s: Their leader’s fall they fain would wrake;


s: The good knight’s faulchion drove them back.


s: To the Swedish King they took their way.


s: Of eight good knights the limbs he’s broke,


s: “Of eight good knights the limbs he broke,


s: Such heavy blows on their polls he laid.


s: When they returned from the battle fray;


s: They must doff, I ween, their armour sheen,


s: And in mournful guise they murmured out:


s: The Swedish knights they held their peace,


s: To me ’twas spaed that a knight should come


s: And to England’s realm should bear me home.


s: Then answered amain Sir Thunye the Knight,


s: Where a loving pair full soon they grew.


s: The King’s lost daughter was found at last;


s: And away for ever their grief they cast.


s: He spread on the yard his sails so wide;


s: In less, I’m told, than two months’ tide.


s: He steered his vessel towards the strand;


s: Thrice welcome be to this foreign strand;


s: His furrow break through earth with pain,


s: Though chill and drear the prospect round,


s: Sweet in the house the Telyn’s {23} strings


s: Printed for THOMAS J. WISE, Hampstead, N.W.


s: His clothes already were for him wrought.


s: He saw then, under the steep hill’s side,


s: Wilt let me with thee as a shield boy wend?”


s: The Knight from his steed to earth he threw.


s: He’ll fain with other knights have a fray.


s: “Well met, well met, thou stalwart knight,


s: “I’ll meet thee, dwarf, or no man am I.”


s: They fought for a day, they fought for twain,


s: Neither could from the other the victory gain.


s: So good stall-brothership vowed have they,


s: Which should endure to the judgment day.


s: How should it endure that long time all?


s: “Say, shall I ride from hence?” he cried,


s: I’ll give thee the steed of matchless breed,


s: His eyes were bright as the clear star-light,


s: Off Sivard throws his gloves, like snows


s: And with all his force he girded the horse,


s: To a son of worth thou hast given birth,


s: The horse did spit from his mouth the bit,


s: Then maids and dames forsook their games


s: Then maids and dames forsook their games,


s: Wept great and small in the Monarch’s hall


s: I give thee the steed, the wondrous steed,


s: “I’ll give the steed for thy time of need,


s: There chanced he to meet little Tilventin,


s: “I have passed the night at Brattingsborg,


s: “Now help me, Odin, for thou hast might,


s: That sound in the ear of his mother dear


s: “Now deign, now deign, thou highest God,


s: The first course that together they rode,


s: Of stalwart knights, and warrior wights,


s: With iron she caused her feet to be shod,


s: And there doth she pass a right merry life,


s: ’Midst the knights they took their seat.


s: They follow’d the bride to the chamber in.


s: And before her thirst she could assuage,


s: So mighty the press of their garments was,


s: That they brushed down, ere they ushered her in,


s: They led the bride to the bride-bench up,


s: That a bench of stone which they sat upon,


s: They placed before her the very best food,


s: The bridegroom’s eyes were upon her fixed,


s: The warriors began to describe the round,


s: For the honour and pride of the young sea-bride,


s: Who should look on their deeds of worth.


s: The young bride up from the bride-bench sprang,


s: Then danced the table, then danced the bench,


s: And the sparks from the helms flew high;


s: Seeing that people seldom use a particle.


s: For foolish pastimes oft, full oft, they thee ignite,


s: I oft a pastime prove for tongues with folly rife;


s: By wasting of thyself thou yieldest others light,


s: And I in self same way must use my luckless life.


s: Printed for THOMAS J. WISE, Hampstead, N.W.


s: Then answered straight the little foot page


s: “If ye fare this year into Birting’s land


s: The rocks were split ’neath the coursers’ feet,


s: And there too glittered the golden crown


s: Out galloped they all from Brattingsborg,


s: And still ran Vitting, and still ran he,


s: Thou shalt hie forward to Birting’s land,


s: The knights they roared, and their steeds they gored,


s: They left their steeds in the castle yard,


s: Then in they strode to the high, high hall,


s: “O, whence are come the ill-starr’d loons


s: “Who’ll taste,” said Vitting Helfredson,


s: They flew for a day, they flew for three,


s: Then Vitting seized the crane by the legs,


s: O, scarcely is Spring a time of pure bliss,


s: He is wrong who full trust thereon layeth;


s: O, when every thing is as joyous in Spring,


s: In midnight’s calm hour the Nightingale sings


s: Come, haste to the grove where melody rings,


s: Resolv’d for his victim to spread out a snare:


s: _Think_, _girls_, _of the Nightingale’s fate_, _and beware_!


s: Unguarded her flight—’midst danger she wings—


s: Alas! she is silent, and full of despair,


s: He glides away quick with his treasure so rare:


s: But Freedom, that wafted her notes to the skies,


s: And we, we delight in the love that we share:


s: _O_, _think of the Nightingale’s fate_, _and beware_!


s: Say from what mine took Love the yellow gold


s: To form those tresses? from what thorn-bush tore


s: Those roses sleek? and from what summit bore


s: That stainless snow which seems no longer cold?


s: Be glad, my soul! and sing amidst thy pleasure,


s: God’s mercy is, which He upon me showereth.


s: And Thou foresee’st what is for me most fitting.


s: Give thou to me my share with every other,


s: And whom the sight of a fool displeases,


s: O, Earth! that never the cruel plough-share


s: In their dark shelter the flowerets grew,


s: And smil’d by my foot on the cloudlets blue,


s: To the wood through a field I took my way;


s: Here doubtless was held in the old time good


s: The royal stone, which there doth stand,


s: With crown on head, and sceptre in hand,


s: And down on his stone himself calmly plac’d—


s: The king’s house stood on yonder height,


s: On yon had his daughter, the damsel bright,


s: Where to Thor was offered the he-goat’s blood,


s: Nought else could I do but stop and stand,


s: Like stars ’midst lightning’s yellow ray


s: To the world by chance, by poor chance, may


s: But as for our beauty, our blue and red hues,


s: No pleasures ye pluck—no pleasures ye plan


s: Whose eyes are blind to the glories great


s: And dream that the mouth is the nearest gate


s: Come flowers! for we to each other belong,


s: Printed for THOMAS J. WISE, Hampstead, N.W.


s: Of the various doctrines the saints believe,


s: And a "Churchman" down to the river came:


s: When I heard a strange voice call his name,


s: "Good father, stop; when you cross this tide


s: You must leave your robes on the other side."


s: His pale hands clasping a gilt-edged book.


s: "I'm bound for heaven, and when I'm there,


s: I should feel quite lost without my gown."


s: Then he fixed his eye on the shining track,


s: But his gown was heavy, and held him back,


s: Whether he belonged to "_the_ Church" or not.


s: Then down to the river a Quaker strayed,


s: Then he buttoned his coat straight up to his chin,


s: And his broad-brimmed hat he pulled down tight


s: And then, as he gazed to the farther shore,


s: The coat slipped off, and was seen no more.


s: Next came Dr. Watts, with a bundle of Psalms


s: That the people in heaven, "all round," might sing.


s: But I thought that he heaved an anxious sigh,


s: As he saw that the river ran broad and high,


s: And looked rather surprised as, one by one,


s: The Psalms and Hymns in the wave went down.


s: But he cried, "Dear me, what shall I do?


s: The water has soaked them through and through."


s: And the saint astonished, passed through alone,


s: Without his manuscripts, up to the throne.


s: Then, gravely walking, two saints by name,


s: But as they stopped at the river's brink,


s: "Sprinkled or plunged, may I ask you, friend,


s: "But _I_ have been dipped, as you'll see me now.


s: As I'm 'close communion,' to cross with you;


s: You're bound, I know, to the realms of bliss,


s: But you must go that way, and I'll go this."


s: Then straightway plunging with all his might,


s: Away to the left--his friend at the right,


s: Of women there seemed an innumerable throng,


s: But the men I could count as they passed along.


s: And concerning the road they could never agree,


s: The _old_ or the _new_ way, which it could be,


s: That both would lead to the river's brink.


s: "You're in the old way, and I'm in the new,


s: That is the false, and this is the true,"--


s: Or, "I'm in the old way, and you're in the new,


s: _That_ is the false, and _this_ is the true."


s: But the _brethren_ only seemed to speak,


s: How she longed to pass to the other side,


s: Nor feared to cross over the swelling tide,


s: For have ye not heard the words of Paul,


s: I watched them long in my curious dream,


s: Till they stood by the borders of the stream;


s: Then, just as I thought, the two ways met,


s: And would talk on, till the heaving tide


s: And priest and Quaker, and all who died,


s: No forms, or crosses, or books had they,


s: For all had put on Christ's righteousness.


s: They fought for a day, they fought for two,


s: The worm outfought the beast, and brought


s: With courage fraught, the worm he fought,


s: Then, helped by the Lord, the famous sword


s: The Lindworm gnashed its teeth with rage,


s: O’er hill and dale, ’neath thy crooked tail,


s: ’Twere best that we good friends should be,


s: And thee I’ll guide to thy plighted bride,


s: But in vain did he try from the mountain to fly,


s: “Bann’d, bann’d,” said he, “may the lion be,


s: “With subtle thought the brute has brought


s: “Stand fast, good lord,” the lion roared,


s: Unless the beast had the knight released


s: Escaped the knight to the morning light,


s: And when he had now come out of the hill


s: Each death had braved, and the other saved


s: Where’er King Diderik rode in the fields


s: With his eighteen brothers Diderik stark


s: “With knights of pride we war have plied


s: Then laughed outright bold Hogen knight:


s: To say good night forgot Swerting quite,


s: “Bern, Bern’s the place for us, I guess,


s: Then answered ’neath the green hill’s side


s: Full eighteen thousand knights were they


s: Little could brook that, Olger the Dane,


s: They fought so long, they fought so hard,


s: That their strength was well-nigh flown;


s: Printed for THOMAS J. WISE, Hampstead, N.W.


s: To Scotland’s realm, with shield and helm,


s: Not far that stood from the Monarch’s knee:


s: Silk is the sail they spread in the gale,


s: For the keys of Norroway’s land are they.”


s: “Then clothe thee straight and clothe thee well,


s: The toss of the sea and its billows wild.”


s: The folk on the shore they griev’d full sore


s: And the mounting billow the sail bespray’d,


s: In the breeze so fair the ship stood there


s: As though to the bottom it fast were made.


s: “I’m here in the dark, is there any clerk


s: Thy state to thy father straight disclose.”


s: They watched o’er Olaf long nights twain;


s: The stripling’s corse he would not leave:


s: “Cheer up,” they said.  “We’ve fought and bled,


s: And well, full well, with him ’twill speed.


s: And his reign, I trow, will not be brief;


s: In our Lady’s Church as beseems your King.”


s: Which made the hearts of the dauntless faint:


s: ’Twas Pentecost when the King they lost,


s: The mighty King whom they lov’d so well.


s: And to Bergen o’er their course they ply;


s: In the spot where the Monarch wish’d to lie.


s: There heard we the songs of the feather’d race,


s: The blare of the elk, and the roebuck’s cry.


s: With our dogs and our arms many deer we slew;


s: When at noon we return’d to our silvan court,


s: With a band of joyous guests was fill’d;


s: The manner we sang, whilst we plied the string,


s: In which the buck and the elk we kill’d.


s: A man clad in red with a black dog come.


s: I’ll tell ye what was the stranger’s mien:


s: His complexion was that of the strawberrie;


s: Though black his hair, as black could be.


