NATURE

[464]Blackmail.What is "blackmail"? How may Christmas gifts, for instance, become a species of blackmail?[465]Brother, if Jove, etc. In the Greek legend, Epimetheus gives this advice to his brother Prometheus. The lines are taken from a translation ofWorks and Days, by the Greek poet, Hesiod.[466]Timons.Here used in the sense of wealthy givers. Timon, the hero of Shakespeare's play,Timon of Athens, wasted his fortune in lavish gifts and entertainments, and in his poverty was exposed to the ingratitude of those whom he had served. He became morose and died in miserable retirement.[467]It is a very onerous business, etc. One of Emerson's favorite passages in the essays of Montaigne, a French writer, was this: "Oh, how am I obliged to Almighty God, who has been pleased that I should immediately receive all I have from his bounty, and particularly reserved all my obligation to himself! How instantly do I beg of his holy compassion that I may never owe a real thanks to anyone. O happy liberty in which I have thus far lived! May it continue with me to the last. I endeavor to have no need of any one."When Emerson, in his old age, had his house injured by fire, his friends contributed funds to repair it and to send him to England. The gift was proffered graciously and accepted gratefully.[468]Buddhist.A follower of Buddha, a Hindoo religious teacher of the fifth century before Christ.NATURE[469]Nature.Emerson's first published volume was a little book of essays, entitledNature, which appeared in 1836. In the years which followed, he thought more deeply on thesubject and, according to his custom, made notes about it and entries in his journals. In the winter of 1843 he delivered a lecture onRelation to Nature, and it is probable that this essay is built up from that. The plan of it, however, had been long in his mind: In 1840 he wrote in his journal: "I think I must do these eyes of mine the justice to write a new chapter on Nature. This delight we all take in every show of night or day or field or forest or sea or city, down to the lowest particulars, is not without sequel, though we be as yet only wishers and gazers, not at all knowing what we want. We are predominated here as elsewhere by an upper wisdom, and resemble those great discoverers who are haunted for years, sometimes from infancy, with a passion for the fact, or class of facts in which the secret lies which they are destined to unlock, and they let it not go until the blessing is won. So these sunsets and starlights, these swamps and rocks, these bird notes and animal forms off which we cannot get our eyes and ears, but hover still, as moths round a lamp, are no doubt a Sanscrit cipher covering the whole religious history of the universe, and presently we shall read it off into action and character. The pastures are full of ghosts for me, the morning woods full of angels."[470]There are days, etc. The passage in Emerson's journal is hardly less beautiful. Under date of October 30, 1841, he wrote: "On this wonderful day when heaven and earth seem to glow with magnificence, and all the wealth of all the elements is put under contribution to make the world fine, as if Nature would indulge her offspring, it seemed ungrateful to hide in the house. Are there not dull days enough in the year for you to write and read in, that you should waste this glittering season when Florida and Cuba seem to have left their glittering seats and come to visit us with all their shining hours, and almost we expect to see the jasmine and cactus burst from the ground instead of these last gentians and asters which have loitered to attend this latter glory of the year? All insects are out, all birds come forth, the very cattle that lie on the ground seem to have great thoughts, and Egypt and India look from their eyes."[471]Halcyons.Halcyon days, ones of peace and tranquillity; anciently, days of calm weather in mid-winter, when the halcyon, or kingfisher, was supposed to brood. It was fabled that this bird laid its eggs in a nest that floated onthe sea, and that it charmed the winds and waves to make them calm while it brooded.[472]Indian Summer.Calm, dry, hazy weather which comes in the autumn in America. The Century Dictionary says it was called Indian Summer because the season was most marked in the sections of the upper eastern Mississippi valley inhabited by Indians about the time the term became current.[473]Gabriel.One of the seven archangels. The Hebrew name means "God is my strong one."[474]Uriel.Another of the seven archangels; the name means "Light of God."[475]Converts all trees to wind-harps.Compare with this passage the lines in Emerson's poem,Woodnotes:"And the countless leaves of the pines are stringsTuned to the lay the wood-god sings."[476]The village.Concord, Massachusetts. Emerson's home the greater part of the time from 1832 till his death.[477]I go with my friend, etc. With Henry Thoreau, the lover of Nature.[478]Our little river.The Concord river.[479]Novitiate and probation.Explain the meaning of these words, in the Roman Catholic Church. What does Emerson mean by them here?[480]Villegiatura.The Italian name for a season spent in country pleasures.