8 BRAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES. 



and " strawberries " which "grow underneath," or in such passages 

 as: — 



The even mead that erst brought forth 



The peckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover. 



Or that finest of wood songs in the English language, which the wild 

 Caliban, in his rugged simplicity, babbles as if it were no better than 

 mere drunken talk : — 



I pr'ythee, let me bring thee where crabs grow; 

 And I with my long nails will dig thee pig-nuts; 

 Show thee a jay's nest, and instruct thee how 

 To snare the nimble marmozet ; I'll bring thee 

 To clustering filberds, and sometimes I'U get thee 

 Young sea-mells from the rock. 



Perhaps there is nothing more lovely in the aspect of the grass, 

 apart from its refreshing verdure and velvety softness, than its appear- 

 ance at daybreak, when dotted all over with trembling orbs of dew — 

 gems which the Night has let fall from her raven hair, and which the 

 great "eye of the universe " dissolves when he wakes and looks down 

 upon the world. 



The poets have derived some of their most delightful images from 

 these " tears" of Heaven, these droppings of manna from the sky : — 



So sweet a kiss the morning sun gives out 

 To those fresh morning-drops upon the rose.* 



Sip from herb the pearly tears 



Of morning dew, and after break their fast 



On greensward ground — a cool and grateful taste. t 



A more delicious image still is that of Mickle, when he pictures 

 the Spring as glistening with dew : — 



Glistening with dew, the green-haired Spring 



Walks through the woods, and, smiling in her train, 



Youth glitters gay on cherub wing, 

 And life, exulting, lifts the eye to Heaven. J 1 



Not the less beautiful is the grass when considered as a garment to 



* Love's Labours Lost, Act. iv., so. 3. 

 t Dryden's Viigil—Georgics, B. iii. 

 t Mickle— OcZe 3. 



