Veil'd, with gay decency and modest pride,310 Slow to the mosque she moves, an eastern bride;There her soft vows unceasing love record,Queen of the bright seraglio of her Lord.—So sinks or rises with the changeful hourThe liquid silver in its glassy tower.315 So turns the needle to the pole it loves,With fine librations quivering as it moves.
All wan and shivering in the leafless gladeThe sad ANEMONE reclined her head;Grief on her cheeks had paled the roseate hue,320 And her sweet eye-lids dropp'd with pearly dew.—"See, from bright regions, borne on odorous galesThe Swallow, herald of the summer, sails;
[Anemone. l. 318. Many males, many females. Pliny says this flower never opens its petals but when the wind blows; whence its name: it has properly no calix, but two or three sets of petals, three in each set, which are folded over the stamens and pistil in a singular and beautiful manner, and differs also from ranunculus in not having a melliferous pore on the claw of each petal. ]
[The Swallow. l. 322. There is a wonderful conformity between the vegetation of some plants, and the arrival of certain birds of passage. Linneus observes that the wood anemone blows in Sweden on the arrival of the swallow; and the marsh mary-gold, Caltha, when the cuckoo sings. Near the same coincidence was observed in England by Stillingfleet. The word Coccux in Greek signifies both a young fig and a cuckoo, which is supposed to have arisen from the coincidence of their appearance in Greece. Perhaps a similar coincidence of appearance in some parts of Asia gave occasion to the story of the loves of the rose and nightingale, so much celebrated by the eastern poets. See Dianthus. The times however of the appearance of vegetables in the spring seem occasionally to be influenced by their acquired habits, as well as by their sensibility to heat: for the roots of potatoes, onions, &c. will germinate with much less heat in the spring than in the autumn; as is easily observable where these roots are stored for use; and hence malt is best made in the spring. 2d. The grains and roots brought from more southern latitudes germinate here sooner than those which are brought from more northern ones, owing to their acquired habits. Fordyce on Agriculture. 3d. It was observed by one of the scholars of Linneus, that the apple-trees sent from hence to New England blossomed for a few years too early for that climate, and bore no fruit; but afterwards learnt to accommodate themselves to their new situation. (Kalm's Travels.) 4th. The parts of animals become more sensible to heat after having been previously exposed to cold, as our hands glow on coming into the house after having held snow in them; this seems to happen to vegetables; for vines in grape-houses, which have been exposed to the winter's cold, will become forwarder and more vigorous than those which have been kept during the winter in the house. (Kenedy on Gardening.) This accounts for the very rapid vegetation in the northern latitudes after the solution of the snows.
The increase of the irritability of plants in respect to heat, after having been previously exposed to cold, is further illustrated by an experiment of Dr. Walker's. He cut apertures into a birch-tree at different heights; and on the 26th of March some of these apertures bled, or oozed with the sap-juice, when the thermometer was at 39; which same apertures did not bleed on the 13th of March, when the thermometer was at 44. The reason of this I apprehend was, because on the night of the 25th the thermometer was as low as 34; whereas on the night of the 12th it was at 41; though the ingenious author ascribes it to another cause. Trans. of Royal Soc. of Edinburgh, v. 1. p. 19.]
"Breathe, gentle AIR! from cherub-lips impartThy balmy influence to my anguish'd heart;325 Thou, whose soft voice calls forth the tender blooms,Whose pencil paints them, and whose breath perfumes;O chase the Fiend of Frost, with leaden maceWho seals in death-like sleep my hapless race;Melt his hard heart, release his iron hand,330 And give my ivory petals to expand.So may each bud, that decks the brow of spring,Shed all its incense on thy wafting wing!"—
To her fond prayer propitious Zephyr yields,Sweeps on his sliding shell through azure fields,335 O'er her fair mansion waves his whispering wand,And gives her ivory petals to expand;Gives with new life her filial train to rise,And hail with kindling smiles the genial skies.So shines the Nymph in beauty's blushing pride,340 When Zephyr wafts her deep calash aside;Tears with rude kiss her bosom's gauzy veil,And flings the fluttering kerchief to the gale.So bright, the folding canopy undrawn,Glides the gilt Landau o'er the velvet lawn,
345 Of beaux and belles displays the glittering throng;And soft airs fan them, as they roll along.
Where frowning Snowden bends his dizzy browO'er Conway, listening to the surge below;Retiring LICHEN climbs the topmost stone,350 And 'mid the airy ocean dwells alone.—Bright shine the stars unnumber'do'er her head,And the cold moon-beam gilds her flinty bed;While round the rifted rocks hoarse whirlwinds breathe,And dark with thunder sail the cloudsbeneath.—355 The steepy path her plighted swain pursues,And tracks her light step o'er th' imprinted dews,Delighted Hymen gives his torch to blaze,Winds round the craggs, and lights the mazy ways;
[Lichen. l. 349. Calcareum. Liver-wort. Clandestine Marriage. This plant is the first that vegetates on naked rocks, covering them with a kind of tapestry, and draws its nourishment perhaps chiefly from the air; after it perishes, earth enough is left for other mosses to root themselves; and after some ages a soil is produced sufficient for the growth of more succulent and large vegetables. In this manner perhaps the whole earth has been gradually covered with vegetation, after it was raised out of the primeval ocean by subterraneous fires.]
Sheds o'er theirsecretvows his influence chaste,360 And decks with roses the admiring waste.
High in the front of heaven when Sirius glares,And o'er Britannia shakes his fiery hairs;When no soft shower descends, no dew distills,Her wave-worn channels dry, and mute her rills;365 When droops the sickening herb, the blossom fades,And parch'd earth gapes beneath the withering glades.—With languid step fair DYPSACA retreats;"Fall gentle dews!" the fainting nymph repeats;Seeks the low dell, and in the sultry shade370 Invokes in vain the Naiads to her aid.—
[Dypsacus.l. 367. Teasel. One female, and four males. There is a cup around every joint of the stem of this plant, which contains from a spoonful to half a pint of water; and serves both for the nutriment of the plant in dry seasons, and to prevent insects from creeping up to devour its seed. See Silene. The Tillandsia, or wild pine, of the West Indies has every leaf terminated near the stalk with a hollow bucket, which contains from half a pint to a quart of water. Dampier's Voyage to Campeachy. Dr. Sloane mentions one kind of aloe furnished with leaves, which, like the wild pine and Banana, hold water; and thence afford necessary refreshment to travellers in hot countries. Nepenthes had a bucket for the same purpose at the end of every leaf, Burm. Zeyl. 41. 17.]
Foursilvan youths in crystal goblets bearThe untasted treasure to the grateful fair;Pleased from their hands with modest grace she sips,And the cool wave reflects her coral lips.
375 With nice selection modest RUBIA blends,Her vermil dyes, and o'er the cauldron bends;Warm 'mid the rising steam the Beauty glows,As blushes in a mist the dewy rose.
