315. ridge of low hills; so that it gives an opportunity to the inhabitants of the place of noticing the stars in both the positions here alluded to, namely, on the tops of the mountains, and as winter-lamps at a distance among the leafless trees."-Wordsworth's note. "THERE!" SAID A STRIPLING, POINTING WITH MEET PRIDE This and the following sonnet belong to a group of 48 poems "composed or suggested during a tour in the summer of 1833." Wordsworth's companions were his son John and his friend H. Crabb Robinson. Wordsworth's note on the first of the sonnets here printed is as follows: "Mosgiel was thus pointed out to me by a young man on the top of the coach on my way from Glasgow to Kilmarnock. It is remarkable that, though Burns lived some time here, and during much the most productive period of his poetical life, he nowhere adverts to the splendid prospects stretching towards the sea and bounded by the peaks of Arran on one part, which in clear weather he must have had daily before his eyes. In one of his poetical effusions he speaks of describing 'fair Nature's face" as a privilege on which he sets a high value; nevertheless, natural appearances rarely take a lead in his poetry. It is as a human being, eminently sensitive and intelligent, and not as a poet, clad in his priestly robes and carrying the ensigns of sacerdotal office, that he interests and affects us. Whether he speaks of rivers, hills, and woods, it is not so much on account of the properties with which they are absolutely endowed, as relatively to local patriotic remembrances and associations, or as they ministered to personal feelings, especially those of love, whether happy or otherwise; yet it is not always so. Soon after we had passed Mosgiel Farm we crossed the Ayr, murmuring and winding through a narrow woody hollow. His line 'Auld hermit Ayr strays through his woods' came at once to my mind with Irwin, Lugar, Ayr, and Doon, Ayrshire streams over which he breathes a sigh as being unnamed in song; and surely his own attempts to make them known were as successful as his heart would desire." TO A CHILD "This quatrain was extempore on observing this image, as I had often done, on the lawn of Rydal Mount."-Wordsworth's note. EXTEMPORE EFFUSION UPON THE DEATH OF JAMES HOGG "These verses were written extempore, immediately after reading a notice of the Ettrick 1 To William Simpson, st. 16, 1. 3. 2 The Vision. Duan 1, st. 14, 1. 3. See To William Simpson, st. 8, 1. 5. For the other poems which appeared in the second edition of Lyrical Ballads, see the Glossary under Lyrical Ballads. 317b. 25f. That is, one expects a poem written in a given period to exemplify the characteristics peculiar to the poetry of that period. The The poetry of the age of Catullus, Terence, 318b. 3. Creation.-"It is worth while here to Johnson, S.: The Lives of the English Poets Kind, J. L.: Edward Young in Germany (New Texte, J.: "Young's Influence in France," Jean Thomas, W.: Le poète Edward Young (Paris, CRITICAL NOTES As a rule, Young's verse is hollow and formal, and his thought commonplace; yet his themean escape from manners and dress, etc.-and his use of blank verse make his work important among the forerunners of Romanticism. 320b. 33. Poetry.-"I here used the word poetry 322a. 28f. Cf. Shelley's A Defense of Poetry EDWARD YOUNG (1681-1765), p. 33 EDITIONS Poetical Works, 2 vols., ed., with a Life, by J. BIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM Eliot, G.: "Worldliness and Otherworldliness: the Poet Young," Essays (London, Blackwood, 1888). Hazlitt, W.: "On Swift, Young, Gray, Collins, etc.," Lectures on the English Poets (London, 1818); Collected Works, ed. Waller and Glover (London, Dent, 1902-06; New York, McClure), 5, 104. NIGHT THOUGHTS As originally published this poem was entitled The Complaint; or, Night Thoughts. Young prefixed to it the following Preface: "As the occasion of this poem was real, not fictitious, so the method pursued in it was rather imposed by what spontaneously arose in the author's mind on that occasion, than meditated or designed, which will appear very probable from the nature of it. For it differs from the common mode of poetry, which is, from long narrations to draw short morals. Here, on the contrary, the narrative is short, and the morality arising from it makes the bulk of the poem. The reason of it is that the facts mentioned did naturally pour these moral reflections on the thought of the writer." 36b. 51. Speaking of Dryden, Young says: "The strongest demonstration of his no-taste for the buskin are his tragedies fringed with rhyme, which in epic poetry is a sure disease, in the tragic, absolute death. To Dryden's enormity, Pope's was a slight offence. As lacemen are foes to mourning, these two authors, rich in rhyme, were no great friends to those solemn ornaments which the noble nature of their works required."-From Conjectures on Original Composition. GLOSSARY OF PROPER NAMES The following glossary is meant to include all the proper names occurring in the text, with the following exceptions: 1. Names explained in the text itself. 2. Names explained in the footnotes or in the critical notes, especially names found in titles. 