Part 12

"Come away! the sunny hours Woo thee far to founts and bowers! O'er the very waters now, In their play, Flowers are shedding beauty's glow-- Come away! Where the lily's tender gleam Quivers on the glancing stream-- Come away! All the air is filled with sound, Soft, and sultry, and profound; Murmurs through the shadowy grass Lightly stray; Faint winds whisper as they pass-- Come away; Where the bee's deep music swells From the trembling fox-glove bells-- Come away!

In the skies the sapphire blue Now hath won its richest hue; In the woods the breath of song Night and day Floats with leafy scents along-- Where the boughs with dewy gloom Come away! Darken each thick bed of bloom Come away!

In the deep heart of the rose Now the crimson love-hue glows; Now the glow-worm's lamp by night Sheds a ray,

{136} Dreamy, starry, freely bright-- Come away! Where the fairy cup-moss lies, With the wild-wood strawberries, Come away!

Now each tree by summer crowned, Sheds its own night twilight round; Glancing there from sun to shade, Bright wings play; Here the deer its couch hath made-- Come away! Where the smooth leaves of the lime Glisten in the honey time, Come away--away!

HEMANS.

Autumn appears clad in a robe red with the juice of the vintage, which he yields to gladden the heart of man: while a dog is placed at his feet to denote it as the season of the chase.

"I saw old Autumn in the misty morn, Stand shadowless like silence, listening To silence, for no lonely bird would sing Into his hollow ear from woods forlorn, Nor lowly hedge nor solitary thorn; Shaking his tangled locks all dewy bright With spangled gossamer that fell by night, Pearling his coronet of golden corn. Where are the songs of summer? with the sun, Opening the dusky eyelids of the south, Till shade and silence waken up alone, And morning sings with a warm odorous mouth. Where are the merry birds? Away, away On panting wings through the inclement skies, Lest owls should prey Undazzled at noon-day, And tear with horny beak their lustrous eyes.

Where are the blooms of Summer? in the west, Blushing their last to the last sunny hours, When the mild eve by sudden night is prest Like tearful Proserpine, snatched from her flowers To a most gloomy breast. Where is the pride of Summer,--the green prime-- The many, many leaves all twinkling?--There On the moss'd elm; three on the naked lime Trembling,--and one upon the old oak tree! Where is the Dryad's immortality? Gone into mournful cypress and dark yew, Or wearing the long, gloomy winter through In the smooth holly's green eternity.

The squirrel gloats on his accomplished hoard, The Ants have trimm'd their garners with ripe grain, And honey bees have stored The sweets of summer in their luscious cells; {137} The swallows all have winged across the main; But here the Autumn melancholy dwells, And sighs her tearful spells, Amongst the sunless shadows of the plain. Alone, alone, Upon a mossy stone, She sits and reckons up the dead and gone, With the last leaves for a love-rosary, Whilst all the withered world looks drearily, Like a dim picture of the drowned past In the hushed mind's mysterious far away, Doubtful what ghostly thing will steal the last Into that distance, grey upon the grey.

O go and sit with her, and be o'ershaded Under the languid downfall of her hair; She wears a coronal of flowers faded, Upon her forehead, and a face of care;-- There is enough of withered every where To make her bower,--and enough of gloom; There is enough of sadness to invite, If only for the rose that died--whose doom Is beauty's,--she that with the living bloom Of conscious cheeks, most beautifies the light; There is enough of sorrowing, and quite Enough of bitter fruits the earth doth bear, Enough of chilly droppings for her bowl, Enough of fear and shadowy despair, To frame her cloudy prison for the soul."

HOOD.

Winter, as the oldest season, is drawn with shrivelled limbs, and white and hoary locks, to represent the appearance of old age.

