Part 1 (2/2)

[Footnote: _Pictur'd walls_, l. 76. The application of mankind, in the early ages of society, to the imitative arts of painting, carving, statuary, and the casting of figures in metals, seems to have preceded the discovery of letters; and to have been used as a written language to convey intelligence to their distant friends, or to transmit to posterity the history of themselves, or of their discoveries.

Hence the origin of the hieroglyphic figures which crowded the walls of the temples of antiquity; many of which may be seen in the tablet of Isis in the works of Montfaucon; and some of them are still used in the sciences of chemistry and astronomy, as the characters for the metals and planets, and the figures of animals on the celestial globe.]

[Footnote: _So erst, when Proteus_, l. 83. It seems probable that Proteus was the name of a hieroglyphic figure representing Time; whose form was perpetually changing, and who could discover the past events of the world, and predict the future. Herodotus does not doubt but that Proteus was an Egyptian king or deity; and Orpheus calls him the principle of all things, and the most ancient of the G.o.ds; and adds, that he keeps the keys of Nature, _Danet's Dict._, all which might well accord with a figure representing Time.]

HERE o'er piazza'd courts, and long arcades, The bowers of PLEASURE root their waving shades; 90 Shed o'er the pansied moss a checker'd gloom, Bend with new fruits, with flow'rs successive bloom.

Pleas'd, their light limbs on beds of roses press'd, In slight undress rec.u.mbent Beauties rest; On tiptoe steps surrounding Graces move, And gay Desires expand their wings above.

HERE young DIONE arms her quiver'd Loves, Schools her bright Nymphs, and practises her doves; Calls round her laughing eyes in playful turns, The glance that lightens, and the smile that burns; 100 Her dimpling cheeks with transient blushes dies, Heaves her white bosom with seductive sighs; Or moulds with rosy lips the magic words, That bind the heart in adamantine cords.

Behind in twilight gloom with scowling mien The demon PAIN, convokes his court unseen; Whips, fetters, flames, pourtray'd on sculptur'd stone, In dread festoons, adorn his ebon throne; Each side a cohort of diseases stands, And shudd'ring Fever leads the ghastly bands; 110 O'er all Despair expands his raven wings, And guilt-stain'd Conscience darts a thousand stings.

Deep-whelm'd beneath, in vast sepulchral caves, OBLIVION dwells amid unlabell'd graves; The storied tomb, the laurell'd bust o'erturns, And shakes their ashes from the mould'ring urns.-- No vernal zephyr breathes, no sunbeams cheer, Nor song, nor simper, ever enters here; O'er the green floor, and round the dew-damp wall, The slimy snail, and bloated lizard crawl; 120 While on white heaps of intermingled bones The muse of MELANCHOLY sits and moans; Showers her cold tears o'er Beauty's early wreck, Spreads her pale arms, and bends her marble neck.

So in rude rocks, beside the aegean wave, TROPHONIUS scoop'd his sorrow-sacred cave; Unbarr'd to pilgrim feet the brazen door, And the sad sage returning smil'd no more.

[Footnote: _Trophonius scoop'd_, l. 126. Plutarch mentions, that prophecies of evil events were uttered from the cave of Trophonius; but the allegorical story, that whoever entered this cavern were never again seen to smile, seems to have been designed to warn the contemplative from considering too much the dark side of nature. Thus an ancient poet is said to have written a poem on the miseries of the world, and to have thence become so unhappy as to destroy himself. When we reflect on the perpetual destruction of organic life, we should also recollect, that it is perpetually renewed in other forms by the same materials, and thus the sum total of the happiness of the world continues undiminished; and that a philosopher may thus smile again on turning his eyes from the coffins of nature to her cradles.]

SHRIN'D in the midst majestic NATURE stands, Extends o'er earth and sea her hundred hands; 130 Tower upon tower her beamy forehead crests, And births unnumber'd milk her hundred b.r.e.a.s.t.s; Drawn round her brows a lucid veil depends, O'er her fine waist the purfled woof descends; Her stately limbs the gather'd folds surround, And spread their golden selvage on the ground.

[Footnote: _Fam'd Eleusis stole_, l. 137. The Eleusinian mysteries were invented in Egypt, and afterwards transferred into Greece along with most of the other early arts and religions of Europe. They seem to have consisted of scenical representations of the philosophy and religion of those times, which had previously been painted in hieroglyphic figures to perpetuate them before the discovery of letters; and are well explained in Dr. Warburton's divine legation of Moses; who believes with great probability, that Virgil in the sixth book of the aeneid has described a part of these mysteries in his account of the Elysian fields.

