292 ELOQUENCE OF THE EYES. 



denoted by the flat eyes of Pope's phantom poet, the prize for which 

 the rival publishers in the Dunciad are to contend. The goddess, 

 he says, 



" form'd this image of well-body'd air ; 



With pert flat eyes, she window'd well its head; 

 A brain of feathers, and a heart of lead ; 

 And empty words she gave, and sounding strain, 

 But senseless, lifeless ! idol void and vain !" 



The general appearance of such eyes would almost justify the ap- 

 plication of Macbeth's address to the ghost : 



" Thou hast no speculation in those eyes 

 Which thou dost glare with." 



The most intelligent eyes are ever the brightest, but they do not 

 burn with the glowing splendour of the sun ; they are of a mild ra- 

 diance which suggests the gentle stars as their aptest subjects of 

 comparison : 



" Occhi, stelle mortale," 



says an old Italian poet, whose name I do not remember : 

 " And eyes of starry light," 



sings the swan of the Loire. 



Having said so much, in the course of this brief paper, on the 

 eyes of our terrene angels, perhaps something might be expected 

 on the eyes of angels of another description. But here a difficulty 

 occurs at the threshold. The two great authorities, Burger, and 

 Byron, are at variance. The latter says of his Satan, that 



" Where'er he gazed a deeper gloom prevailed ;'' 

 which, in some measure, agrees with Milton's " Round he threw 

 his baleful eyes." The terrific horseman, who rode on the left 

 hand of Burger's Wild Huntsman, is represented mounted upon a 

 fire-coloured steed, and darting flashes of fire from his eyes like 

 lightning in a tempest : 



" Gross, dunkelgelb der linke Ritter 



Schoss Blitz vorn Aug', wie Ungewitter." 



This seems to be the notion of the representative of Samuel in 

 Der Freischutz, who manufactures a pair of most effective Satanic 

 eyes out of tin-foil, to the great terror of the younger part of the 

 audience. 



Fiery eyes certainly express the fiercer passions, such as the above 

 respectable personages may be supposed to possess. Where they 

 are not natural, they Derive this peculiar appearance from those 

 passions. Cicero, says our great dramatist, 



" Looks with such ferret, and such fiery eyes, 

 As we have seen him in the capitol, 

 Being crossed in conference by some senators. 



