P. 202, 1. 10.

Ye haughty cardinals, &c.

Though the vices of Richelieu and of Ximenes are in some degree sunk in the splendour of their abilities,-what shall we say of the cunning Mazarin and the turbulent De Retz?

P. 202, 1. 18.

On Nicolo's vast heights, or hermit in his cell?

St. Nicolo is a very lofty mountain in the island of Ischia. On its heights are the lonely dwellings of a few monks.—If they think it necessary for their salvation that they should abstract themselves from the world, why should we quarrel with their voluntary retirement? They err, at least, on the right side.

P. 203, 1. 15.

As Cæsar, Attila, or Ammon's son ?

"Quoi donc à votre avis fut-ce un fou qu'Alexandre?
Qui? cet écervelé qui mit l'Asie en cendre?

Ce fougueux l'Angély, qui de sang altéré,
Maître du monde entier, s'y trouvait trop serré?
L'enragé qu'il était, né roi d'une province,
Qu'il pouvait gouverner en bon et sage prince,
S'en alla follement, et pensant être Dieu,
Courir comme un bandit qui n'a ni feu ni lieu;
Et traînant avec soi les horreurs de la guerre,

De sa vaste folie emplir toute la terre.

Heureux! si de son tems, pour cent bonnes raisons,

Le Macédoine eût eu de petites-maisons,

Et qu'un sage tuteur l'eût en cette demeure,

Par avis de parens, enfermé de bonne heure."-BOILEAU.

STANZAS

ADDRESSED TO THE SEA.

WRITTEN IN AUGUST, 1824.

"The sea is like a silvery lake,

And o'er its calm the vessel glides

Gently, as if it feared to wake

The slumber of the silent tides."-MOORE.

I.

Soft as a seraph's look, the calm blue sea
Smiles with unwonted loveliness; how dear
Thou, glorious element, art to the free!
The spirit-stirring waves, now hush'd, appear
With broken sunbeams or suffused, or clear,
Glassing the weed fantastic-Nature's waste.
Now ruffled by the rising breeze they near

The shore, and course each other down in haste!
The bubbling cup of pleasure thus bemocks us while we

taste.

II.

There's in our minds an overpowering sense Of grandeur, as we view the sea, that far Exceeds in depth those feelings, though intense, With which we contemplate the brightest star That heralds Cynthia in her full orb'd car. The sea, coeval with the eternal past, While element with element waged war, Ere yet the pillars of the earth stood fast, Roll'd o'er the dark abyss immeasurably vast.

III.

Then light through darkness shot its vivid ray,
Then waves subsided, mountains rose above;
Then splendid in his rising, as to-day,

The God of gladness brighten'd hill and grove,
And all creation glow'd with roseate love.
But chiefly the great ocean, o'er whose face
The spirit of its God began to move,

While yet it bluster'd through unmeasured space, Gloried within its bounds to feel the sun's embrace !

IV.

A varied mass of congregated cloud,

Purple and blue and red, the horizon round Floats o'er the waters, seemingly to shroud Some fairy isle where beauteous fruits abound; Where hills uprise by golden castles crown'd;

Whence elfin knights come forth in proud attire,
And lovely fays, whose feet scarce touch the ground:
But soon these beings of the brain expire,

When the disparting clouds unveil a sea of fire.

V.

The sun is sinking fast, and now is gone The vaporous enchantment; the wide main Reflects from clouds pavilioning the throne Of light, that still most beautiful remain, An orange hue, which to depict 'twere vain! These are faint shadows of those glorious sights Which we shall see when, free from grief and pain, We traverse planets where unbodied sprites For ever will enjoy ineffable delights.

VJ.

The bard* of Asti view'd the sea, and wept,
So strong were his emotions to behold
Its might; as yet his sun-like genius slept,
'Till roused by call of passion uncontroll❜d:
Like to the lightning's flash which clouds unfold
Amid a thunder-storm-through floods of tears
It threw a momentary ray; the bold
Promise of splendour that in after years

Blazed in his verse, and still the sons of freedom cheers.

* ALFIERI.—When this great poet first saw the sea, he could not describe the emotions which the sight of it excited in him, and therefore he gave vent to his feelings in tears.

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