[Rubia.l. 375. Madder. Four males and one female. This plant is cultivated in very large quantities for dying red. If mixed with the food of young pigs or chickens, it colours their bones red. If they are fed alternate fortnights with a mixture of madder, and with their usual food alone, their bones will consist of concentric circles of white and red. Belchier. Phil. Trans. 1736. Animals fed with madder for the purpose of these experiments were found upon dissection to have thinner gall. Comment. de rebus. Lipsiæ. This circumstance is worth further attention. The colouring materials of vegetables, like those which serve the purpose of tanning, varnishing, and the various medical purposes, do not seem essential to the life of the plant; but seem given it as a defence against the depredations of insects or other animals, to whom these materials are nauseous or deleterious. To insects and many smaller animals their colours contribute to conceal them from the larger ones which prey upon them. Caterpillars which feed on leaves are generally green; and earth-worms the colour of the earth which they inhabit; Butterflies which frequent flowers, are coloured like them; small birds which frequent hedges have greenish backs like the leaves, and light coloured bellies like the sky, and are hence less visible to the hawk, who passes under them or over them. Those birds which are much amongst flowers, as the gold-finch (Fringilla carduelis), are furnished with vivid colours. The lark, partridge, hare, are the colour of the dry vegetables or earth on which they rest. And frogs vary their colour with the mud of the streams which they frequent; and those which live on trees are green. Fish, which are generally suspended in water, and swallows, which are generally suspended in air, have their backs the colour of the distant ground, and their bellies of the sky. In the colder climates many of these become white during the existence of the snows. Hence there is apparent design in the colours of animals, whilst those of vegetables seem consequent to the other properties of the materials which possess them.]
With chemic artfourfavour'd youths aloof380 Stain the white fleece, or stretch the tinted woof;O'er Age's cheek the warmth of youth diffuse,Or deck the pale-eyed nymph in roseate hues.So when MEDEA to exulting GreeceFrom plunder'd COLCHIS bore the golden fleece;385 On the loud shore a magic pile she rais'd,The cauldron bubbled, and the faggots blaz'd;—-Pleased on the boiling wave old ÆSON swims,And feels new vigour stretch his swelling limbs;
[Pleased on the boiling wave.l. 387. The story of Æson becoming young, from the medicated bath of Medea, seems to have been intended to teach the efficacy of warm bathing in retarding the progress of old age. The wordsrelaxation and bracing, which are generally thought expressive of the effects of warm and cold bathing, are mechanical terms, properly applied to drums or strings; but are only metaphors when applied to the effects of cold or warm bathing on animal bodies. The immediate cause of old age seems to reside in the inirritability of the finer vessels or parts of our system; hence these cease to act, and collapse or become horny or bony. The warm bath is peculiarly adapted to prevent these circumstances by its increasing our irritability, and by moistening and softening the skin, and the extremities of the finer vessels, which terminate in it. To those who are past the meridian of life, and have dry skins, and begin to be emaciated, the warm bath, for half an hour twice a week, I believe to be eminently serviceable in retarding the advances of age.]
Through his thrill'd nerves forgotten ardors dart,390 And warmer eddies circle round his heart;With softer fires his kindling eye-balls glow,And darker tresses wanton round his brow.
As dash the waves on India's breezy strand,Her flush'd cheek press'd upon her lily hand,395 VALLISNER sits, up-turns her tearful eyes,Calls her lost lover, and upbraids the skies;
[Vallisniria. l. 395. This extraordinary plant is of the class Two Houses. It is found in the East Indies, in Norway, and various parts of Italy. Lin. Spec. Plant. They have their roots at the bottom of the Rhone, the flowers of the female plant float on the surface of the water, and are furnished with an elastic spiral stalk, which extends or contracts as the water rises and falls; this rise or fall, from the rapid descent of the river, and the mountain torrents which flow into it, often amounts to many feet in a few hours. The flowers of the male plant are produced under water, and as soon as their farina, or dust, is mature; they detach themselves from the plant, and rise to the surface, continue to flourish, and are wafted by the air, or borne by the currents to the female flowers. In this resembling those tribes of insects, where the males at certain seasons acquire wings, but not the females, as ants, Cocchus, Lampyris, Phalæna, Brumata, Lichanella. These male flowers are in such numbers, though very minute, as frequently to cover the surface of the river to considerable extent. See Families of Plants translated from Linneus, p. 677.]
[Illustration: Vallisneria Spiralis]
For him she breathes the silent sigh, forlorn,Each setting-day; for him each rising morn.—"Bright orbs, that light yon high etherial plain,400 Or bathe your radiant tresses in the main;Pale moon, that silver'st o'er night's sable brow;—For ye were witness to his parting vow!—Ye shelving rocks, dark waves, and sounding shore,—Ye echoed sweet the tender words he swore!—405 Can stars or seas the sails of love retain?O guide my wanderer to my arms again!"—
Her buoyant skiff intrepid ULVA guides,And seeks her Lord amid the trackless tides;
[Ulva, l. 407. Clandestine marriage. This kind of sea-weed is buoyed up by bladders of air, which are formed in the duplicatures of its leaves; and forms immense floating fields of vegetation; the young ones, branching out from the larger ones, and borne on similar little air-vessels. It is also found in the warm baths of Patavia; where the leaves are formed into curious cells or labyrinths for the purpose of floating on the water. See ulva labyrinthi-formis Lin. Spec. Plant. The air contained in these cells was found by Dr. Priestley to be sometimes purer than common air, and sometimes less pure; the air-bladders of fish seem to be similar organs, and serve to render them buoyant in the water. In some of these, as in the Cod and Haddock, a red membrane, consisting of a great number of leaves or duplicatures, is found within the air-bag, which probably secretes this air from the blood of the animal. (Monro. Physiol. of Fish. p. 28.) To determine whether this air, when first separated from the blood of the animal or plant, be dephlogisticated air, is worthy inquiry. The bladder-sena (Colutea), and bladder-nut (Staphylæa), have their seed-vessels distended with air; the Ketmia has the upper joint of the stem immediately under the receptacle of the flower much distended with air; these seem to be analogous to the air-vessel at the broad end of the egg, and may probably become less pure as the seed ripens: some, which I tried, had the purity of the surrounding atmosphere. The air at the broad end of the egg is probably an organ serving the purpose of respiration to the young chick, some of whose vessels are spread upon it like a placenta, or permeate it. Many are of opinion that even the placenta of the human fetus, and cotyledons of quadrupeds, are respiratory organs rather than nutritious ones.
The air in the hollow stems of grasses, and of some umbelliferous plants, bears analogy to the air in the quills, and in some of the bones of birds; supplying the place of the pith, which shrivels up after it has performed its office of protruding the young stem or feather. Some of these cavities of the bones are said to communicate with the lungs in birds. Phil. Trans.