s: Said not for shelter he sought our doors;


s: But would match his dog ’gainst the best of ours.


s: We brought ’gainst that of the stranger youth


s: But the stranger dog had a desperate tooth,


s: And quickly despatch’d for us fifty hounds.


s: A strange fight this, the great Finn said,


s: And he struck with his fist his good dog Bran.


s: Bran look’d at his master with much surprise,


s: That his master should strike him surprise he felt—


s: “I could hew from the shoulder the hand,” Finn cries,


s: His terrible eyes like fire-balls roll’d,


s: “Take off from his neck the collar of gold,


s: Not right for him now such a thing to bear;


s: Now a likeness I’ll draw of my good dog Bran:


s: His breast was broad and its colour tan,


s: His houghs were crook’d, his quarters square.


s: His sides were black but his belly fair;


s: Then their blood was scatter’d on every side;


s: Desperate the fight, and the fight did last


s: ’Till the brave black dog in Bran’s gripe died.


s: From the pillar of the dogs with stern delight,


s: Could inflict upon Bran the mortal bite.


s: And possess’d each canine guile and sleight;


s: Could consign our dog to the Western height.


s: “There’s many a damsel, heavenly bright,


s: In the land of the son of King Torc this night


s: Would be proud with my dog her supper to share.”


s: For his good black dog in the field’s green breast;


s: To the pibroch’s blast in the hill to the west.


s: We went to the dwelling of high MacCuol,


s: With the king to drink, and dice, and throw;


s: Though empty and dark this night I trow.


s: Printed for THOMAS J. WISE, Hampstead, N.W.


s: Tore out my heart, and twixt their teeth


s: Then spake the mother of little Malfred,


s: Scorched were her scarlet robes, and scorched


s: “Yes, ride thee hence to Court, and there


s: “Now hear, good youth, I’d know forsooth


s: “Now do thou hear, thou King of the Danes,


s: “Now hark, ye knaves, bid your captain tell


s: “Engel he’s stiled, your sister’s child,


s: “Ride hence, and boast not of thy birth,


s: But still I’ve towers, and pleasant bowers,


s: “Now thou hast quaffed the self same draught


s: With dishevelled hair, the Dame stood there,


s: If thou would’st ruin ’scape, and blackest woe,


s: Unto these words, these precious words attend:


s: Nor choose a proud and envious man for friend.


s: Sit down with your friends in delightful repose


s: When war and contention you see ’midst your foes;


s: But when to an end their contentions they bring,


s: Then, then seize the bow, and get ready the sling.


s: The hungry hound upon the bone will pounce


s: He prowling finds, and not mistrustful pass;


s: The prophet’s camel or the sinner’s ass.


s: Great Aaroun is dead, and is nothing, the man


s: Who left forty castles replete with gold store;


s: But living though dead is the great Nourshwan,


s: In the good name he left he has death triumphed o’er.


s: If in the boor’s garden the King eats a pear,


s: His servants rapacious the tree will uptear;


s: For every five eggs he gives bounteously, more


s: Than five hundred fowls will his armies devour.


s: If the half of a loaf the devout man receives,


s: The half of that half to the wretched he gives;


s: But no sooner a tyrant one kingdom has ta’en,


s: Than the wish of his heart is another to gain.


s: If a cat could the power of flying enjoy,


s: She all the world’s sparrows would quickly destroy;


s: If power in the hands of a beggar you place,


s: No mercy he’ll show to the beggarly race.


s: The taylor who travels in far foreign lands,


s: Can always get bread by the work of his hands;


s: But the King who from throne and from country has fled,


s: Must oft without supper go sighing to bed.


s: Of the children of wisdom how like is the face


s: To pure gold that’s accepted in every place;


s: But the ignorant great are much like leather cash,


s: At home which though current, abroad is but trash.


s: So much like a friend with your foe ever deal,


s: That you never need dread the least scratch from his steel;


s: But ne’er with your friend deal so much like a foe,


s: That you ever must dread from his faulchion a blow.


s: Printed for THOMAS J. WISE, Hampstead, N.W.


s: To win him fame with his good bright sword;


s: That he to the fields of war should fare;


s: By the side of his bed his clothes put on;


s: ’Tis truth and sooth what I say to thee;


s: Then mount thy horse and follow with me.


s: “Oh, I know nought of my Lord King’s thought


s: Then in at the door Sir Marsk Stig trode,


s: “For of late I dream’d that my noble horse


s: And that must mean that I shall be slain,


s: And that my steed will tramp on my life-less clay.”


s: For Christ can protect thy life, reflect,


s: Ride thou this year to the war, and bear


s: “And if I shall fare to the war this year,


s: With a laugh in his sleeve thus answer’d he:


s: And guard and cherish her night and day;


s: As if thou, dear Marshal, at home didst stay.”


s: “Now saddle my steed,” cried Eric the King,


s: And array that shirt so fair with gold.”


s: And worked that shirt, Sir King, with gold,


s: Should Marsk Stig hear of that he’d ne’er


s: Untrue to the Marshal’s couch, Sir King.


s: Whilst her good Lord his battles fought.


s: And long stood he, the young Marsk Stig,


s: “Now wherefore shows my beauteous spouse


s: With a stain that makes me hate the light.


s: “The time that thou from the land didst go,


s: And he rides on the morrow to Skanderborough


s: “Thrice welcome, thrice welcome, Dus Van Hus,


s: Thou bear’st the brow like a King, I trow,


s: Yet little good thou wilt gain thereby.”


s: How dar’st thou beard me in this strain,


s: Who oft, full oft, on thy breast has lain?


s: Than scoff and scorn from a thing like thee,


s: Through my garden wall they broke, and all


s: “And I dream’d as I and my courtiers good


s: Straight answer’d she her dear lord thus:


s: Their rent and tribute soon will bring.”


s: It means the King at our country’s Ting,


s: Too much for me and my cause will prove.”


s: And at their head young Marsk Stig sped,


s: Their breast-plates beaming bright with gold.


s: And bold knights then, and bold knights’ men,


s: And proffer’d to Stig his fair white hand:


s: “I joy thou art come, Sir Marsk Stig, home


s: Safe from the fray in the foreign land.”


s: His heart was fill’d with grief and rage:


s: “Thou’st forc’d my housewife, and hast brought


s: “Marsk Stig! Marsk Stig! ride not so high,


s: That I can check thee when thou wouldst pass;


s: “Now welcome thrice, Marsk Stig,” she cries,


s: “I’ve heard of Marsk Stig’s manly bearing.


s: Will send us word when the King’s alone.


s: From its brow so high you may Sealand spy,


s: “Whilst thou dost live thou a knight shalt be,


s: “And bless our daughters’ youthful blood,


s: “Then speed thee, knight, with thee is right,


s: On earthly shore though we meet no more,


s: We shall meet again in the sky so clear.”


s: They watch’d him sly, they watch’d him nigh,


s: But best they sped, in the hour so dread,


s: The cause of the same was an injur’d Dame,


s: With greyhounds tried we forth will ride,


s: To saddle him straight his good grey steed;


s: And he order gave to his courtiers brave


s: And he bade the Monks themselves prepare;


s: Then in faultering guise the King he cries,


s: “God help us now, and Saint Gertrude thou,


s: Where fire and light were burning clear.


s: And her to his breast the King he press’d,


s: That thou wilt sleep with me this night.”


s: Then answer’d and said the woodland maid,


s: For life thou must look to the little crook,


s: “The knobs on thy belt of tough, tough felt,


s: His heart was bent yet more on learning;


s: Both light and fire his sight did cheer,


s: With Ranild he stood in the bush so drear.


s: Then the King for advice to Ranild cries,


s: “From out this place our way we’ll trace,


s: “And thither we’ll ride, and there we’ll bide,


s: Was lock’d, and fires and lights put out.


s: Then their steeds they turn to Tinderup barn,


s: And for all his talk ’twas no thick balk


s: But a wheat-sheaf light which the gust of night


s: Scarce on the groun’ had they laid them down,


s: On the groun’ of the barn so cold and hard,


s: When of Ingeborg Dame the avengers came,


s: No pause they made, to the place they sped


s: Where well they knew that the Monarch lay.


s: With faulchion struck they and with spear;


s: “Come out, come out, Sir King,” they shout,


s: But points with his hand to the in-rushing band


s: They extinguish’d straight the wax light great


s: That burn’d the head of the Monarch o’er;


s: Then round the King they stood in a ring,


s: With blades athirst for his dearest gore.


s: Then he hew’d for his Lord on the broad, broad board,


s: Full in the breast their stabs they address’d,


s: When done was the deed each took his steed,


s: This happ’d on the night of Cecily bright,


s: The corpse of the King across the green?


s: To Skanderborough where sits the Queen?”


s: And that on the back of the white he laid.


s: “They stabbed him with might in his bosom white,


s: Their points came out of his royal side;


s: Take thou good care of the youthful heir,


s: “Take heed, take heed of the land I rede,


s: And it fills my heart with grief and pain;


s: And clothe and feed thee whilst I reign.”


s: It happ’d on the night of Cecily bright,


s: From land and friends we now are driven.


s: He spurr’d his horse and bent his course,


s: “O there doth ride Marsk Stig,” she cried,


s: “Ha, welcome, Stig, thou self-made King,


s: Full bitter fruit he’ll make thee chew.”


s: From Denmark’s land with spear and brand


s: And his fist he shook against the towers;


s: My thanks, the best of this poor breast,


s: “But we are allied to Counts and Knights,


s: When Stig the Marshal’s bed was stain’d;


s: They crush to the ground the hazels round,


s: God look with grace on the peasant’s case,


s: Printed for THOMAS J. WISE, Hampstead, N.W.


s: Translation: “_One Summer morn_, _as I was seeking_”


s: Lines: “_To read the great mysterious Past_”


s: As the maidens with the Queen that dwell.


s: “Had Marsk Stig stay’d in Denmark green,


s: For he would stand in their father’s stead.


s: Of the antler’d hart they wove the chase,


s: With praises thou our hearts wouldst cheer.


s: The youngest liv’d with sorrow and smart.


s: There are three for my death that now pine,


s: Though for me fervent love they profess,


s: And wast pierc’d by a fool in his madness;


s: _I in the green wood ’neath the green branches_


s: _In the night season sleep with the knight_.


s: Said I, “Young maid, will you share my lot?”


s: Said he, “Young maid will you share my lot?”


s: “No, no!” the handsome young Roman cried.


s: Printed for THOMAS J. WISE, Hampstead, N.W.


s: “Here thou sitt’st, dear Housewife mine,


s: Fierce with shields the doors they banged,


s: And from that day when five short months


s: He loved the daughter of England’s king,


s: His longing to be with his plighted maid


s: And when he reached the midst of the sea


s: Lest thou midst knights and beauteous dames


s: But still he reached the bower of his bride,


s: {12}  A common Danish expression denoting contempt for threat.


s: My Brother she changed to a wolf so gray,


s: 'Till he had drunk her heart's blood out,


s: Tore out her heart, and drank her blood,


s: Then changed she to the strangest beasts


s: Then straight before his eye there stood


s: (_The Danish King will 'venge his fill_).


s: Then his doublet foisted with verdant silk.


s: His legs in his buckskin boots he placed,


s: And around them his gilded spurs he braced.


s: His gilded spurs there around he braced,


s: Such wondrous things he proved that day.


