sepulchre we learn, without all doubt, that the remains of the most holy Apostle are enclosed. They indeed repeatedly asserted that a work which, rude and deformed as it was, was nevertheless edified in honor to the remains of such holy personages, ought by no means to be destroyed, lest they themselves or their lord should be stricken with lightning from heaven, and suffer the immediate punishment of such audacity. But he, like a strenuous soldier, protected with the impenetrable shield of a good resolution, forasmuch as, with the eye of his penetration, he perceived that they regarded external things more than inner ones, trampled upon their fears with the foot of his right intention, and levelled to the ground their habitacle, and enlarged the altar, which had originally been so small a one, now for the third time, with marble placed over and about it on all sides, making it as it ought to be. Without delay also he marvellously began a silver frontispiece for this egregious and excellent work, and more marvellously completed it." There used to be interpreters at Compostella for all languages; lenguageros they were called. They had a silver wand, with a hand and finger pointed at the top, to show the rels with. Among those relics is the head of St. James the Less; a grinder, in a splendid gold reliquary, of one St. James, it has not been determined which; one of St. Christopher's arms, of modest dimensions; and seven heads of the Eleven Thousand Virgins. These are from the list which Morales gives; but that good and learned man, who often swallowed the bull and stuck at the tail, omits some more curious ones, which are noticed in an authentic inventory. (España Sagrada, t. xix. p. 344.) Among these are part of our Lord's raiment, of the earth on which he stood, of the bread which he brake, of his blood, and of the Virgin's milk. A late editor of Old Fortunatus is reminded in one of his notes of Martinus Scriblerus, by a passage in the play, which, as he should have seen, is evidently allusive to such relics a those at Compostella. "there can I show thee The ball of gold that set all Troy on fire: To wrap about Adonis' wounded thigh: Which dropp'd from Heaven when Phaeton fired the world. ......all who in their mortal stage Did not perform this pilgrimage, Must make it when they were dead. — p. 555, col. 2. "Huc Lysia properant urbes, huc gentes Iberæ P. BARTHOLOME PEREIRA, Paciecidos, lib. vii. p. 117. Fray Luys de Escobar has this among the five hundred proverbs of his Litany: - el camino a la muerte es como el de Santiago. Las quatrocientas, &c. ff. 140. It seems to allude to this superstition, meaning, that it is a journey which all must take. The particular part of the pilgrimage, which must be performed either in ghost or in person, is that of crawling through a hole in the rock at El Padron, which the Apostle is said to have made with his staff. In allusion to this part of the pilgrimage, which is not deemed so indispensable at Compostella as at Padron, they have this proverb — Quien va á Santiago, y non va á Padron, ó faz Romeria ó non. The pilgrim, indeed, must be incurious who would not extend his journey thither; a copious fountain, of the coldest and finest water which Morales tasted in Galicia, rises under the high altar, but on the outside of the church; the pilgrims drink of it, and wash in its waters, as the Apostle is said to have done: they ascend the steps in the rock upon their knees, and finally perform the passage which must be made by all: "y cierto, considerado el sitio, y la hermosa vista que de alli hay á la ciudad, que estaba abaro en lo llano, y á toda la ancha hoya llena de grandes arboledas y frescuras de mas de dos leguas en largo, lugar es aparejado para mucha contemplacion.”. Viage de MORALES, p. 174. family, (Church Hist. cent. xii. p. 42,) who gave their arms gules, three scallop-shells argent, he says, "which scallopshells, (I mean the nethermost of them, because most concave and capacious,) smooth within, and artificially plated without, was ofttimes cup and dish to the pilgrims in Palestine, and thereupon their arms often charged therewith." That the scallop belonged exclusively to the Compostella pilgrim is certain, as the following miracle may show. Cucufate copied it, and that of Oviedo in the Hymn for the Apostle's Day, from which authorities the moderns have taken it. The Genealogists say that the Vieyias of Portugal are descended from this