The air-bladders of fish are nicely adapted to their intended purpose; for though they render them buoyant near the surface without the labour of using their fins, yet, when they rest at greater depths, they are no inconvenience, as the increased pressure of the water condenses the air which they contain into less space. Thus, if a cork or bladder of air was immersed a very great depth in the ocean, it would be so much compressed, as to become specifically as heavy as the water, and would remain there. It is probable the unfortunate Mr. Day, who was drowned in a diving-ship of his own construction, miscarried from not attending to this circumstance: it is probable the quantity of air he took down with him, if he descended much lower than he expected, was condensed into so small a space as not to render the ship buoyant when he endeavoured to ascend.]
Hersecretvows the Cyprian Queen approves,410 And hovering halcyons guard her infant-loves;Each in his floating cradle round they throng,And dimpling Ocean bears the fleet along.—Thus o'er the waves, which gently bend and swell,Fair GALATEA steers her silver shell;
415 Her playful Dolphins stretch the silken rein,Hear her sweet voice, and glide along the main.As round the wild meandering coast she movesBy gushing rills, rude cliffs, and nodding groves;Each by her pine the Wood-nymphs wave their locks,420 And wondering Naiads peep amid the rocks;Pleased trains of Mermaids rise from coral cells,Admiring Tritons sound their twisted shells;Charm'd o'er the car pursuing Cupids sweep,Their snow-white pinions twinkling in the deep;425 And, as the lustre of her eye she turns,Soft sighs the Gale, and amorous Ocean burns.
On DOVE'S green brink the fair TREMELLA stood,And view'd her playful image in the flood;
[Tremella, l. 427. Clandestine marriage. I have frequently observed fungusses of this Genus on old rails and on the ground to become a transparent jelly, after they had been frozen in autumnal mornings; which is a curious property, and distinguishes them from some other vegetable mucilage; for I have observed that the paste, made by boiling wheat-flour in water, ceases to be adhesive after having been frozen. I suspected that the Tremella Nostoc, or star-jelly, also had been thus produced; but have since been well informed, that the Tremella Nostoc is a mucilage voided by Herons after they have eaten frogs; hence it has the appearance of having been pressed through a hole; and limbs of frogs are said sometimes to be found amongst it; it is always seen upon plains or by the sides of water, places which Herons generally frequent.
Some of the Fungusses are so acrid, that a drop of their juice blisters the tongue; others intoxicate those who eat them. The Ostiacks in Siberia use them for the latter purpose; one Fungus of the species, Agaricus muscarum, eaten raw; or the decoction of three of them, produces intoxication for 12 or 16 hours. History of Russia. V. 1. Nichols. 1780. As all acrid plants become less so, if exposed to a boiling heat, it is probable the common mushroom may sometimes disagree from being not sufficiently stewed. The Oftiacks blister their skin by a fungus found on Birch-trees; and use the Agiricus officin. for Soap. ib.
There was a dispute whether the fungusses should be classed in the animal or vegetable department. Their animal taste in cookery, and their animal smell when burnt, together with their tendency to putrefaction, insomuch that the Phallus impudicus has gained the name of stink-horn; and lastly, their growing and continuing healthy without light, as the Licoperdon tuber or truffle, and the fungus vinosus or mucor in dark cellars, and the esculent mushrooms on beds covered thick with straw, would seem to shew that they approach towards the animals, or make a kind of isthmus connecting the two mighty kingdoms of animal and of vegetable nature.]
To each rude rock, lone dell, and echoing grove430 Sung the sweet sorrows of hersecretlove."Oh, stay!—return!"—along the sounding shoreCry'd the sad Naiads,—she return'd no more!—Now girt with clouds the sullen Evening frown'd,And withering Eurus swept along the ground;435 The misty moon withdrew her horned light,And sunk with Hesper in the skirt of night;
No dim electric streams, (the northern dawn,)With meek effulgence quiver'd o'er the lawn;No star benignant shot one transient ray440 To guide or light the wanderer on her way.Round the dark craggs the murmuring whirlwinds blow,Woods groan above, and waters roar below;As o'er the steeps with pausing foot she moves,The pitying Dryads shriek amid their groves;445 She flies,—she stops,—she pants—she looks behind,And hears a demon howl in every wind.—As the bleak blast unfurls her fluttering vest,Cold beats the snow upon her shuddering breast;Through her numb'd limbs the chill sensations dart,450 And the keen ice bolt trembles at her heart."I sink, I fall! oh, help me, help!" she cries,Her stiffening tongue the unfinish'd sound denies;Tear after tear adown her cheek succeeds,And pearls of ice bestrew the glittering meads;455 Congealing snows her lingering feet surround,Arrest her flight, and root her to the ground;With suppliant arms she pours the silent prayer;Her suppliant arms hang crystal in the air;Pellucid films her shivering neck o'erspread,460 Seal her mute lips, and silver o'er her head,Veil her pale bosom, glaze her lifted hands,And shrined in ice the beauteous statue stands.—DOVE'S azure nymphs on each revolving yearFor fair TREMELLA shed the tender tear;465 With rush-wove crowns in sad procession move,And sound the sorrowing shell to hapless love."
Here paused the MUSE,—across the darken'd poleSail the dim clouds, the echoing thunders roll;The trembling Wood-nymphs, as the tempest lowers,470 Lead the gay Goddess to their inmost bowers;Hang the mute lyre the laurel shade beneath,And round her temples bind the myrtle wreath.—Now the light swallow with her airy broodSkims the green meadow, and the dimpled flood;475 Loud shrieks the lone thrush from his leafless thorn,Th' alarmed beetle sounds his bugle horn;Each pendant spider winds with fingers fineHis ravel'd clue, and climbs along the line;Gay Gnomes in glittering circles stand aloof480 Beneath a spreading mushroom's fretted roof;Swift bees returning seek their waxen cells,And Sylphs cling quivering in the lily's bells.Through the still air descend the genials showers,And pearly rain-drops deck the laughing flowers.
Bookseller. Your verses, Mr. Botanist, consist ofpure description, I hope there issensein the notes.
Poet. I am only a flower-painter, or occasionally attempt a landskip; and leave the human figure with the subjects of history to abler artists.
B.It is well to know what subjects are within the limits of your pencil; many have failed of success from the want of this self-knowledge. But pray tell me, what is the essential difference between Poetry and Prose? is it solely the melody or measure of the language?
P.I think not solely; for some prose has its melody, and even measure. And good verses, well spoken in a language unknown to the hearer, are not easily to be distinguished from good prose.B. Is it the sublimity, beauty, or novelty of the sentiments?
P. Not so; for sublime sentiments are often better expressed in prose. Thus when Warwick in one of the plays of Shakespear, is left wounded on the field after the loss of the battle, and his friend says to him, "Oh, could you but fly!" what can be more sublime than his answer, "Why then, I would not fly." No measure of verse, I imagine, could add dignity to this sentiment. And it would be easy to select examples of the beautiful or new from prose writers, which I suppose no measure of verse could improve.
