Swells on the surface. Marble structures there The whole description of Mardonius' visit to the cave of Trophonius, is, also, admirably executed, and contains much of that species of local painting in which Glover excels. that Mardonius determinates to consult the oracle; he is told, "Rueful is the mode Of consultation, though from peril free:". he, however, perseveres; and we shall begin our extract with his navigation down the Cephissus, in search of the cave. We would gladly introduce the whole episode, if our limits did not forbid. Against the influx of Cephissus, down 66 Lebadian vales in limpid flow convey'd, The rowers now are lab'ring. O'er their heads Showering down a silver light From heaven, upon her chosen favorite." Indeed, this piece of glorious poetic beauty seems compounded, with a few additional and exquisite touches of the poet's own, of the above passage in Glover, and that in Milton on this favoured bird: "The swan with arched neck Between her white wings mantling, proudly rows Her state with oary feet."- -Seventh Book, Par. Lost. With all his train. Th' enclosure, which begirds Mardonius is admitted alone, and conducted by the priest into a dome, where the gloomy chief' bows before the statue of a 'genius good,' whose lineaments recal his lost Masistius forcibly to his recollection: an incident, which gives occasion to an address in a tender vein of poetry, but which we must pass over. Forsaking the dome, 'Along Hercyna's bank they now proceed, After drinking of the Lethean fount, they proceed: Fast down a deep declivity of bed Apparent often to the glancing eye Through apertures, which pierce the loaden boughs To bound the pleasing avenue, a fane Its symmetry discover'd on a plat, Thick-set with roses, which a circling skreen Of that fair ash, where cluster'd berries glow, After undergoing a variety of ceremonies; at length, In linen vesture, fine and white, as down Than Mars, he moves. So Phoebus, when he sets, Of coral after his diurnal toil, Repairs his splendours, and his rosy track "Next through a winding cavity and vast Abrupt; there shadow, never-fleeting, rests. In height two cubits, on the rocky floor At once the body is from sight conceal'd. He seems to stand; before him sleeps a pool, His weight inclining on an ebon staff." This "aged sire" is Trophonius, with whom Mardonius sinks into the cave of the fatal sisters, learns his fate, and instantly "Whirl'd Back from Trophonian gloom, is found supine The cavern's mouth." When the dejection which naturally depresses the mind of the Persian hero after his mysterious interview, has been somewhat relieved, his visit to his haram is described in this passage of oriental luxuriance and beauty, which, for its warmth of colouring, is not unworthy of the pen of the author of Lalla Rookh. "The midnight hour was past, a season dear In pond'rous armour cas'd, he scarcely feels The concluding battle is related in the author's best manner: the death of Medon, particularly, is an admirable sequel to those of the chosen heroes at Thermopyla. Indeed, it is remarkable that the poet rises in strength and beauty towards the close. The versification becomes more sustained, and the imagery more fully developed: the sentiments are now no longer thrown at the reader with that sturdy carelessness which was conspicuous in the first and larger portion of the poem; but, on the contrary, the whole bears an air of finish and completeness. This singular amendment, where others usually flag, may, perhaps, in some measure, confirm the idea hinted at above, that these thirty books were intended as the garner or store-house of a poem to be afterwards fashioned out of the materials—and that Glover, finding that he was not likely to live to execute his whole design, bestowed his care and pains in forming the books that were still passing under his hand, more like what the whole would have been, had he hoped to have finished it. It will be recollected, that the work was printed, as we have it, after the death of the author. The following passage will enable our readers to estimate the pathetic power of Glover, of which it may be considered a favourable specimen. His pathos is not, indeed, deep and overflowing-not like the flower, which, filled with recent dew, until its bosom, no longer able to sustain the rich incumbrance, pours forth its watery treasures, relieving itself and fertilizing the earth around it; yet, it is gentle, harmonious, and might almost be called beautiful, but it is the placid beauty of the "moonlight sleeping upon a bank," with something of its coldness. The scene is immediately after Acanthè, who conceives a passion for Themistocles, has been rescued by him from the flames and from death. "Not so Acanthè's troubles are compos'd. |