knight, because the scallop is called by that name in their tongue, and that family bear it in their arms. The Pimenteles make the same pretensions, and also bear four scallops in their shield. The Ribadaneyras also advance a similar claim, and they bear a cross with five scallops. "This is the origin of the shells with which the pilgrims, who come to visit the body of our glorious Patron, adora themselves, the custom having, without doubt, been preserved by tradition from that time. The circumstances are confirmed by pictures representing it, which from ancient times have been preserved in various cities. In the Church of St. Maria de Aracœli at Rome, on the Gospel side, there is a spacious "The ship, in which the body of the Apostle was embarked, passed swiftly by a village in Portugal called Bouzas, wherein there dwelt a noble and powerful lord, who on that day married one of his daughters to the son of another person as considerable as himself, lord of the land of Amaya. The nuptials were celebrated in the village of Bouzas, and many nobie knights of that province came to the solemnity. One of their sports was that of throwing the cane, and in this the bride-chapel, dedicated to our glorious Patron; it was painted in groom chose to bear a part, commanding a troop, that he might display his dexterity. The place for the sport was on the coast of the ocean, and the bridegroom's horse, becoming ungovernable, plunged into the sca, and sunk under the immensity of its waters, and, at the moment when the ship was passing by, rose again close beside it. There were several miracles in this case. The first was, that the sea bore upon its waves the horse and horseman, as if it had been firm land, after not having drowned them when they were so long a time under water. The second was, that the wind, which was driving the ship in full speed to its port, suddenly fell, and left it motionless; the third, and most remarkable, was, that both the garments of the knight, and the trappings of the horse, came out of the sea covered with scallop-shells. "The knight, astonished at such an unexpected adventure, and seeing the disciples of the Apostle, who with equal astonishment were looking at him from the ship, asked them what it was that had brought him where he found himself. To which the disciples, being inspired by Heaven, replied, that certes Christ, through the merit of a certain servant of his, whose body they were transporting in that ship, had chosen to manifest his power upon him, for his good, by means of this miracle.' The knight then humbly requested them to tell him who Christ was, and who was that Servant of his of whom they spake, and what was the good which he was to derive. The disciples then briefly catechized him; and the knight, having thus been instructed, said to them, 'Friends and Sirs, you, who have served Christ and his holy Apostle, which I as yet have not done, ask of him to show you for what purpose he has put these scallop shells upon me, because so strange a marvel cannot have been wrought without some great mystery.' With that the disciples made their prayer accordingly, and, when they had prayed, they heard a voice from Heaven, which said thus unto the knight, Our Lord Christ has thought good to show by this act all persons present and to come, who may choose to love and serve this his servant, and who shall go to visit him where he shall be interred, that they take with them from thence other such scallopshells as these with which thou art covered, as a seal of privilege, confirming that they are his, and will be so from that time forward: and he promises that afterwards, in the Day of the last Judgment, they shall be recognized of God for his; and that, because of the honors which they have done to this his servant and friend, in going to visit him and to venerate him, he will receive them into his glory and his Paradise.' "When the knight heard these words, immediately he made the disciples baptize him; and while they were so doing, he noticed, with devotion and attention, the ceremonies of the sacred ministry, and, when it was done, he took his leave of them, commending himself to their grace, and entreating of them that they would commend him in their prayers to Christ and his Apostle Santiago. At that instant the wind, which till then had been still, struck the sails, and the ship began to cleave the wide sea. The knight then directed his course toward the shore, riding upon