[481]Hanging gardens.The hanging gardens of Babylon were one of the seven wonders of the world.[482]Versailles.A royal residence near Paris, with beautiful formal gardens.[483]Paphos.A beautiful city on the island of Cyprus, where was situated a temple of Astarte, or Venus.[484]Ctesiphon.One of the chief cities of ancient Persia, the site of a magnificent royal palace.[485]Notch Mountains.Probably the White Mountains near Crawford Notch, a deep, narrow valley which is often called "The Notch."[486]Æolian harp.A stringed instrument from which sound is drawn by the passing of the wind over its strings. It was named for Æolus, the god of the winds, in Greek mythology.[487]Dorian.Dorus was one of the four divisions ofGreece: the word is here used in a general sense for Grecian.[488]Apollo.In Greek and Roman mythology, the sun god, who presided over music, poetry, and healing.[489]Diana.In Roman mythology, the goddess of the moon devoted to the chase.[490]Edens.Beautiful, sinless places,—like the garden of Eden.[491]Tempes.Places like the lovely valley of Tempe in Thessaly, Greece.[492]Como Lake.A lake of northern Italy, celebrated for its beauty.[493]Madeira Islands.Where are these islands, famous for picturesque beauty and balmy atmosphere?[494]Common.What is a common?[495]Campagna.The plain near Rome.[496]Dilettantism.Define this word and explain its use here.[497]"Wreaths" and "Flora's Chaplets."About the time that Emerson was writing his essays, volumes of formal, artificial verses were very fashionable, more as parlor ornaments than as literature. Two such volumes wereA Wreath of Wild Flowers from New EnglandandThe Floral Offeringby Mrs. Frances Osgood, a New England writer.[498]Pan.In Greek mythology, the god of woods, fields, flocks, and shepherds.[499]The multitude of false cherubs, etc. Explain the meaning of this sentence. If true money were valueless, would people make false money?[500]Proteus.In Greek mythology, a sea god who had the power of assuming different shapes. If caught and held fast, however, he was forced to assume his own shape and answer the questions put to him.[501]Mosaic ... Schemes.The conception of the world as given in Genesis on which the law of Moses, the great Hebrew lawgiver, was founded.[502]Ptolemaic schemes.The system of geography and astronomy taught in the second century by Ptolemy of Alexandria; it was accepted till the sixteenth century, when the Copernican system was established. Ptolemy believed that the sun, planets, and stars revolve around the earth; Copernicus taught that the planets revolve around the sun.[503]Flora.In Roman mythology, the goddess of the spring and of flowers.[504]Fauna.In Roman mythology, the goddess of fieldsand shepherds; she represents the fruitfulness of the earth.[505]Ceres.The Roman goddess of grain and harvest, corresponding to the Greek goddess, Demeter.[506]Pomona.The Roman goddess of fruit trees and gardens.[507]All duly arrive.Emerson deducts from nature the doctrine of evolution. What is its teaching?[508]Plato.(See note36.)[509]Himalaya Mountain chains.(See note193.)[510]Franklin.Give an account of Benjamin Franklin, the famous American scientist and patriot. What did he prove about lightening?[511]Dalton.John Dalton was an English chemist who, about the beginning of the nineteenth century, perfected the atomic theory, that is, the theory that all chemical combinations take place in certain ways between the atoms, or ultimate particles, of bodies.[512]Davy.(See note69.)[513]Black.Joseph Black, a Scotch chemist who made valuable discoveries about latent heat and carbon dioxide, or carbonic acid gas.[514]The astronomers said, etc. Beginning with this passage, several pages of this essay was published in 1844, under the title ofTantalus, in the next to the last number ofThe Dial, which Emerson edited.[515]Centrifugal, centripetal.Define these words.[516]Stoics.See "Stoicism,"331.[517]Luther.(See note188.)[518]Jacob Behmen.A German mystic of the sixteenth century; his name is usually written Boehme.[519]George Fox.(See note202.)[520]James Naylor.An English religious enthusiast of the seventeenth century; he was first a Puritan and later a Quaker.[521]Operose.Laborious.[522]Outskirt and far-off reflection, etc. Compare with this passage Emerson's poem,The Forerunners.[523][OE]dipus.In Greek mythology, the King of Thebes who solved the riddle of the Sphinx, a fabled monster.[524]Prunella.A widely scattered plant, called self-heal, because a decoction of its leaves and stems was, and to some extent is, valued as an application to wounds. An editor comments on the fact that during the last years ofEmerson's life "the little blue self-heal crept into the grass before his study window."SHAKESPEARE; OR, THE POET[525]Shakespeare; or the Poetis one of seven essays on great men in various walks of life, published in 1850 under the title ofRepresentative Men. These essays were first delivered as lectures in Boston in the winter of 1845, and were repeated two years later before English audiences. They must have been especially interesting to those Englishmen who had, seven years before, heard Emerson's friend, Carlyle, deliver his six lectures on great men whom he selected as representative ones. These lectures