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“ BY EDUCATIDN MEN BECOME EASY TO LEAD, BUT DIlI'rlcuL1‘ To muv:-2.451 ro GOVERN, BUT IMPOSSIBLE TO r-:Nsl.AVl:.“-Loki) B11006!-MM.
NU)-TBER 64.
Z N-s7t'I'lI-JEli)Al-(,iiiU(V?rUST 13, 184::
Milton’: “ Camus."
or run rnrroe.
To doubt that this exquisite allegorical poem is
familiar to our readers would be an insult to their taste
and understanding; but it is in order to direct attention
to the innumerable scattered beauties that lie, (‘like
orient pearls at random strung,” amongst more lengthy
but equally beautiful passages in this poem, that we
have employed our time and space for their elucidation.
It is almost superfluous to remind the peruser that
“Camus” was written as a mask for the Lady Alice
rligerton, and presented at Ludlmv Castle in the year
1634; the main incident of the poem bcing founded upon
an occurrence that actually took place in that family.
It was set to music by Henry Lavves, the admired and
valued friend of Milton, whose exquisite musical taste
had been cultivated in Italy, and who in “ Coinus ”
introduces Lawes in the character of a sylvan swnin,
"Who, with his soft pipe xind Smooth-<lilliel.l song,
‘Veil knows to still the wild Winds when they roar,
And hurl. Ihe Waving woods."
Fenton, the editor of “'nl1er's poems, says, that " the
best poets of Lawes’s time were ambitions of having
their verses set to music by this admirable artist; and
the eulogium seems not to have been misplaced, for the
three collections of his songs, still extant, contain a
great quantity of beautiful lyric poetry, and the airs to
which they were wedded manifest the powers of one who
was gifted with fancy, taste, and feeling, and possessed
of no small share of sliill and knowledge of his art. llis
music of -" Comus " does not appear to have been ever
printed, and. with the exception of some fragments, is
irrevocably last. Dr. Arne, however, one hundred
years later, re-set “ Corpus," and this is the mastvrpiece
of that elegant composer, being immensurabl superior
to the far-famed Artaxerxes. A recent revival at one of
our patent theatres proved that its value and excellence
had not been impaired by age, having been received by
an audience with demonstrations of the utmost pleasure.
The scene opens in a wild wood, where the attendant
spirit, afterwards assuming the habit of the sllvpherd
Thyrsis, and being in reality the personification of
Virtue, thus commences his soliloquy in at burst of ma-
jeslic poetry 2e
" Before the slnny Illrcslltvld or Jove's court
My mansion is, where thine llnmnrtal shapcs
Of bright at-rilll spirits live illspllered
In regions mild of calm and serene nir,
Above the smoke and on of Ihis (lim llpnt
‘Vllich rnvn call Earth, and th low-lllougllted care,
Umnlmlrul of the crown that Virluc gives,
Altrr this mortal cllanzv‘, Io her true servants,
Amongst lllc cnthrorie-I God: on tainted seals."
Ifthis be not true poetry we know not what poetryis,
The solemn aolemnity of the opening blank verso con-
trasts well with the lighter measure that follows the
entry of Comus, “ with ll charming rod in one hand and
his glass in the other." A rout of monsters h:llf-ani-
ma], half-human, succeeding in his truck, making a
riotous and unruly noise, and awakening the echoes of
the forest over the autumnal-lined leaves, on which their
flickering torches sheds a red and unearthly glare. And
here Comus gives us, in some dozen lines,aglowing
description of the setting sun and its attendant phe.
nomena
“The stnrlhal bids the Ihcpherll (old,
And the gilded car of day,
His glowing axle (lulh nllay,
In the steep allantic stream,
And the sloped sun his upward beam
Shoots against the rlrnky pol
Pacing towards the olllnr goal
Of his cllarnber in the can "e
Vividity of description could go no further. The
dizzy enjoyment: of the Circean igvellers now com-
mence. It is the season when riot might well rear its
vine-crowned hear], and its unscrupulous votarics bow
down in worship. But “ The Lady " enters, and vice,
awed at the presence of superior virtue, retires to its
darker cells. The torches, one by one, are borne away,
and a brief period of calm serenity ensues. Then it is
that the fair wanderer, separated from her brothers in
the tangled wood, maze-bewildered, blames the dark-
11953 for having stolen them from her :-
" Else why, oh i ilIil.’Vi!l’I lIi"llIl
Shonldst lllou hut fur some vile fell) s end,
in lhy d.'ll'l( lantern thus close up the stars,
That nature hung In heaven, and filled lhcir lamps
“'ilh everlasting oil to give due liglll
To the misled and lonely travI:ller’l"
Such a situation might well appal the stolltest heart,
but could not unnerve one who, like the heroine, was
ever attended by the “strong siding champion, cos-
scl:.x'cz.” Cotnua himself listening, disguised as a
shepherd, feels not the presence of such virtuous beauty
unmoved. He describes tlle effect of her voice as
“ smoothing the raven down ofdarhness till it smiled,”
and, with a wily artfulness, protfcrs his serpent-cunning
to direct her footsteps to them. How unsuspicious,
innate integrity of heart and purpose receives the offer
made, is exquisitely shown in her reply :e
H Shepherd, I take my word,
Anll tmsl thy holiest om-roll courtesy,
which of! is sooner found in lowly shells,
With smoky rafters, than i lup'stry ll:llls
Ami courts nv princes, rrht-re it first was nunn.-d
And yet is most prelcnllul.”