the water, in sight of the great multitude, which from the shore was watching him; and when he reached the shore, and was surrounded by them, he related to them what had happened. The natives, astonished at the sight of such stupendous miracles, were converted, and the knight, with his own hand, baptized his bride.” The facts are thus related, to the letter, in the Sanctoral Portugues, from whence the Breviaries of Alcobaça and St. the year 1441, and in one compartment this adventure is represented: there is the ship, having the body of the Apostle on the poop, and the seven Disciples on board: close to the ship, upon the sea, is a knight upon a black horse, with a red saddle and trappings, both covered with scallop-shells. The same story is painted in the parish church of Santiago at Madrid: and it is related in a very ancient manuscript, which is proserved in the library of the Monastery of St. Juan de los Reyes, at Toledo. In the Ancient Breviary of the Holy Church of Oviedo, mention is made of this prodigy in these verses, upon the vesper of the glorious Saint: 'Cunctis mare cernentibus, Sed a profundo ducitur, Natus Regis submergitur Totus plenus conchilibus.' Finally, the fact is authenticated by their Holinesses Alexander III., Gregory IX., and Clement V., who in their Bulls grant a faculty to the Archbishop of Compostella, that they may excommunicate those who sell these shells to pilgrims any where except in the city of Santiago, and they assign this reason, because the shells are the badge of the Apostle Santiago. And thus in the Church of St. Clement at Rome, which is enriched with the body of St. Clement, Pope and Martyr, is a picture of the Apostle Santiago, apparently more than five hundred years old, which is adorned with scallopshells on the garment and hat, as his proper badge." — Anales de Galicia, vol. i. pp. 95, 96. Gwillim, in his account of this bearing, says nothing of its origin. But he says, "The Escallop (according to Dioscorides) is engendered of the Dew and Air, and hath no blood at all in itself, notwithstanding in man's body of any other food it turneth soonest into blood. The eating of this fish raw is said to cure a surfeit. Such (he adds) is the beautiful shape that nature hath bestowed upon this shell, as that the Collar of the Order of St. Michel in France, in the first institution thereof, was richly garnished with certain pieces of gold artificially wrought, as near as the artificer could by imitation express the stamp of nature."— Display of Heraldry, p. 171, (first edit.) One of the three manners in which Santiago is commonly represented, is in the costume of a Compostellan pilgrim, with a scallop-shell in his hat. All three are described in a book, as rare of occurrence as curious in its subject, thus entitled, PICTOR CHRISTIANUS ERUDITUS: Sive, de Erroribus, qui passim admittuntur circa pingendas atque effingendas Sacras Imagines. Libri Octo cum Appendice. Opus Sacræ Scripturæ, atque Ecclesiastica Historia studiosis non inutile. Authore R. P. M. Fr. Joanne Interian de Ayala, Sacri, Regii, ac Militaris Ordinis Beata Maria de Mercede Redemptionis Captivorum, Salmanticensis Academiæ Doctore Theologo, atque ibidem Sancta Theologiæ cum sacrarum Linguarum interpretatione Professore jam pridem emerito. Anno D. 1730, MATRITI: Ex Typographia Conventus præfati Ordinis. fol. One of the Censors of this book says, prodit in lucem Pictor Christianus eruditissimi pectoris eruditissimus fatus, obstetricante N. RR. P. M. Fr. Josepho Campazano de la Vega. The work was published by the Master's direction at the cost of the Order; the Master dedicated it to N. Señora de las Mercedes as elaboratum excultumque quantum potuit, by her assistance; and there is a censura prefixed by Ferreras the Historian, speaking forcibly of the importance of the undertaking, and of the great ability with which it is executed. Instead of perceiving that Santiago is represented in the which such frauds fostered, and which was, and is to this day, encouraged by the dignitaries of that church. costume of his own pilgrims, this author supposed that the Saint is so attired because he had travelled over Spain! The whole passage is curious for its grave and cool credulity. At the request of St. Atto, Bishop of Pisjota, the Pisjotans "Sanctus Jacobus Zebedei filius, Hispaniæ primarius (quidquid say that some relics, taken from Santiago's most precious alii commenti sint) Patronus atque Apostolus, bifariam