"When first the fiery mantled sun His heavenly race began to run; Round the earth, in ocean blue His children four the Seasons flew;-- First, in the green apparel dancing, The young Spring smiled with angel grace; Rosy Summer next advancing, Rushed into her sire's embrace:-- Her bright haired sire, who bade her keep For ever nearest to his smiles, On Calpe's olive shaded steep, On India's citron covered isles: Now remote and buxom brown, The queen of vintage bowed before his throne; A rich pomegranate gemmed her crown, A ripe sheaf bound her zone. But howling Winter fled afar, To hills that prop the polar star, And loves on deer-borne car to ride With barren Darkness by his side, Round the shore where loud Lofoden Whirls to death the roaring whale, Round the hall where Runic Oden Howls his war song to the gale; {138} Save when a-down the ravaged globe He travels on his native storm, Deflowering Nature's grassy robe, And trampling on her faded form: Till light's returning lord assume The shaft that drives him to his polar field, Of power to pierce his raven plume, And chrystal covered shield. Oh, sire of storms, whose savage ear The Lapland drum delights to hear, When frenzy with her bloodshot eye Implores thy dreadful deity, Archangel! power of desolation! Fast descending as thou art, Say, hath mortal invocation Spells to touch thy stony heart? Then, sullen Winter, hear my prayer, And gently rule the ruined year; Nor chill the wanderer's bosom bare, Nor freeze the wretch's falling tear. To shuddering want's unmantled bed, Thy horror-breathing agues cease to lead, And gently on the orphan head Of innocence descend. But chiefly spare, O King of clouds, The sailor on his airy shrouds; When wrecks and beacons strew the steep, And spectres walk along the deep. Milder yet thy snowy breezes Pour on yonder tented shores, Where the Rhine's broad billow freezes, Or the dark brown Danube roars. Oh, winds of Winter! list ye there To many a deep and dying groan; Or start, ye demons of the midnight air, At shrieks and thunders louder than your own. Alas! e'en your unhallowed breath, May spare the victim fallen low; But man will ask no truce to death, No bounds to human woe."

CAMPBELL.

* * * * *

DIVINITIES OF THE SEA.

OCEANUS AND THETIS.

Oceanus, one of the most powerful deities of the sea, was, according to Homer, the parent of all the gods, and on that account received frequent visits from the remainder of the deities. He is represented as an old man, with a long, flowing beard, and sitting upon the waves of the sea. He often holds a pike in his hand, whilst ships under sail appear at a distance, or a sea monster stands near him. {139}

Oceanus presided over every part of the sea, and even the rivers were subjected to his power. The ancients were very reverential in their homage to Oceanus, and worshipped with great solemnity a deity, to whose care they entrusted themselves when going on any voyage.

He was the father of the Oceanides to the number of three thousand.

"Three thousand graceful Oceanides Long-stepping, tread the earth, or far and wide Dispersed, they haunt the glassy depth of lakes, A glorious sisterhood of goddess birth."

HESIOD.

Thetis, one of the sea deities, was daughter of Nereus and Doris and is often confounded with Tethys, her grandmother. She was loved by Neptune and Jupiter; but when the gods were informed that her son would become greater than his father, they ceased their addresses, and Peleus, the son of Aeacus, was permitted to solicit her hand. Thetis refused him, but the lover had the artifice to catch her when asleep, and by binding her strongly, prevented her escaping from his grasp. When Thetis found she could not elude the vigilance of Peleus, she consented to marry him, though much against her inclination. Their nuptials were celebrated on Mount Peleon with great pomp, at which all the deities attended.

