Part 4 (1/2)

O, G.o.ddess, say, if brighter scenes improve Air-breathing tribes, and births of s.e.xual love?”-- The smiling Fair obeys the inquiring Muse, And in sweet tones her grateful task pursues. 220

”Now on broad pinions from the realms above Descending CUPID seeks the Cyprian grove; To his wide arms enamour'd PSYCHE springs, And clasps her lover with aurelian wings.

A purple sash across HIS shoulder bends, And fringed with gold the quiver'd shafts suspends; The bending bow obeys the silken string, And, as he steps, the silver arrows ring.

Thin folds of gauze with dim transparence flow O'er HER fair forehead, and her neck of snow; 230 The winding woof her graceful limbs surrounds, Swells in the breeze, and sweeps the velvet grounds; As hand in hand along the flowery meads His blus.h.i.+ng bride the quiver'd hero leads; Charm'd round their heads pursuing Zephyrs throng, And scatter roses, as they move along; Bright beams of Spring in soft effusion play, And halcyon Hours invite them on their way.

[Footnote: _Enamoured Psyche_, l. 223. A b.u.t.terfly was the ancient emblem of the soul after death as rising from the tomb of its former state, and becoming a winged inhabitant of air from an insect creeping upon earth. At length the wings only were given to a beautiful nymph under the name of Psyche, which is the greek word for the soul, and also became afterwards to signify a b.u.t.terfly probably from the popularity of this allegory. Many allegorical designs of Cupid or Love warming a b.u.t.terfly or the Soul with his torch may be seen in Spence's Polymetis, and a beautiful one of their marriage in Bryant's Mythology; from which this description is in part taken.]

”Delighted HYMEN hears their whisper'd vows, And binds his chaplets round their polish'd brows, 240 Guides to his altar, ties the flowery bands, And as they kneel, unites their willing hands.

'Behold, he cries, Earth! Ocean! Air above, 'And hail the DEITIES OF s.e.xUAL LOVE!

'All forms of Life shall this fond Pair delight, 'And s.e.x to s.e.x the willing world unite; 'Shed their sweet smiles in Earth's unsocial bowers, 'Fan with soft gales, and gild with brighter hours; 'Fill Pleasure's chalice unalloy'd with pain, 'And give SOCIETY his golden chain.' 250

”Now young DESIRES, on purple pinions borne, Mount the warm gales of Manhood's rising morn; With softer fires through virgin bosoms dart, Flush the pale cheek, and goad the tender heart.

Ere the weak powers of transient Life decay, And Heaven's ethereal image melts away; LOVE with nice touch renews the organic frame, Forms a young Ens, another and the same; Gives from his rosy lips the vital breath, And parries with his hand the shafts of death; 260 While BEAUTY broods with angel wings unfurl'd O'er nascent life, and saves the sinking world.

[Footnote: _While Beauty broods_, l. 261.

Alma Venus! per te quoniam genus omne animantum Concipitur, visitque exortum lumina coeli.

LUCRET.]

”HENCE on green leaves the s.e.xual Pleasures dwell, And Loves and Beauties crowd the blossom's bell; The wakeful Anther in his silken bed O'er the pleased Stigma bows his waxen head; With meeting lips and mingling smiles they sup Ambrosial dewdrops from the nectar'd cup; Or buoy'd in air the plumy Lover springs, And seeks his panting bride on Hymen-wings. 270

[Footnote: _From the nectar'd cup_, l. 268. The anthers and stigmas of flowers are probably nourished by the honey, which is secreted by the honey-gland called by Linneus the nectary; and possess greater sensibility or animation than other parts of the plant. The corol of the flower appears to be a respiratory organ belonging to these anthers and stigmas for the purpose of further oxygenating the vegetable blood for the production of the anther dust and of this honey, which is also exposed to the air in its receptacle or honey-cup; which, I suppose, to be necessary for its further oxygenation, as in many flowers so complicate an apparatus is formed for its protection from insects, as in aconitum, delphinium, larkspur, lonicera, woodbine; and because the corol and nectary fall along with the anthers and stigmas, when the pericarp is impregnated.

Dr. B. S. Barton in the American Transactions has lately shown, that the honey collected from some plants is intoxicating and poisonous to men, as from rhododendron, azalea, and datura; and from some other plants that it is hurtful to the bees which collect it; and that from some flowers it is so injurious or disagreeable, that they do not collect it, as from the fritillaria or crown imperial of this country.]

”The Stamen males, with appetencies just, Produce a formative prolific dust; With apt propensities, the Styles recluse Secrete a formative prolific juice; These in the pericarp erewhile arrive, Rush to each other, and embrace alive.

--Form'd by new powers progressive parts succeed, Join in one whole, and swell into a seed.

[Footnote: _With appetencies just_, l. 271. As in the productions by chemical affinity one set of particles must possess the power of attraction, and the other the apt.i.tude to be attracted, as when iron approaches a magnet; so when animal particles unite, whether in digestion or reproduction, some of them must possess an appet.i.te to unite, and others a propensity to be united. The former of these are secreted by the anthers from the vegetable blood, and the latter by the styles or pericarp; see the Additional Note VIII. on Reproduction.]