were published under the title ofHeroes and Hero-Worship. You should read the latter part of Carlyle's lecture onThe Hero as Poetand compare what he says about Shakespeare with Emerson's words. Both Emerson and Carlyle reverenced the great English poet as "the master of mankind." Even in serious New England, the plays of Shakespeare were found upon the bookshelf beside religious tracts and doctrinal treatises. There the boy Emerson found them and learned to love them, and the man Emerson loved them but the more. It was as a record of personal experiences that he wrote in his journal: "Shakespeare fills us with wonder the first time we approach him. We go away, and work and think, for years, and come again,—he astonishes us anew. Then, having drank deeply and saturated us with his genius, we lose sight of him for another period of years. By and by we return, and there he stands immeasurable as at first. We have grown wiser, but only that we should see him wiser than ever. He resembles a high mountain which the traveler sees in the morning and thinks he shall quickly near it and pass it and leave it behind. But he journeys all day till noon, till night. There still is the dim mountain close by him, having scarce altered its bearings since the morning light."[526]Genius.Here instead of speaking as inFriendship, see note286, of the genius or spirit supposed to preside over each man's life, Emerson mentions the guardian spirit of human kind.[527]Shakespeare's youth, etc. It is impossible to appreciate or enjoy this essay without having some clear general information about the condition of the English people and English literature in the glorious Elizabethan age inwhich Shakespeare lived. Consult, for this information, some brief history of England and a comprehensive English literature.[528]Puritans.Strict Protestants who became so powerful in England that in the time of the Commonwealth they controlled the political and religious affairs of the country.[529]Anglican Church.The Established Church of England; the Episcopal church.[530]Punch.The chief character in a puppet show, hence the puppet show itself.[531]Kyd, Marlowe, Greene, etc. For an account of these dramatists consult a text book on English literature. The English drama seems to have begun in the Middle Ages with what were called Miracle plays, which were scenes from Bible history; about the same time were performed the Mystery plays, which dramatized the lives of saints. These were followed by the Moralities, plays in which were personified abstract virtues and vices. The first step in the creation of the regular drama was taken by Heywood, who composed some farcical plays called Interludes. The people of the sixteenth century were fond of pageants, shows in which classical personages were introduced, and Masques, which gradually developed from pageants into dramas accompanied with music. About the middle of the sixteenth century, rose the English drama,—comedy, tragedy, and historical plays. The chief among the group of dramatists who attained fame before Shakespeare began to write were Kyd, Marlowe, Greene, and Peele. Ben Jonson and Beaumont and Fletcher rank next to Shakespeare among his contemporaries, and among the other dramatists of the period were Chapman, Dekker, Webster, Heywood, Middleton, Ford, and Massinger.[532]At the time when, etc. Probably about 1585.[533]Tale of Troy.Drama founded on the Trojan war. The subject of famous poems by Latin and Greek poets.[534]Death of Julius Cæsar.An account of the plots which ended in the assassination of the great Roman general.[535]Plutarch.See note onHeroism(264). Shakespeare, like the earlier dramatists, drew freely on Plutarch'sLivesfor material.[536]Brut. A poetical version of the legendary history of Britain, by Layamon. Its hero is Brutus, a mythical King of Britain.[537]Arthur.A British King of the sixth century,around whose life and deeds so many legends have grown up that some historians say he, too, was a myth. He is the center of the great cycle of romances told in prose in Mallory'sMorte d'Arthurand in poetry in Tennyson'sIdylls of the King.[538]The royal Henries.Among the dramas popular in Shakespeare's day which he retouched or rewrote are the historical plays. Henry IV., First and Second Parts; Henry V; Henry VI., First, Second, and Third Parts; and Henry VIII.[539]Italian tales.Italian literature was very popular in Shakespeare's day, and authors drew freely from it for material, especially from theDecameron, a famous collection of a hundred tales, by Boccaccio, a poet of the fourteenth century.[540]Spanish voyages.In the sixteenth century, Spain was still a power upon the high seas, and the tales of her conquests and treasures in the New World were like tales of romance.[541]Prestige.Can you give an English equivalent for this French word?[542]Which no single genius, etc. In the same way, some critics assure us, the poems credited to the Greek poet, Homer, were built up by a number of poets.[543]Malone.An Irish critic and scholar of the eighteenth century, best known by his edition of Shakespeare's plays.[544]Wolsey's Soliloquy.See Shakespeare'sHenry VIII.iii, 2. Cardinal Wolsey was prime minister of England in the reign of Henry VIII.