"Proteus thus to virgin Thetis said, 'Fair goddess of the waves, consent to wed, A son you'll have, the terror of the field, To whom, in fame and power, his sire shall yield.' Jove, who adored the nymph with boundless love, Did, from his breast, the dangerous flame remove; He knew the fates, nor cared to raise up one, Whose fame and greatness, should eclipse his own. On happy Peleus he bestowed her charms, And blessed his grandson in the goddess' arms: --A silent creek Thessalia's coast can show, Two arms project, and shape it like a bow; 'Twould make a bay, but the transparent tide Does scarce the yellow, gravel bottom hide; A grove of fragrant myrtle near it grows, Whose boughs, though thick, a beauteous grot disclose The well wrought fabric, to discerning eyes, Rather by art than nature seem to rise. A bridled dolphin, oft fair Thetis bore To this her loved retreat, her favourite shore: Here Peleus seized her slumbering where she lay, And urged his suit, with all that love could say: The nymph o'erpowered, to art for succour flies, And various shapes the eager youth surprize. {140} A bird she seems, but plies her wings in vain, His hand the fleeting substance still detain: A branchy tree, high in the air she grew, About its bark, his nimble arms he threw: A tiger next she glares with flaming eyes, The frightened lover quits his hold and flies. The sea-gods he with sacred rites adores, Then a libation on the ocean pours; While the fat entrails crackle in the fire, And sheets of smoke in sweet perfume aspire: Till Proteus, rising from his oozy bed, Thus to the poor, desponding lover said, 'No more in anxious thoughts your mind employ, For yet you shall possess the dear, expected joy, You must once more the unwary nymph surprize, As in her cooly grot she slumbering lies: Then bind her fast with unrelenting hands, And strain her tender limbs with knotted bands; Still hold her under every distant shape, Till tired, she tries no longer to escape? Thus he then sunk beneath the glassy flood, And broken accents fluttered where he stood. Bright Sol had almost now his journey done, And down the steepy, western convex run; When the fair Nereid left the briny wave, And, as she used, retreated to her cave, He scarce had bound her fast, when she arose, And into various shapes her body throws; She went to move her arms, then found them tied, Then with a sigh 'Some god assists,' she cried, And in her proper shape stood blushing by his side."

DRYDEN.

Thetis became mother of several children by Peleus, but all these she destroyed by fire in attempting to see whether they were immortal. Achilles would have shared the same fate, if Peleus had not snatched him from her hand, as she was going to repeat the cruel operation. She afterwards rendered his body invulnerable by plunging him in the waters of the Styx, excepting that part of the heel by which she held him. As Thetis well knew the future fate of her son, she attempted to remove him from the Trojan war, by concealing him in the court of Lycomedes. This, however, was useless, as he went with the rest of the Greeks. The mother, still anxious for his preservation, prevailed upon Vulcan to make him a suit of armour; but after it was done, she refused to fulfil the promise she had made to the god. When Achilles was killed by Paris, Thetis issued out of the sea with the Nereids to mourn his death, and after she had collected his ashes in a golden urn, raised a monument to his memory, and instituted festivals in his honour.

* * * * *

{141}

TRITON, PROTEUS, PORTUMNUS, GLAUCUS, AEOLUS, THE SYRENS, CHARYBDIS AND SCYLLA, CIRCE AND THE HARPIES.

Triton was the son of Neptune and Amphitrite, and was reckoned of much importance among the sea deities, being able to raise or to calm storms at his pleasure. He is generally represented with a shell in his hand.

"Old Triton blowing his sea horn."

WORDSWORTH.

His body above the waist, is that of a man, but below, a dolphin's, while by some he is shown with the fore feet of a horse. He usually precedes the chariot of the god of the sea, sounding his shell, and is resembled, in this, by his sons the Tritons.

Proteus, son of Oceanus and Thetis, was guardian of the subjects of Neptune, and had the power of looking into the future, from that God, because he had tended for him the monsters of the sea.

"The shepherd of the seas, a prophet, and a god, High o'er the main, in watery pomp he rides, His azure car and finny coursers guides. With sure foresight, and with unerring doom He sees what is, and was, and is to come."

VIRGIL.

From his knowledge of futurity, mankind are said to have received the greatest benefits.

"Blue Proteus dwells, Great Neptune's prophet, who the ocean quells; He in a glittering chariot courses o'er The foaming waves, him all the nymphs adore, Old Nereus too, because he all things knows, The past, the present, and the future shows; {142} So Neptune pleased who Proteus thus inspired, And with such wages to his service hired, Gave him the rule of all his briny flocks, That feed among a thousand ragged rocks."