s: They bound Sir Carl 'fore their sovereign's eyes.


s: And out from the town Sir Carl they convey'd,


s: To Sir Plog then quickly a messenger came:


s: "The Dane-king has broken thy brother's frame."


s: Sir Plog he sprang o'er the wide, wide board,


s: In his buckskin boots his shanks he cased


s: And up to receive him the Dane-king rose.


s: Then things had turned out in a better way.


s: "My brother is wheeled though he did no wrong,


s: That deed, Dane-king, thou shalt rue ere long.


s: My brother, for certain, had followed me home.


s: "Deprived of his life doth my brother lie,


s: Dane-king, thou hast lost thine honour thereby."


s: The Dane-king so fitting an answer returned:


s: "Thy brother full richly his death had earned.


s: "When the great with sword can oppress the mean


s: "My brother, Sir King, was good and bold,


s: I could have redeemed him with silver and gold."


s: "And since thou so long on this matter doth prate,


s: "If a truly brave man, Dane-king, thou be,


s: The King off his hands the little gloves took,


s: Sir Plog his spear with vehemence shook.


s: And the Dane-king himself with his warriors true.


s: When all the King's men he dead had laid,


s: Where it rests 'neath a tomb of marble fair.


s: But Sir Plog he went to a foreign shore,


s: _Take heed_, _good people_, _of yourselves_;


s: The bridegroom found, with fear and dread,


s: No face of an Angel could Feridun claim,


s: Nor of musk nor of amber I ween was his frame;


s: Be generous like him and as fair thou shalt be.


s: The different force of _should_ and _ought_;


s: We should make use of _both_ or _either_.


s: When of yourself you have cause to speak


s: But thorough contempt attends the small.


s: Printed for THOMAS J. WISE, Hampstead, N.W.


s: Unde hominum pecudumque genus, vitæque volantum,


s: Et quæ marmoreo fert monstra sub æquore pontus?


s: Igneus est illis vigor, & cælestis origo.


s: believes, in which the progressive course of time presented them.


s: improve by Reproduction 295. Have all arisen from Microscopic


s: Impress'd on Nature by the GREAT FIRST CAUSE,


s: Say, MUSE! how rose from elemental strife


s: Warm the cold heart, the lifted hand disarm;


s: Allure with pleasures, and alarm with pains,


s: And give the fifth, new-born of Time, to light;


s: The silken tissue of their joys disclose,


s: Swell with deep chords the murmur of their woes;


s: Their laws, their labours, and their loves proclaim,


s: And chant their virtues to the trump of Fame.


s: IMMORTAL LOVE! who ere the morn of Time,


s: On wings outstretch'd, o'er Chaos hung sublime;


s: Warm'd into life the bursting egg of Night,


s: And gave young Nature to admiring Light!--


s: YOU! whose wide arms, in soft embraces hurl'd


s: Round the vast frame, connect the whirling world!


s: Whether immers'd in day, the Sun your throne,


s: You gird the planets in your silver zone;


s: The Earth's cold bosom with the beams of spring;


s: Attend my song!--With rosy lips rehearse,


s: And with your polish'd arrows write my verse!--


s: So shall my lines soft-rolling eyes engage,


s: And snow-white fingers turn the volant page;


s: The smiles of Beauty all my toils repay,


s: And youths and virgins chant the living lay.


s: By angels guarded, and by prophets sung,


s: Wav'd o'er the east in purple pride unfurl'd,


s: And rock'd the golden cradle of the World;


s: Four sparkling currents lav'd with wandering tides


s: Their velvet avenues, and flowery sides;


s: On sun-bright lawns unclad the Graces stray'd,


s: And guiltless Cupids haunted every glade;


s: Till the fair Bride, forbidden shades among,


s: Heard unalarm'd the Tempter's serpent-tongue;


s: Eyed the sweet fruit, the mandate disobey'd,


s: And her fond Lord with sweeter smiles betray'd.


s: Conscious awhile with throbbing heart he strove,


s: Spread his wide arms, and barter'd life for love!--


s: Now rocks on rocks, in savage grandeur roll'd,


s: Steep above steep, the blasted plains infold;


s: The incumbent crags eternal tempest shrouds,


s: And livid light'nings cleave the lambent clouds;


s: Round the firm base loud-howling whirlwinds blow,


s: And sands in burning eddies dance below.


s: possess Europe and a part of Asia and of Africa, appear to


s: have descended from one family; and to have had their origin


s: near the banks of the Mediterranean, as probably in Syria,


s: the site of Paradise, according to the Mosaic history. This


s: seems highly probable from the similarity of the structure of


s: the languages of these nations, and from their early


s: possession of similar religions, customs, and arts, as well


s: as from the most ancient histories extant. The two former of


s: these may be collected from Lord Monboddo's learned work on


s: the Origin of Language, and from Mr. Bryant's curious account


s: The use of iron tools, of the bow and arrow, of earthen


s: vessels to boil water in, of wheels for carriages, and the


s: arts of cultivating wheat, of coagulating milk for cheese,


s: and of spinning vegetable fibres for clothing, have been


s: known in all European countries, as long as their histories


s: have existed; besides the similarity of the texture of their


s: languages, and of many words in them; thus the word sack is


s: said to mean a bag in all of them, as [Greek: sakkon] in


s: Greek, saccus in Latin, sacco in Italian, sac in French, and


s: Other families of mankind, nevertheless, appear to have


s: arisen in other parts of the habitable earth, as the language


s: of the Chinese is said not to resemble those of this part of


s: the world in any respect. And the inhabitants of the islands


s: of the South-Sea had neither the use of iron tools nor of the


s: bow, nor of wheels, nor of spinning, nor had learned to


s: coagulate milk, or to boil water, though the domestication of


s: fire seems to have been the first great discovery that


s: distinguished mankind from the bestial inhabitants of the


s: Hence ye profane!--the warring winds exclude


s: Unhallow'd throngs, that press with footstep rude;


s: But court the Muse's train with milder skies,


s: And call with softer voice the good and wise.


s: --Charm'd at her touch the opening wall divides,


s: And rocks of crystal form the polish'd sides;


s: Through the bright arch the Loves and Graces tread,


s: Innocuous thunders murmuring o'er their head;


s: View their fair features in the walls of glass;


s: Leave with impatient step the circling bourn,


s: And hear behind the closing rocks return.


s: HERE, high in air, unconscious of the storm.


s: Thy temple, NATURE, rears it's mystic form;


s: From earth to heav'n, unwrought by mortal toil,


s: Towers the vast fabric on the desert soil;


s: O'er many a league the ponderous domes extend.


s: And deep in earth the ribbed vaults descend;


s: A thousand jasper steps with circling sweep


s: Lead the slow votary up the winding steep;


s: Ten thousand piers, now join'd and now aloof,


s: Bear on their branching arms the fretted roof.


s: Unnumber'd ailes connect unnumber'd halls,


s: And sacred symbols crowd the pictur'd walls;


s: And arts, or empires, live in every line.


s: While chain'd reluctant on the marble ground,


s: Indignant TIME reclines, by Sculpture bound;


s: And sternly bending o'er a scroll unroll'd,


s: Inscribes the future with his style of gold.


s: --So erst, when PROTEUS on the briny shore,


s: New forms assum'd of eagle, pard, or boar;


s: The wise ATRIDES bound in sea-weed thongs


s: The changeful god amid his scaly throngs;


s: Till in deep tones his opening lips at last


s: mankind, in the early ages of society, to the imitative arts


s: of painting, carving, statuary, and the casting of figures in


s: metals, seems to have preceded the discovery of letters; and


s: to have been used as a written language to convey


s: intelligence to their distant friends, or to transmit to


s: posterity the history of themselves, or of their discoveries.


s: Hence the origin of the hieroglyphic figures which crowded


s: the walls of the temples of antiquity; many of which may be


s: seen in the tablet of Isis in the works of Montfaucon; and


s: some of them are still used in the sciences of chemistry and


s: astronomy, as the characters for the metals and planets, and


s: the figures of animals on the celestial globe.]


s: that Proteus was the name of a hieroglyphic figure


s: representing Time; whose form was perpetually changing, and


s: who could discover the past events of the world, and predict


s: the future. Herodotus does not doubt but that Proteus was an


s: of all things, and the most ancient of the gods; and adds,


s: that he keeps the keys of Nature, _Danet's Dict._, all which


s: might well accord with a figure representing Time.]


s: HERE o'er piazza'd courts, and long arcades,


s: The bowers of PLEASURE root their waving shades;


s: Shed o'er the pansied moss a checker'd gloom,


s: Bend with new fruits, with flow'rs successive bloom.


s: Pleas'd, their light limbs on beds of roses press'd,


s: In slight undress recumbent Beauties rest;


s: On tiptoe steps surrounding Graces move,


s: And gay Desires expand their wings above.


s: HERE young DIONE arms her quiver'd Loves,


s: Schools her bright Nymphs, and practises her doves;


s: Calls round her laughing eyes in playful turns,


s: The glance that lightens, and the smile that burns;


s: Her dimpling cheeks with transient blushes dies,


s: Heaves her white bosom with seductive sighs;


s: Or moulds with rosy lips the magic words,


s: That bind the heart in adamantine cords.


s: Behind in twilight gloom with scowling mien


s: The demon PAIN, convokes his court unseen;


s: Whips, fetters, flames, pourtray'd on sculptur'd stone,


s: In dread festoons, adorn his ebon throne;


s: And shudd'ring Fever leads the ghastly bands;


s: O'er all Despair expands his raven wings,


s: And guilt-stain'd Conscience darts a thousand stings.


s: Deep-whelm'd beneath, in vast sepulchral caves,


s: The storied tomb, the laurell'd bust o'erturns,


s: And shakes their ashes from the mould'ring urns.--


s: No vernal zephyr breathes, no sunbeams cheer,


s: O'er the green floor, and round the dew-damp wall,


s: The slimy snail, and bloated lizard crawl;


s: While on white heaps of intermingled bones


s: Showers her cold tears o'er Beauty's early wreck,


s: Spreads her pale arms, and bends her marble neck.


s: So in rude rocks, beside the Ægean wave,


s: TROPHONIUS scoop'd his sorrow-sacred cave;


s: Unbarr'd to pilgrim feet the brazen door,


s: And the sad sage returning smil'd no more.


s: that prophecies of evil events were uttered from the cave of


s: Trophonius; but the allegorical story, that whoever entered


s: this cavern were never again seen to smile, seems to have


s: been designed to warn the contemplative from considering too


s: much the dark side of nature. Thus an ancient poet is said to


s: have written a poem on the miseries of the world, and to have


s: thence become so unhappy as to destroy himself. When we


s: reflect on the perpetual destruction of organic life, we


s: should also recollect, that it is perpetually renewed in


s: other forms by the same materials, and thus the sum total of


s: the happiness of the world continues undiminished; and that a


s: philosopher may thus smile again on turning his eyes from the


s: SHRIN'D in the midst majestic NATURE stands,


s: Extends o'er earth and sea her hundred hands;


s: Tower upon tower her beamy forehead crests,


s: And births unnumber'd milk her hundred breasts;


s: Drawn round her brows a lucid veil depends,


s: O'er her fine waist the purfled woof descends;


s: Her stately limbs the gather'd folds surround,


s: And spread their golden selvage on the ground.