”So in fond swarms the living Anthers s.h.i.+ne Of bright Vallisner on the wavy Rhine; 280 Break from their stems, and on the liquid gla.s.s Surround the admiring stigmas as they pa.s.s; The love-sick Beauties lift their essenced brows, Sigh to the Cyprian queen their secret vows, Like watchful Hero feel their soft alarms, And clasp their floating lovers in their arms.

[Footnote: _Of bright Vallisner_, l. 280. Vallisneria, of the cla.s.s of dioecia. 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, rise to the surface and continue to flourish, and are wafted by the air or borne by the current to the female flowers. In this they resemble those tribes of insects, where the males at certain seasons acquire wings, but not the females, as ants, coccus, lampyris, phalaena, brumata, lichanella; Botanic Garden, Vol.

II. Note on Vallisneria.]

”Hence the male Ants their gauzy wings unfold, And young Lampyris waves his plumes of gold; The Glow-Worm sparkles with impa.s.sion'd light On each green bank, and charms the eye of night; 290 While new desires the painted Snail perplex, And twofold love unites the double s.e.x.

[Footnote: _And young Lampyris_, l. 288. The fire-fly is at some seasons so luminous, that M. Merian says, that by putting two of them under a gla.s.s, she was able to draw her figures of them by night. Whether the light of this and of other insects be caused by their amatorial pa.s.sion, and thus a.s.sists them to find each other; or is caused by respiration, which is so a.n.a.logous to combustion; or to a tendency to putridity, as in dead fish and rotten wood, is still to be investigated; see Botanic Garden, Vol. I. Additional Note IX.]

”Hence, when the Morus in Italia's lands To spring's warm beam its timid leaf expands; The Silk-Worm broods in countless tribes above Crop the green treasure, uninform'd of love; Erewhile the changeful worm with circling head Weaves the nice curtains of his silken bed; Web within web involves his larva form, Alike secured from suns.h.i.+ne and from storm; 300 For twelve long days He dreams of blossom'd groves, Untasted honey, and ideal loves; Wakes from his trance, alarm'd with young Desire, Finds his new s.e.x, and feels ecstatic fire; From flower to flower with honey'd lip he springs, And seeks his velvet loves on silver wings.

[Footnote: _Untasted honey_, l. 302. The numerous moths and b.u.t.terflies seem to pa.s.s from a reptile leaf-eating state, and to acquire wings to flit in air, with a proboscis to gain honey for their food along with their organs of reproduction, solely for the purpose of propagating their species by s.e.xual intercourse, as they die when that is completed. By the use of their wings they have access to each other on different branches or on different vegetables, and by living upon honey probably acquire a higher degree of animation, and thus seem to resemble the anthers of flowers, which probably are supported by honey only, and thence acquire greater sensibility; see Note on Vallisneria, l. 280 of this Canto.

A naturalist, who had studied this subject, thought it not impossible that the first insects were the anthers and stigmas of flowers, which had by some means loosened themselves from their parent plant, like the male flowers of vallisneria, and that other insects in process of time had been formed from these, some acquiring wings, others fins, and others claws, from their ceaseless efforts to procure food or to secure themselves from injury. He contends, that none of these changes are more incomprehensible than the transformation of caterpillars into b.u.t.terflies; see Botanic Garden, Vol. I. Additional Note x.x.xIX.]

VI. ”The Demon, Jealousy, with Gorgon frown Blasts the sweet flowers of Pleasure not his own, Rolls his wild eyes, and through the shuddering grove Pursues the steps of unsuspecting Love; 310 Or drives o'er rattling plains his iron car, Flings his red torch, and lights the flames of war.

Here c.o.c.ks heroic burn with rival rage, And Quails with Quails in doubtful fight engage; Of armed heels and bristling plumage proud, They sound the insulting clarion shrill and loud, With rustling pinions meet, and swelling chests, And seize with closing beaks their bleeding crests; Rise on quick wing above the struggling foe, And aim in air the death-devoting blow. 320 There the hoa.r.s.e stag his croaking rival scorns, And b.u.t.ts and parries with his branching horns; Contending Boars with tusk enamell'd strike, And guard with shoulder-s.h.i.+eld the blow oblique; While female bands attend in mute surprise, And view the victor with admiring eyes.--

[Footnote: _There the hoa.r.s.e stag_, l. 321. A great want of one part of the animal world has consisted in the desire of the exclusive possession of the females; and these have acquired weapons to combat each other for this purpose, as the very thick s.h.i.+eld-like h.o.r.n.y skin on the shoulder of the boar is a defence only against animals of his own species, who strike obliquely upwards, nor are his tushes for other purposes, except to defend himself, as he is not naturally a carnivorous animal. So the horns of the stag are sharp to offend his adversary, but are branched for the purpose of parrying or receiving the thrusts of horns similar to his own, and have therefore been formed for the purpose of combating other stags for the exclusive possession of the females, who are observed, like the ladies in the times of chivalry, to attend the car of the victor.

The birds, which do not carry food to their young, and do not therefore marry, are armed with spurs for the purpose of fighting for the exclusive possession of the females, as c.o.c.ks and quails. It is certain that these weapons are not provided for their defence against other adversaries, because the females of these species are without this armour; Zoonomia, Sect. x.x.xIX. 4, 8.]