1 'Twas thus, by the cave of the mountain afar, He thought as a sage, though he felt as a man. "Ah! why, all abandoned to darkness and woe; Mourn, sweetest complainer, man calls thee to mourn; Oh soothe him, whose pleasures like thine, pass away: Full quickly they pass-but they never return. “Now, gliding remote on the verge of the sky, She shone, and the planets were lost in her blaze. ""Tis night, and the landscape is lovely no more: I mourn; but, ye woodlands, I mourn not for you; For morn is approaching, your charms to restore, Perfumed with fresh fragrance, and glittering with dew: Nor yet for the ravage of winter I mourn; Kind nature the embryo blossom shall save: But when shall spring visit the mouldering urn? ""Twas thus, by the light of false science betrayed, Oh pity, great Father of light, then I cried, Thy creature, that fain would not wander from thee; Lo, humbled in dust, I relinquish my pride : From doubt and from darkness thou only canst free. Symphonious-from the Greek бʊ, together, and own, a sound-making one sound, accordant; the harp sounded at the same time with the voice. Philomela-See note 3, p. 71. “And darkness and doubt are now flying away; The bright and the balmy effulgence of morn. On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are blending, Beattie. THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB'S ARMY.' THE Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold, For the angel of death spread his wings on the blast, And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, And there lay the rider distorted and pale, The effect of these fine lines-for such they are-is marred by occasional redundancy and artificiality. The fourth line of the first stanza is an instance of both. 2 Cohorts-A cohort is strictly a troop of Roman soldiers only; it is here employed in a general sense, like the Greek word phalanx. The comparison of the living and dead host respectively to the spring and autumn leaves, is very apt and impressive. I And the widows of Asshur are loud in their wail, Byron. THE POET'S PLEA, WHEN LONDON WAS THREATENED WITH ASSAULT.2 CAPTAIN, or Colonel, or Knight in arms, Whose chance on these defenceless doors3 may seize, Guard them, and him within protect from harms. To save the Athenian walls8 from ruin bare. Milton 1 And the might, &c.-This couplet forms a splendid close to the poem. 2 This exquisite sonnet was written in 1642, when the King's army, by its near approach, alarmed the citizens of London. 3 Milton was then living in Aldersgate Street. 4 Charms that call, &c.-The poet's power is like that attributed to the charms and spells of the magician-he can make thee famous-spread thy name, &c. 5 Emathian conqueror-Alexander the Great, so called from Emathia, the original name of Macedonia. 6 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. 7 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. 8 Walls-i. e. the houses and buildings of the city; for the external walls and fortifications were destroyed by Lysander's order. TO A LADY, WITH A ROSE.1 Tell her that wastes her time, and me, When I resemble her to thee, How sweet and fair she seems to be. Tell her that's young, And shuns to have her graces spied, In deserts where no men abide, Small is the worth Of beauty from the light retired, Suffer herself to be desired, Then die! that she The common fate of all things rare How small a part of time they share, [Yet though thou fade, From thy dead leaves let fragrance rise; That goodness time's rude hand defies, THE STAG-HUNT IN WINDSOR FOREST,3 THE stag now conscious of his fatal growth,+ Waller. These lines furnish a flattering specimen of the sentimental poetry of Waller, in much of which the result gained is singularly disproportionate to the pains taken. 3 2 This last stanza was added by Kirke White, in a copy of Waller's poems. Cooper's Hill," from which the above extract, and that entitled "The Thames," (see p. 9,) are taken, was pronounced by Dryden, "a poem, which for majesty of style is, and ever will be, the standard of good writing." It happily combines the moral with the descriptive. In the above lines, the stag, beset with difficulties, may represent a great man struggling with adverse fate. Fatal growth-i. e. a growth, which by rendering him liable to be hunted, might prove fatal to him. 1 2 3 To some dark covert his retreat had made, Had given this false alarm, but straight his view He calls to mind his strength, and then his speed, Heaven's eye-This poetical expression for the sun, is used by Spenser :"her angel's face, As the great eye of heaven, shyned bright, And made a sunshine in the shady place." Strengths-strong places, fortresses. Conspiring-being, as it were, in league with his pursuers, by helping them to trace him. Knight-errant a wandering knight-one who went in quest of adventures. |