[545]Scene with Cromwell.SeeHenry VIII.iii, 2. Thomas Cromwell was the son of an English blacksmith; he rose to be lord high chamberlain of England in the reign of Henry VIII., but, incurring the King's displeasure, was executed on a charge of treason.[546]Account of the coronation.SeeHenry VIII.iv, 1.[547]Compliment to Queen Elizabeth.SeeHenry VIII.v, 5.[548]Bad rhythm.Too much importance must not be attached to these matters in deciding authorship, as critics disagree about them.[549]Value his memory, etc. The Greeks, in appreciation of the value of memory to the poet, represented theMuses as the daughters of Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory.[550]Homer.A Greek poet to whom is assigned the authorship of the two greatest Greek poems, theIliadand theOdyssey; he is said to have lived about a thousand years before Christ.[551]Chaucer.(See note33.)[552]Saadi.A Persian poet, supposed to have lived in the thirteenth century. His best known poems are his odes.[553]Presenting Thebes, etc. This quotation is from Milton's poem,Il Penseroso. Milton here names the three most popular subjects of Greek tragedy,—the story of [OE]dipus, the ill-fated King of Thebes who slew his father; the tale of the descendants of Pelops, King of Pisa, who seemed born to woe—Agamemnon was one of his grandsons; the third subject was the tale of Troy and the heroes of the Trojan war,—called "divine" because the Greeks represented even the gods as taking part in the contest.[554]Pope.(See note88.)[555]Dryden.(See note35.)[556]Chaucer is a huge borrower.Taine, the French critic, says on this subject: "Chaucer was capable of seeking out in the old common forest of the Middle Ages, stories and legends, to replant them in his own soil and make them send out new shoots.... He has the right and power of copying and translating because by dint of retouching he impresses ... his original work. He recreates what he imitates."[557]Lydgate.John Lydgate was an English poet who lived a generation later than Chaucer; in hisTroy Bookand other poems he probably borrowed from the sources used by Chaucer; he called himself "Chaucer's disciple."[558]Caxton.William Caxton, the English author, more famous as the first English printer, was not born until after Chaucer's death. The work from which Emerson supposes the poet to have borrowed Caxton's translation ofRecueil des Histoires de Troye, the first printed English book, appeared about 1474.[559]Guido di Colonna.A Sicilian poet and historian of the thirteenth century. Chaucer in hisHouse of Fameplaced in his vision "on a pillar higher than the rest, Homer and Livy, Dares the Phrygian, Guido Colonna, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and the other historians of the war of Troy."[560]Dares Phrygius.A Latin account of the fall ofTroy, written about the fifth century, which pretends to be a translation of a lost work on the fall of Troy by Dares, a Trojan priest mentioned in Homer'sIliad.[561]Ovid.A Roman poet who lived about the time of Christ, whose best-known work is theMetamorphoses, founded on classical legends.[562]Statius.A Roman poet of the first century after Christ.[563]Petrarch.An Italian poet of the fourteenth century.[564]Boccaccio.An Italian novelist and poet of the fourteenth century. See note on "Italian tales,"539. It is supposed that the plan of theDecameronsuggested the similar but far superior plan of Chaucer'sCanterbury Tales.[565]Provençal poets.The poets of Provençe, a province of the southeastern part of France. In the Middle Ages it was celebrated for its lyric poets, called troubadours.[566]Romaunt of the Rose, etc. Chaucer'sRomaunt of the Rose, written during the period of French influence, is an incomplete and abbreviated translation of a French poem of the thirteenth century,Roman de la Rose, the first part of which was written by William of Loris and the latter by John of Meung, or Jean de Meung.[567]Troilus and Creseide, etc. Chaucer ascribes the Italian poem which he followed in hisTroilus and Creseideto an unknown "Lollius of Urbino"; the source of the poem, however, isIl Filostrato, by Boccaccio, the Italian poet already mentioned. Chaucer's poem is far more than a translation; more than half is entirely original, and it is a powerful poem, showing profound knowledge of the Italian poets, whose influence with him superseded the French poets.[568]The Cock and the Fox.The Nun's Priest's Talein theCanterbury Taleswas an original treatment of theRoman de Renart, of Marie of France, a French poet of the twelfth century.[569]House of Fame, etc. The plan of theHouse of Fame, written during the period of Chaucer's Italian influence, shows the influence of Dante; the general idea of the poem is from Ovid, the Roman poet.[570]Gower.John Gower was an English poet, Chaucer's contemporary and friend; the two poets went to the same sources for poetic materials, but Chaucer made no such use of Gower's works as we would infer from this passage. Emerson relied on his memory for facts, and hence mademistakes, as here in the instances of Lydgate, Caxton, and Gower.[571]Westminster, Washington.What legislative body assembles at Westminster Palace, London? What at Washington?