-Comus succeeds in leading the hapless maiden from
the spot, who, in accorclunce with the frailty of human
nature, is lurell for awhile by pleasure from the path she
had chosen. Those of whom she was in quest now
enter; the elder of the two brothers seeking in vain for
their lost sister, thus hoping that if the influence of the
moon be quite dammed up “ with black usurping mists,"
tbate
“some grrnle taper
Though a run. candle from Ihe wicker hole
Of some clay hzhilalinn, visit us
with thy [any levelled rule afatrraminy light.”
A more expressive phrase, to convey what is here
intended, could not perhaps be found. And here the
repinings of the younger brother gives occasion for ti
fine burst of poetry from the lips of his companion,
fraught with the strictest principles of pure morality ze
“Virtue couhl sce to do what virtue wnnhl,
By her own ralliallt light, lhnngh sun and moon
“fare in the flat sen sun nd Wisdom‘: nclf
Ofl neck: to sweet relil-ed Mllihltil‘,
Whcremilh lu-r best nllrsc cnnlelnplaliun,
She plumes hcr feathers and leis grow ht-ruillgs,
That in the various blulle of resort.
“'ere all too rlltflcd and aolnclimea ilnpailcll.
ll: Illal has light within hill own clear breast
May sit i‘ the centre and enjoy bright tiny;
But he that hlilvi : dark soul and foul lllnllgllis,
Beniglltcd walks umlrr tin‘ mid-day sun-
IIl'1rluLI't': in mi dlmyenn."
“'9 have been somewhat lavish in our quotation, but
Now the top of llcrlvcn doth hold,
No. :2,-vol. ll.
the whole scene is so exquisitely beautiful that we could
PRICE THREE HALFPENCE.
End it in our heart to transfer it entire to our columns.
But we must proceed. The “ attendant Spirit," under
the garb of a rustic, accosts the fearing brothers, and
explains the mode by which Comus had wrought upon
her will. He then describes the power of her vocal
accomplishment ill the following sweet lillesze
" At last 2 soft and solemn bn-allling sound,
lose like a stream Offltll-dllallllrd pt-rrurnr:
And Shllc upon the air, that even silence
‘Va: took etc the was 'WEIN‘, and wished llhc might
Deny her nature and be rum mar
Still to be lo riixpfacrd."
The thrilling imagery contained in the above few
lines, perhaps excels in beauty any other passage in this
poem. The poet is not more eminent for strength and
sublimity of genius, than for the art of his composition,
for which he was chiefly indebted to the hue taste for
harmony that he possessed. But the remainder awaits
our attention, and in Milton's own words we trust the
reader will exclaini-
L.-rd on rpm,
And some gnarl angrl bear a shield before us."
A Few Words about Ancient Asyluins.
av nuns CALDER nulmr, rsq. '
THE manners of mankind seem in all ages to have
presented the same singular and striking contrast which
in the present ago so constantly nrrest the attention of
the philosopher. Like the wrczltli of flowers thrown by
some mourning hand upon Nero's tomb, some of the
llablts and customs ofantiquity, though simple of tllemw
selves, are l'eIICll‘I1‘(l strongly interesting from the cir-
cumstances surrounding them. Of this description is
the subject of the present article, Asylums, which, while
the use ofthe term presupposes war, rapine,nnd cruelty,
yet bring the images of peace and security to the mind.
The word itself seems to he deriverl from u. and arbor
(sruln) free iron: spoil, because the person of him who
entered therein became inviolahle. The first mention
we find of them is in the sacred volume, where we are
told six cities of refuge were provided for those who
had hem the involuntary actors of some crime or out-
rage against the Hebrew community‘crimcs which the
rigour of the law was not allowed to pardon. but which
ljustice. in her glorious exactitude, could not condemn.
moug other nations,templcs, altars, tombs, and statues
ofdeparted heroes, were the ordinary and secure resort
of those whom misfortuna or rice had rendered amenr
ble to the laws, or who ded from the oppression of a
in which Clemency, was held to be enthroned.
The altar of that temple once grasped by the tram.
bling hand of the intended or probable victim, he was
free to departfr.-arless and in safety, the mightiest tyrant,
the very tempest of human malevolence and passion,
bowing them down before the mysterious .l'1vis which
was believed to encircle those who thus had placed their
fortunes or their lives under the protection of the com-
bined deities who inhabited the holy fane. The lJ93l‘lll<
stone (films), which was accounted the residence of the
domestic godsetllo Lares and Pencltes-was another
place of surety from the assaults of an enemy.
But it was not only to the structulea of man's er-egg.
tion or consecration that the weak, the fearful, or the
guilty, could turn their pallid faces, wheuthc “ Avenger
of bloo:l”was tracking their uncertain footsteps; the
giant forest spread its shadowy extent before them : to
reach its covert was to be preserved ;-to [Alli-mi‘) die.
The ancient authors abound in passages showing the
tyrant. The Athenians consecrated a temple to Pity,‘
E
‘!
ii