sæpius a head, were given to their church by the Archbishop of ComPictoribus describitur. Pingitur enim peregrini habitu, oblongo postella, Diego Gelmirez, a person well known in Spanish innixus baculo, ex quo etiam bursa pendeat, et circa humeros history. "Nullus umquam mortalium hoc donum impetrare posamiculo, quod Hispani Esclavinam vocant; insuper et cum galero set," he affirmed, when he made the gift; and the historian satis amplo, quem tamen ornant concha, quæ circa littus maris of the translator adds, " quod verè a Domino factum credimus et passim se offerunt; Totum id ex eo arbitror proficisci, quod non dubitamus, sicut manifestis et apertis indicüs manifestè at Hispaniam celerrimè, et ut decebat Tonitru filium, peragraverat ; | apertè miracula declarabunt." There is a good collection of ubi postmodum corpus ejus è Hierosolymis translatum condigno these miracles, but this of the Bird is the most remarkable. honore colitur. Sed ad aliis etiam cum gladio pingitur, cumque "In those days," says the writer, "another miracle, as libro aperto. Quæ pictura (inquit frequens nobis author) etsi | pious as it is glorious, was wrought by the Lord, in the which rarior sit, priori tamen est præferenda, quod ex Sacrâ Scripturâ | he who worthily perpends it will perceive what may pertain desumpta sit, et martyrium ejus explicat. Quod ita habetur, to the edification of all those who visit the shrine of Santiago, Occidit autem Jacobum fratrem Joannis gladio.'* Sæpè etiam and of all faithful Christians. About three weeks after the pingitur equo insistens, armatusque gladio, acies Maurorum im-consecration of Santiago's altar, a certain girl of the country pigrè perrumpens, eosque ad internecionem usque cædens. Quod near Pistoja was plucking hemp in a garden, when she obnon exiguâ cum Hispani nominis gloriâ recté fit ; cùm sæpè risus served a pigeon flying through the air, which came near her, sit 2 pro Hispanis in aëre pugnans; de cujus rei fide dubium esse and alighted: upon which she put up a prayer to the Lord non potest iis qui interfuerunt ejus Ecclesiastico officio, ubi Santiago, saying, 'O Lord Santiago, if the things which are illud metricè habetur,· related of thee at Pistoja be true, and thou workest miracles, as the Pistojans affirm, give me this pigeon, that it may come into my hands!' Forthwith the pigeon rose from the spot where it had alighted, and, as if it were a tame bird, came to her, and she took it in her hands, and held it there as if it had been lifeless. What then did the girl do? She carried it home, showed it to her father, and to him and the rest of the family related in what manner it had come to her hands. Some of them said, 'Let us kill and eat it ;' others said, 'Do not hurt it, but let it go.' So the girl opened her hand, to see what it would do. The pigeon, finding itself at liberty, fled to the ground, and joined the poultry which were then picking up their food, nor did it afterwards go from the house, but remained in their company, as if it belonged to them. Tu bello cùm nos cingerent, Mauros furentes sternere. Atque idem alibi solutâ oratione describitur illis verbis ; † 'Ipse etiam gloriosus Apostolus in difficillimis præliis palàm se conspiciendum præbens, Hispanos adversus Infideles pugnantes mirificè juvit.'"-Lib. vii. c. ii. pp. 320, 321. .... the staff was bored and drilled for those Who on a flute could play. p. 555, col. 2. Sir John Hawkins says, "that the pilgrims to St. James of Compostella excavated a staff, or walking-stick, into a musical instrument for recreation on their journey."- History of Music, vol. iv. p. 139, quoted in Fosbrooke's British Monachism, p. 469. Mr. Fosbrooke thinks that "this ascription of the invention of the Bourdon to these pilgrims in particular is very questionable." Sir John probably supposed, with Richelet, that the Bourdon was peculiar to these pilgrims, and therefore that they had invented it. Mr. Fosbrooke more than doubts the Etymon from a musical use. "The barbarous Greek Bopdovia," he observes, "signified a beast of burden, and the Bourdon was a staff of support. But the various meanings of the word, as given by Cotgrave, make out its history satisfactorily. Bourdon, a drone, or dorre-bee, (Richelet says grosse mouche, ennemie des abeilles,) also the humming or buzzing of bees; also the drone of a bagpipe; also a pilgrim's staff; also a walking-staff, having a sword, &c. within it. "It was doubtless applied to the use of pitching the note, or accompanying the songs which pilgrims used to recreate themselves on their journeys, and supposed by Menestrier to be hymns and canticles."