The changes which this deity was able to make in his appearance, caused the name of Proteus to be synonimous with change. Thus

"The Proteus lover woos his playful bride, To win the fair he tries a thousand forms, Basks on the sands, or gambols in the storms. A dolphin now, his scaly sides he laves; And bears the sportive damsel on the waves; She strikes the cymbals as he moves along, And wondering Ocean listens to the song. And now a spotted pard the lover stalks, Plays round her steps, and guards her favoured walks; As with white teeth he prints her hand, caressed, And lays his velvet paw upon her breast, O'er his round face her snowy fingers strain The silken knots and fit the ribbon-rein. And now a swan he spreads his plumy sails, And proudly glides before the fanning gales; Pleased on the flowery brink with graceful hand She waves her floating lover to the land; Bright shines his sinuous neck with crimson beak, He prints fond kisses on her glowing cheek, Spreads his broad wings, elates his ebon crest, And clasps the beauty to his downy breast."

DARWIN.

He usually resided on the Carpathian sea, and like the rest of the sea gods, reposed upon the shore, where those resorted who wished to consult him to obtain any revelation; but it was necessary to secure him, lest by taking some unnatural shape, he should elude their vigilance.

PORTUMNUS, the guardian of doors, was at first known as {143} Melicerta, and was the son of Athamas and Ino. He was saved by his mother from the fury of his father, Athamas, who became inflamed by such a sudden fury, that he took Ino for a Lioness, and her two children for whelps. In this fit of madness, he dashed one of them against a wall; Ino fled with Melicerta in her arms, and threw herself into the sea from a high rock, and was changed into a sea deity, by Neptune, who had compassion on her misfortunes. It is supposed by many, that the Isthmian games were in honour of Portumnus.

GLAUCUS was a fisher of Boeotia, and remarking, on one occasion, that the fish which he threw on the grass, seemed to receive fresh vigour from touching the ground, he attributed it to the grass, and tasting it, was seized with a sudden desire to live in the sea.

Upon this, he leapt into the water, and was made a sea deity by Oceanus, at the request of the marine gods.

AEOLUS, god of the winds, reigned in the Vulcanean islands, and was under the power of Neptune, who allowed him to give liberty to the winds, or to recall them into their caverns at his pleasure.

"Oh many a voice is thine thou wind! Full many a voice is thine, From every scene thy wing o'ersweeps Thou bear'st a sound and sign; A minstrel wild and strong thou art, With a mastery all thine own, And the spirit is thy harp, O wind! That gives the answering tone.

"Thou hast been across red fields of war, Where shivered helmets lie, And thou bringest thence the thrilling note Of a clarion in the sky: {144} A rustling of proud banner folds, A peal of stormy drums,-- All these are in thy music met, As when a leader comes.

"Thou hast been o'er solitary seas, And from their wastes brought back Each noise of waters that awoke In the mystery of thy track; The chime of low, soft southern waves On some green palmy shore, The hollow roll of distant surge, The gathered billows roar.

"Thou art come from forests dark and deep, Thou mighty, rushing wind! And thou bearest all their unisons In one, full swell combined; The restless pines, the moaning stream, All hidden things and free, Of the dim, old sounding wilderness, Have lent their soul to thee.

"Thou art come from cities lighted up For the conqueror passing by, Thou art wafting from their streets, a sound Of haughty revelry: The rolling of triumphant wheels, The harpings in the hall, The far off shout of multitudes, Are in thy rise and fall.

"Thou art come from kingly tombs and shrines, From ancient minsters vast, Through the dark aisles of a thousand years Thy lonely wing hath passed; Thou hast caught the anthem's billowy swell, The stately dirge's tone; For a chief, with sword and shield, and helm, To his place of slumber's gone.

"Thou art come from long forsaken homes, Wherein our young days flew, Thou hast found sweet voices lingering there, The loved, the kind, the true! Thou callest back those melodies, Though now all changed and fled, Be still, be still, and haunt us not With music from the dead!

"Are all these notes in thee, wild wind? These many notes in thee? Far in our own unfathomed souls Their fount must surely be; Yes! buried, but unsleeping, there; Thought watches, memory lies, From whose deep urn the tones are poured Through all earth's harmonies."

HEMANS.

{145}

The principal winds are Boreas, Auster, Eurus and Zephyrus. Boreas, God of the North, carried away Orithya, who refused to receive his addresses. By her he had Zetes and Calais, Cleopatra and Cheone. He once changed himself into a horse, to unite himself with the mare of Dardanus, by which he had a female progeny of twelve, so swift, that they ran or rather flew over the sea without wetting a foot. The Athenians dedicated altars to him when Xerxes invaded Europe.

