Part 4 (2/2)
”So Knight on Knight, recorded in romance, Urged the proud steed, and couch'd the extended lance; He, whose dread prowess with resistless force, O'erthrew the opposing warrior and his horse, 330 Bless'd, as the golden guerdon of his toils, Bow'd to the Beauty, and receiv'd her smiles.
”So when fair HELEN with ill-fated charms, By PARIS wooed, provoked the world to arms, Left her vindictive Lord to sigh in vain For broken vows, lost love, and cold disdain; Fired at his wrongs, a.s.sociate to destroy The realms unjust of proud adulterous Troy, Unnumber'd Heroes braved the dubious fight, And sunk lamented to the shades of night. 340
”Now vows connubial chain the plighted pair, And join paternal with maternal care; The married birds with nice selection cull Soft thistle-down, gray moss, and scattered wool, Line the secluded nest with feathery rings, Meet with fond bills, and woo with fluttering wings.
Week after week, regardless of her food, The inc.u.mbent Linnet warms her future brood; Each spotted egg with ivory lips she turns, Day after day with fond expectance burns, 350 Hears the young prisoner chirping in his cell, And breaks in hemispheres the obdurate sh.e.l.l.
Loud trills sweet Philomel his tender strain, Charms his fond bride, and wakes his infant train; Perch'd on the circling moss, the listening throng Wave their young wings, and whisper to the song.
[Footnote: _The inc.u.mbent Linnet_, l. 348. The affection of the unexperienced and untaught bird to its egg, which induces it to sit days and weeks upon it to warm the enclosed embryon, is a matter of great difficulty to explain; See Additional Note IX. on Storge. Concerning the fabrication of their nests, see Zoonomia, Sect. XVI. 13. on instinct.]
[Footnote: _Hears the young prisoner_, l. 351. The air-vessel at the broad end of an incubated egg gradually extends its edges along the sides of the sh.e.l.l, as the chick enlarges, but is at the same time applied closer to the internal surface of the sh.e.l.l; when the time of hatching approaches the chick is liable to break this air-bag with its beak, and thence begin to breathe and to chirp; at this time the edges of the enlarged air-bag extend so as to cover internally one hemisphere of the egg; and as one half of the external sh.e.l.l is thus moist, and the other half dry, as soon as the mother hearing the chick chirp, or the chick itself wanting respirable air, strikes the egg, about its equatorial line, it breaks into two hemispheres, and liberates the prisoner.]
[Footnote: _And whisper to the song_, l. 356. A curious circ.u.mstance is mentioned by Kircherus de Musurgia, in his Chapter de Lusciniis. ”That the young nightingales, that are hatched under other birds, never sing till they are instructed by the company of other nightingales.” And Johnston affirms, that the nightingales that visit Scotland, have not the same harmony as those of Italy, (Pennant's Zoology, octavo, p. 255), which would lead us to suspect, that the singing of birds, like human music, is an artificial language rather than a natural expression of pa.s.sion.]
”The Lion-King forgets his savage pride, And courts with playful paws his tawny bride; The listening Tiger hears with kindling flame The love-lorn night-call of his brinded dame. 360 Despotic LOVE dissolves the b.e.s.t.i.a.l war, Bends their proud necks, and joins them to his car; Shakes o'er the obedient pairs his silken thong, And goads the humble, or restrains the strong.-- Slow roll the silver wheels,--in beauty's pride Celestial PSYCHE blus.h.i.+ng by his side.-- The lordly Bull behind and warrior Horse With voice of thunder shake the echoing course, Chain'd to the car with herds domestic move, And swell the triumph of despotic LOVE. 370
”Pleased as they pa.s.s along the breezy sh.o.r.e In twinkling shoals the scaly realms adore, Move on quick fin with undulating train, Or lift their slimy foreheads from the main.
High o'er their heads on pinions broad display'd The feather'd nations shed a floating shade; Pair after pair enamour'd shoot along, And trill in air the gay impa.s.sion'd song.
With busy hum in playful swarms around Emerging insects leave the peopled ground, 380 Rise in dark clouds, and borne in airy rings Sport round the car, and wave their golden wings.
Admiring Fawns pursue on dancing hoof, And bashful Dryads peep from shades aloof; Emerging Nereids rise from coral cells, Enamour'd Tritons sound their twisted sh.e.l.ls; From sparkling founts enchanted Naiads move, And swell the triumph of despotic LOVE.
[Footnote: _With undulating train_, l. 373. The side fins of fish seem to be chiefly used to poise them; as they turn upon their backs immediately when killed, the air-bladder a.s.sists them perhaps to rise or descend by its possessing the power to condense the air in it by muscular contraction; and it is possible, that at great depths in the ocean the air in this receptacle may by the great pressure of the inc.u.mbent water become condensed into so small a s.p.a.ce, as to cease to be useful to the animal, which was possibly the cause of the death of Mr. Day in his diving s.h.i.+p. See note on Ulva, Botan.
Gard. V. II.
