CANTO II. NOT with more glories, in th' ethereal plain, Launch'd on the bosom of the silver Thames. Fair Nymphs, and well-drest Youths around her shone, But ev'ry eye was fix'd on her alone. On her white breast a sparkling Cross she wore, Her lively looks a sprightly mind disclose, 5 10 15 Might hide her faults, if Belles had faults to hide; If to her share some female errors fall, Look on her face, and you'll forget them all. Nourish'd two Locks, which graceful hung behind 20 VARIATIONS. 25 Ver. 4. Launch'd on the bosom, &c.] From hence the poem continues, in the first Edition, to ver. 46. "The rest the winds dispers'd in empty air; all after, to the end of this Canto, being additional.-P. " Fair tresses man's imperial race insnare, And beauty draws us with a single hair. Th' advent'rous Baron the bright locks admir'd; 30 He saw, he wish'd, and to the prize aspir'd. For this, ere Phoebus rose, he had implor'd 35 And all the trophies of his former loves; 40 And breathes three am'rous sighs to raise the fire. 45 But now secure the painted Vessel glides, NOTES. 50 Ver. 28. with a single hair.] In allusion to those lines of Hudibras, applied to the same purpose: "And tho' it be a two foot Trout, 'Tis with a single hair pull'd out.”—Warburton. IMITATIONS. Ver. 45. The pow'rs gave ear,] Virg. Æneid. xi.—P. PARALLEL PASSAGES. Ver. 28. And beauty draws us, &c] Steevens quotes Buchanan's Epi grams, lib. I. xiv. p. 77. 66 Et modo membra pilo vinctus miser abstrahor uno.” "One hair of thine in fetters ties."-Sandys. He summons straight his denizens of air; Colours that change whene'er they wave their wings. Ye Sylphs and Sylphids, to your chief give ear! NOTES. 55 60 65 70 75 Ver. 75. Ye know] Those who are fond of tracing images and sentiments to their source, may, perhaps, be inclined to think, that the hint of ascribing tasks and offices to such imaginary beings, is taken from the Fairies, and the Ariel of Shakespear; let the impartial critic determine, which has the superiority of fancy. The employment of Ariel in the Tempest, is said to be And again, "In the deep nook, where once Thou call'dst me up at midnight to fetch dew Nor must I omit that exquisite song, in which his favourite and peculiar pastime is expressed : "Where the bee sucks, there suck I, In a cowslip's bell I lie; Some in the fields of purest ether play, And bask and whiten in the blaze of day. Some guide the course of wand'ring orbs on high, 80 Or roll the planets through the boundless sky. Or brew fierce tempests on the wintry main, And guard with arms divine the British Throne. After sun-set, merrily; Merrily, merrily, shall I live now, Under the blossom that hangs on the bough." 85 90 With what wildness of imagination, but yet with what propriety, are the amusements of the fairies pointed out in the Midsummer Night's Dream ; amusements proper for none but fairies! "For the third part of a minute, hence: Some to kill cankers in the musk-rose buds : To make my small elves coats; and some keep back At our quaint spirits.". Shakespear only could have thought of the following gratifications for Titania's lover; and they are fit only to be offered to her lover by a fairy queen. "Be kind and courteous to this gentleman, Hop in his walks, and gambol in his eyes; And pluck the wings from painted butterflies, If it should be thought that Shakespear has the merit of being the first who assigned proper employments to imaginary persons, in the foregoing lines, yet it must be granted that by the addition of the most delicate satire to the most lively fancy, Pope, in a following passage (ver. 91), has equalled any thing in Shakespear, or perhaps in any other author.— Warton. Ver. 90. And guard with arms] The poet was too judicious to desire Our humbler province is to tend the Fair, This day, black omens threat the brightest Fair That e'er deserv'd a watchful spirit's care; But what, or where, the fates have wrapt in night. 95 100 105 Or whether Heav'n has doom'd that Shock must fall. Haste then, ye spirits! to your charge repair: NOTES. 111 this should be understood as a compliment. He intended it for a mere piece of raillery; such as he more openly pursues on another occasion; when he says, 66 Where's now the Star which lighted Charles to rise? With that which follow'd Julius to the skies. Angels, that watch'd the Royal Oak so well, How chanc'd you slept when luckless Sorrel fell?” Warburton. Ver. 105. Whether the Nymph, &c.] The disaster, which makes the subject of this poem, being a trifle, taken seriously; it naturally led the poet into this fine satire on the female estimate of human mischances.Warburton. Ver. 112. Zephyretta] The names of his Sylphs are happily chosen. Castelvetro mentions an odd circumstance, that the names which Boiardo gave to his heroes in his Orlando Inamorato, were only the names of some of the principal tenants and peasants on his estate of Scandiano.Warton. |