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Article ON SYMBOLS AND SYMBOLISM. ← Page 12 of 19 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Symbols And Symbolism.
girded ) , from the identity of the letters c and s , and irrespective of the vowel , is identical Avith sanctus ( holy ) , the change in the idea being as consonant to the mind as the change in the letters is easy and natural to the voice . Equally near in signification as in sound are the tAvo words , cestus , the belt , and castus , chaste ; as by incest we denote the deepest turpitude of carnal
. EA en as early as Homer , and perhaps from the creation , was chastity so highly prized , that its emblem , the zone , Avas endowed Avith supernatural power of pleasing , and commandinguniversal admiration . In the Iliad , the most fascinating of the female denizens of its Olympus Avas supposed to owe all her power of pleasing to the cestus ; and we all admit the chastity
in woman is that which gives her greatest charms ; and it was only in a later age , and with a Paphian Venus , that the idea of lascivia could be attributed to the goddess , or the verse be appropriate when applied to her , as " Incesta seelerata libidinis auctrix . "
The picture that Homer draws of the zone of the Queen of Love differs quite , and its purity is guaranteed by the request that Juno , the severe and chaste , makes for its loan to be able to succeed in a petition to her spouse , the mighty Jove . The passage itself ( Iliad , book xiii . p . 219 ) is one of the most beautiful in the poem , and possibly the most efficient in Pope ' s English version , so that we think its insertion must be agreeable to our readers : —
" Forth from the dome th' imperial goddess moves , And calls the mother of the Smiles and Loves : ' How long' ( to Venus thus apart she cried ) ' Shall human strife celestial minds divide ? Ah , yet , will Venus aid Saturnia ' s joy , And set aside the claims of Greece and Troy ?' ' Let heaven ' s dread ' Ctlierea said
empress , y , ' Speak her request , and deem her will ohey'd . ' * Then grant me , ' said the queen , ' those conqu ' ring charms , That power which mortals and immortals warms ; That love which melts mankind in fierce desires , And bums the sons of heaven with , sacred fires . '
" She said ; with awe divine the Queen of Love Obey'd the sister and the Avife of Jove ; And from her fragrant breast the zone unbrac'd , With various skill and high embroid ' ry grac'd ; In this Avas every art and every charm , To win the wisest , and the coldest warm ; Fond love , the gentle vow , the gay desire , Tiie kind deceit , the still revi \ r ing fire ; Persuasive speech , and more persuasive sighs , Silence that spoke , and eloquence of eyes :
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Symbols And Symbolism.
girded ) , from the identity of the letters c and s , and irrespective of the vowel , is identical Avith sanctus ( holy ) , the change in the idea being as consonant to the mind as the change in the letters is easy and natural to the voice . Equally near in signification as in sound are the tAvo words , cestus , the belt , and castus , chaste ; as by incest we denote the deepest turpitude of carnal
. EA en as early as Homer , and perhaps from the creation , was chastity so highly prized , that its emblem , the zone , Avas endowed Avith supernatural power of pleasing , and commandinguniversal admiration . In the Iliad , the most fascinating of the female denizens of its Olympus Avas supposed to owe all her power of pleasing to the cestus ; and we all admit the chastity
in woman is that which gives her greatest charms ; and it was only in a later age , and with a Paphian Venus , that the idea of lascivia could be attributed to the goddess , or the verse be appropriate when applied to her , as " Incesta seelerata libidinis auctrix . "
The picture that Homer draws of the zone of the Queen of Love differs quite , and its purity is guaranteed by the request that Juno , the severe and chaste , makes for its loan to be able to succeed in a petition to her spouse , the mighty Jove . The passage itself ( Iliad , book xiii . p . 219 ) is one of the most beautiful in the poem , and possibly the most efficient in Pope ' s English version , so that we think its insertion must be agreeable to our readers : —
" Forth from the dome th' imperial goddess moves , And calls the mother of the Smiles and Loves : ' How long' ( to Venus thus apart she cried ) ' Shall human strife celestial minds divide ? Ah , yet , will Venus aid Saturnia ' s joy , And set aside the claims of Greece and Troy ?' ' Let heaven ' s dread ' Ctlierea said
empress , y , ' Speak her request , and deem her will ohey'd . ' * Then grant me , ' said the queen , ' those conqu ' ring charms , That power which mortals and immortals warms ; That love which melts mankind in fierce desires , And bums the sons of heaven with , sacred fires . '
" She said ; with awe divine the Queen of Love Obey'd the sister and the Avife of Jove ; And from her fragrant breast the zone unbrac'd , With various skill and high embroid ' ry grac'd ; In this Avas every art and every charm , To win the wisest , and the coldest warm ; Fond love , the gentle vow , the gay desire , Tiie kind deceit , the still revi \ r ing fire ; Persuasive speech , and more persuasive sighs , Silence that spoke , and eloquence of eyes :