The progressive motion of fish beneath the water is produced princ.i.p.ally by the undulation of their tails. One oblique plain of a part of the tail on the right side of the fish strikes the water at the same time that another oblique plain strikes it on the left side, hence in respect to moving to the right or left these percussions of the water counteract each other, but they coincide in respect to the progression of the fish; this power seems to be better applied to push forwards a body in water, than the oars of boats, as the particles of water recede from the stroke of the oar, whence the comparative power acquired is but as the difference of velocity between the striking oar and the receding water. So a s.h.i.+p moves swifter with an oblique wind, than with a wind of the same velocity exactly behind it; and the common windmill sail placed obliquely to the wind is more powerful than one which directly recedes from it. Might not some machinery resembling the tails of fish be placed behind a boat, so as to be moved with greater effect than common oars, by the force of wind or steam, or perhaps by hand?]
[Footnote: _On pinions broad display'd_, l. 375. The progressive motion of birds in the air is princ.i.p.ally performed by the movement of their wings, and not by that of their tails as in fish. The bird is supported in an element so much lighter than itself by the resistance of the air as it moves horizontally against the oblique plain made by its breast, expanded tail and wings, when they are at rest; the change of this obliquity also a.s.sists it to rise, and even directs its descent, though this is owing princ.i.p.ally to its specific gravity, but it is in all situations kept upright or balanced by its wings.
As the support of the bird in the air, as well as its progression, is performed by the motion of the wings; these require strong muscles as are seen on the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of partridges. Whence all attempts of men to fly by wings applied to the weak muscles of their arms have been ineffectual; but it is not certain whether light machinery so contrived as to be moved by their feet, might not enable them to fly a little way, though not so as to answer any useful purpose.]
”Delighted Flora, gazing from afar, Greets with mute homage the triumphal car; 390 On silvery slippers steps with bosom bare, Bends her white knee, and bows her auburn hair; Calls to her purple heaths, and blus.h.i.+ng bowers, Bursts her green gems, and opens all her flowers; O'er the bright Pair a shower of roses sheds, And crowns with wreathes of hyacinth their heads.-- --Slow roll the silver wheels with snowdrops deck'd, And primrose bands the cedar spokes connect; Round the fine pole the twisting woodbine clings, And knots of jasmine clasp the bending springs; 400 Bright daisy links the velvet harness chain, And rings of violets join each silken rein; Festoon'd behind, the snow-white lilies bend, And tulip-ta.s.sels on each side depend.
--Slow rolls the car,--the enamour'd Flowers exhale Their treasured sweets, and whisper to the gale; Their ravelled buds, and wrinkled cups unfold, Nod their green stems, and wave their bells of gold; Breathe their soft sighs from each enchanted grove, And hail THE DEITIES OF s.e.xUAL LOVE. 410
”ONWARD with march sublime in saffron robe Young HYMEN steps, and traverses the globe; O'er burning sands, and snow-clad mountains, treads, Blue fields of air, and ocean's briny beds; Flings from his radiant torch celestial light O'er Day's wide concave, and illumes the Night.
With dulcet eloquence his tuneful tongue Convokes and captivates the Fair and Young; His golden lamp with ray ethereal dyes The blus.h.i.+ng cheek, and lights the laughing eyes; 420 With secret flames the virgin's bosom warms, And lights the impatient bridegroom to her arms; With lovely life all Nature's frame inspires, And, as they sink, rekindles all her fires.”
VII. Now paused the beauteous Teacher, and awhile Gazed on her train with sympathetic smile.
'Beware of Love! she cried, ye Nymphs, and hear 'His tw.a.n.ging bowstring with alarmed ear; 'Fly the first whisper of the distant dart, 'Or s.h.i.+eld with adamant the fluttering heart; 430 'To secret shades, ye Virgin trains, retire, 'And in your bosoms guard the vestal fire.'
--The obedient Beauties hear her words, advised, And bow with laugh repress'd, and smile chastised.
[Footnote: _With laugh repress'd_, l. 434. The cause of the violent actions of laughter, and of the difficulty of restraining them, is a curious subject of inquiry. When pain afflicts us, which we cannot avoid, we learn to relieve it by great voluntary exertions, as in grinning, holding the breath, or screaming; now the pleasurable sensation, which excites laughter, arises for a time so high as to change its name, and become a painful one; and we excite the convulsive motions of the respiratory muscles to relieve this pain. We are however unwilling to lose the pleasure, and presently put a stop to this exertion; and immediately the pleasure recurs, and again as instantly rises into pain. Which is further explained in Zoonomia, Sect. 34. 1. 4. When this pleasurable sensation rises into a painful one, and the customs of society will not permit us to laugh aloud, some other violent voluntary exertion is used instead of it to alleviate the pain.]
[Footnote: _With smile chastised_, l. 434. The origin of the smile has generally been ascribed to inexplicable instinct, but may be deduced from our early a.s.sociations of actions and ideas. In the act of sucking, the lips of the infant are closed round the nipple of its mother, till it has filled its stomach, and the pleasure of digesting this grateful food succeeds; then the sphincter of the mouth, fatigued by the continued action of sucking, is relaxed; and the antagonist muscles of the face gently acting, produce the smile of pleasure, which is thus during our lives a.s.sociated with gentle pleasure, which is further explained in Zoonomia, Sect. 16. 8. 4.]
Now at her nod the Nymphs attendant bring Translucent water from the bubbling spring; In crystal cups the waves salubrious s.h.i.+ne, Unstain'd untainted with immodest wine.
Next, where emerging from its ancient roots Its widening boughs the Tree of Knowledge shoots; 440 Pluck'd with nice choice before the Muse they placed The now no longer interdicted taste.
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