[464]Blackmail.What is "blackmail"? How may Christmas gifts, for instance, become a species of blackmail?

[465]Brother, if Jove, etc. In the Greek legend, Epimetheus gives this advice to his brother Prometheus. The lines are taken from a translation ofWorks and Days, by the Greek poet, Hesiod.

[466]Timons.Here used in the sense of wealthy givers. Timon, the hero of Shakespeare's play,Timon of Athens, wasted his fortune in lavish gifts and entertainments, and in his poverty was exposed to the ingratitude of those whom he had served. He became morose and died in miserable retirement.

[467]It is a very onerous business, etc. One of Emerson's favorite passages in the essays of Montaigne, a French writer, was this: "Oh, how am I obliged to Almighty God, who has been pleased that I should immediately receive all I have from his bounty, and particularly reserved all my obligation to himself! How instantly do I beg of his holy compassion that I may never owe a real thanks to anyone. O happy liberty in which I have thus far lived! May it continue with me to the last. I endeavor to have no need of any one."When Emerson, in his old age, had his house injured by fire, his friends contributed funds to repair it and to send him to England. The gift was proffered graciously and accepted gratefully.

When Emerson, in his old age, had his house injured by fire, his friends contributed funds to repair it and to send him to England. The gift was proffered graciously and accepted gratefully.

[468]Buddhist.A follower of Buddha, a Hindoo religious teacher of the fifth century before Christ.

[469]Nature.Emerson's first published volume was a little book of essays, entitledNature, which appeared in 1836. In the years which followed, he thought more deeply on thesubject and, according to his custom, made notes about it and entries in his journals. In the winter of 1843 he delivered a lecture onRelation to Nature, and it is probable that this essay is built up from that. The plan of it, however, had been long in his mind: In 1840 he wrote in his journal: "I think I must do these eyes of mine the justice to write a new chapter on Nature. This delight we all take in every show of night or day or field or forest or sea or city, down to the lowest particulars, is not without sequel, though we be as yet only wishers and gazers, not at all knowing what we want. We are predominated here as elsewhere by an upper wisdom, and resemble those great discoverers who are haunted for years, sometimes from infancy, with a passion for the fact, or class of facts in which the secret lies which they are destined to unlock, and they let it not go until the blessing is won. So these sunsets and starlights, these swamps and rocks, these bird notes and animal forms off which we cannot get our eyes and ears, but hover still, as moths round a lamp, are no doubt a Sanscrit cipher covering the whole religious history of the universe, and presently we shall read it off into action and character. The pastures are full of ghosts for me, the morning woods full of angels."

[470]There are days, etc. The passage in Emerson's journal is hardly less beautiful. Under date of October 30, 1841, he wrote: "On this wonderful day when heaven and earth seem to glow with magnificence, and all the wealth of all the elements is put under contribution to make the world fine, as if Nature would indulge her offspring, it seemed ungrateful to hide in the house. Are there not dull days enough in the year for you to write and read in, that you should waste this glittering season when Florida and Cuba seem to have left their glittering seats and come to visit us with all their shining hours, and almost we expect to see the jasmine and cactus burst from the ground instead of these last gentians and asters which have loitered to attend this latter glory of the year? All insects are out, all birds come forth, the very cattle that lie on the ground seem to have great thoughts, and Egypt and India look from their eyes."

[471]Halcyons.Halcyon days, ones of peace and tranquillity; anciently, days of calm weather in mid-winter, when the halcyon, or kingfisher, was supposed to brood. It was fabled that this bird laid its eggs in a nest that floated onthe sea, and that it charmed the winds and waves to make them calm while it brooded.

[472]Indian Summer.Calm, dry, hazy weather which comes in the autumn in America. The Century Dictionary says it was called Indian Summer because the season was most marked in the sections of the upper eastern Mississippi valley inhabited by Indians about the time the term became current.

[473]Gabriel.One of the seven archangels. The Hebrew name means "God is my strong one."

[474]Uriel.Another of the seven archangels; the name means "Light of God."

[475]Converts all trees to wind-harps.Compare with this passage the lines in Emerson's poem,Woodnotes:"And the countless leaves of the pines are stringsTuned to the lay the wood-god sings."

[475]Converts all trees to wind-harps.Compare with this passage the lines in Emerson's poem,Woodnotes:

"And the countless leaves of the pines are stringsTuned to the lay the wood-god sings."

[476]The village.Concord, Massachusetts. Emerson's home the greater part of the time from 1832 till his death.

[477]I go with my friend, etc. With Henry Thoreau, the lover of Nature.

[478]Our little river.The Concord river.

[479]Novitiate and probation.Explain the meaning of these words, in the Roman Catholic Church. What does Emerson mean by them here?

[480]Villegiatura.The Italian name for a season spent in country pleasures.

[481]Hanging gardens.The hanging gardens of Babylon were one of the seven wonders of the world.

[482]Versailles.A royal residence near Paris, with beautiful formal gardens.

[483]Paphos.A beautiful city on the island of Cyprus, where was situated a temple of Astarte, or Venus.