s: into Greece along with most of the other early arts and


s: religions of Europe. They seem to have consisted of scenical


s: representations of the philosophy and religion of those


s: times, which had previously been painted in hieroglyphic


s: figures to perpetuate them before the discovery of letters;


s: and are well explained in Dr. Warburton's divine legation of


s: Moses; who believes with great probability, that Virgil in


s: the sixth book of the Æneid has described a part of these


s: mysteries in his account of the Elysian fields.


s: In the first part of this scenery was represented Death, and


s: the destruction of all things; as mentioned in the note on


s: the Portland Vase in the Botanic Garden. Next the marriage of


s: Cupid and Psyche seems to have shown the reproduction of


s: living nature; and afterwards the procession of torches,


s: which is said to have constituted a part of the mysteries,


s: probably signified the return of light, and the resuscitation


s: Lastly, the histories of illustrious persons of the early


s: ages seem to have been enacted; who were first represented by


s: hieroglyphic figures, and afterwards became the gods and


s: dignified pantomime be contrived, even in this age, as might


s: strike the spectators with awe, and at the same time explain


s: many philosophical truths by adapted imagery, and thus both


s: From this first altar fam'd ELEUSIS stole


s: Her secret symbols and her mystic scroll;


s: Her gorgeous temple, and the gods rever'd.


s: --First in dim pomp before the astonish'd throng,


s: Silence, and Night, and Chaos, stalk'd along;


s: Dread scenes of Death, in nodding sables dress'd,


s: Froze the broad eye, and thrill'd the unbreathing breast.


s: Then the young Spring, with winged Zephyr, leads


s: The queen of Beauty to the blossom'd meads;


s: Charm'd in her train admiring Hymen moves,


s: And tiptoe Graces hand in hand with Loves.


s: Next, while on pausing step the masked mimes


s: Conceal from vulgar throngs the mystic truth,


s: Or charm with Wisdom's lore the initiate youth;


s: Each shifting scene, some patriot hero trod,


s: Some sainted beauty, or some saviour god.


s: And crimson dew-drops trembled on the lawn;


s: Blaz'd high in air the temple's golden vanes,


s: And dancing shadows veer'd upon the plains.--


s: Long trains of virgins from the sacred grove,


s: Pair after pair, in bright procession move,


s: With flower-fill'd baskets round the altar throng,


s: Or swing their censers, as they wind along.


s: The fair URANIA leads the blushing bands,


s: Presents their offerings with unsullied hands;


s: Pleas'd to their dazzled eyes in part unshrouds


s: The goddess-form;--the rest is hid in clouds.


s: "PRIESTESS OF NATURE! while with pious awe


s: Thy votary bends, the mystic veil withdraw;


s: Charm after charm, succession bright, display,


s: So kneeling realms shall own the Power divine,


s: And heaven and earth pour incense on her shrine.


s: "Oh grant the MUSE with pausing step to press


s: Each sun-bright avenue, and green recess;


s: Led by thy hand survey the trophied walls,


s: The statued galleries, and the pictur'd halls;


s: Scan the proud pyramid, and arch sublime,


s: Earth-canker'd urn, medallion green with time,


s: Stern busts of Gods, with helmed heroes mix'd,


s: And Beauty's radiant forms, that smile betwixt.


s: painting has appeared in the early state of all societies


s: before the invention of the alphabet. Thus when the Spanish


s: adventurers, under Cortez, invaded America, intelligence of


s: their debarkation and movements was daily transmitted to


s: hieroglyphics. The antiquity of statuary appears from the


s: metals from the golden calf of Aaron; and that of carving in


s: wood from the idols or household gods, which Rachel stole


s: from her father Laban, and hid beneath her garments as she


s: sat upon the straw. Gen. c. xxxi. v. 34.]


s: "Waked by thy voice, transmuted by thy wand,


s: Their lips shall open, and their arms expand;


s: The love-lost lady, and the warrior slain,


s: Leap from their tombs, and sigh or fight again.


s: --So when ill-fated ORPHEUS tuned to woe


s: His potent lyre, and sought the realms below;


s: Charm'd into life unreal forms respir'd,


s: And list'ning shades the dulcet notes admir'd.--


s: "LOVE led the Sage through Death's tremendous porch,


s: Cheer'd with his smile, and lighted with his torch;--


s: Hell's triple Dog his playful jaws expands,


s: Fawns round the GOD, and licks his baby hands;


s: In wondering groups the shadowy nations throng,


s: Sad swains, and nymphs forlorn, on Lethe's brink,


s: Hug their past sorrows, and refuse to drink;


s: Night's dazzled Empress feels the golden flame


s: Play round her breast, and melt her frozen frame;


s: Charms with soft words, and sooths with amorous wiles,


s: Her iron-hearted Lord,--and PLUTO smiles.--


s: His trembling Bride the Bard triumphant led


s: From the pale mansions of the astonish'd dead;


s: Gave the fair phantom to admiring light,--


s: Ah, soon again to tread irremeable night!"


s: taken from the figures on the Barbarini, or Portland Vase,


s: where Eros, or Divine Love, with his torch precedes the manes


s: through the gates of Death, and reverting his smiling


s: countenance invites him into the Elysian fields.]


s: from a painting of the descent of Orpheus, by a celebrated


s: Waves the fair Hierophant, and moves along.--


s: High plumes, that bending shade her amber hair,


s: Nod, as she steps, their silver leaves in air;


s: Bright chains of pearl, with golden buckles brac'd,


s: Clasp her white neck, and zone her slender waist;


s: Thin folds of silk in soft meanders wind


s: Down her fine form, and undulate behind;


s: The purple border, on the pavement roll'd,


s: Swells in the gale, and spreads its fringe of gold.


s: "FIRST, if you can, celestial Guide! disclose


s: From what fair fountain mortal life arose,


s: Whence the fine nerve to move and feel assign'd,


s: Allure with pleasure, and with pain alarm,


s: With soft affections weave the social plan,


s: And charm the listening Savage into Man."


s: "GOD THE FIRST CAUSE!--in this terrene abode


s: Young Nature lisps, she is the child of GOD.


s: From embryon births her changeful forms improve,


s: Grow, as they live, and strengthen as they move.


s: A Jove principium, musæ! Jovis omnia plena.


s: In him we live, and move, and have our being.


s: production and increase of the strata of limestone from the


s: shells of aquatic animals; and of all those incumbent on them


s: from the recrements of vegetables and of terrestrial animals,


s: are now well understood from our improved knowledge of


s: geology; and show, that the solid parts of the globe are


s: gradually enlarging, and consequently that it is young; as


s: the fluid parts are not yet all converted into solid ones.


s: Add to this, that some parts of the earth and its inhabitants


s: appear younger than others; thus the greater height of the


s: mountains of America seems to show that continent to be less


s: ancient than Europe, Asia, and Africa; as their summits have


s: been less washed away, and the wild animals of America, as


s: the tigers and crocodiles, are said to be less perfect in


s: respect to their size and strength; which would show them to


s: be still in a state of infancy, or of progressive


s: improvement. Lastly, the progress of mankind in arts and


s: sciences, which continues slowly to extend, and to increase,


s: seems to evince the youth of human society; whilst the


s: unchanging state of the societies of some insects, as of the


s: bee, wasp, and ant, which is usually ascribed to instinct,


s: seems to evince the longer existence, and greater maturity of


s: those societies. The juvenility of the earth shows, that it


s: has had a beginning or birth, and is a strong natural


s: argument evincing the existence of a cause of its production,


s: "Ere Time began, from flaming Chaos hurl'd


s: Rose the bright spheres, which form the circling world;


s: Earths from each sun with quick explosions burst,


s: And second planets issued from the first.


s: Then, whilst the sea at their coeval birth,


s: Surge over surge, involv'd the shoreless earth;


s: Nurs'd by warm sun-beams in primeval caves


s: "First HEAT from chemic dissolution springs,


s: And gives to matter its eccentric wings;


s: With strong REPULSION parts the exploding mass,


s: ATTRACTION next, as earth or air subsides,


s: The ponderous atoms from the light divides,


s: Approaching parts with quick embrace combines,


s: Swells into spheres, and lengthens into lines.


s: Last, as fine goads the gluten-threads excite,


s: Cords grapple cords, and webs with webs unite;


s: And quick CONTRACTION with ethereal flame


s: Lights into life the fibre-woven frame.--


s: Hence without parent by spontaneous birth


s: Rise the first specks of animated earth;


s: From Nature's womb the plant or insect swims,


s: And buds or breathes, with microscopic limbs.


s: heat is an ethereal fluid, in which all things are immersed,


s: and which constitutes the general power of repulsion; as


s: appears in explosions which are produced by the sudden


s: evolution of combined heat, and by the expansion of all


s: bodies by the slower diffusion of it in its uncombined state.


s: Without heat all the matter of the world would be condensed


s: into a point by the power of attraction; and neither fluidity


s: nor life could exist. There are also particular powers of


s: repulsion, as those of magnetism and electricity, and of


s: chemistry, such as oil and water; which last may be as


s: numerous as the particular attractions which constitute


s: chemical affinities; and may both of them exist as


s: atmospheres round the individual particles of matter; see


s: Botanic Garden, Vol. I. additional note VII. on elementary


s: may be divided into general attraction, which is called


s: gravity; and into particular attraction, which is termed


s: chemical affinity. As nothing can act where it does not


s: exist, the power of gravity must be conceived as extending


s: from the sun to the planets, occupying that immense space;


s: and may therefore be considered as an ethereal fluid, though


s: not cognizable by our senses like heat, light, and


s: Particular attraction, or chemical affinity, must likewise


s: occupy the spaces between the particles of matter which they


s: cause to approach each other. The power of gravity may


s: therefore be called the general attractive ether, and the


s: matter of heat may be called the general repulsive ether;


s: which constitute the two great agents in the changes of


s: contraction, which exists in organized bodies, and


s: distinguishes life from inanimation, appears to consist of an


s: ethereal fluid which resides in the brain and nerves of


s: living bodies, and is expended in the act of shortening their


s: fibres. The attractive and repulsive ethers require only the


s: vicinity of bodies for the exertion of their activity, but


s: the contractive ether requires at first the contact of a goad


s: or stimulus, which appears to draw it off from the


s: contracting fibre, and to excite the sensorial power of


s: irritation. These contractions of animal fibres are


s: afterwards excited or repeated by the sensorial powers of


s: sensation, volition, or association, as explained at large in


s: There seems nothing more wonderful in the ether of


s: contraction producing the shortening of a fibre, than in the


s: ether of attraction causing two bodies to approach each


s: other. The former indeed seems in some measure to resemble


s: the latter, as it probably occasions the minute particles of


s: the fibre to approach into absolute or adhesive contact, by


s: withdrawing from them their repulsive atmospheres; whereas


s: the latter seems only to cause particles of matter to


s: approach into what is popularly called contact, like the


s: particles of fluids; but which are only in the vicinity of


s: each other, and still retain their repulsive atmospheres, as


s: may be seen in riding through shallow water by the number of


s: minute globules of it thrown up by the horses feet, which


s: roll far on its surface; and by the difficulty with which


s: small globules of mercury poured on the surface of a quantity


s: "IN earth, sea, air, around, below, above,


s: Life's subtle woof in Nature's loom is wove;


s: Points glued to points a living line extends,


s: Touch'd by some goad approach the bending ends;


s: Rings join to rings, and irritated tubes


s: Clasp with young lips the nutrient globes or cubes;


s: In branching cones the living web expands,


s: And lengthening veins absorb the refluent flood;


s: Leaves, lungs, and gills, the vital ether breathe


s: On earth's green surface, or the waves beneath.


