Haply some hoary-headed swain may say— "There, at the foot of yonder nodding beech, ["Him have we seen' the greenwood side along, "Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn, Or crazed with care, or crossed in hopeless love. "One morn I missed him on the accustomed hill, Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he: "The next, with dirges due, in sad array, Slow through the church-way path we saw him borne :- ["There scattered2 oft, the earliest of the year, THE EPITAPH. Here rests his head upon the lap of earth A youth, to fortune and to fame unknown: (1) Him have we seen, &c.-This stanza, the "Doric delicacy" of which is praised by Mason, completes the poet's day, by supplying the evening. It is taken from Gray's first manuscript. (2) There scattered, &c.-This exquisite stanza was printed in the earlier editions, but afterwards omitted by the author "because he thought it was too long a parenthesis in this place." The judgment is perhaps correct, but it is re-admitted here, notwithstanding, for the reason given in note 7, p. 61. F Fair Science1 frowned not on his humble birth, Large was his bounty,3 and his soul sincere ;* He He gained from Heaven ('twas all he wished) a friend. No further seek his merits to disclose, Or draw his frailties from their dread abode, (There they alike in trembling hope repose,) The bosom of his Father and his God. Gray. TO A WATER-FOWL. WHITHER, midst falling dew,? While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, Vainly the fowler's eye Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong; (1) Fair science, &c.-i. e. the lowliness of his birth (not, however, that Gray's birth was actually humble) did not interfere with his successful pursuit of science and knowledge. (2) Gray was of a grave temperament, and yet, like Cowper, wrote some particularly humorous poems. (3) Bounty-The word usually refers to actual generosity, but here it seems to mean generosity of heart. (4) Sincere-open, and capable of friendship. (5) Friend-probably the poet refers to his friend Mason. (6) There in their "dread abode," the bosom, i. e. the mercy of God, to which he refers both his merits and his frailties. These notes may properly conclude with Dr. Johnson's judgment on the poem, that it" abounds with images which find a mirror in every mind, and with sentiments to which every bosom returns an echo." See "Life of Gray." (7) Falling dew-This marks the time; for the bird being high in the air, was not, of course, in the midst of "falling dew." Seek'st thou the plashy1 brink Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide, There is a power whose care Teaches thy way along that pathless coast3— Lone wandering, but not lost. All day thy wings have fanned, And soon that toil shall end; Soon shalt thou find a summer-home, and rest, Thou'rt gone the abyss of heaven He, who from zone to zone Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, Bryant. (1) Plashy-from the noun plash. The termination ash, according to Dr. Wallis, denotes a sharp, sudden motion, gradually subsiding, as in crash, flash, plash, &c. See his "Grammatica Linguæ Anglicanæ," p. 160. (2) There is a power, &c.-i. e. the inquiries in the last stanza seem to impute vagueness and indecision to thy movements, but such is not their character;There is a power that teaches thee thy way, &c. (3) Coast-A peculiar but striking use of the word, as if the bird were skirting the very vault of the sky. ALEXANDER SELKIRK'S SOLILOQUY.1 I AM monarch2 of all I survey, That sages have seen in thy face? I am out of humanity's3 reach, Society, friendship, and love, Religion! what treasure untold (1) Alexander Selkirk was a sailor, who having quarrelled with his captain, was set on shore by him, in the year 1704, on the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez, and remained there more than four years. (2) Monarch, sovereign-The former word-from the Greek μóvoc, alone, and άpxós, a governor-signifies one who has sole authority; sovereign-from the Latin supremus (through the old English, sovran), highest-one who has the highest authority. As there was no question of rank in Selkirk's case, the aptness of the word "monarch" is obvious. (3) Humanity-human rature, mankind. (4) Divinely-as the Latin divinitus, by divine providence, from heaven. But the sound of the church-going bell' Of a land I shall visit no more. And the swift-winged arrows of light. Soon hurries me back to despair. THE HAPPY MAN.4 How happy is he born and taught And simple truth his highest skill; Cowper. (1) The church-going bell-This expression ought by analogy to mean, the bell that goes to church, and is therefore censured by Wordsworth in the Appendix to his "Lyrical Ballads." (2) Sport-This implies that the author supposed that Selkirk had been shipwrecked, which, as just explained, was not the fact. (3) Lair-See note 1, p. 4. (4) Sir Henry Wotton, the author of this quaint and excellent poem, was a friend and contemporary of Milton. (5) Born and taught-i. e. both by birth and education. (6) Honest thought-honesty of purpose. |