[484]Ctesiphon.One of the chief cities of ancient Persia, the site of a magnificent royal palace.

[485]Notch Mountains.Probably the White Mountains near Crawford Notch, a deep, narrow valley which is often called "The Notch."

[486]Æolian harp.A stringed instrument from which sound is drawn by the passing of the wind over its strings. It was named for Æolus, the god of the winds, in Greek mythology.

[487]Dorian.Dorus was one of the four divisions ofGreece: the word is here used in a general sense for Grecian.

[488]Apollo.In Greek and Roman mythology, the sun god, who presided over music, poetry, and healing.

[489]Diana.In Roman mythology, the goddess of the moon devoted to the chase.

[490]Edens.Beautiful, sinless places,—like the garden of Eden.

[491]Tempes.Places like the lovely valley of Tempe in Thessaly, Greece.

[492]Como Lake.A lake of northern Italy, celebrated for its beauty.

[493]Madeira Islands.Where are these islands, famous for picturesque beauty and balmy atmosphere?

[494]Common.What is a common?

[495]Campagna.The plain near Rome.

[496]Dilettantism.Define this word and explain its use here.

[497]"Wreaths" and "Flora's Chaplets."About the time that Emerson was writing his essays, volumes of formal, artificial verses were very fashionable, more as parlor ornaments than as literature. Two such volumes wereA Wreath of Wild Flowers from New EnglandandThe Floral Offeringby Mrs. Frances Osgood, a New England writer.

[498]Pan.In Greek mythology, the god of woods, fields, flocks, and shepherds.

[499]The multitude of false cherubs, etc. Explain the meaning of this sentence. If true money were valueless, would people make false money?

[500]Proteus.In Greek mythology, a sea god who had the power of assuming different shapes. If caught and held fast, however, he was forced to assume his own shape and answer the questions put to him.

[501]Mosaic ... Schemes.The conception of the world as given in Genesis on which the law of Moses, the great Hebrew lawgiver, was founded.

[502]Ptolemaic schemes.The system of geography and astronomy taught in the second century by Ptolemy of Alexandria; it was accepted till the sixteenth century, when the Copernican system was established. Ptolemy believed that the sun, planets, and stars revolve around the earth; Copernicus taught that the planets revolve around the sun.

[503]Flora.In Roman mythology, the goddess of the spring and of flowers.

[504]Fauna.In Roman mythology, the goddess of fieldsand shepherds; she represents the fruitfulness of the earth.

[505]Ceres.The Roman goddess of grain and harvest, corresponding to the Greek goddess, Demeter.

[506]Pomona.The Roman goddess of fruit trees and gardens.

[507]All duly arrive.Emerson deducts from nature the doctrine of evolution. What is its teaching?

[508]Plato.(See note36.)

[509]Himalaya Mountain chains.(See note193.)

[510]Franklin.Give an account of Benjamin Franklin, the famous American scientist and patriot. What did he prove about lightening?

[511]Dalton.John Dalton was an English chemist who, about the beginning of the nineteenth century, perfected the atomic theory, that is, the theory that all chemical combinations take place in certain ways between the atoms, or ultimate particles, of bodies.

[512]Davy.(See note69.)

[513]Black.Joseph Black, a Scotch chemist who made valuable discoveries about latent heat and carbon dioxide, or carbonic acid gas.

[514]The astronomers said, etc. Beginning with this passage, several pages of this essay was published in 1844, under the title ofTantalus, in the next to the last number ofThe Dial, which Emerson edited.

[515]Centrifugal, centripetal.Define these words.

[516]Stoics.See "Stoicism,"331.

[517]Luther.(See note188.)

[518]Jacob Behmen.A German mystic of the sixteenth century; his name is usually written Boehme.

[519]George Fox.(See note202.)

[520]James Naylor.An English religious enthusiast of the seventeenth century; he was first a Puritan and later a Quaker.

[521]Operose.Laborious.

[522]Outskirt and far-off reflection, etc. Compare with this passage Emerson's poem,The Forerunners.

[523][OE]dipus.In Greek mythology, the King of Thebes who solved the riddle of the Sphinx, a fabled monster.

[524]Prunella.A widely scattered plant, called self-heal, because a decoction of its leaves and stems was, and to some extent is, valued as an application to wounds. An editor comments on the fact that during the last years ofEmerson's life "the little blue self-heal crept into the grass before his study window."