s: So Life's first powers arrest the winds and floods,


s: To bones convert them, or to shells, or woods;


s: Stretch the vast beds of argil, lime, and sand,


s: And from diminish'd oceans form the land!


s: an artery or vein may be considered as a cone, though each


s: distinct division of it is a cylinder. It is probable that


s: the amount of the areas of all the small branches from one


s: trunk may equal that of the trunk, otherwise the velocity of


s: the blood would be greater in some parts than in others,


s: which probably only exists when a part is compressed or


s: the arterial impulse appears to cease, after having propelled


s: the blood through the capillary vessels; whence the venous


s: circulation is owing to the extremities of the veins


s: absorbing the blood, as those of the lymphatics absorb the


s: fluids. The great force of absorption is well elucidated by


s: Dr. Hales's experiment on the rise of the sap-juice in a


s: vine-stump; see Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XXIII.]


s: of the solid parts of the globe by the recrements of organic


s: bodies, as limestone rocks from shells and bones, and the


s: beds of clay, marl, coals, from decomposed woods, is now well


s: known to those who have attended to modern geology; and Dr.


s: Halley, and others, have endeavoured to show, with great


s: probability, that the ocean has decreased in quantity during


s: the short time which human history has existed. Whence it


s: appears, that the exertions of vegetable and animal life


s: convert the fluid parts of the globe into solid ones; which


s: is probably effected by combining the matter of heat with the


s: other elements, instead of suffering it to remain simply


s: diffused amongst them, which is a curious conjecture, and


s: "Next the long nerves unite their silver train,


s: And young SENSATION permeates the brain;


s: Through each new sense the keen emotions dart,


s: Flush the young cheek, and swell the throbbing heart.


s: From pain and pleasure quick VOLITIONS rise,


s: Lift the strong arm, or point the inquiring eyes;


s: With Reason's light bewilder'd Man direct,


s: And right and wrong with balance nice detect.


s: Last in thick swarms ASSOCIATIONS spring,


s: Thoughts join to thoughts, to motions motions cling;


s: Whence in long trains of catenation flow


s: volition consist in an affection of the central part of the


s: sensorium, or of the whole of it; and hence cannot exist till


s: the nerves are united in the brain. The motions of a limb of


s: any animal cut from the body, are therefore owing to


s: irritation, not to sensation or to volition. For the


s: definitions of irritation, sensation, volition, and


s: "So, view'd through crystal spheres in drops saline,


s: Quick-shooting salts in chemic forms combine;


s: Spread their fine roots, the tremulous wave imbibe.


s: Next to our wondering eyes the focus brings


s: First Monas moves, an unconnected point,


s: Plays round the drop without a limb or joint;


s: And Vorticella whirls her living wheels;


s: While insect Proteus sports with changeful form


s: Through the bright tide, a globe, a cube, a worm.


s: Last o'er the field the Mite enormous swims,


s: Swells his red heart, and writhes his giant limbs.


s: early state is properly a microscopic vegetable, and is


s: spontaneously produced on the scum of all decomposing organic


s: matter. The Monas is a moving speck, the Vibrio an undulating


s: wire, the Proteus perpetually changes its shape, and the


s: Vorticella has wheels about its mouth, with which it makes an


s: eddy, and is supposed thus to draw into its throat invisible


s: animalcules. These names are from Linneus and Muller; see


s: Was born and nurs'd in Ocean's pearly caves;


s: First forms minute, unseen by spheric glass,


s: Move on the mud, or pierce the watery mass;


s: New powers acquire, and larger limbs assume;


s: Whence countless groups of vegetation spring,


s: And breathing realms of fin, and feet, and wing.


s: was originally covered with water, as appears from some of


s: its highest mountains, consisting of shells cemented together


s: by a solution of part of them, as the limestone rocks of the


s: Alps; Ferber's Travels. It must be therefore concluded, that


s: Nor is this unanalogous to what still occurs, as all


s: quadrupeds and mankind in their embryon state are aquatic


s: animals; and thus may be said to resemble gnats and frogs.


s: The fetus in the uterus has an organ called the placenta, the


s: fine extremities of the vessels of which permeate the


s: arteries of the uterus, and the blood of the fetus becomes


s: thus oxygenated from the passing stream of the maternal


s: arterial blood; exactly as is done by the gills of fish from


s: the stream of water, which they occasion to pass through


s: But the chicken in the egg possesses a kind of aerial


s: respiration, since the extremities of its placental vessels


s: terminate on a membranous bag, which contains air, at the


s: broad end of the egg; and in this the chick in the egg


s: differs from the fetus in the womb, as there is in the egg no


s: circulating maternal blood for the insertion of the


s: extremities of its respiratory vessels, and in this also I


s: suspect that the eggs of birds differ from the spawn of fish;


s: which latter is immersed in water, and which has probably the


s: extremities of its respiratory organ inserted into the soft


s: membrane which covers it, and is in contact with the water.]


s: "Thus the tall Oak, the giant of the wood,


s: Which bears Britannia's thunders on the flood;


s: The Whale, unmeasured monster of the main,


s: Whose eye undazzled drinks the solar glare,


s: Imperious man, who rules the bestial crowd,


s: Of language, reason, and reflection proud,


s: With brow erect who scorns this earthy sod,


s: And styles himself the image of his God;


s: "Now in vast shoals beneath the brineless tide,


s: On earth's firm crust testaceous tribes reside;


s: Age after age expands the peopled plain,


s: The tenants perish, but their cells remain;


s: Whence coral walls and sparry hills ascend


s: From pole to pole, and round the line extend.


s: that all vegetables and animals arose from such a small


s: beginning, as a living point or living fibre, are detailed in


s: Zoonomia, Sect. XXXIX. 4. 8. on Generation.]


s: has been gradually accumulating, being washed down into it


s: from the recrements of animal and vegetable bodies, the sea


s: must originally have been as fresh as river water; and as it


s: is not saturated with salt, must become annually saline. The


s: sea-water about our island contains at this time from about


s: one twenty-eighth to one thirtieth part of sea salt, and


s: about one eightieth of magnesian salt; Brownrigg on Salt.]


s: structure of the earth is given in Botanic Garden, Vol. I.


s: Additional Notes, XVI. XVIII. XIX. XX. XXIII. XXIV.]


s: "Next when imprison'd fires in central caves


s: Burst the firm earth, and drank the headlong waves;


s: And, as new airs with dread explosion swell,


s: Form'd lava-isles, and continents of shell;


s: Pil'd rocks on rocks, on mountains mountains raised,


s: And high in heaven the first volcanoes blazed;


s: In countless swarms an insect-myriad moves


s: From sea-fan gardens, and from coral groves;


s: Leaves the cold caverns of the deep, and creeps


s: On shelving shores, or climbs on rocky steeps.


s: As in dry air the sea-born stranger roves,


s: Each muscle quickens, and each sense improves;


s: Cold gills aquatic form respiring lungs,


s: And sounds aerial flow from slimy tongues.


s: continents were raised above the primeval ocean, great


s: numbers of the most simple animals would attempt to seek food


s: at the edges or shores of the new land, and might thence


s: gradually become amphibious; as is now seen in the frog, who


s: changes from an aquatic animal to an amphibious one; and in


s: the gnat, which changes from a natant to a volant state.


s: At the same time new microscopic animalcules would


s: immediately commence wherever there was warmth and moisture,


s: and some organic matter, that might induce putridity. Those


s: situated on dry land, and immersed in dry air, may gradually


s: acquire new powers to preserve their existence; and by


s: innumerable successive reproductions for some thousands, or


s: perhaps millions of ages, may at length have produced many of


s: the vegetable and animal inhabitants which now people the


s: As innumerable shell-fish must have existed a long time


s: beneath the ocean, before the calcareous mountains were


s: produced and elevated; it is also probable, that many of the


s: insect tribes, or less complicate animals, existed long


s: before the quadrupeds or more complicate ones, which in some


s: measure accords with the theory of Linneus in respect to the


s: vegetable world; who thinks, that all the plants now extant


s: arose from the conjunction and reproduction of about sixty


s: different vegetables, from which he constitutes his natural


s: As the blood of animals in the air becomes more oxygenated in


s: their lungs, than that of animals in water by their gills; it


s: becomes of a more scarlet colour, and from its greater


s: stimulus the sensorium seems to produce quicker motions and


s: finer sensations; and as water is a much better vehicle for


s: vibrations or sounds than air, the fish, even when dying in


s: pain, are mute in the atmosphere, though it is probable that


s: in the water they may utter sounds to be heard at a


s: considerable distance. See on this subject, Botanic Garden,


s: In countless threads her breathing leaves divides,


s: Waves her bright tresses in the watery mass,


s: And drinks with gelid gills the vital gas;


s: Then broader leaves in shadowy files advance,


s: Spread o'er the crystal flood their green expanse;


s: And, as in air the adherent dew exhales,


s: Court the warm sun, and breathe ethereal gales.


s: this plant grow under water, and are divided into minute


s: capillary ramifications; while the upper leaves are broad and


s: round, and have air bladders in their footstalks to support


s: them above the surface of the water. As the aerial leaves of


s: vegetables do the office of lungs, by exposing a large


s: surface of vessels with their contained fluids to the


s: influence of the air; so these aquatic leaves answer a


s: similar purpose like the gills of fish, and perhaps gain from


s: water a similar material. As the material thus necessary to


s: life seems to be more easily acquired from air than from


s: water, the subaquatic leaves of this plant and of sisymbrium,


s: oenanthe, ranunculus aquatilis, water crow-foot, and some


s: others, are cut into fine divisions to increase the surface,


s: whilst those above water are undivided; see Botanic Garden,


s: Few of the water plants of this country are used for


s: economical purposes, but the ranunculus fluviatilis may be


s: worth cultivation; as on the borders of the river Avon, near


s: Ringwood, the cottagers cut this plant every morning in


s: boats, almost all the year round, to feed their cows, which


s: appear in good condition, and give a due quantity of milk;


s: see a paper from Dr. Pultney in the Transactions of the


s: "So still the Tadpole cleaves the watery vale


s: With balanc'd fins, and undulating tail;


s: New lungs and limbs proclaim his second birth,


s: Breathe the dry air, and bound upon the earth.


s: So from deep lakes the dread Musquito springs,


s: Drinks the soft breeze, and dries his tender wings,


s: In twinkling squadrons cuts his airy way,


s: Dips his red trunk in blood, and man his prey.


s: of the tadpole from an aquatic animal into an aerial one is


s: abundantly curious, when first it is hatched from the spawn


s: by the warmth of the season, it resembles a fish; it


s: afterwards puts forth legs, and resembles a lizard; and


s: finally losing its tail, and acquiring lungs instead of


s: The rana temporaria of Linneus lives in the water in spring,


s: and on the land in summer, and catches flies. Of the rana


s: paradoxa the larva or tadpole is as large as the frog, and


s: dwells in Surinam, whence the mistake of Merian and of Seba,


s: who call it a frog fish. The esculent frog is green, with


s: three yellow lines from the mouth to the anus; the back


s: transversely gibbous, the hinder feet palmated; its more


s: frequent croaking in the evenings is said to foretell rain.