In the first part of this scenery was represented Death, and the destruction of all things; as mentioned in the note on the Portland Vase in the Botanic Garden. Next the marriage of Cupid and Psyche seems to have shown the reproduction of living nature; and afterwards the procession of torches, which is said to have const.i.tuted a part of the mysteries, probably signified the return of light, and the resuscitation of all things.

Lastly, the histories of ill.u.s.trious persons of the early ages seem to have been enacted; who were first represented by hieroglyphic figures, and afterwards became the G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Might not such a dignified pantomime be contrived, even in this age, as might strike the spectators with awe, and at the same time explain many philosophical truths by adapted imagery, and thus both amuse and instruct?]

From this first altar fam'd ELEUSIS stole Her secret symbols and her mystic scroll; With pious fraud in after ages rear'd Her gorgeous temple, and the G.o.ds rever'd. 140 --First in dim pomp before the astonish'd throng, Silence, and Night, and Chaos, stalk'd along; Dread scenes of Death, in nodding sables dress'd, Froze the broad eye, and thrill'd the unbreathing breast.

Then the young Spring, with winged Zephyr, leads The queen of Beauty to the blossom'd meads; Charm'd in her train admiring Hymen moves, And tiptoe Graces hand in hand with Loves.

Next, while on pausing step the masked mimes Enact the triumphs of forgotten times, 150 Conceal from vulgar throngs the mystic truth, Or charm with Wisdom's lore the initiate youth; Each s.h.i.+fting scene, some patriot hero trod, Some sainted beauty, or some saviour G.o.d.

III. Now rose in purple pomp the breezy dawn, And crimson dew-drops trembled on the lawn; Blaz'd high in air the temple's golden vanes, And dancing shadows veer'd upon the plains.-- Long trains of virgins from the sacred grove, Pair after pair, in bright procession move, 160 With flower-fill'd baskets round the altar throng, Or swing their censers, as they wind along.

The fair URANIA leads the blus.h.i.+ng bands, Presents their offerings with unsullied hands; Pleas'd to their dazzled eyes in part unshrouds The G.o.ddess-form;--the rest is hid in clouds.

”PRIESTESS OF NATURE! while with pious awe Thy votary bends, the mystic veil withdraw; Charm after charm, succession bright, display, And give the G.o.dDESS to adoring day! 170 So kneeling realms shall own the Power divine, And heaven and earth pour incense on her shrine.

”Oh grant the MUSE with pausing step to press Each sun-bright avenue, and green recess; Led by thy hand survey the trophied walls, The statued galleries, and the pictur'd halls; Scan the proud pyramid, and arch sublime, Earth-canker'd urn, medallion green with time, Stern busts of G.o.ds, with helmed heroes mix'd, And Beauty's radiant forms, that smile betwixt. 180

[Footnote: _The statued galleries_, l. 176. The art of painting has appeared in the early state of all societies before the invention of the alphabet. Thus when the Spanish adventurers, under Cortez, invaded America, intelligence of their debarkation and movements was daily transmitted to Montezuma, by drawings, which corresponded with the Egyptian hieroglyphics. The antiquity of statuary appears from the Memnon and sphinxes of Egypt; that of casting figures in metals from the golden calf of Aaron; and that of carving in wood from the idols or household G.o.ds, which Rachel stole from her father Laban, and hid beneath her garments as she sat upon the straw. Gen. c. x.x.xi. v. 34.]

”Waked by thy voice, trans.m.u.ted by thy wand, Their lips shall open, and their arms expand; The love-lost lady, and the warrior slain, Leap from their tombs, and sigh or fight again.

--So when ill-fated ORPHEUS tuned to woe His potent lyre, and sought the realms below; Charm'd into life unreal forms respir'd, And list'ning shades the dulcet notes admir'd.--

”LOVE led the Sage through Death's tremendous porch, Cheer'd with his smile, and lighted with his torch;-- 190 h.e.l.l's triple Dog his playful jaws expands, Fawns round the G.o.d, and licks his baby hands; In wondering groups the shadowy nations throng, And sigh or simper, as he steps along; Sad swains, and nymphs forlorn, on Lethe's brink, Hug their past sorrows, and refuse to drink; Night's dazzled Empress feels the golden flame Play round her breast, and melt her frozen frame; Charms with soft words, and sooths with amorous wiles, Her iron-hearted Lord,--and PLUTO smiles.-- 200 His trembling Bride the Bard triumphant led From the pale mansions of the astonish'd dead; Gave the fair phantom to admiring light,-- Ah, soon again to tread irremeable night!”

[Footnote: _Love led the Sage_, l. 189. This description is taken from the figures on the Barbarini, or Portland Vase, where Eros, or Divine Love, with his torch precedes the manes through the gates of Death, and reverting his smiling countenance invites him into the Elysian fields.]

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