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Article NOTES ON LITERATURE. SCIENCE, AND ART. ← Page 3 of 5 →
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Notes On Literature. Science, And Art.
Wise , also , is the teaching , veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols : — " Men look'd outside to find the foe That crept to them without a breath , Then sheathed his tempting with a gloAV That broke to death and dust Avhen touch'd , And left the conscience lit with pain ,
As if a two-edged sword it pierced , And flaming cherubs on its gate Were driving Eden from the soul : Let them look ii \ , for there he lay Who made their passions tire and smoke With one light thought that stay'd a night , Then led them out to innocent blood To murder or defileand break
, Every commandment in their way . Old lies , in Eden told , had bred , And fill'd the heart with evil things , That raised a cloud 'tAvixt it ancl God , Though He still sent a gracious rain . "
Of how many may it be truthfully said : —¦ " For he , light armour on his soul ATore against shafts from evil eyes , Blinded hy selfishness and lust , That saw the noblest motives vile ; The noblest powers , Satan ' s gift : And all the venom of loose words Would strike him through a hundred pores . "
And would that of every Mason it could be saicl , as it ought : — " Thus arm'd in spirit , he went forth With gentle voice , to break men's bonds , Woven by appetite let loose , Or passions dominant : all that bound . "
How beautiful is the following Isaiah-like picture : — "Where the sands narrow , and lone path Led to a mountain's stream that fell To swell the Jordan ' s tide , she saw A lion quench his midnight thirst , Then roar to summon all the beasts From cave and woodland , bordering heights ,
And further grounds that fed mild flocks . Then all obey'd—the wolf and hoar , The tiger , and tho fiery snake That strikes a death-pang with his tongue , Peaceable kine , and goats with young—All met without mistrust or fear ; And one sweet child , Avith shepherd ' s crook , Companioning the lambs that stray'd , Fearless of asp about his feet , Or for his charge that pluck'd the tufts Where bear and lion laid their head . "
But is our author quite correct in his natural history ? Leaving out the famil y of snakes without poisonous fangs ( Laurenti's Natrix ) , ancl allowing learned naturalists like CuA'ier , Professor Owen , Dr . A . Smith , Retzius , Duvernoy , Fontana , Clift , Muller , Cantor , and others , to enlig hten the students of the hidden mysteries of serpent-life in general , I will merely remark that no snake or serpent whatever " strikes a death-pang Avith his tongue , " but with peculiar fangs or teeth , generally bidden in the gums , which convey the poison in small canals from inside the head of the reptile , as the sli ght pressure on
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Notes On Literature. Science, And Art.
Wise , also , is the teaching , veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols : — " Men look'd outside to find the foe That crept to them without a breath , Then sheathed his tempting with a gloAV That broke to death and dust Avhen touch'd , And left the conscience lit with pain ,
As if a two-edged sword it pierced , And flaming cherubs on its gate Were driving Eden from the soul : Let them look ii \ , for there he lay Who made their passions tire and smoke With one light thought that stay'd a night , Then led them out to innocent blood To murder or defileand break
, Every commandment in their way . Old lies , in Eden told , had bred , And fill'd the heart with evil things , That raised a cloud 'tAvixt it ancl God , Though He still sent a gracious rain . "
Of how many may it be truthfully said : —¦ " For he , light armour on his soul ATore against shafts from evil eyes , Blinded hy selfishness and lust , That saw the noblest motives vile ; The noblest powers , Satan ' s gift : And all the venom of loose words Would strike him through a hundred pores . "
And would that of every Mason it could be saicl , as it ought : — " Thus arm'd in spirit , he went forth With gentle voice , to break men's bonds , Woven by appetite let loose , Or passions dominant : all that bound . "
How beautiful is the following Isaiah-like picture : — "Where the sands narrow , and lone path Led to a mountain's stream that fell To swell the Jordan ' s tide , she saw A lion quench his midnight thirst , Then roar to summon all the beasts From cave and woodland , bordering heights ,
And further grounds that fed mild flocks . Then all obey'd—the wolf and hoar , The tiger , and tho fiery snake That strikes a death-pang with his tongue , Peaceable kine , and goats with young—All met without mistrust or fear ; And one sweet child , Avith shepherd ' s crook , Companioning the lambs that stray'd , Fearless of asp about his feet , Or for his charge that pluck'd the tufts Where bear and lion laid their head . "
But is our author quite correct in his natural history ? Leaving out the famil y of snakes without poisonous fangs ( Laurenti's Natrix ) , ancl allowing learned naturalists like CuA'ier , Professor Owen , Dr . A . Smith , Retzius , Duvernoy , Fontana , Clift , Muller , Cantor , and others , to enlig hten the students of the hidden mysteries of serpent-life in general , I will merely remark that no snake or serpent whatever " strikes a death-pang Avith his tongue , " but with peculiar fangs or teeth , generally bidden in the gums , which convey the poison in small canals from inside the head of the reptile , as the sli ght pressure on