- Fosbrooke, p. 422. In Germany, "walking-sticks that serve as tubes for pipes, with a compressing pump at one end to make a fire, and a machine at the other for impaling insects without destroying their beauty, are common." (Hodgkins's Travels, vol. ii. p. 135.) I have seen a telescope and a barometer in a walkingstick, if that name may be applied to a staff of copper. The twice-born Cock and Hen. - p. 557, col. 1. "All therefore regarding, with no common wonder, the remarkable tameness of this pigeon, which indeed was not a tame bird, but a wild one, they went to a priest in the adjacent city, and acquainted him with the circumstances. The priest, giving good counsel to the girl and her father, as he was bound to do, said, We will go together to our Lord the Bishop, on Sunday, and act as be may think proper to direct us in this matter.' Accordingly, on the Sunday they went to Pistoja, and presented the pigeon to the Bishop, who, with his Canons, was then devoutly celebrating mass in honor of Santiago, upon the holy altar which had been consecrated to his honor. The prelate, when he had listened to their story, took the bird, and placed it upon the wall of the chancel, which is round about the altar of Santiago, and there it remained three weeks, never departing from thence, excepting that sometimes, and that very seldom, it flew about the church, but always returned without delay to its own station, and there mildly, gently, harmlessly, and tamely continued; and rarely did it take food. "But people from Lucca, and other strangers, plucked feathers from its neck, that they might carry them away for devotion, and, moreover, that they might exhibit them to those who had not seen the bird itself. From such injuries it never attempted to defend itself, though its neck was akinned by this plucking, and this the unthinking people continued to do, till at length the pigeon paid the debt of nature. And it was no wonder that it died; for how could any creature live that scarcely ever ate or slept? People came thither night and day from all parts, and one after another disturbed it, and every night vigils were kept there, the clergy and the people with loud voices singing praises to the Lord, and many lights were continually burning there: how, therefore, could it live, when it was never allowed to be at rest? The clergy and lamented, took counsel, and hung up the skin and feathers to be seen there by all comers. There is another story of a bird among the miracles of San-people, grieving at its death, as indeed it was a thing to be tiago; the poor subject of the miracle was not so fortunate as the Cock and Hen of the Alcayde; but the story is true. It occurred in Italy; and the Spanish fable is not more characteristic of the fraudulent practices carried on in the Romish Church, than the Italian story is of the pitiable superstition Molan. lib. iii. c. 26. In festo Translat, ejusdem. 30 Dec. "In such and so great a matter, what could be more gratifying, what more convenient than this wonderful sign which the Almighty was pleased to give us? There is no need to relate any thing more concerning the aforesaid pigeon; it was seen there openly and publicly by all comers, so that not only the laity and clergy of that city, but many religious people from other parts, abbots, friars, clergy, and laity, are able to attest the truth. And I also add this my testimony as a true and faithful witness, for I saw the pigeon myself for a whole week, and actually touched it with my own hands." removed her out of the church just before she breathed her last; and, in consequence of this miracle, as it was deemed, they gave her an honorable funeral. — Acta Sanctorum, Jul. t. vi. P. 64. What became of the halter, I know not, There is a postscript to this story, as melancholy as the tale itself. The sick, and the crippled, and the lame, had been brought to this church, in expectation of obtaining a miraculous cure by virtue of the new relics which had arrived. Among these was a poor woman in the last stage of disease, who had been brought upon her pallet into the church, and was laid in a corner, and left there; nor was it observed that this poor creature was in articulo mortis, till the pigeon flew to the place, So Christoval de Mesa observes, when he proceeds to relate and alighted upon her, and so drew the attention of the people how the rude stone, upon which the disciples of Santiago laid in the church to the dying woman, quam quidem, prout credi- his body, when they landed with it in Spain, formed itself into mus, nisi columba monstrasset, nemo morientem vidisset. They a sepulchre of white marble.