[525]Shakespeare; or the Poetis one of seven essays on great men in various walks of life, published in 1850 under the title ofRepresentative Men. These essays were first delivered as lectures in Boston in the winter of 1845, and were repeated two years later before English audiences. They must have been especially interesting to those Englishmen who had, seven years before, heard Emerson's friend, Carlyle, deliver his six lectures on great men whom he selected as representative ones. These lectures were published under the title ofHeroes and Hero-Worship. You should read the latter part of Carlyle's lecture onThe Hero as Poetand compare what he says about Shakespeare with Emerson's words. Both Emerson and Carlyle reverenced the great English poet as "the master of mankind." Even in serious New England, the plays of Shakespeare were found upon the bookshelf beside religious tracts and doctrinal treatises. There the boy Emerson found them and learned to love them, and the man Emerson loved them but the more. It was as a record of personal experiences that he wrote in his journal: "Shakespeare fills us with wonder the first time we approach him. We go away, and work and think, for years, and come again,—he astonishes us anew. Then, having drank deeply and saturated us with his genius, we lose sight of him for another period of years. By and by we return, and there he stands immeasurable as at first. We have grown wiser, but only that we should see him wiser than ever. He resembles a high mountain which the traveler sees in the morning and thinks he shall quickly near it and pass it and leave it behind. But he journeys all day till noon, till night. There still is the dim mountain close by him, having scarce altered its bearings since the morning light."

[526]Genius.Here instead of speaking as inFriendship, see note286, of the genius or spirit supposed to preside over each man's life, Emerson mentions the guardian spirit of human kind.

[527]Shakespeare's youth, etc. It is impossible to appreciate or enjoy this essay without having some clear general information about the condition of the English people and English literature in the glorious Elizabethan age inwhich Shakespeare lived. Consult, for this information, some brief history of England and a comprehensive English literature.

[528]Puritans.Strict Protestants who became so powerful in England that in the time of the Commonwealth they controlled the political and religious affairs of the country.

[529]Anglican Church.The Established Church of England; the Episcopal church.

[530]Punch.The chief character in a puppet show, hence the puppet show itself.

[531]Kyd, Marlowe, Greene, etc. For an account of these dramatists consult a text book on English literature. The English drama seems to have begun in the Middle Ages with what were called Miracle plays, which were scenes from Bible history; about the same time were performed the Mystery plays, which dramatized the lives of saints. These were followed by the Moralities, plays in which were personified abstract virtues and vices. The first step in the creation of the regular drama was taken by Heywood, who composed some farcical plays called Interludes. The people of the sixteenth century were fond of pageants, shows in which classical personages were introduced, and Masques, which gradually developed from pageants into dramas accompanied with music. About the middle of the sixteenth century, rose the English drama,—comedy, tragedy, and historical plays. The chief among the group of dramatists who attained fame before Shakespeare began to write were Kyd, Marlowe, Greene, and Peele. Ben Jonson and Beaumont and Fletcher rank next to Shakespeare among his contemporaries, and among the other dramatists of the period were Chapman, Dekker, Webster, Heywood, Middleton, Ford, and Massinger.

[532]At the time when, etc. Probably about 1585.

[533]Tale of Troy.Drama founded on the Trojan war. The subject of famous poems by Latin and Greek poets.

[534]Death of Julius Cæsar.An account of the plots which ended in the assassination of the great Roman general.

[535]Plutarch.See note onHeroism(264). Shakespeare, like the earlier dramatists, drew freely on Plutarch'sLivesfor material.

[536]Brut. A poetical version of the legendary history of Britain, by Layamon. Its hero is Brutus, a mythical King of Britain.

[537]Arthur.A British King of the sixth century,around whose life and deeds so many legends have grown up that some historians say he, too, was a myth. He is the center of the great cycle of romances told in prose in Mallory'sMorte d'Arthurand in poetry in Tennyson'sIdylls of the King.

[538]The royal Henries.Among the dramas popular in Shakespeare's day which he retouched or rewrote are the historical plays. Henry IV., First and Second Parts; Henry V; Henry VI., First, Second, and Third Parts; and Henry VIII.

[539]Italian tales.Italian literature was very popular in Shakespeare's day, and authors drew freely from it for material, especially from theDecameron, a famous collection of a hundred tales, by Boccaccio, a poet of the fourteenth century.

[540]Spanish voyages.In the sixteenth century, Spain was still a power upon the high seas, and the tales of her conquests and treasures in the New World were like tales of romance.

[541]Prestige.Can you give an English equivalent for this French word?

[542]Which no single genius, etc. In the same way, some critics assure us, the poems credited to the Greek poet, Homer, were built up by a number of poets.

[543]Malone.An Irish critic and scholar of the eighteenth century, best known by his edition of Shakespeare's plays.

[544]Wolsey's Soliloquy.See Shakespeare'sHenry VIII.iii, 2. Cardinal Wolsey was prime minister of England in the reign of Henry VIII.