3. Names of imaginary persons and places, and of other persons and places not identified. 4. Names of very familiar persons and places reference to which is immediately clear. The glossary aims to supply merely the specific information that is needed in connection with the names as they occur in the text. Aaron. A high-priest of the Israelites, and the Abassides. A famous dynasty of caliphs at Bagdad, Asiatic Turkey, 749-1258. Abbotsford. The residence of Sir Walter Scott on the River Tweed, Roxburghshire, Scotland. Abel. The second son of Adam. acceptable sacrifice than his brother Cain, and He offered a more was slain by him out of jealousy. Abelard. Peter Abelard (1079-1142), a noted French philosopher and theologian. structor and paramour of Heloise. He was the inmarriage, Abelard became a monk, and Héloïse retired to a convent. After their preserved in their letters, which have been freThe story of their love is quently published. Aberdeen. See Pope's Eloisa to Abelard. 1.-(493, 495)-George Gordon, 1860), 4th Earl of Aberdeen, a member of the Athenian Society, and the author of An Inquiry (1784into the Principles of Beauty in Grecian Architecture. 2-(1114)-An important seaport in the county of Aberdeen, Scotland. Aberdour. A small place on the Firth of Forth, near Edinburgh, Scotland. Aberfoyle. Aboukir. A small village in Perthshire, central Achray. A lake in western Perthshire, Scotland, A Sicilian physician said to have conquered the plague in Athens in 430 B. C. A river-goddess. Acron. A hunter, who saw Diana bathing, and who was changed by her into a stag, and killed by his own hounds. Actium, A promontory on the coast of Acarnania, ancient Greece. Addison, Joseph Addison (1672-1719), a noted English essayist; principal contributor to The Spectator. Adelung. Johann Christoph Adelung (1732-1806), a noted German philologist and lexicographer; author of Mithridates, a general treatise on language, and of a Grammatico-critical Dictionary, regarded as superior to Johnson's. Admetus. A mythological king of Thessaly, the husband of Alcestis. See Adonis. Adon'. Adonais. The name given by Shelley to Keats, and Adonis. A beautiful youth, beloved by Venus. Adria; Adrian. The Adriatic Sea, lying east of Italy. æa. An island lying between Italy and Sicily, and fabled as the abode of Circe. Egeria. A sea east of Greece. In Roman mythology, one of the Camenæ (identified with the Muses), by whom Numa was Ageus. A mythological king of Athens. The Ægean instructed with regard to the forms of worship he was to introduce into Roman temples. Ægisthus. Sea was, by tradition, named after him because he drowned himself in it. Son of Thyestes, in Greek mythology, slayer of Atreus, and paramour of Clytemnestra, Æneas. whom he aided in the slaying of her husband, Agamemnon. He was slain by Orestes. The hero of Virgil's Eneid, and a prominent defender of Troy in Homer's Iliad. was the son of Anchises and Aphrodite. He In ancient geography, the western coast of Eolian. Of or pertaining to Eolus, god of winds; Eschylus (5th century B. C.). 1377 ing to Plutarch, at being defeated for the tragic prize by Sophocles. Eson. In classic mythology, the father of Jason (noted for his quest of the Golden Fleece). Medea, the sorceress, at Jason's request, restored aged son to the vigor of youth. Esop. According to tradition, a Greek fabulist of the 6th century B. C. Æthiopia. In ancient times, a country south of Egypt. Ethon. One of the horses of the sun, named in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Etnean. Of or resembling Mt. Etna, a volcano in Sicily. Affrico. A small stream near Landor's home in Fiesole, Italy. It was celebrated by Boccaccio in his Ninfale, and near it the stories of his Decameron were related. Afton. A small river in Ayrshire, Scotland. Agamemnon, An ancient king of Mycenae and leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War. He is the subject of a tragedy by Eschylus, a Greek dramatist of the 5th century B. C. Agave. Mother of Pentheus, King of Thebes. Pentheus was discovered watching the orgies of the Bacchæ in a wood near Thebes, and was torn to pieces by his mother and two sisters, in their frenzy. Agra. A military and commercial city in a northwestern province of India, taken by the British in 1803. Agrippa. Cornelius Heinrich Agrippa (1486-1533), a German philosopher and student of alchemy and magic. Numerous marvels are ascribed to him. See Thomas Nash's The Unfortunate Traveller; or, The Life of Jack Wilton (1594). Ahasuerus. The name of a Jewish cobbler, accord ing to a late legend, who refused Christ permission to rest when passing his house on the way to Calvary. The sentence pronounced by Christ was, "Thou shalt wander on the earth till I return." The story has frequently been used in literature and art. Ailsa Rock. Ailsa Crag, a rocky island on the coast of Ayrshire, Scotland. Aix. A city of France, near Marseilles, famous for its hot saline spring used by the Romans. Ajax. A leading Greek hero in the Trojan War, noted for his size and strength. Alban Mount. A mountain near Rome, Italy. Albin. A poetic name for Scotland. Albuera. A town in Spain; the scene of a victory of the British and their allies over the French, in 1811. Albyn. Same as Albin. Alcæus (fl. 600 B. C.). A famous Greek poet. Alcestis. A daughter of Pelias, and wife of Adme tus, a king in Thessaly. She voluntarily died to save the life of Admetus, and was brought back from Hades by Hercules, or, according to another version of the story, by Proserpina. The legend is the subject of a tragedy by Euripides, a Greek dramatist of the 5th century B. C. Alcibiades (5th century B. C.). An Athenian statesman and general, Alcina. A fairy in Orlando Innamorato, an Italian romance by Bolardo (1434?