B. In what then consists the essential difference between Poetry and Prose?
P. Next to the measure of the language, the principal distinction appears to me to consist in this: that Poetry admits of but few words expressive of very abstracted ideas, whereas Prose abounds with them. And as our ideas derived from visible objects are more distinct than those derived from the objects of our other senses, the words expressive of these ideas belonging to vision make up the principal part of poetic language. That is, the Poet writes principally to the eye, the Prose-writer uses more abstracted terms. Mr. Pope has written a bad verse in the Windsor Forest:
"And Kennet swift for silver Eelsrenown'd."
The word renown'd does not present the idea of a visible object to the mind, and is thence prosaic. But change this line thus,
"And Kennet swift, where silver Graylingsplay." and it becomes poetry, because the scenery is then brought before the eye.
B. This may be done in prose.
P. And when it is done in a single word, it animates the prose; so it is more agreeable to read in Mr. Gibbon's History, "Germany was at this timeover-shadowedwith extensive forests;" than Germany was at this timefullof extensive forests. But where this mode of expression occurs too frequently, the prose approaches to poetry: and in graver works, where we expect to be instructed rather than amused, it becomes tedious and impertinent. Some parts of Mr. Burke's eloquent orations become intricate and enervated by superfluity of poetic ornament; which quantity of ornament would have been agreeable in a poem, where much ornament is expected.
B. Is then the office of poetry only to amuse?
P. The Muses are young ladies, we expect to see them dressed; though not like some modern beauties with so much gauze and feather, that "the Lady herself is the least part of her." There are however didactic pieces of poetry, which are much admired, as the Georgics of Virgil, Mason's English Garden, Hayley's Epistles; nevertheless Science is best delivered in Prose, as its mode of reasoning is from stricter analogies than metaphors or similies.
B. Do not Personifications and Allegories distinguish poetry?
P. These are other arts of bringing objects before the eye; or of expressing sentiments in the language of vision; and are indeed better suited to the pen than the pencil.
B. That is strange, when you have just said they are used to bring their objects before the eye.
P. In poetry the personification or allegoric figure is generally indistinct, and therefore does not strike us as forcibly as to make us attend to its improbability; but in painting, the figures being all much more distinct, their improbability becomes apparent, and seizes our attention to it. Thus the person of Concealment is very indistinct and therefore does not compel us to attend to its improbability, in the following beautiful lines of Shakespear:
"—She never told her love;But let Concealment, like a worm i' th' bud,Feed on her damask cheek."—
But in these lines below the person of Reason obtrudes itself into our company, and becomes disagreeable by its distinctness, and consequent improbability.
"To Reason I flew, and intreated her aid,Who paused on my case, and each circumstance weigh'd;Then gravely reply'd in return to my prayer,That Hebe was fairest of all that were fair.That's a truth, reply'd I, I've no need to be taught,I came to you, Reason, to find out a fault.If that's all, says Reason, return as you came,To find fault with Hebe would forfeit my name."
Allegoric figures are on this account in general less manageable in painting and in statuary than in poetry: and can seldom be introduced in the two former arts in company with natural figures, as is evident from the ridiculous effect of many of the paintings of Rubens in the Luxemburgh gallery; and for this reason, because their improbability becomes more striking, when there are the figures of real persons by their side to compare them with. Mrs. Angelica Kauffman, well apprised of this circumstance, has introduced no mortal figures amongst her Cupids and her Graces. And the great Roubiliac, in his unrivalled monument of Time and Fame struggling for the trophy of General Fleming, has only hung up a medallion of the head of the hero of the piece. There are however some allegoric figures, which we have so often heard described or seen delineated, that we almost forget that they do not exist in common life; and hence view them without astonishment; as the figures of the heathen mythology, of angels, devils, death and time; and almost believe them to be realities, even when they are mixed with representations of the natural forms of man. Whence I conclude, that a certain degree of probability is necessary to prevent us from revolting with distaste from unnatural images; unless we are otherwise so much interested in the contemplation of them as not to perceive their improbability.
B. Is this reasoning about degrees of probability just?—When Sir Joshua Reynolds, who is unequalled both in the theory and practice of his art, and who is a great master of the pen as well as the pencil, has asserted in a discourse delivered to the Royal Academy, December 11, 1786, that "the higher styles of painting, like the higher kinds of the Drama, do not aim at any thing like deception; or have any expectation, that the spectators should think the events there represented are really passing before them." And he then accuses Mr. Fielding of bad judgment, when he attempts to compliment Mr. Garrick in one of his novels, by introducing an ignorant man, mistaking the representation of a scene in Hamlet for a reality; and thinks, because he was an ignorant man, he was less liable to make such a mistake.
P. It is a metaphysical question, and requires more attention than Sir Joshua has bestowed upon it.—You will allow, that we are perfectly deceived in our dreams; and that even in our waking reveries, we are often so much absorbed in the contemplation of what passes in our imaginations, that for a while we do not attend to the lapse of time or to our own locality; and thus suffer a similar kind of deception as in our dreams. That is, we believe things present before our eyes, which are not so.
There are two circumstances, which contribute to this compleat deception in our dreams. First, because in sleep the organs of sense are closed or inert, and hence the trains of ideas associated in our imaginations are never interrupted or dissevered by the irritations of external objects, and can not therefore be contrasted with our sensations. On this account, though we are affected with a variety of passions in our dreams, as anger, love, joy; yet we never experience surprize.—For surprize is only produced when any external irritations suddenly obtrude themselves, and dissever our passing trains of ideas.
Secondly, because in sleep there is a total suspension of our voluntary power, both over the muscles of our bodies, and the ideas of our minds; for we neither walk about, nor reason in compleat sleep. Hence, as the trains of ideas are passing in our imaginations in dreams, we cannot compare them with our previous knowledge of things, as we do in our waking hours; for this is a voluntary exertion; and thus we cannot perceive their incongruity. Thus we are deprived in sleep of the only two means by which we can distinguish the trains of ideas passing in our imaginations, from those excited by our sensations; and are led by their vivacity to believe them to belong to the latter. For the vivacity of these trains of ideas, passing in the imagination, is greatly increased by the causes above-mentioned; that is, by their not being disturbed or dissevered either by the appulses of external bodies, as in surprize; or by our voluntary exertions in comparing them with our previous knowledge, of things, as in reasoning upon them.
B. Now to apply.
P. When by the art of the Painter or Poet a train of ideas is suggested to our imaginations, which interests us so much by the pain or pleasure it affords, that we cease to attend to the irritations of common external objects, and cease also to use any voluntary efforts to compare these interesting trains of ideas with our previous knowledge of things, a compleat reverie is produced: during which time, however short, if it be but for a moment, the objects themselves appear to exist before us. This, I think, has been called by an ingenious critic "the ideal presence" of such objects. (Elements of Criticism by Lord Kaimes). And in respect to the compliment intended by Mr. Fielding to Mr. Garrick, it would seem that an ignorant Rustic at the play of Hamlet, who has some previous belief in the appearance of Ghosts, would sooner be liable to fall into reverie, and continue in it longer, than one who possessed more knowledge of the real nature of things, and had a greater facility of exercising his reason.