Auster, God of the south wind, appeared generally as an old man with grey hair, a gloomy countenance, a head covered with clouds, a sable vesture and dusky wings. He is the dispenser of rain and of all heavy showers.

Eurus, God of the east, is represented as a young man, flying with great impetuosity, and often appearing in a playful and wanton humour.

Zephyrus, God of the West, the warmest of all the winds, married Flora, and was said to produce flowers and fruits, by the sweetness of his breath. Companion of love, he has the figure of a youth, and the wings of a butterfly.

SONGS OF THE WINDS.

"We are free! we are free! in our home the skies, When we calmly sleep, or in tumult rise, When we smile on the vision-like realms below, Or vengefully utter the chords of woe. When we dance in the sunbeams, or laughingly play With the spring clouds that fly from our kisses away, When we grapple and fight with the bellowing foam, Or slumber and sleep in our shadowless home."

NORTH WIND.

"I've blastingly wandered Where nature doth pant; And gloomily pondered O'er sadness and want.

An old man was sighing O'er angel lips gone, His cherub was dying, And he was alone.

On his grey locks I clotted An ice-crown cold,-- His sinews I knotted; His tale is told."

SOUTH WIND.

"I met two young lovers, And listed their vows, Where the woodbine covers The old oak boughs.

Enhancing their pleasures I fluttered around. And joined with glad measures Their soft sighs' sound.

They blessed me for bringing Sweet perfumes near, They blessed me for singing A cadence so dear."

{146} EAST WIND.

"I've wafted through bowers Where angels might muse, And kiss their bright flowers Of loveliest hues.

And maidens were singing Of beauty and love, Their symphonies ringing, Resounded above.

I parted the tresses, From fairy-like brows, Where the lily impresses Its earliest vows."

WEST WIND.

"I've rolled o'er the regions Of earth and sea, And laughed at the legions That trembled at me.

I've madly gambolled With clouds and waves; And closed, as I rambled, My victim's grave.

I've roared and I've revelled, With fiend-like glee, Earth's palaces levelled, Wrecks dashed o'er the sea."

CHORUS.

"We are free, we are free, in our realms of air, We list to no sorrow, we own no care; We hold our carousals aloft with the stars, Where they glitter along in their golden cars, We frolic and bound with the playful wave, Which the prison-like confines of earth doth lave; We are glad, we are glad, and in breeze or in blast, We will sport round the world as long as 'twill last."

JENNINGS.

Alcyone, the daughter of Aeolus, married Ceyx, who was drowned as he was going to Claros to consult an oracle. Alcyone was apprized in a dream of her husband's fate, and finding on the morrow his body upon the shore, she threw herself into the sea. The Gods, touched by her fidelity, changed her and her husband into the birds of the same name, who keep the waters calm and serene while they build and sit on their nests in the surface of the sea.

"O, poor Alcyone! What were thy feelings on the stormy strand, When thou saw'st Ceyx borne a corse to land? O, I could weep with thee, And sit whole tides upon the pebbly shore, And listen to the waves lamenting roar, O, poor Alcyone! But now thy stormy passion past, Thou upon the wave at last, Buildest, from all tempest free, Thou and Ceyx, side by side, Charming the distempered tide, O, dear Alcyone!"

The Syrens were three in number, and were companions of Proserpine, at the time of her being carried off; they prayed for wings from the Gods, to unite their efforts with those of Ceres. {147}

In despair at the uselessness of their search, they retired to the sea shore, where, in the midst of desolate rocks, they sang songs of the most enchanting and attractive nature, while those who were drawn by their beauty to listen to them, perished on the spot.

"Who, as they sung, would take the prisoned soul, And lap it in Elysium: Scylla wept And chid her barking waves into attention, And fell Charybdis murmured soft applause."

OVID.

Charybdis was an avaricious woman, who, stealing from Hercules, was slain by him, and became one of the divinities of the sea.