s: Linneus asserts in his introduction to the class Amphibia,


s: that frogs are so nearly allied to lizards, lizards to


s: serpents, and serpents to fish, that the boundaries of these


s: "So still the Diodons, amphibious tribe,


s: With two-fold lungs the sea or air imbibe;


s: Allied to fish, the lizard cleaves the flood


s: With one-cell'd heart, and dark frigescent blood;


s: Half-reasoning Beavers long-unbreathing dart


s: Through Erie's waves with perforated heart;


s: With gills and lungs respiring Lampreys steer,


s: Kiss the rude rocks, and suck till they adhere;


s: With gills pulmonic breathes the enormous Whale,


s: Sports on the shining wave at noontide hours,


s: And shifting rainbows crest the rising showers.


s: latitude are only seen in the mornings or evenings, when the


s: sun is not much more than forty-two degrees high. In the more


s: northern latitudes, where the meridian sun is not more than


s: forty-two degrees high, they are also visible at noon.]


s: "So erst, ere rose the science to record


s: Whence chemic arts, disclosed in pictured lines,


s: And clustering stars, pourtray'd on mimic spheres,


s: Assumed the forms of lions, bulls, and bears;


s: Rose young DIONE from the shoreless main;


s: Type of organic Nature! source of bliss!


s: Sublime on Chaos borne, the Goddess stood,


s: And smiled enchantment on the troubled flood;


s: And young Reflection wondered and adored."


s: figure of Venus rising from the sea supported on a shell by


s: two tritons, as well as that of Hercules armed with a club,


s: appear to be remains of the most remote antiquity. As the


s: former is devoid of grace, and of the pictorial art of


s: design, as one half of the group exactly resembles the other;


s: and as that of Hercules is armed with a club, which was the


s: The Venus seems to have represented the beauty of organic


s: Nature rising from the sea, and afterwards became simply an


s: emblem of ideal beauty; while the figure of Adonis was


s: probably designed to represent the more abstracted idea of


s: life or animation. Some of these hieroglyphic designs seem to


s: philosophers, and to have outlived all written language; and


s: still constitute the symbols, by which painters and poets


s: give form and animation to abstracted ideas, as to those of


s: strength and beauty in the above instances.]


s: Now paused the Nymph,--The Muse responsive cries,


s: "Drawn by your pencil, by your hand unfurl'd,


s: Bright shines the tablet of the dawning world;


s: Amazed the Sea's prolific depths I view,


s: "Still Nature's births enclosed in egg or seed


s: Her beaux and beauties, butterflies and worms,


s: Thus in the womb the nascent infant laves


s: Its natant form in the circumfluent waves;


s: With perforated heart unbreathing swims,


s: Awakes and stretches all its recent limbs;


s: With gills placental seeks the arterial flood,


s: And drinks pure ether from its Mother's blood.


s: Erewhile the landed Stranger bursts his way,


s: Feels the chill blast, and piercing light, and tries


s: His tender lungs, and rolls his dazzled eyes;


s: Gives to the passing gale his curling hair,


s: six months of gestation, the embryon probably sleeps, as it


s: seems to have no use for voluntary power; it then seems to


s: awake, and to stretch its limbs, and change its posture in


s: some degree, which is termed quickening.]


s: adheres to any side of the uterus in natural gestation, or of


s: any other cavity in extra-uterine gestation; the extremities


s: of its arteries and veins probably permeate the arteries of


s: the mother, and absorb from thence through their fine coats


s: the oxygen of the mother's blood; hence when the placenta is


s: withdrawn, the side of the uterus, where it adhered, bleeds;


s: but not the extremities of its own vessels.]


s: pupillaris described by modern anatomists guards the tender


s: retina from too much light; the young infant nevertheless


s: seems to feel the presence of it by its frequently moving its


s: eyes, before it can distinguish common objects.]


s: "Creative Nile, as taught in ancient song,


s: O'er his wide realms the slow-subsiding flood


s: While with quick growth young Vegetation yields


s: Her blushing orchards, and her waving fields;


s: Pomona's hand replenish'd Plenty's horn,


s: And Ceres laugh'd amid her seas of corn.--


s: Bird, beast, and reptile, spring from sudden birth,


s: Raise their new forms, half-animal, half-earth;


s: His struggling limbs still rooted in the plain;


s: With flapping wings assurgent eagles toil


s: To rend their talons from the adhesive soil;


s: The impatient serpent lifts his crested head,


s: And drags his train unfinish'd from the bed.--


s: As Warmth and Moisture blend their magic spells,


s: And brood with mingling wings the slimy dells;


s: Contractile earths in sentient forms arrange,


s: And Life triumphant stays their chemic change."


s: Altera pars vivit; rudis est pars altera tellus.


s: Quippe ubi temperiem sumpsêre humorque calorque,


s: Concipiunt; & ab his oriuntur, cuncta duobus.


s: This story from Ovid of the production of animals from the


s: probably a poetical account of the opinions of the magi or


s: priests of that country; showing that the simplest animations


s: were spontaneously produced like chemical combinations, but


s: were distinguished from the latter by their perpetual


s: improvement by the power of reproduction, first by solitary,


s: and then by sexual generation; whereas the products of


s: natural chemistry are only enlarged by accretion, or purified


s: Then hand in hand along the waving glades


s: The virgin Sisters pass beneath the shades;


s: Ascend the winding steps with pausing march,


s: Whose sculptur'd architrave on columns borne


s: Drinks the first blushes of the rising morn,


s: Whose fretted roof an ample shield displays,


s: And guards the Beauties from meridian rays.


s: While on light step enamour'd Zephyr springs,


s: And fans their glowing features with his wings,


s: Imbibes the fragrance of the vernal flowers,


s: And speeds with kisses sweet the dancing Hours.


s: Rests her white elbow on a column's base;


s: Awhile reflecting takes her silent stand,


s: Her fair cheek press'd upon her lily hand;


s: On the smooth floor her pausing steps advance,


s: Waves high her arm, upturns her lucid eyes,


s: Marks the wide scenes of ocean, earth, and skies;


s: Through Nature's walks, the shining stream of Song.


s: First her sweet voice in plaintive accents chains


s: The Muse's ear with fascinating strains;


s: The change of form, and brevity of life;


s: Then tells how potent Love with torch sublime


s: Relights the glimmering lamp, and conquers Time.


s: --The polish'd walls reflect her rosy smiles,


s: And sweet-ton'd echoes talk along the ailes.


s: degenerate 167. Gout, Mania, Scrofula, Consumption 177. Time and


s: Warm but to cool, and active but to rest!--


s: When Time's cold hands the languid senses seize,


s: Chill the dull nerves, the lingering currents freeze;


s: Thus Heat evolv'd from some fermenting mass


s: Which sink ere long in cold concentric rings,


s: Condensed, on Gravity's descending wings.


s: few in all ages have complained of the brevity of life,


s: lamenting that mankind are not allowed time sufficient to


s: cultivate science, or to improve their intellect. Hippocrates


s: introduces his celebrated aphorisms with this idea; "Life is


s: short, science long, opportunities of knowledge rare,


s: experiments fallacious, and reasoning difficult."--A


s: food, which enlarge and invigorate the body from infancy to


s: the meridian of life, and then nourish it for some years


s: unimpaired, should at length gradually cease to do so, and


s: the debility of age and death supervene, would be liable to


s: surprise us if we were not in the daily habit of observing


s: it; and is a circumstance which has not yet been well


s: Before mankind introduced civil society, old age did not


s: exist in the world, nor other lingering diseases; as all


s: living creatures, as soon as they became too feeble to defend


s: themselves, were slain and eaten by others, except the young


s: broods, who were defended by their mother; and hence the


s: animal world existed uniformly in its greatest strength and


s: New Life rekindles, ere the first expires;


s: Calls up renascent Youth, ere tottering age


s: Quits the dull scene, and gives him to the stage;


s: Bids on his cheek the rose of beauty blow,


s: And binds the wreaths of pleasure round his brow;


s: With finer links the vital chain extends,


s: "Self-moving Engines by unbending springs


s: May walk on earth, or flap their mimic wings;


s: In tubes of glass mercurial columns rise,


s: Or sink, obedient to the incumbent skies;


s: Or, as they touch the figured scale, repeat


s: The nice gradations of circumfluent heat.


s: Forms from fine glands another like itself,


s: Gives the true character of life and sense,


s: And parts the organic from the chemic Ens.--


s: Where milder skies protect the nascent brood,


s: And earth's warm bosom yields salubrious food;


s: Each new Descendant with superior powers


s: Of sense and motion speeds the transient hours;


s: Braves every season, tenants every clime,


s: Rejects the noxious, and the pure digests;


s: Combines with Heat the fluctuating mass,


s: Organic forms with chemic changes strive,


s: Immortal matter braves the transient storm,


s: Mounts from the wreck, unchanging but in form.--


s: on line 248 of the first Canto, that much of the aerial and


s: liquid parts of the terraqueous globe was converted by the


s: powers of life into solid matter; and that this was effected


s: by the combination of the fluid, heat, with other elementary


s: bodies by the appetencies and propensities of the parts of


s: living matter to unite with each other. But when these


s: appetencies and propensities of the parts of organic matter


s: to unite with each other cease, the chemical affinities of


s: attraction and the aptitude to be attracted, and of repulsion


s: and the aptitude to be repelled, succeed, and reduce much of


s: the solid matters back to the condition of elements; which


s: seems to be effected by the matter of heat being again set at


s: liberty, which was combined with other matters by the powers


s: of life; and thus by its diffusion the solid bodies return


s: into liquid ones or into gasses, as occurs in the processes


s: of fermentation, putrefaction, sublimation, and calcination.


s: Whence solidity appears to be produced in consequence of the


s: diminution of heat, as the condensation of steam into water,


s: and the consolidation of water into ice, or by the


s: combination of heat with bodies, as with the materials of


s: of the forms of matter seems to have struck the philosophers


s: of great antiquity; the system of transmigration taught by


s: Pythagoras, in which the souls of men were supposed after


s: death to animate the bodies of a variety of animals, appears


s: to have arisen from this source. He had observed the


s: perpetual changes of organic matter from one creature to


s: another, and concluded, that the vivifying spirit must attend


s: Emblem of Life, to change eternal doom'd,


s: The beauteous form of fair ADONIS bloom'd.--


s: On Syrian hills the graceful Hunter slain


s: Dyed with his gushing blood the shuddering plain;


s: And, slow-descending to the Elysian shade,


s: A while with PROSERPINE reluctant stray'd;


s: Soon from the yawning grave the bursting clay


s: And young DIONE woo'd him to her arms.--


s: Pleased for a while the assurgent youth above


s: Relights the golden lamp of life and love;


s: Ah, soon again to leave the cheerful light,


s: And sink alternate to the realms of night.


s: Venus rising from the sea seems to have represented the


s: Beauty of organic Nature; which the philosophers of that


s: country, the magi, appear to have discovered to have been


s: elevated by earthquakes from the primeval ocean. But the


s: hieroglyphic figure of Adonis seems to have signified the


s: spirit of animation or life, which was perpetually wooed or


s: courted by organic matter, and which perished and revived


s: alternately. Afterwards the fable of Adonis seems to have


s: given origin to the first religion promising a resurrection


s: from the dead; whence his funeral and return to life were


s: of which Ezekiel complains as idolatrous, accusing the women


s: of Israel of lamenting over Thammus; which St. Cyril


s: interprets to be Adonis, in his Commentaries on Isaiah;


s: Leaves the cold organ, and the mass dissolves;


s: From sires to sons, unknown to sex, commence.


