That call fame on such gentle acts as these, 2 To save the Athenian walls from ruin bare. Milton. (1) Emathian conqueror-Alexander the Great, so called from Emathia, the original name of Macedonia. (2) Pindarus-When Alexander took Thebes-Pindar's native city--he ordered the poet's family to be respected, and his house to be left untouched. (3) Repeated-recited. Plutarch relates that when Lysander had taken Athens, and was meditating its total destruction, the recitation, at a banquet, of some fine verses from the "Electra" of Euripides, induced him and his officers to forego their resolution. (4) Walls-i.e. the houses and buildings of the city; for the external walls and fortifications were destroyed by Lysander's order. (5) These lines furnish a favourable specimen of the flattering sentimental poetry of Waller, in much of which the result gained is singularly disproportionate to the pains taken. Then die! that she The common fate of all things rare How small a part of time they share, From thy dead leaves let fragrance rise; That goodness time's rude hand defies, Waller. THE BATTLE OF IVRY.2 Now glory to the Lord of Hosts, from whom all glories are! Through thy corn-fields green, and sunny vines, oh pleasant land of And thou, Rochelle! our own Rochelle! proud city of the waters, Again let rapture light the eyes of all thy mourning daughters; As thou wert constant in our ills, be joyous in our joy, For cold, and stiff, and still, are they, who wrought thy walls annoy. Oh! how our hearts were beating, when, at the dawn of day, (1) This last stanza was added by Kirke White, in a copy of Waller's poems. (2) Ivry-A town of Normandy, near which Henry IV., at the head of the Huguenot army, defeated the forces of the League or Catholic party. Henry was Henry of Navarre" by virtue of his mother's right. (3) Annoy--In allusion to the severe siege sustained by the Huguenots in that city, in which, after the awful massacre on St. Bartholomew's day, 1572, the survivors had taken refuge. 3 The King is come to marshal us, in all his armour drest, He looked upon the traitors, and his glance was stern and high. Press where ye see my white plume shine, amidst the ranks of war, Hurrah! the foes are moving. Hark to the mingled din A thousand spurs are striking deep, a thousand spears in rest, Now God be praised, the day is ours! Mayenne hath turned his rein; Ho! maidens of Vienna; ho! matrons of Lucerne ; Weep, weep, and rend your hair for those who never shall return. Ho! Philip, send for charity thy Mexican pistoles, That Antwerp monks may sing a mass for thy poor spearmen's souls. (1) Oriflamme-from the Latin aurea flamma, golden flame; the name given to the great standard of France, reputed to have been brought from heaven by an angel, and given to the monks of St Denis. It was a blazing flag of blue cloth, besprinkled over with golden fleurs-de-lis, and quartered with a cross of scarlet cloth. (2) Culverin-from the Latin coluber, a serpent, through the French coulevrine, -a piece of ordnance long and thin, like the body of a serpent. (3) Almayne-Allemagne, Germany; Austria is particularly indicated. Ho! gallant nobles of the League, look that your arms be bright; And mocked the counsel of the wise, and the valour of the brave. THE DAFFODILS.1 I WANDERED lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, A host of golden daffodils; Beside a lake, beneath the trees, Continuous as the stars that shine The waves beside them danced; I gazed, and gazed, but little thought For oft when on my couch I lie Wordsworth. (1) The leading idea suggested by these simple, yet philosophical lines, is also conveyed in the "Lines on revisiting the Wye," by the same author, in which the following passage occurs: "Here I stand, not only with the sense (2) Which is, &c.-which makes or furnishes, &c. A CALM WINTER'S NIGHT. How beautiful this night! the balmiest sigh, That wraps this moveless scene. Heaven's ebon vault, Through which the moon's unclouded grandeur rolls, A metaphor of peace;-all form a scene Shelley. MARCH. LIKE as that lion through the green woods came, With roar which startled the hushed solitude, To virtue wedded, quieted his rude And savage heart, and at her feet sank tame Would follow his fell steps, if Spring's young brood (1) Speaking quietude-This metaphor is by no means new, but its fitness to illustrate the subject renders it particularly striking here. (2) Whose banner, &c.-An exquisite fancy. The poet's touch converts the emblem of war into a symbol of peace, and thus blends it into harmony with th other features of this calm, still, beautiful scene. (3) Una-See the extracts from Spenser's "Faerie Queene," in the second part of this work. |