- El Patron de España, ff. 68. "Antiguedad sagrada, el que se arriedra The Curse of Kehama. ΚΑΤΑΡΑΙ, ΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΑ ΑΛΕΚΤΡΥΟΝOΝΕΟΤΤΑ, ΟΙΚΟΝ ΑΕΙ, ΟΨΕ ΚΕΝ, ΕΠΑΝΗΞΑΝ ΕΓΚΑΘΙΣΟΜΕΝΑΙ. Αποφθ. Ανεκ. του Γυλιελ. του Μητ. CURSES ARE LIKE YOUNG CHICKENS; THEY ALWAYS COME HOME TO ROOST. TO THE AUTHOR OF GEBIR, WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR, THIS POEM IS INSCRIBED, BY ROBERT SOUTHEY. Στήσατε μοι πρώτηα πολυτροπον, όφρα φανείη FOR I WILL, FOR NO MAN'S PLEASURE, TO OUR ANTIQUE POETS' VEINS; GEORGE WITHER. PREFACE. SEVERAL years ago, in the Introduction of my "Letters to Mr. Charles Butler, vindicating the Book of the Church," I had occasion to state that, while a school-boy at Westminster, I had formed an intention of exhibiting the most remarkable forms of Mythology which have at any time obtained among mankind, by making each the groundwork of a narrative poem. The performance, as might be expected, fell far short of the design, and yet it proved something more than a dream of juvenile ambition. I began with the Mahommedan religion, as being that with which I was then best acquainted myself, and of which every one who had read the Arabian Nights' Entertainments possessed all the knowledge necessary for readily understanding and entering into the intent and spirit of the poem. Mr. Wilberforce thought that I had conveyed in it a very false impression of that religion, and that the moral sublimity which he admired in it was owing to this flattering misrepresentation. But Thalaba the Destroyer was professedly an Arabian Tale. The design required that I should bring into view the best features of that system of belief and worship which had been developed under the Covenant with Ishmael, placing in the most favorable light the morality of the Koran, and what the least corrupted of the Mahommedans retain of the patriarchal faith. It would have been altogether incongruous to have touched upon the abominations engrafted upon it; first by the false Prophet himself, who appears to have been far more remarkable for audacious profligacy than for any intellectual endowments, and afterwards by the spirit of Oriental despotism which accompanied Mahommedanism wherever it was established. Heathen Mythologies have generally been represented by Christian poets as the work of the Devil and his Angels; and the machinery derived from them was thus rendered credible, according it was published, I must have been very unreasonable if I had not been satisfied with its reception. It was not till the present edition of these Poems was in the press, that, eight-and-twenty years after Kehama had been published, I first saw the article upon it in the Monthly Review, parts of which cannot be more appropriately preserved any where than here; it shows the determination with which the Reviewer entered upon his task, and the im to what was during many ages a received opinion. | reconstructed and published. Resuming it then The plan upon which I proceeded in Madoc was once more, all that had been written was recast at to produce the effect of machinery as far as was Keswick: there I proceeded with it leisurely, and consistent with the character of the poem, by rep-finished it on the 25th of November, 1809. It is resenting the most remarkable religion of the New the only one of my long poems of which detached World such as it was, a system of atrocious priest-parts were written to be afterwards inserted in their craft. It was not here, as in Thalaba, the foundation proper places. Were I to name the persons to of the poem, but, as usual in what are called epic whom it was communicated during its progress, it poems, only incidentally connected with it. would be admitted now that I might well be enWhen I took up, for my next subject, that my-couraged by their approbation; and, indeed, when thology which Sir William Jones had been the first to introduce into English poetry, I soon perceived that the best mode of treating it would be to construct a story altogether mythological. In what form to compose it was then to be determined. No