2nd S. V. 127., June 6. '68.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



451 



In Adonais : — 



" Where wert thou, mighty Mother, when he laj- ? " &c. 

 In Crashaw we have equally numerous examples, 

 as at p. 106. : — 



" How thy great Mother Nature doats on thee." 

 or at p. 96. : — 



" And wilt thou, cruel boast, 

 Put poor Nature to such cost? 

 O 'twill undo otir Common Mother" &c. 



The beginning of Shelley's poem " Ginevra" — 



" Wild, pale and wonder-stricken, even as one 

 Who staggers forth into the air and sun 

 From the dark chamber of a mortal fever," — 



is somehow or other recalled to memory by the 

 following lines from a beautiful poem by Crashaw 

 " On a Foul Morning " : — 



" Where art thou, Sol, while thus the blind-fold day 

 Staggers out of the East, losing her waj', 

 Stumbling on night." — P. 109. 



There are many other passages in this poem 

 well worthy of notice for their intrinsic beauty, 

 as, for instance, this exquisite couplet. Addressing 

 the Dawn, he says : — 



" Rise then, fair blue-eyed maid, rise and discover 

 Thy silver brow, and meet thy golden lover," 



or the conclusion of the same passage referring to 

 the mists that obscured her beauty : — 



" It is for you 

 To sit and scowl upon nights heavy brow ; 

 Not on the fresh cheeks of the virgin morn." 



Two additional kindred passages may be given 

 from these two genuine poets, as well for their 

 singular beauty, as for the remarkable resemblance 

 they bear to each other. Here are Shelley's lines, 

 supposed to refer to his cousin Harriette Grove : — 

 " There were two cousins, almost like to twins. 



And so they grew together, like two flowers 

 Upon one stem, which the same leaves and showers 

 Lull or awaken in their purple prime. 

 Which the same hand will gather — the same clime 

 Shake with decaj'." 



Crashaw's, which perhaps are still more'beau- 

 tiful, are as follows : — 



" So have I seen, to dress their mistress, May, 

 Tioo silken sister-flowers consult, and lay 

 Their bashful cheeks together ; neivly they 

 Peep'd from their buds, shnw'd like the garden's eyes 

 Scarce waked ; like was the crimson of their joys. 

 Like were the pearls they wept; so like, that one 

 Seem'd but the other's kind reflection." 



Crashaw's Poems, p. 107. 



These instances are, however, accidental re- 

 semblances of expression. The following passages 

 are examples of a deeper and more mysterious 

 affinity. Here the poets seem to utter their me- 

 lodious wailing from one and the same soul. 



The first is a strain which, though immediately 

 suggesting Tennyson, is not therefore the less 



Shelleyesk. It may be worth while to give a 

 stanza from the living poet to show how the 

 charming melody and the musical effect of repe- 

 tition in the second line, so effectively reproduced 

 in " The Miller's Daughter," were anticipated 

 more than two centuries ago by our poet. 

 From " The Miller's Daughter " : — 



" It is the Miller's daughter, 



And she is grown so dear, so dear, 

 That I would be the jewel 



That trembles in her ear: 

 For hid in ringlets day and night, 

 I'd touch her neck so warm and white." 



Tennyson's Poems, p. 89. 

 From « The Weeper " : -— 



" Does the day-star rise.' 



Still thy stars do fall, do fall : * 



Does day close his eyes? 

 Still the fountain weeps for all. 

 Let night or day do what they will. 

 Thou hast thy task, thou weepest still." — P. G. 



Here it will be perceived that the metre is pre- 

 cisely the same in both poets ; and the rhythmical 

 artifice (if it may be called so) by which from the 

 repetition in the second line the principal effect 

 is produced, is exactly alike in each. I do not 

 remember any instance of this in Shelley, except 

 perhaps at the commencement of lines such as — 



" Rarely, rarely, cowest thou 

 Spirit of Delight," &c. ; 



but with this deduction it is altogether in his 

 style, as are the four lines that immediately fol- 

 low : — 



" Does thy song lull the air ? 



Thy falling tears keep faithful time, 

 Does thy sweet-breath'd prayer 

 Up in clouds of incense climb? " 



The following is a companion picture to those 

 given by Wordsworth from Milton and Lord 

 Chesterfield in his well-known remarks upon the 

 difference between Fancy and Imagination. The 

 passage, particulai-ly the last line, also singularly 

 supports the position I am advancing : — 



" Not in the evening's eyes- 



When they red with weeping are 

 For the sun that dies, 

 Sits Sorrow with a face so fair. 

 Kowhere but here did ever meet 

 Sweetness so sad, sadness so stceet." — P. 2. 



Shelley has many lines full of similar contrasts, 

 as, for instance, in " The Sky-lark " : — 

 " Our sweetest songs are those that tell o( saddest thought ; " 

 or where in the Adonais he calls the Poet of lerne 

 (Moore) : — 



" The sweetest lyrist of her saddest wrong." 



Innumerable other passages present themselves, 

 but I must bring this paper to a close. Before 

 doing so, I would point out a resemblance to an 

 admired passage of another poet, whose original 

 genius is as undoubted as is that of Shelley. No 