B. It must require great art in the Painter or Poet to produce this kind of deception?
P. The matter must be interesting from its sublimity, beauty, or novelty; this is the scientific part; and the art consists in bringing these distinctly before the eye, so as to produce (as above-mentioned) the ideal presence of the object, in which the great Shakespear particularly excells.
B. Then it is not of any consequence whether the representations correspond with nature?
P. Not if they so much interest the reader or spectator as to induce the reverie above described. Nature may be seen in the market-place, or at the card-table; but we expect something more than this in the play-house or picture-room. The further the artists recedes from nature, the greater novelty he is likely to produce; if he rises above nature, he produces the sublime; and beauty is probably a selection and new combination of her most agreeable parts. Yourself will be sensible of the truth of this doctrine by recollecting over in your mind the works of three of our celebrated artists. Sir Joshua Reynolds has introduced sublimity even into its portraits; we admire the representation of persons, whose reality we should have passed by unnoticed. Mrs. Angelica Kauffman attracts our eyes with beauty, which I suppose no where exists; certainly few Grecian faces are seen in this country. And the daring pencil of Fuseli transports us beyond the boundaries of nature, and ravishes us with the charm of the most interesting novelty. And Shakespear, who excells in all these together, so far captivates the spectator, as to make him unmindful of every kind of violation of Time, Place, or Existence. As at the first appearance of the Ghost of Hamlet, "his ear must be dull as the fat weed, which roots itself on Lethe's brink," who can attend to the improbablity of the exhibition. So in many scenes of the Tempest we perpetually believe the action passing before our eyes, and relapse with somewhat of distaste into common life at the intervals of the representation.
B. I suppose a poet of less ability would find such great machinery difficult and cumbersome to manage?
P. Just so, we should be mocked at the apparent improbabilities. As in the gardens of a Scicilian nobleman, described in Mr. Brydone's and in Mr. Swinburn's travels, there are said to be six hundred statues of imaginary monsters, which so disgust the spectators, that the state had once a serious design of destroying them; and yet the very improbable monsters in Ovid's Metamorphoses have entertained the world for many centuries.
B.The monsters in your Botanic Garden, I hope, are of the latter kind?
P.The candid reader must determine.
Again the Goddess strikes the golden lyre,And tunes to wilder notes the warbling wire;With soft suspended step Attention moves,And Silence hovers o'er the listening groves;5 Orb within orb the charmed audience throng,And the green vault reverberates the song."Breathe soft, ye Gales!" the fair CARLINA cries,Bear on broad wings your Votress to the skies.How sweetly mutable yon orient hues,10 As Morn's fair hand her opening roses strews;How bright, when Iris blending many a rayBinds in embroider'd wreath the brow of Day;Soft, when the pendant Moon with lustres paleO'er heaven's blue arch unfurls her milky veil;15 While from the north long threads of silver lightDart on swift shuttles o'er the tissued night!
[Carlina.l. 7. Carline Thistle. Of the class Confederate Males. The seeds of this and of many other plants of the same class are furnished with a plume, by which admirable mechanism they perform long aerial journeys, crossing lakes and deserts, and are thus disseminated far from the original plant, and have much the appearance of a Shuttlecock as they fly. The wings are of different construction, some being like a divergent tuft of hairs, others are branched like feathers, some are elevated from the crown of the seed by a slender foot-stalk, which gives, than a very elegant appearance, others sit immediately on the crown of the seed.
Nature has many other curious vegetable contrivances for the dispersion of seeds: see note on Helianthus. But perhaps none of them has more the appearance of design than the admirable apparatus of Tillandsia for this purpose. This plant grows on the branches of trees, like the misleto, and never on the ground; the seeds are furnished with many long threads on their crowns; which, as they are driven forwards by the winds, wrap round the arms of trees, and thus hold them fast till they vegetate. This it very analogous to the migration of Spiders on the gossamer, who are said to attach themselves to the end of a long thread, and rise thus to the tops of trees or buildings, as the accidental breezes carry them.]
"Breathe soft, ye Zephyrs! hear my fervent sighs,Bear on broad wings your Votress to the skies!"——Plume over plume in long divergent lines20 On whale-bone ribs the fair Mechanic joins;Inlays with eider down the silken strings,And weaves in wide expanse Dædalian wings;Round her bold sons the waving pennons binds,And walks with angel-step upon the winds.
25 So on the shoreless air the intrepid GaulLaunch'd the vast concave of his buoyant ball.—Journeying on high, the silken castle glidesBright as a meteor through the azure tides;O'er towns and towers and temples wins its way,30 Or mounts sublime, and gilds the vault of day.Silent with upturn'd eyes unbreathing crowdsPursue the floating wonder to the clouds;And, flush'd with transport or benumb'd with fear,Watch, as it rises, the diminish'd sphere.35 —Now less and less!—and now a speck is seen!—And now the fleeting rack obtrudes between!—With bended knees, raised arms, and suppliant browTo every shrine with mingled cries they vow.—"Save Him, ye Saints! who o'er the good preside;40 "Bear Him, ye Winds! ye Stars benignant! guide."—The calm Philosopher in ether fails,Views broader stars, and breathes in purer gales;Sees, like a map, in many a waving lineRound Earth's blue plains her lucid waters mine;45 Sees at his feet the forky lightnings glow,And hears innocuous thunders roar below.——Rife, great MONGOLFIER! urge thy venturous flightHigh o'er the Moon's pale ice-reflected light;High o'er the pearly Star, whose beamy horn.50 Hangs in the east, gay harbinger of morn;Leave the red eye of Mars on rapid wing;Jove's silver guards, and Saturn's dusky ring;Leave the fair beams, which, issuing from afar;Play with new lustres round the Georgian star;55 Shun with strong oars the Sun's attractive throne,The sparkling zodiack, and the milky zone;Where headlong Comets with increasing forceThrough other systems bend their blazing course.—For thee Cassiope her chair withdraws,60 For thee the Bear retracts his shaggy paws;High o'er the North thy golden orb shall roll,And blaze eternal round the wondering pole.So Argo, rising from the southern main,Lights with new stars the blue etherial plain;65 With favoring beams the mariner protects,And the bold course, which first it steer'd, directs.
Inventress of the Woof, fair LINA flingsThe flying shuttle through the dancing strings;
[For thee the Bear.l. 60. Tibi jam brachia contrahit ardens Scorpius. Virg. Georg. l. 1. 34. A new star appeared in Cassiope's chair in 1572. Herschel's Construction of the Heavens. Phil. Trans. V. 75. p. 266.]
[Linum.l. 67. Flax Five males and five females. It was first found on the banks of the Nile. The Linum Lusitanicum, or portigal flax, has ten males: see the note on Curcuma. Isis was said to invent spinning and weaving: mankind before that time were clothed with the skins of animals. The fable of Arachne was to compliment this new art of spinning and weaving, supposed to surpass in fineness the web of the Spider.]