[545]Scene with Cromwell.SeeHenry VIII.iii, 2. Thomas Cromwell was the son of an English blacksmith; he rose to be lord high chamberlain of England in the reign of Henry VIII., but, incurring the King's displeasure, was executed on a charge of treason.

[546]Account of the coronation.SeeHenry VIII.iv, 1.

[547]Compliment to Queen Elizabeth.SeeHenry VIII.v, 5.

[548]Bad rhythm.Too much importance must not be attached to these matters in deciding authorship, as critics disagree about them.

[549]Value his memory, etc. The Greeks, in appreciation of the value of memory to the poet, represented theMuses as the daughters of Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory.

[550]Homer.A Greek poet to whom is assigned the authorship of the two greatest Greek poems, theIliadand theOdyssey; he is said to have lived about a thousand years before Christ.

[551]Chaucer.(See note33.)

[552]Saadi.A Persian poet, supposed to have lived in the thirteenth century. His best known poems are his odes.

[553]Presenting Thebes, etc. This quotation is from Milton's poem,Il Penseroso. Milton here names the three most popular subjects of Greek tragedy,—the story of [OE]dipus, the ill-fated King of Thebes who slew his father; the tale of the descendants of Pelops, King of Pisa, who seemed born to woe—Agamemnon was one of his grandsons; the third subject was the tale of Troy and the heroes of the Trojan war,—called "divine" because the Greeks represented even the gods as taking part in the contest.

[554]Pope.(See note88.)

[555]Dryden.(See note35.)

[556]Chaucer is a huge borrower.Taine, the French critic, says on this subject: "Chaucer was capable of seeking out in the old common forest of the Middle Ages, stories and legends, to replant them in his own soil and make them send out new shoots.... He has the right and power of copying and translating because by dint of retouching he impresses ... his original work. He recreates what he imitates."

[557]Lydgate.John Lydgate was an English poet who lived a generation later than Chaucer; in hisTroy Bookand other poems he probably borrowed from the sources used by Chaucer; he called himself "Chaucer's disciple."

[558]Caxton.William Caxton, the English author, more famous as the first English printer, was not born until after Chaucer's death. The work from which Emerson supposes the poet to have borrowed Caxton's translation ofRecueil des Histoires de Troye, the first printed English book, appeared about 1474.

[559]Guido di Colonna.A Sicilian poet and historian of the thirteenth century. Chaucer in hisHouse of Fameplaced in his vision "on a pillar higher than the rest, Homer and Livy, Dares the Phrygian, Guido Colonna, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and the other historians of the war of Troy."

[560]Dares Phrygius.A Latin account of the fall ofTroy, written about the fifth century, which pretends to be a translation of a lost work on the fall of Troy by Dares, a Trojan priest mentioned in Homer'sIliad.

[561]Ovid.A Roman poet who lived about the time of Christ, whose best-known work is theMetamorphoses, founded on classical legends.

[562]Statius.A Roman poet of the first century after Christ.

[563]Petrarch.An Italian poet of the fourteenth century.

[564]Boccaccio.An Italian novelist and poet of the fourteenth century. See note on "Italian tales,"539. It is supposed that the plan of theDecameronsuggested the similar but far superior plan of Chaucer'sCanterbury Tales.

[565]Provençal poets.The poets of Provençe, a province of the southeastern part of France. In the Middle Ages it was celebrated for its lyric poets, called troubadours.

[566]Romaunt of the Rose, etc. Chaucer'sRomaunt of the Rose, written during the period of French influence, is an incomplete and abbreviated translation of a French poem of the thirteenth century,Roman de la Rose, the first part of which was written by William of Loris and the latter by John of Meung, or Jean de Meung.

[567]Troilus and Creseide, etc. Chaucer ascribes the Italian poem which he followed in hisTroilus and Creseideto an unknown "Lollius of Urbino"; the source of the poem, however, isIl Filostrato, by Boccaccio, the Italian poet already mentioned. Chaucer's poem is far more than a translation; more than half is entirely original, and it is a powerful poem, showing profound knowledge of the Italian poets, whose influence with him superseded the French poets.

[568]The Cock and the Fox.The Nun's Priest's Talein theCanterbury Taleswas an original treatment of theRoman de Renart, of Marie of France, a French poet of the twelfth century.

[569]House of Fame, etc. The plan of theHouse of Fame, written during the period of Chaucer's Italian influence, shows the influence of Dante; the general idea of the poem is from Ovid, the Roman poet.

[570]Gower.John Gower was an English poet, Chaucer's contemporary and friend; the two poets went to the same sources for poetic materials, but Chaucer made no such use of Gower's works as we would infer from this passage. Emerson relied on his memory for facts, and hence mademistakes, as here in the instances of Lydgate, Caxton, and Gower.

[571]Westminster, Washington.What legislative body assembles at Westminster Palace, London? What at Washington?

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