s: New buds and bulbs the living fibre shoots


s: On lengthening branches, and protruding roots;


s: Or on the father's side from bursting glands


s: The adhering young its nascent form expands;


s: In branching lines the parent-trunk adorns,


s: And parts ere long like plumage, hairs, or horns.


s: "So the lone Truffle, lodged beneath the earth,


s: Shoots from paternal roots the tuberous birth;


s: No stamen-males ascend, and breathe above,


s: No seed-born offspring lives by female love.


s: From each young tree, for future buds design'd


s: While these with appetencies nice invite,


s: New embryon fibrils round the trunk combine


s: With quick embrace, and form the living line:


s: Whose plume and rootlet at their early birth


s: Seek the dry air, or pierce the humid earth.


s: This plant never rises above the earth, is propagated without


s: seed by its roots only, and seems to require no light.


s: Perhaps many other fungi are generated without seed by their


s: roots only, and without light, and approach on the last


s: "So safe in waves prolific Volvox dwells,


s: And five descendants crowd his lucid cells;


s: And branching infants bristle all his limbs;


s: So the lone Tænia, as he grows, prolongs


s: His flatten'd form with young adherent throngs;


s: Unknown to sex the pregnant oyster swells,


s: And coral-insects build their radiate shells;


s: Parturient Sires caress their infant train,


s: And heaven-born STORGE weaves the social chain;


s: Successive births her tender cares combine,


s: And soft affections live along the line.


s: dwells in the lakes of Europe, is transparent, and bears


s: within it children and grandchildren to the fifth generation;


s: fusca of Linneus dwell in our ditches and rivers under


s: aquatic plants; these animals have been shown by ingenious


s: observers to revive after having been dried, to be restored


s: when mutilated, to be multiplied by dividing them, and


s: propagated from portions of them, parts of different ones to


s: unite, to be turned inside outwards and yet live, and to be


s: propagated by seeds, to produce bulbs, and vegetate by


s: the intestines of animals, and grows old at one extremity,


s: producing an infinite series of young ones at the other; the


s: separate joints have been called Gourd-worms, each of which


s: possesses a mouth of its own, and organs of digestion. Syst.


s: in the European oceans, frequent at the tables of the


s: luxurious, a living repast! New-born oysters swim swiftly by


s: an undulating movement of fins thrust out a little way from


s: their shells. Syst. Nat. But they do not afterwards change


s: their place during their whole lives, and are capable of no


s: other movement but that of opening the shell a little way:


s: whence Professor Beckman observes, that their offspring is


s: probably produced without maternal organs; and that those,


s: who speak of male and female oysters, must be mistaken: Phil.


s: Magaz. March 1800. It is also observed by H. I. le Beck, that


s: on nice inspection of the Pearl oysters in the gulf of Manar,


s: he could observe no distinction of sexes. Nicholson's


s: of the Madrepora of Linneus consists of one or more star-like


s: cells; a congeries of which form rocks beneath the sea; the


s: animal which constructs it is termed Medusa; and as it


s: adheres to its calcareous cavity, and thence cannot travel to


s: its neighbours, is probably without sex. I observed great


s: masses of the limestone in Shropshire, which is brought to


s: Newport, to consist of the cells of these animals.]


s: "On angel-wings the GODDESS FORM descends,


s: Round her fond broods her silver arms she bends;


s: White streams of milk her tumid bosom swell,


s: Light joys on twinkling feet before her dance


s: Young PSYCHE treads with CUPID in her train.


s: Their genial powers to nourish or defend;


s: No nutrient streams from Beauty's orbs improve


s: Birth after birth the line unchanging runs,


s: And fathers live transmitted in their sons;


s: Each passing year beholds the unvarying kinds,


s: The same their manners, and the same their minds.


s: Increasing wants the pregnant parents vex


s: With the fond wish to form a softer sex;


s: Whose milky rills with pure ambrosial food


s: Might charm and cherish their expected brood.


s: O'er embryon throngs with mystic charm presides,


s: And sex from sex the nascent world divides,


s: With soft affections warms the callow trains,


s: And gives to laughing Love his nymphs and swains;


s: Whose mingling virtues interweave at length


s: The mother's beauty with the father's strength.


s: raised from seed die annually, and are succeeded by new buds


s: by solitary reproduction; which are larger or more perfect


s: for several successive years, and then they produce sexual


s: flowers, which are succeeded by seminal reproduction. The


s: same occurs in bulbous rooted plants raised from seed; they


s: die annually, and produce others rather more perfect than the


s: parent for several years, and then produce sexual flowers.


s: The Aphis is in a similar manner hatched from an egg in the


s: vernal months, and produces a viviparous offspring without


s: sexual intercourse for nine or ten successive generations;


s: and then the progeny is both male and female, which cohabit,


s: and from these new females are produced eggs, which endure


s: the winter; the same process probably occurs in many other


s: the similarity of the progeny to the parent, and the sex of


s: it, are produced by the power of imagination, is treated of


s: in Zoonomia. Sect. 39. 6. 3. It is not to be understood, that


s: the first living fibres, which are to form an animal, are


s: produced by imagination, with any similarity of form to the


s: future animal; but with appetencies or propensities, which


s: shall produce by accretion of parts the similarity of form


s: and feature, or of sex, corresponding with the imagination of


s: which have been adduced to show, that mankind and quadrupeds


s: were formerly in an hermaphrodite state, are first deduced


s: from the present existence of breasts and nipples in all the


s: males; which latter swell on titillation like those of the


s: females, and which are said to contain a milky fluid at their


s: birth; and it is affirmed, that some men have given milk to


s: their children in desert countries, where the mother has


s: perished; as the male pigeon is said to give a kind of milk


s: from his stomach along with the regurgitated food, to the


s: young doves, as mentioned in Additional Note IX. on Storge.


s: Secondly, from the apparent progress of many animals to


s: greater perfection, as in some insects, as the flies with two


s: wings, termed Diptera; which have rudiments of two other


s: wings, called halteres, or poisers; and in many flowers which


s: have rudiments of new stamina, or filaments without anthers


s: on them. See Botanic Garden, Vol. II. Curcuma, Note, and the


s: Note on l. 204 of Canto I. of this work. It has been supposed


s: by some, that mankind were formerly quadrupeds as well as


s: hermaphrodites; and that some parts of the body are not yet


s: so convenient to an erect attitude as to a horizontal one; as


s: the fundus of the bladder in an erect posture is not exactly


s: over the insertion of the urethra; whence it is seldom


s: completely evacuated, and thus renders mankind more subject


s: to the stone, than if he had preserved his horizontality:


s: these philosophers, with Buffon and Helvetius, seem to


s: imagine, that mankind arose from one family of monkeys on the


s: banks of the Mediterranean; who accidentally had learned to


s: use the adductor pollicis, or that strong muscle which


s: constitutes the ball of the thumb, and draws the point of it


s: to meet the points of the fingers; which common monkeys do


s: not; and that this muscle gradually increased in size,


s: strength, and activity, in successive generations; and by


s: this improved use of the sense of touch, that monkeys


s: acquired clear ideas, and gradually became men.


s: Perhaps all the productions of nature are in their progress


s: to greater perfection! an idea countenanced by modern


s: discoveries and deductions concerning the progressive


s: formation of the solid parts of the terraqueous globe, and


s: consonant to the dignity of the Creator of all things.]


s: Erewhile the stamens and the styles display


s: Their petal-curtains, and adorn the day;


s: The beaux and beauties in each blossom glow


s: For nine successions uninform'd of love;


s: New sexes next with softer passions spring,


s: Breathe the fond vow, and woo with quivering wing.


s: As the first leaves of holy writ record,


s: From Adam's rib, who press'd the flowery grove,


s: Form'd a new sex, the MOTHER OF MANKIND.


s: --Buoy'd on light step the Beauty seem'd to swim,


s: And stretch'd alternate every pliant limb;


s: Pleased on Euphrates' velvet margin stood,


s: And view'd her playful image in the flood;


s: Own'd the fine flame of love, as life began,


s: Down her white neck and o'er her bosom roll'd,


s: Flow'd in sweet negligence her locks of gold;


s: Round her fine form the dim transparence play'd,


s: And show'd the beauties, that it seem'd to shade.


s: --Enamour'd ADAM gaz'd with fond surprise,


s: And drank delicious passion from her eyes;


s: Felt the new thrill of young Desire, and press'd


s: The graceful Virgin to his glowing breast.--


s: The conscious Fair betrays her soft alarms,


s: Sinks with warm blush into his closing arms,


s: Yields to his fond caress with wanton play,


s: Nurs'd in her womb, the solitary breeds;


s: No Mother's care their early steps directs,


s: Warms in her bosom, with her wings protects;


s: The clime unkind, or noxious food instills


s: The feeble births acquired diseases chase,


s: Till Death extinguish the degenerate race.


s: "So grafted trees with shadowy summits rise,


s: Spread their fair blossoms, and perfume the skies;


s: Mines round the bark, and feeds upon the wood.


s: So, years successive, from perennial roots


s: The wire or bulb with lessen'd vigour shoots;


s: Till curled leaves, or barren flowers, betray


s: Rise seedling progenies from sexual flowers.


s: observed that those apple and pear trees, which had been


s: propagated for above a century by ingraftment were now so


s: unhealthy, as not to be worth cultivation. I have suspected


s: the diseases of potatoes attended with the curled leaf, and


s: of strawberry plants attended with barren flowers, to be


s: owing to their having been too long raised from roots, or by


s: solitary reproduction, and not from seeds, or sexual


s: reproduction, and to have thence acquired those hereditary


s: "E'en where unmix'd the breed, in sexual tribes


s: Parental taints the nascent babe imbibes;


s: Sad Beauty's form foul Scrofula surrounds


s: With bones distorted, and putrescent wounds;


s: And, fell Consumption! thy unerring dart


s: Wets its broad wing in Youth's reluctant heart.


s: "With pausing step, at night's refulgent noon,


s: Beneath the sparkling stars, and lucid moon,


s: Plung'd in the shade of some religious tower,


s: The slow bell counting the departed hour,


s: O'er gaping tombs where shed umbrageous Yews


s: On mouldering bones their cold unwholesome dews;


s: And moondrawn spectres dance upon the ground;


s: And bend in silence o'er the countless Dead;


s: Marks with loud sobs infantine Sorrows rave,


s: And wring their pale hands o'er their Mother's grave;


s: Hears on the new-turn'd sod with gestures wild


s: The kneeling Beauty call her buried child;


s: Upbraid with timorous accents Heaven's decrees,


s: And with sad sighs augment the passing breeze.


s: 'Stern Time,' She cries, 'receives from Nature's womb


s: Her beauteous births, and bears them to the tomb;


s: Calls all her sons from earth's remotest bourn,


s: And from the closing portals none return!'


s: And her white bosom heaved with silent sighs;


s: With her the MUSE laments the sum of things,


s: And hides her sorrows with her meeting wings;


s: Long o'er the wrecks of lovely Life they weep,


s: Then pleased reflect, "to die is but to sleep;"


s: From Nature's coffins to her cradles turn,


s: Smile with young joy, with new affection burn.