Inlays the broider'd weft with flowery dyes,70 Quick beat the reeds, the pedals fall and rise;Slow from the beam the lengths of warp unwind,And dance and nod the massy weights behind.—Taught by her labours, from the fertile soilImmortal Isis clothed the banks of Nile;75 And fair ARACHNE with her rival loomFound undeserved a melancholy doom.—FiveSister-nymphs with dewy fingers twineThe beamy flax, and stretch the fibre-line;Quick eddying threads from rapid spindles reel,80 Or whirl with beaten foot the dizzy wheel.—Charm'd round the busy Fairfiveshepherds press,Praise the nice texture of their snowy dress,Admire the Artists, and the art approve,And tell with honey'd words the tale of love.
85 So now, where Derwent rolls his dusky floodsThrough vaulted mountains, and a night of woods,The Nymph, GOSSYPIA, treads the velvet sod,And warms with rosy smiles the watery God;His ponderous oars to slender spindles turns,90 And pours o'er massy wheels his foamy urns;With playful charms her hoary lover wins,And wields his trident,—while the Monarch spins.—First with nice eye emerging Naiads cullFrom leathery pods the vegetable wool;
[Gossypia. l. 87. Gossypium. The cotton plant. On the river Derwent near Matlock in Derbyshire, Sir RICHARD ARKWRIGHT has created his curious and magnificent machinery for spinning cotton; which had been in vain attempted by many ingenious artists before him. The cotton-wool is first picked from the pods and seeds by women. It is then carded bycylindrical cards, which move against each other, with different velocities. It is taken from these by aniron-handor comb, which has a motion similar to that of scratching, and takes the wool off the cards longitudinally in respect to the fibres or staple, producing a continued line loosely cohering, called theRoveorRoving. This Rove, yet very loosely twisted, is then received or drawn into awhirling canister, and is rolled by the centrifugal force in spiral lines within it; being yet too tender for the spindle. It is then passed betweentwo pairs of rollers; the second pair moving faster than the first elongate the thread with greater equality than can be done by the hand; and is then twisted on spoles or bobbins.
The great fertility of the Cotton-plant in these fine flexile threads, whilst those from Flax, Hemp, and Nettles, or from the bark of the Mulberry-tree, require a previous putrefection of the parenchymatous substance, and much mechanical labour, and afterwards bleaching, renders this plant of great importance to the world. And since Sir Richard Arkwright's ingenious machine has not only greatly abbreviated and simplefied the labour and art of carding and spinning the Cotton-wool, but performs both these circumstancesbetterthan can be done by hand, it is probable, that the clothing of this small seed will become the principal clothing of mankind; though animal wool and silk may be preferable in colder climates, as they are more imperfect conductors of heat, and are thence a warmer clothing.]
95 With wiry teethrevolving cardsreleaseThe tanged knots, and smooth the ravell'd fleece;Next moves theiron-bandwith fingers fine,Combs the wide card, and forms the eternal line;Slow, with soft lips, thewhirling Canacquires100 The tender skeins, and wraps in rising spires;With quicken'd pacesuccessive rollersmove,And these retain, and those extend therove;Then fly the spoles, the rapid axles glow;—And slowly circumvolves the labouring wheel below.
105 PAPYRA, throned upon the banks of Nile,Spread her smooth leaf, and waved her silver style.
[Cyperus. Papyrus.l. 105. Three males, one female. The leaf of this plant was first used for paper, whence the wordpaper; and leaf, or folium, for a fold of a book. Afterwards the bark of a species of mulberry was used; whencelibersignifies a book, and the bark of a tree. Before the invention of letters mankind may be said to have been perpetually in their infancy, as the arts of one age or country generally died with their inventors. Whence arose the policy, which still continues in Indostan, of obliging the son to practice the profession of his father. After the discovery of letters, the facts of Astronomy and Chemistry became recorded in written language, though the antient hieroglyphic characters for the planets and metals continue in use at this day. The antiquity of the invention of music, of astronomical observations, and the manufacture of Gold and Iron, are recorded in Scripture.]
—The storied pyramid, the laurel'd bust,The trophy'd arch had crumbled into dust;The sacred symbol, and the epic song,110 (Unknown the character, forgot the tongue,)With each unconquer'd chief, or fainted maid,Sunk undistinguish'd in Oblivion's shade.Sad o'er the scatter'd ruins Genius sigh'd,And infant Arts but learn'd to lisp and died.115 Till to astonish'd realms PAPYRA taughtTo paint in mystic colours Sound and Thought.With Wisdom's voice to print the page sublime,And mark in adamant the steps of Time.—Three favour'd youths her soft attention share,120 The fond disciples of the studious Fair,
[About twenty letters, ten cyphers, and seven crotches, represent by their numerous combinations all our ideas and sensations! the musical characters are probably arrived at their perfection, unless emphasis, and tone, and swell could be expressed, as well as note and time. Charles the Twelfth of Sweden had a design to have introduced a numeration by squares, instead of by decimation, which might have served the purposes of philosophy better than the present mode, which is said to be of Arabic invention. The alphabet is yet in a very imperfect state; perhaps seventeen letters could express all the simple sounds in the European languages. In China they have not yet learned to divide their words into syllables, and are thence necessitated to employ many thousand characters; it is said above eighty thousand. It is to be wished, in this ingenious age, that the European nations would accord to reform our alphabet.]
Hear her sweet voice, the golden process prove;Gaze, as they learn; and, as they listen, love.The firstfrom Alpha to Omega joinsThe letter'd tribes along the level lines;125 Weighs with nice ear the vowel, liquid, surd,And breaks in syllables the volant word.Then formsthe nextupon the marshal'd plainIn deepening ranks his dexterous cypher-train;And counts, as wheel the decimating bands,130 The dews of Ægypt, or Arabia's sands,And thenthe thirdon four concordant linesPrints the lone crotchet, and the quaver joins;Marks the gay trill, the solemn pause inscribes,And parts with bars the undulating tribes.135 Pleased round her cane-wove throne, the applauding crowdClap'd their rude hands, their swarthy foreheads bow'd;With loud acclaim "a present God!" they cry'd,"A present God!" rebellowing shores reply'd—Then peal'd at intervals with mingled swell140 The echoing harp, shrill clarion, horn, and shell;While Bards ecstatic, bending o'er the lyre,Struck deeper chords, and wing'd the song with fire.Then mark'd Astronomers with keener eyesThe Moon's refulgent journey through the skies;145 Watch'd the swift Comets urge their blazing cars,And weigh'd the Sun with his revolving Stars.High raised the Chemists their Hermetic wands,(And changing forms obey'd their waving hands,)Her treasur'd gold from Earth's deep chambers tore,150 Or fused and harden'd her chalybeate ore.All with bent knee from fair PAPYRA claimWove by her hands the wreath of deathless fame.—Exulting Genius crown'd his darling child,The young Arts clasp'd her knees, and Virtue smiled.
