CVIII. Soft hour!6 which wakes the wish and melts the heart When they from their sweet friends are torn apart; As the far bell of vesper makes him start, CIX. When Nero perish'd by the justest doom Of nations freed, and the world overjoy'd, CX. But I'm digressing: what on earth has Nero, Or any such like sovereign buffoons, To do with the transactions of my hero, More than such madmen's fellow-man-the moon's? Sure my invention must be down at zero, And I grown one of many « wooden spoons >> Of verse (the name with which we Cantabs please CXI. I feel this tediousness will never do- And then as an improvement 't will be shown: I'll prove that such the opinion of the critic is From Aristotle passim.-See Пonvexnç. END OF CANTO THIRD. NOTES TO CANTO III. Note 1, page 170, stanza XLV. For none likes more to hear himself converse. Io non credo piu al nero ch' all'azzurro; E credo che sia salvo chi gli crede. PULCI, Morgante Maggiore, canto 18, stanza 151. Note 2, page 178, stanza LXXI. That e'er by precious metal was held in. This dress is Moorish, and the bracelets and bar are worn in the manner described. The reader will perceive hereafter, that as the mother of Haidee was of Fez, her daughter wore the garb of the country. Note 3, page 179, stanza LXXII. A like gold bar above her instep roll'd etc. The bar of gold above the instep is a mark of sovereign rank in the women of the families of the deys, and is worn as such by their female relatives. Note 4, page 179, stanza LXXIII. Her person if allow'd at large to run, etc. This is no exaggeration; there were four women whom I remember to have seen, who possessed their hair in this profusion; of these, three were English, the other was a Levantine. Their hair was of that length and quantity, that when let down, it almost entirely shaded the person, so as nearly to render dress a superfluity. Of these, only one had dark hair; the Oriental's had, perhaps, the lightest colour of the four. Note 5, page 194, stanza cvII. Oh Hesperus! thou bringest all good things-etc. Εσπερε παντα φερεις Φέρεις οίνον φέρεις αιγα Φέρεις ματέρι παιδα. Fragment of Sappho. Note 6, page 195, stanza cvIII. Soft hour! which wakes the wish and melts the heart. « A' naviganti, e 'ntenerisce il cuore ; Lo di ch' han detto a' dolci amici a dio; » E che lo nuovo peregrin' d' Amore « Punge, se ode Squilla di lontano, This last line is the first of Gray's Elegy, taken by him without acknowledgment. Note 7, page 195, stanza cix. Some hands unseen strew'd flowers upon his tomb: etc. See Suetonius for this fact. DON JUAN. CANTO IV. I. NOTHING SO difficult as a beginning In poesy, unless perhaps the end; For oftentimes when Pegasus seems winning The race, he sprains a wing, and down we tend, Like Lucifer when hurl'd from heaven for sinning; Our sin the same, and hard as his to mend, Being pride, which leads the mind to soar too far, Till our own weakness shows us what we are. II. But time, which bring all beings to their level, While youth's hot wishes in our red veins revel, We know not this-the blood flows on too fast; But as the torrent widens towards the ocean, We ponder deeply on each past emotion. |