s: And now the Muse, with mortal woes impress'd,


s: Thus the fair Hierophant again address'd.


s: --"Ah me! celestial Guide, thy words impart


s: Ills undeserved, that rend the nascent heart!


s: O, Goddess, say, if brighter scenes improve


s: Air-breathing tribes, and births of sexual love?"--


s: The smiling Fair obeys the inquiring Muse,


s: And in sweet tones her grateful task pursues.


s: "Now on broad pinions from the realms above


s: Descending CUPID seeks the Cyprian grove;


s: To his wide arms enamour'd PSYCHE springs,


s: And clasps her lover with aurelian wings.


s: A purple sash across HIS shoulder bends,


s: And fringed with gold the quiver'd shafts suspends;


s: The bending bow obeys the silken string,


s: And, as he steps, the silver arrows ring.


s: Thin folds of gauze with dim transparence flow


s: O'er HER fair forehead, and her neck of snow;


s: The winding woof her graceful limbs surrounds,


s: Swells in the breeze, and sweeps the velvet grounds;


s: His blushing bride the quiver'd hero leads;


s: Charm'd round their heads pursuing Zephyrs throng,


s: Bright beams of Spring in soft effusion play,


s: And halcyon Hours invite them on their way.


s: ancient emblem of the soul after death as rising from the


s: tomb of its former state, and becoming a winged inhabitant of


s: air from an insect creeping upon earth. At length the wings


s: only were given to a beautiful nymph under the name of


s: Psyche, which is the greek word for the soul, and also became


s: afterwards to signify a butterfly probably from the


s: popularity of this allegory. Many allegorical designs of


s: Cupid or Love warming a butterfly or the Soul with his torch


s: may be seen in Spence's Polymetis, and a beautiful one of


s: their marriage in Bryant's Mythology; from which this


s: "Delighted HYMEN hears their whisper'd vows,


s: And binds his chaplets round their polish'd brows,


s: Guides to his altar, ties the flowery bands,


s: And as they kneel, unites their willing hands.


s: 'Behold, he cries, Earth! Ocean! Air above,


s: 'All forms of Life shall this fond Pair delight,


s: 'And sex to sex the willing world unite;


s: 'Shed their sweet smiles in Earth's unsocial bowers,


s: 'Fan with soft gales, and gild with brighter hours;


s: 'Fill Pleasure's chalice unalloy'd with pain,


s: "Now young DESIRES, on purple pinions borne,


s: Mount the warm gales of Manhood's rising morn;


s: With softer fires through virgin bosoms dart,


s: Flush the pale cheek, and goad the tender heart.


s: Ere the weak powers of transient Life decay,


s: LOVE with nice touch renews the organic frame,


s: Forms a young Ens, another and the same;


s: Gives from his rosy lips the vital breath,


s: And parries with his hand the shafts of death;


s: While BEAUTY broods with angel wings unfurl'd


s: O'er nascent life, and saves the sinking world.


s: Alma Venus! per te quoniam genus omne animantum


s: Concipitur, visitque exortum lumina coeli.


s: "HENCE on green leaves the sexual Pleasures dwell,


s: And Loves and Beauties crowd the blossom's bell;


s: O'er the pleased Stigma bows his waxen head;


s: With meeting lips and mingling smiles they sup


s: Ambrosial dewdrops from the nectar'd cup;


s: Or buoy'd in air the plumy Lover springs,


s: And seeks his panting bride on Hymen-wings.


s: stigmas of flowers are probably nourished by the honey, which


s: is secreted by the honey-gland called by Linneus the nectary;


s: and possess greater sensibility or animation than other parts


s: of the plant. The corol of the flower appears to be a


s: respiratory organ belonging to these anthers and stigmas for


s: the purpose of further oxygenating the vegetable blood for


s: the production of the anther dust and of this honey, which is


s: also exposed to the air in its receptacle or honey-cup;


s: which, I suppose, to be necessary for its further


s: oxygenation, as in many flowers so complicate an apparatus is


s: formed for its protection from insects, as in aconitum,


s: delphinium, larkspur, lonicera, woodbine; and because the


s: corol and nectary fall along with the anthers and stigmas,


s: Dr. B. S. Barton in the American Transactions has lately


s: shown, that the honey collected from some plants is


s: intoxicating and poisonous to men, as from rhododendron,


s: azalea, and datura; and from some other plants that it is


s: hurtful to the bees which collect it; and that from some


s: flowers it is so injurious or disagreeable, that they do not


s: collect it, as from the fritillaria or crown imperial of this


s: "The Stamen males, with appetencies just,


s: With apt propensities, the Styles recluse


s: --Form'd by new powers progressive parts succeed,


s: Join in one whole, and swell into a seed.


s: productions by chemical affinity one set of particles must


s: possess the power of attraction, and the other the aptitude


s: to be attracted, as when iron approaches a magnet; so when


s: animal particles unite, whether in digestion or reproduction,


s: some of them must possess an appetite to unite, and others a


s: propensity to be united. The former of these are secreted by


s: the anthers from the vegetable blood, and the latter by the


s: styles or pericarp; see the Additional Note VIII. on


s: "So in fond swarms the living Anthers shine


s: Break from their stems, and on the liquid glass


s: Surround the admiring stigmas as they pass;


s: The love-sick Beauties lift their essenced brows,


s: Sigh to the Cyprian queen their secret vows,


s: Like watchful Hero feel their soft alarms,


s: And clasp their floating lovers in their arms.


s: class of dioecia. The flowers of the male plant are produced


s: under water, and as soon as their farina or dust is mature,


s: they detach themselves from the plant, rise to the surface


s: and continue to flourish, and are wafted by the air or borne


s: by the current to the female flowers. In this they resemble


s: those tribes of insects, where the males at certain seasons


s: acquire wings, but not the females, as ants, coccus,


s: lampyris, phalæna, brumata, lichanella; Botanic Garden, Vol.


s: "Hence the male Ants their gauzy wings unfold,


s: And young Lampyris waves his plumes of gold;


s: The Glow-Worm sparkles with impassion'd light


s: On each green bank, and charms the eye of night;


s: While new desires the painted Snail perplex,


s: some seasons so luminous, that M. Merian says, that by


s: putting two of them under a glass, she was able to draw her


s: figures of them by night. Whether the light of this and of


s: other insects be caused by their amatorial passion, and thus


s: assists them to find each other; or is caused by respiration,


s: which is so analogous to combustion; or to a tendency to


s: putridity, as in dead fish and rotten wood, is still to be


s: investigated; see Botanic Garden, Vol. I. Additional Note


s: "Hence, when the Morus in Italia's lands


s: To spring's warm beam its timid leaf expands;


s: The Silk-Worm broods in countless tribes above


s: Crop the green treasure, uninform'd of love;


s: Erewhile the changeful worm with circling head


s: Weaves the nice curtains of his silken bed;


s: Alike secured from sunshine and from storm;


s: For twelve long days He dreams of blossom'd groves,


s: Wakes from his trance, alarm'd with young Desire,


s: Finds his new sex, and feels ecstatic fire;


s: From flower to flower with honey'd lip he springs,


s: And seeks his velvet loves on silver wings.


s: butterflies seem to pass from a reptile leaf-eating state,


s: and to acquire wings to flit in air, with a proboscis to gain


s: honey for their food along with their organs of reproduction,


s: solely for the purpose of propagating their species by sexual


s: intercourse, as they die when that is completed. By the use


s: of their wings they have access to each other on different


s: branches or on different vegetables, and by living upon honey


s: probably acquire a higher degree of animation, and thus seem


s: to resemble the anthers of flowers, which probably are


s: supported by honey only, and thence acquire greater


s: sensibility; see Note on Vallisneria, l. 280 of this Canto.


s: A naturalist, who had studied this subject, thought it not


s: impossible that the first insects were the anthers and


s: stigmas of flowers, which had by some means loosened


s: themselves from their parent plant, like the male flowers of


s: vallisneria, and that other insects in process of time had


s: been formed from these, some acquiring wings, others fins,


s: and others claws, from their ceaseless efforts to procure


s: food or to secure themselves from injury. He contends, that


s: none of these changes are more incomprehensible than the


s: transformation of caterpillars into butterflies; see Botanic


s: Blasts the sweet flowers of Pleasure not his own,


s: Rolls his wild eyes, and through the shuddering grove


s: Or drives o'er rattling plains his iron car,


s: Flings his red torch, and lights the flames of war.


s: And Quails with Quails in doubtful fight engage;


s: Of armed heels and bristling plumage proud,


s: They sound the insulting clarion shrill and loud,


s: With rustling pinions meet, and swelling chests,


s: And seize with closing beaks their bleeding crests;


s: Rise on quick wing above the struggling foe,


s: There the hoarse stag his croaking rival scorns,


s: And butts and parries with his branching horns;


s: Contending Boars with tusk enamell'd strike,


s: And guard with shoulder-shield the blow oblique;


s: While female bands attend in mute surprise,


s: And view the victor with admiring eyes.--


s: one part of the animal world has consisted in the desire of


s: the exclusive possession of the females; and these have


s: acquired weapons to combat each other for this purpose, as


s: the very thick shield-like horny skin on the shoulder of the


s: boar is a defence only against animals of his own species,


s: who strike obliquely upwards, nor are his tushes for other


s: purposes, except to defend himself, as he is not naturally a


s: carnivorous animal. So the horns of the stag are sharp to


s: offend his adversary, but are branched for the purpose of


s: parrying or receiving the thrusts of horns similar to his


s: own, and have therefore been formed for the purpose of


s: combating other stags for the exclusive possession of the


s: females, who are observed, like the ladies in the times of


s: chivalry, to attend the car of the victor.


s: The birds, which do not carry food to their young, and do not


s: therefore marry, are armed with spurs for the purpose of


s: fighting for the exclusive possession of the females, as


s: cocks and quails. It is certain that these weapons are not


s: provided for their defence against other adversaries, because


s: the females of these species are without this armour;


s: "So Knight on Knight, recorded in romance,


s: Urged the proud steed, and couch'd the extended lance;


s: He, whose dread prowess with resistless force,


s: O'erthrew the opposing warrior and his horse,


s: Bless'd, as the golden guerdon of his toils,


s: Bow'd to the Beauty, and receiv'd her smiles.


s: "So when fair HELEN with ill-fated charms,


s: By PARIS wooed, provoked the world to arms,


s: Left her vindictive Lord to sigh in vain


s: For broken vows, lost love, and cold disdain;


s: Fired at his wrongs, associate to destroy


s: The realms unjust of proud adulterous Troy,


s: Unnumber'd Heroes braved the dubious fight,


s: And sunk lamented to the shades of night.


s: "Now vows connubial chain the plighted pair,


s: The married birds with nice selection cull


s: Soft thistle-down, gray moss, and scattered wool,


s: Line the secluded nest with feathery rings,


s: Meet with fond bills, and woo with fluttering wings.


s: Week after week, regardless of her food,


s: The incumbent Linnet warms her future brood;


s: Each spotted egg with ivory lips she turns,


s: Day after day with fond expectance burns,


s: Hears the young prisoner chirping in his cell,


s: And breaks in hemispheres the obdurate shell.


s: Loud trills sweet Philomel his tender strain,


s: Charms his fond bride, and wakes his infant train;


s: Perch'd on the circling moss, the listening throng


s: Wave their young wings, and whisper to the song.