ARIEL. ARGUMENT. SHAKSPEARE has given the only American scene that he ever touched upon a character of beauty and imagination not elsewhere to be met with, even in his transcendent productions. Venturing with a temerity bordering upon presumption, the course of the spirit ARIEL is here taken up, at the point where PROSPERO parts with him, and the rhyme is founded thereupon. That parting must be considered unnecessarily harsh, taking in view the faithful manner in which that spirit had served PROSPERO. When ARIEL has obtained freedom from earthly bondage, an attempt has been made to show how much the spirit of the Realm of Air (as the name implies) would be dissatisfied, or discontented, when confined to the sphere of Earth-and as a contrast, it is essayed to show, that a spirit of the Empyrean, or Realm of Fire (being in the highest state of intellectual illumination), by falling under the influence of the earthly passion of Love (being less refined than the condition of spiritual love), is dimmed in its brightness, and by partaking of anything earthly, or, "of the earth earthy," becomes sullied compared to the etherial or empyrean state in which it formerly existed. As contradistinguished from the Spirit of Air, the Spirit of Fire is brought in under the name of Llama, a Spanish word, which not only means actual fire or flame, but the highest possible state of spiritual attachment, as we have an old English word, which may be heard in humble life, whereby, a lover, or sweetheart is called a flame. This unison of the two beings, typifying the two elements of Fire and Air, is the mere figurative representation of that harmonious blending of qualities inherently attractive to each other as the perfection of all the colors of light in the rainbow best illustrates a concordant combination; or as the harmonies and melodies of music exemplify the "harmonious concord of sweet sounds," so do the various objects which unite to form a state of. happiness, present a proof that the absence of any one of the necessary elements or ingredients disturbs or defeats the perfection of the remainder. Thus, ARIEL, with the wealth of the world at his command, is unhappy, lacking that society which is the life of enjoyment, and that reciprocated love, which is the talisman of existence. And as Fire derives its vitality, brilliance, and activity from Air; so, separated from ARIEL, LLAMA sinks and fades away, even in a sphere where every wish beside is ministered to. Thus illustrating that with the absence or presence of Love, the Soul, that divine spark, either pales with despondency, or glows with gratification. Thus, "Two souls with but a single thought, Two hearts which beat as one," so long separated, must ever feel "The desire of the moth for the star, The night for the morrow, The devotion to something afar From the sphere of our sorrow!" PROSPERO. "Dost thou forget From what a torment I did free thee?" "No." ARIEL. PROSPERO. "Thou dost, and thinkest It much to tread the ooze of the salt deep- ARIEL. "All hail! great Master! grave sir, hail! I come To answer thy best pleasure, be 't to fly, To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride On the curl'd clouds-to thy strong bidding, task Ariel, and all his quality." PROSPERO. "But this rough magic I here abjure, and when I have required |