(1) Wee bit housie-little bit of a house. (2) Win's-winds. The final consonant is often omitted, as an' for and, o' for of, &c. (3) Big-build. (5) Snell-bitter. (7) Hald-abiding place, home. (9) Cranreuch-hoar-frost. (11) Gang aft a-gley-often go wrong. (4) Foggage-long grass. (8) Thole-endure. (10) No thy lane-not alone. A COMPARISON.' THE lapse of time and rivers is the same, And a wide ocean swallows both at last. A difference strikes, at length, the musing heart: THE MESSIAH.3 A SACRED ECLOGUE. YE nymphs of Solyma! begin the song: Cowper. (1) A similar thought is found in the piece entitled the "Thames " (see p. 9), but there it is merely suggested, here it is amply developed. (2) Nobler mind-the soil of the mind, which is far nobler and more important than that of the land. (3) "The idea of uniting the sacred prophecies and grand imagery of Isaiah with the mysterious visions and pomp of numbers in the Pollio of Virgil, thereby combining both sacred truth and heathen mythology, in predicting the coming of the Messiah, is one of the happiest subjects for producing emotions of sublimity that ever occurred to the mind of a poet."-Roscoe. (4) Solyma-same as Salem, supposed to be the ancient name of Jerusalem. (5) Sublimer-i. e. than those required by common subjects. A comparative sometimes, in English as well as in Latin, has the force of an emphatic positive; "sublimer" therefore means, truly sublime. (6) Mount Pindus, in Thessaly, and Aonia, a district of Boeotia, are celebrated as "haunts of the muses.' This fanciful designation thus arises :-the lovely scenery of many parts of Greece suggested beautiful conceptions to the minds of the poets, who, in their turn, personified the influences which thus affected themselves, and gave them the name of muses. Hence, the muses are said to inspire the poet-that is, to sing his song to him-while he merely wrote it down. (7) 0 Thou, &c.-i. e. the classic muses of Greece are unequal to such a subject, and, therefore, do Thou, &c. Rapt into future times, the bard' begun :- Whose sacred flower with fragrance fills the skies; Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend, See nodding forests on the mountains dance: 66 Hark! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers; (1) The bard-i. e. Isaiah, or the poet supposed to be endowed from above with the same inspiration. (4) Isaiah xxv. 4. according to the fable, left sinfulness of mankind; in (5) Returning Justice-Astrea, the goddess of justice, the earth in the iron age, being unable to endure the this new golden age she will return. See also Isaiah ix. 7. (6) Carmel's flowery top-" The good qualities of the soil of Carmel," says a modern traveller, "are apparent from the fact that many odoriferous plants and flowers, as hyacinths, jonquils, tazettos, anemones, &c., grow wild upon the mountain." (7) Isaiah xl. 3, 4. (8) Hear him, &c.—so striking an expression that it were to be wished that the next four lines had been omitted, as they only tamely repeat the same idea. G He from thick films shall purge the visual ray, As the good shepherd tends his fleecy care, No more shall nation against nation rise, Then palaces shall rise: the joyful son And the same hand that sowed, shall reap the field. Sees lilies spring, and sudden verdure rise; (1) Isaiah xxxv. 5, 6. (2) Adamantine-from the Greek ádáμas (in old Greek, steel), which is from a, not, and daμáw, to tame or subdue that which cannot be overpowered or broken, indissolubly strong. (4) Isaiah ii. 4. (5) Falchion-from the Latin falx, a reaping-hook or sickle-a hooked or arched sword. (3) Isaiah ix. 6. (6) Isaiah lxv. 21, 22. On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes, To leafless shrubs the flowering palms succeed, The lambs with wolves shall grace the verdant mead, Rise, crowned with light, Imperial Salem, rise !7 And seeds of gold in Öphir's mountains glow. (1) Isaiah xxxv. 1, 7. (2) Bulrush-The prefix bul, for bull, is augmentative-a bulrush is a large rush "Horse" is used in the same manner, see note 3, p. 76. It may be remarked that the Greeks employed the corresponding words, Boug and iTоç, in a similar way: thus the epithet Bowriç, ox-eyed, applied by Homer to Juno and others, means, having large and beautiful eyes. (3) Isaiah xli, 19; lv. 13. (5) Isaiah lxv. 25. (6) Basilisk-from the Greek Baoilίokoç, a little king-a serpent with a crest which was fancifully thought like a crown. Some think the spectaclesnake of India is the species intended. A glance from the basilisk's eyes was vulgarly said to be fatal. (7) Isaiah lx. 1. (4) Isaiah xi. 6, 7, 8. (8) Towery-may either mean literally fortified with towers, or figuratively, rising like a tower; lofty. (9) Isaiah lx. 4. (10) Isa ah lx. 3. (11) Sabaan-Sabaa was a district of Arabia Felix, noted for its frankincense, myrrh, balsam, &c. It is supposed to be the Sheba of Scripture. |