such question had arisen concerning any of my former poems. I should never for a moment have thought of any other measure than blank verse for Joan of Arc, and for Madoc, and afterwards for Roderick. The reason why the irregular, rhyme-portance which he attached to it. less lyrics of Dr. Sayers were preferred for Thalaba Throughout our literary career we cannot recwas, that the freedom and variety of such verse ollect a more favorable opportunity than the were suited to the story. Indeed, of all the laud-present for a full discharge of our critical duty. atory criticisms with which I have been favored We are indeed bound now to make a firm stand for during a long literary life, none ever gratified me the purity of our poetic taste against this last and more than that of Henry Kirke White upon this most desperate assault, conducted as it is by a occasion, when he observed, that if any other known writer of considerable reputation, and unquestionmeasure had been adopted, the poem would have ably of considerable abilities. If this poem were been deprived of half its beauty, and all its pro- to be tolerated, all things after it may demand priety. And when he added, that the author never impunity, and it will be in vain to contend hereafter seemed to inquire how other men would treat a for any one established rule of poetry as to design subject, or what might be the fashion of the times, and subject, as to character and incident, as to but took that course which his own sense of fitness language and versification. We may return at pointed out, I could not have desired more appro- once to the rude hymn in honor of Bacchus, and priate commendation. indite strains adapted to the recitation of rustics in the season of the vintage: The same sense of fitness which made me choose for an Arabian tale the simplest and easiest form of verse, induced me to take a different course in an Indian poem. It appeared to me, that here neither the tone of morals, nor the strain of poetry, could be pitched too high; that nothing but moral sublimity could compensate for the extravagance of the fictions, and that all the skill I might possess in the art of poetry was required to counterbalance the disadvantage of a mythology with which few readers were likely to be well acquainted, and which would appear monstrous if its deformities were not kept out of sight. I endeavored, therefore, to combine the utmost richness of versification with the greatest freedom. The spirit of the poem was Indian, but there was nothing Oriental in the style. I had learnt the language of poetry from our own great masters and the great poets of antiquity. : Quæ canerent agerentque peruncti fæcibus ora. It shall be our plan to establish these points, we hope, beyond reasonable controversy, by a complete analysis of the twenty-four sections (as they may truly be called) of the portentous work, and by ample quotations interspersed with remarks, in which we shall endeavor to withhold no praise that can fairly be claimed, and no censure that is obviously deserved." The reviewer fulfilled his promises, however much he failed in his object. He was not more liberal of censure than of praise, and he was not sparing of quotations. The analysis was sufficiently complete for the purposes of criticism, except that the critic did not always give himself the trouble to understand what he was determined to ridicule. "It is necessary for us," he said, "according to our purpose of deterring future writers from the choice of such a story, or for such a management of that story, to detail the gross follies of the work in question; and, tedious as the operation may be, we trust that, in the judgment of all those lovers of literature who duly value the preservation of sound principles of composition among us, the end will excuse the means." The means were ridicule and reprobation, and the end at which he aimed was thus stated in the Review No poem could have been more deliberately planned, nor more carefully composed. It was commenced at Lisbon on the first of May, 1801, and recommenced in the summer of the same year at Kingsdown, in the same house (endeared to me once by many delightful but now mournful recollections) in which Madoc had been finished, and Thalaba begun. A little was added during the winter of that year in London. It was resumed at Kingsdown in the summer of 1802, and then laid aside till 1806, during which interval Madoc waser's peroration. |