-94). Alexander the Great. King of Macedonia (336-323 B. C.). Immediately upon his accession he made himself master of all Greece. After conquering Persia and Egypt, he crossed the Indus River (B. C. 327), and invaded India. Alexandria. A seaport of Egypt, near the westernmost branch of the Nile delta, on the Mediter ranean. Alexis. In Virgil's second Eclogue a beautiful youth beloved by the shepherd Corydon, Alfonso. 1—(102)—Alfonso IX, King of Castile (1158-1214), surnamed "The Noble" and "The Good." 2-(625)—Alfonso X, King of Leon and Castile (1252-82), surnamed "The Wise" and "The Astronomer." Alford. Halford, a village in Somersetshire, England. Alfoxden. The large mansion and park, the home of Wordsworth in Somersetshire. See My First Acquaintance with Poets (p. 1033b, 51ff.). Alfred. Alfred the Great, the famous King of the West Saxons (871-901), noted for his generous service to his people. Allan-Bane. A gray-haired bard in The Lady of the Lake. Allen. Bob Allen, a student at Christ's Hospital, contemporary with Lamb. All-Foxden. See Alfoxden. Alloway. A church not far from Burns's birthplace near Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland. Alp. Any one of the Alps Mountains. Alpheus. In Greek mythology, a river-god, repre'sented originally as a hunter who fell in love with the nymph Arethusa. She fled from him and was transformed into a fountain; Alpheus then became a river. Alphonso. See Alfonso X. Amalek. A grandson of Esau, and prince of an Arab tribe, the Amalekites. When they attacked the Israelites in the desert, the Amalekites were driven off by Joshua and doomed to extermination. Amalfi. A seaport of Italy, south of Naples. Amalthea. A nymph who nursed the infant Jupiter. Amarillis. The name of a rustic maiden or shepherdess, in various pastorals. Amasis. An Egyptian king of the 6th century B. C. Amazon. One of a race of female warriors, said to have dwelt in Scythia, famous in literature for their contests with the Greeks. Amber. A name given by the Greeks to the islands in the North Sea. Amiens. A character in As You Like It. Amiens, Peace of. A peace concluded at Amiens, France, between Great Britain, on the one hand, and France, Spain, and the Batavian Republic on the other. Ammon. 1-The ancestor of a people called Ammonites, frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. 2-(1179)-Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia (336-323 B. C.), who boasted that he was a son of the Egyptian god Ammon. Amoret. In Spenser's The Faerie Queene, the wife of Sir Scudamore. She is a type of feminine loveliness. Amphion. A son of Jupiter and Antiope. By the music of his lyre, he caused stones to move and form themselves into a wall around Thebes. Amphitrite. The wife of Neptune, god of the sea. Anacreon (5th century B. C.). A Greek lyric poet. Analogy. A theological treatise by Joseph Butler (1692-1752), an English theologian. The full title is Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature. Anapos. A river in Sicily. Anastasius. The title of a work by the English writer, Thomas Hope (1770-1831). Anatomy of Melancholy, The. A book by Robert Burton (1576-1640), an English divine. Anaxagoras (5th century B. C.). A famous Greek philosopher. Ancient Pistol. See p. 1013b, n. 4. Anderton's. A coffee-house in Fleet St., London. Andes. A mountain range along the west side of South America, Andromache. The wife of Hecior, leader of the Trojans in the Trojan War. The French opera Andromaque was written by Andre Grétry (17411813). Andromeda. A northern constellation, supposed to represent the figure of a woman chained. According to Greek legend, Andromeda was exposed to a sea-monster, rescued by Perseus, and changed, after her death, into a constellation. Angelo, See Michelangelo. Angerbode. A famous giantess in Norse mythology. Anio. A river in central Italy. It is noted for its beautiful valley and waterfall, 330 ft. high. Ann, St. See St. Ann. Annabella. A character in John Ford's 'Tis Pity Annan. A river in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. Anson, Lord George (1697-1762). An English ad- cavern. Antoinette, Marie. See Marie Antoinette. Antonine. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180), a celebrated Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher. Antony and Cleopatra. A tragedy by Shakspere. Aonian Muses. The Muses of Aonia, an ancient district in Boeotia, Greece. Aornos. In ancient geography, a rocky stronghold, situated near the Indus, taken by Alexander the Great from native defenders in 327 B. C. Apennine. The central mountain system of Italy. Aphrodite. At the marriage of Peleus and Thetis in Thessaly, Greece, Paris, son of Priam, King of Troy, awarded the golden apple to Aphrodite |