155 So now DELANY forms her mimic bowers,Her paper foliage, and her silken flowers;
[So now Delany. l. 155. Mrs. Delany has finished nine hundred and seventy accurate and elegant representations of different vegetables with the parts of their flowers, fructification, &c. according with the classification of Linneus, in what she terms paper-mosaic. She began this work at the age of 74, when her sight would no longer serve her to paint, in which she much excelled; between her age of 74 and 82, at which time her eyes quite failed her, she executed the curious Hortus ficcus above-mentioned, which I suppose contains a greater number of plants than were ever before drawn from the life by any one person. Her method consisted in placing the leaves of each plant with the petals, and all the other parts of the flowers, on coloured paper, and cutting them with scissars accurately to the natural size and form, and then parting them on a dark ground; the effect of which is wonderful, and their accuracy less liable to fallacy than drawings. She is at this time (1788) in her 89th year, with all the powers of a fine understanding still unimpaired. I am informed another very ingenious lady, Mrs. North, is constructing a similar Hortus ficcus, or Paper-garden; which she executes on a ground of vellum with such elegant taste and scientific accuracy, that it cannot fail to become a work of inestimable value.]
Her virgin train the tender scissars ply,Vein the green leaf, the purple petal dye:Round wiry stems the flaxen tendril bends,160 Moss creeps below, and waxen fruit impends.Cold Winter views amid his realms of snowDELANY'S vegetable statues blow;Smooths his stern brow, delays his hoary wing,And eyes with wonder all the blooms of spring.
165 The gentle LAPSANA, NYMPHÆA fair,And bright CALENDULA with golden hair,
[Lapsana, Nymphæa alba, Calendula. l. 165. And many other flowers close and open their petals at certain hours of the day; and thus constitute what Linneus calls the Horologe, or Watch of Flora. He enumerates 46 flowers, which possess this kind of sensibility. I shall mention a few of them with their respective hours of rising and setting, as Linneus terms them. He divides them first intometeoricflowers, which less accurately observe the hour of unfolding, but are expanded sooner or later, according to the cloudiness, moisture, or pressure of the atmosphere. 2d.Tropicalflowers open in the morning and close before evening every day; but the hour of the expanding becomes earlier or later, at the length of the day increases or decreases. 3dly.Æquinoctialflowers, which open at a certain and exact hour of the day, and for the most part close at another determinate hour.
Hence the Horologe or Watch of Flora is formed from numerous plants, of which the following are those most common in this country. Leontodon taraxacum, Dandelion, opens at 5—6, closes at 8—9. Hieracium pilosella, mouse-ear hawkweed, opens at 8, closes at 2. Sonchus lævis, smooth Sow-thistle, at 5 and at 11—12. Lactuca sativa, cultivated Lettice, at 7 and jo. Tragopogon luteum, yellow Goatsbeard, at 3—5 and at 9—10. Lapsana, nipplewort, at 5—6 and at 10—1. Nymphæa alba, white water lily, at 7 and 5. Papaver nudicaule, naked poppy, at 5 and at 7. Hemerecallis fulva, tawny Day-lily, at 5 and at 7—8. Convolvulus, at 5—6. Malva, Mallow, at 9—10, and at 1. Arenarea purpurea, purple Sandwort, at 9—10, and at 2—3. Anagallis, pimpernel, at 7—8. Portulaca hortensis, garden Purilain, at 9—10, and at 11—12. Dianthus prolifer, proliferous Pink, at 8 and at 1. Cichoreum, Succory, at 4—5. Hypochiaeris, at 6—7, and at 4—5. Crepis at 4—5, and at 10—II. Picris, at 4—5, and at 12. Calendula field, at 9, and at 3. Calendula African, at 7, and at 3—4.
As these observations were probably made in the botanic gardens at Upsal, they must require further attention to suit them to our climate. See Stillingfleet Calendar of Flora.]
Watch with nice eye the Earth's diurnal way,Marking her solar and sidereal day,Her slow nutation, and her varying clime,170 And trace with mimic art the march of Time;Round his light foot a magic chain they fling,And count the quick vibrations of his wing.—First in its brazen cell reluctant roll'dBends the dark spring in many a steely fold;175 On spiral brass is stretch'd the wiry thong,Tooth urges tooth, and wheel drives wheel along;In diamond-eyes the polish'd axles flow,Smooth slides the hand, the ballance pants below.Round the white circlet in relievo bold180 A Serpent twines his scaly length in gold;And brightly pencil'd on the enamel'd sphereLive the fair trophies of the passing year.—HereTime'shuge fingers grasp his giant-mace,And dash proud Superstition from her base,185 Rend her strong towers and gorgeous fanes, and shedThe crumbling fragments round her guilty head.There the gayHours, whom wreaths of roses deck,Lead their young trains amid the cumberous wreck;And, slowly purpling o'er the mighty waste,190 Plant the fair growths of Science and of Taste.While each lightMoment, as it dances byWith feathery foot and pleasure-twinkling eye,Feeds from its baby-hand, with many a kiss,The callow nestlings of domestic Bliss.
195 As yon gay clouds, which canopy the skies,Change their thin forms, and lose their lucid dyes;So the soft bloom of Beauty's vernal charmsFades in our eyes, and withers in our arms.—Bright as the silvery plume, or pearly shell,200 The snow-white rose, or lily's virgin bell,The fair HELLEBORAS attractive shone,Warm'd every Sage, and every Shepherd won.—Round the gay sisters press theenamour'd bands,And seek with soft solicitude their hands.205 —Ere while how chang'd!—in dim suffusion liesThe glance divine, that lighten'd in their eyes;
[Helleborus. I. 201. Many males, many females. The Helleborus niger, or Christmas rose, has a large beautiful white flower, adorned with a circle of tubular two-lipp'd nectarics. After impregnation the flower undergoes a remarkable change, the nectaries drop off, but the white corol remains, and gradually becomes quite green. This curious metamorphose of the corol, when the nectaries fall off, seems to shew that the white juices of the corol were before carried to the nectaries, for the purpose of producing honey: because when these nectaries fall off, no more of the white juice is secreted in the corol, but it becomes green, and degenerates into a calyx. See note on Lonicera. The nectary of the Tropaeolum, garden nasturtion, is a coloured horn growing from the calyx.]
Cold are those lips, where smiles seductive hung,And the weak accents linger on their tongue;Each roseat feature fades to livid green,—210 —Disgust with face averted shuts the scene.
So from his gorgeous throne, which awed the world,The mighty Monarch of the east was hurl'd,To dwell with brutes beneath the midnight storm,By Heaven's just vengeance changed in mind and form.215 —Prone to the earth He bends his brow superb,Crops the young floret and the bladed herb;Lolls his red tongue, and from the reedy sideOf slow Euphrates laps the muddy tide.Long eagle-plumes his arching neck invest,220 Steal round his arms, and clasp his sharpen'd breast;Dark brinded hairs in bristling ranks, behind,Rise o'er his back, and rustle in the wind,Clothe his lank sides, his shrivel'd limbs surround,And human hands with talons print the ground.225 Silent in shining troops the Courtier-throngPursue their monarch as he crawls along;E'en Beauty pleads in vain with smiles and tears,Nor Flattery's self can pierce his pendant ears.
