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Article NOTES ON LITERATURE, SCIENCE AND ART. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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Notes On Literature, Science And Art.
the perhaps less gifted writer of the Lakes was in penetrating beneath the surface of all earthly things . But—forgetting for a time the rival merits of Byron and Wordsworth—let us look for a few moments at the little poem which has drawn us into this digression ; a fault , if it be one , which it will at once be seen our author has no rig ht to complain of . Here is his opening passage : —
" Hail , Pegasus ! fire-wing d , ethereal steed , Whose tameless hoof was ne ' er confined to ground ; Thee will I mount , from silence' durance freed , And scour the varied universe around ;
And though no fame be my exalted meed , Nor this my ride adventurous be renown'd , Enough if I but roam at large , with thee , The world , uncheck'd , contemplative and free .
Then on thy back I'll gallop , walk , or canter , Through all the fields of thought or speculation ; And , as through changing scenes I post or saunter , I do not mean to curb imagination , But give vent to my inmost thoughts instauter , According to my mood or inclination . "
I am glad that the writer , like my dear friend , the late Charles Swain , makes poetry the amusement of his leisure , and not the means of livelihood , for he sings : — " But , first of all , be't plainly understood
That I have led my courser from the stable Not for that aim— pecuniary good ; T'exist by other means I am quite able ; In fact , to tell the truth , I never should - Have dreamt of making rhyme my saving cable , Although it must unfortunately be told , The spur of Pegasus too oft ' s of gold . "
This is as it should be ; for , as the late John Walker Ord once remarked to me , " I think poetry should be a thing above all money price , "
Our author has here and there some fine thoughts ; and at times he has what the Duke in " A Midsummer Ni ght ' s Dream " would call" Some satire , keen and critical , Not sorting with a nuptial ceremony ;"
as , for instance , when he remarks , alas ! with too much truth : — ' * 'Tis curious how some men , by strategy Or toil , contrive t ' obtain so large a part Of Fortune ' s favours ; surel y it must be
Their deep assurance in this world ' s great mart , And that their art one crowning phase embraces—Coining to gold the brass in their own faces . "
I am not so sure about the line" And down falls ruin , like Damocles ' sword . " I guess the sword would fall , if allowed to hang long enough , seeing that it was only
suspended by a single hair from a horse ' s tail . But when the Sicilian flatterer looked up from the throne which the tyrant had temporarily resigned to him , and beheld the gleaming instrument of death pointing down to his headwe are not to suppose
, that the elder Dionysius—who really was as clever as he was ambitious—usually allowed the falchion to hang dangling in so dangerous a manner , but rather had only ordered it to be so suspended to teach
his flatterer the danger of supreme power , by that fine piece of symbolic instruction and the terrified Damocles , according to the story , did not sit there long enough for the steel to sheathe itself in his sconce , but wisely abdicated . Of the story of " Marmaduke Miller "
there is not sufficient yet published to enable one to speak with certainty , but it promises so far to be very interesting . As might be expected , there are many digressions . The author seems to me too credulous of apparitions and supernatural
appearances ; and though ho may " instance Johnson , Bonaparte , Wesley , Byron , " and a thousand other " Men no mere myths , but all with minds of iron , "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Notes On Literature, Science And Art.
the perhaps less gifted writer of the Lakes was in penetrating beneath the surface of all earthly things . But—forgetting for a time the rival merits of Byron and Wordsworth—let us look for a few moments at the little poem which has drawn us into this digression ; a fault , if it be one , which it will at once be seen our author has no rig ht to complain of . Here is his opening passage : —
" Hail , Pegasus ! fire-wing d , ethereal steed , Whose tameless hoof was ne ' er confined to ground ; Thee will I mount , from silence' durance freed , And scour the varied universe around ;
And though no fame be my exalted meed , Nor this my ride adventurous be renown'd , Enough if I but roam at large , with thee , The world , uncheck'd , contemplative and free .
Then on thy back I'll gallop , walk , or canter , Through all the fields of thought or speculation ; And , as through changing scenes I post or saunter , I do not mean to curb imagination , But give vent to my inmost thoughts instauter , According to my mood or inclination . "
I am glad that the writer , like my dear friend , the late Charles Swain , makes poetry the amusement of his leisure , and not the means of livelihood , for he sings : — " But , first of all , be't plainly understood
That I have led my courser from the stable Not for that aim— pecuniary good ; T'exist by other means I am quite able ; In fact , to tell the truth , I never should - Have dreamt of making rhyme my saving cable , Although it must unfortunately be told , The spur of Pegasus too oft ' s of gold . "
This is as it should be ; for , as the late John Walker Ord once remarked to me , " I think poetry should be a thing above all money price , "
Our author has here and there some fine thoughts ; and at times he has what the Duke in " A Midsummer Ni ght ' s Dream " would call" Some satire , keen and critical , Not sorting with a nuptial ceremony ;"
as , for instance , when he remarks , alas ! with too much truth : — ' * 'Tis curious how some men , by strategy Or toil , contrive t ' obtain so large a part Of Fortune ' s favours ; surel y it must be
Their deep assurance in this world ' s great mart , And that their art one crowning phase embraces—Coining to gold the brass in their own faces . "
I am not so sure about the line" And down falls ruin , like Damocles ' sword . " I guess the sword would fall , if allowed to hang long enough , seeing that it was only
suspended by a single hair from a horse ' s tail . But when the Sicilian flatterer looked up from the throne which the tyrant had temporarily resigned to him , and beheld the gleaming instrument of death pointing down to his headwe are not to suppose
, that the elder Dionysius—who really was as clever as he was ambitious—usually allowed the falchion to hang dangling in so dangerous a manner , but rather had only ordered it to be so suspended to teach
his flatterer the danger of supreme power , by that fine piece of symbolic instruction and the terrified Damocles , according to the story , did not sit there long enough for the steel to sheathe itself in his sconce , but wisely abdicated . Of the story of " Marmaduke Miller "
there is not sufficient yet published to enable one to speak with certainty , but it promises so far to be very interesting . As might be expected , there are many digressions . The author seems to me too credulous of apparitions and supernatural
appearances ; and though ho may " instance Johnson , Bonaparte , Wesley , Byron , " and a thousand other " Men no mere myths , but all with minds of iron , "