TwoSister-Nymphs to Ganges' flowery brink230 Bend their light steps, the lucid water drink,Wind through the dewy rice, and nodding canes,(Aseightblack Eunuchs guard the sacred plains),With playful malice watch the scaly brood,And shower the inebriate berries on the flood.—235 Stay in your crystal chambers, silver tribes!Turn your bright eyes, and shun the dangerous bribes;The tramel'd net with less destruction sweepsYour curling shallows, and your azure deeps;With less deceit, the gilded fly beneath,240 Lurks the fell hook unseen,—to taste is death!——Dim your slow eyes, and dull your pearly coat,Drunk on the waves your languid forms shall float,
[Two Sister-Nymphs.l. 229. Menispernum. Cocculus. Indian berry. Two houses, twelve males. In the female flower there are two styles and eight filaments without anthers on their summits; which are called by Linneus eunuchs. See the note on Curcuma. The berry intoxicates fish. Saint Anthony of Padua, when the people refused to hear him, preached to the fish, and converted them. Addison's travels in Italy.]
On useless fins in giddy circles play,And Herons and Otters seize you for their prey.—
245 So, when the Saint from Padua's graceless landIn silent anguish sought the barren strand,High on the shatter'd beech sublime He stood,Still'd with his waving arm the babbling flood;"To Man's dull ear," He cry'd, "I call in vain,"Hear me, ye scaly tenants of the main!"—250 Misshapen Seals approach in circling flocks,In dusky mail the Tortoise climbs the rocks,Torpedoes, Sharks, Rays, Porpus, Dolphins, pourTheir twinkling squadrons round the glittering shore;255 With tangled fins, behind, huge Phocæ glide,And Whales and Grampi swell the distant tide.Then kneel'd the hoary Seer, to heaven address'dHis fiery eyes, and smote his sounding breast;"Bless ye the Lord!" with thundering voice he cry'd,260 "Bless ye the Lord!" the bending shores reply'd;The winds and waters caught the sacred word,And mingling echoes shouted "Bless the Lord!"The listening shoals the quick contagion feel,Pant on the floods, inebriate with their zeal,265 Ope their wide jaws, and bow their slimy heads,And dash with frantic fins their foamy beds.
Sopha'd on silk, amid her charm-built towers,Her meads of asphodel, and amaranth bowers,Where Sleep and Silence guard the soft abodes,270 In sullen apathy PAPAVER nods.Faint o'er her couch in scintillating streamsPass the thin forms of Fancy and of Dreams;Froze by inchantment on the velvet groundFair youths and beauteous ladies glitter round;
[Papaver. l. 270. Poppy. Many males, many females. The plants of this class are almost all of them poisonous; the finest opium is procured by wounding the heads of large poppies with a three-edged knife, and tying muscle-shells to them to catch the drops. In small quantities it exhilarates the mind, raises the passions, and invigorates the body: in large ones it is succeeded by intoxication, languor, stupor and death. It is customary in India for a messenger to travel above a hundred miles without rest or food, except an appropriated bit of opium for himself, and a larger one for his horse at certain stages. The emaciated and decrepid appearance, with the ridiculous and idiotic gestures, of the opium-eaters in Constantinople is well described in the Memoirs of Baron de Tott.]
275 On crystal pedestals they seem to sigh,Bend the meek knee, and lift the imploring eye.—And now the Sorceress bares her shrivel'd hand,And circles thrice in air her ebon wand;Flush'd with new life descending statues talk,280 The pliant marble softening as they walk;With deeper sobs reviving lovers breathe,Fair bosoms rise, and soft hearts pant beneath;With warmer lips relenting damsels speak,And kindling blushes tinge the Parian cheek;285 To viewless lutes aërial voices sing,And hovering Loves are heard on rustling wing.—She waves her wand again!—fresh horrors seizeTheir stiffening limbs, their vital currents freeze;By each cold nymph her marble lover lies,290 And iron slumbers seal their glassy eyes.So with his dread Caduceus HERMES ledFrom the dark regions of the imprison'd dead,Or drove in silent shoals the lingering trainTo Night's dull shore, and PLUTO'S dreary reign295 So with her waving pencil CREWE commandsThe realms of Taste, and Fancy's fairy lands;Calls up with magic voice the shapes, that sleepIn earth's dark bosom, or unfathom'd deep;That shrined in air on viewless wings aspire,300 Or blazing bathe in elemental fire.As with nice touch her plaistic hand she moves,Rise the fine forms of Beauties, Graces, Loves;Kneel to the fair Inchantress, smile or sigh,And fade or flourish, as she turns her eye.
305 Fair CISTA, rival of the rosy dawn,Call'd her light choir, and trod the dewy lawn;Hail'd with rude melody the new-born May,As cradled yet in April's lap she lay.
[So with her waving pencil.l. 295. Alluding to the many beautiful paintings by Miss EMMA CREWE; to whom the author is indebted for the very elegant Frontispiece, where Flora, at play with Cupid, is loading him with garden-tools.]
[Cistus labdaniferus.l. 304. Many males, one female. The petals of this beautiful and fragrant shrub, as well as of the Oenothera, tree primrose, and others, continue expanded but a few hours, falling off about noon, or soon after, in hot weather. The most beautiful flowers of the Cactus grandiflorus (see Cerea) are of equally short duration, but have their existence in the night. And the flowers of the Hibiscus trionum are said to continue but a single hour. The courtship between the males and females in these flowers might be easily watched; the males are said to approach and recede from the females alternately. The flowers of the Hibiscus sinensis, mutable rose, live in the West Indies, their native climate, but one day; but have this remarkable property, they are white at the first expansion, then change to deep red, and become purple as they decay.
The gum or resin of this fragrant vegetable is collected from extensive underwoods of it in the East by a singular contrivance. Long leathern thongs are tied to poles and cords, and drawn over the tops of these shrubs about noon; which thus collect the dust of the anthers, which adheres to the leather, and is occasionally scraped off. Thus in some degree is the manner imitated, in which the bee collects on his thighs and legs the same material for the construction of his combs.]
"Born in yon blaze of orient sky,310 "Sweet MAY! thy radiant form unfold;"Unclose thy blue voluptuous eye,"And wave thy shadowy locks of gold.
"For Thee the fragrant zephyrs blow,"For Thee descends the sunny shower;315 "The rills in softer murmurs slow,"And brighter blossoms gem the bower.
"Light Graces dress'd in flowery wreaths"And tiptoe Joys their hands combine;"And Love his sweet contagion breathes,320 "And laughing dances round thy shrine.
"Warm with new life the glittering throngs"On quivering fin and rustling wing"Delighted join their votive songs,"And hail thee, GODDESS OF THE SPRING."
325 O'er the green brinks of Severn's oozy bed,In changeful rings, her sprightly troop She led;PAN tripp'd before, where Eudness shades the mead,And blew with glowing lip his sevenfold reed;Emerging Naiads swell'd the jocund strain,330 And aped with mimic step the dancing train.—