306 
or Tectrachtys, the great elementary 
spirit in the Oval Tetragrammaton. 
From the inferences, therefore, before 
adduced, and more particularly from 
the unquestionable association of the 
Crux Ansata with figures of a perfectly 
simple, pure, and geometrical charac- 
ter, Lam led to this inevitable conclu- 
sion, that the Tau or Crux Ansata was 
neither a drill, nora key, nor acrutch, 
nor a hammer; but a religious me- 
mento, not differing in any great de- 
gree from the Christian cross, but 
involving a prophetical tradition ra- 
ther than a traditional bistory,—a me- 
mento, perhaps, in its pure original, 
pointing to the same divinity, and 
associated with the same miracle,— 
preshadowing the hope of the promised 
seed, the real deity of light and coun- 
sel, and the mighty advent of regene- 
ration, atonement, and peace. C. 
—a—— 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
NEWS FROM PARNASSUS. 
NO. XXVIII. 
DANISH POETRY and BALLAD WRITING. 
With a Translation of “ Shion Middel.” 
O dear to me is my native land, 
Where the dark pine-trees grow ; 
Where the bold Baltic’s echoing strand 
Looks o’er the grassy oe, 
Tene Danes of the present day are 
rapidly rising as a literary nation ; 
and, although kept under by a tyran- 
nical government, the latent energies 
of their minds are frequently displayed 
in’ an -extraordinary manner. How 
pleasing it is consider what they will 
become when the day of their emanci- 
pation is arrived; and that period is 
not far distant. Already has the voice 
of reason and philosophy been heard 
in the streets of their capital; and, 
when the spirit of the north is once 
aroused, it will be found as irresistible 
as one of the mountain avalanches. 
Despots have invented new and san- 
guinary laws, but they will be found 
inefficient to accomplish the desired 
purpose. Let them who rule remem- 
ber, that Boreas once attempted by 
vioience to make a traveller lay aside 
his cloak, which only caused him to 
wrap it closer around his body; while 
the Sun, with his mild beams of persua- 
sion, quickly induced him to relax his 
grasp, and fling the disputed garment 
on the ground. hus likewise is it 
with man, as far as it regards his 
liberty: by flattery aud caresses, it may 
frequently be drawn from him ; but, as 
soon as open force is used, an indig- 
nant spirit rises within him, and he 
News from Parnassus, No. XXVIII. 
[Nov. 1, 
would part with life, and submit to the 
most unheard-of perseeution, rather 
than yield. up that which is so harshly 
required from him. 
The ballad, from the most remote 
periods, seems to have been the 
favourite poetry of the north; and it is 
a source of amusement to the anti- 
quary to trace its progress, from the 
time when it first originated among the 
hills of Norway, to its present state. 
The ballad is a kind of condensed 
epic, in which every species of fecling 
ought to be successively aroused,— 
fear, laughter, and amazement, should 
all have a place allotted to them ; and, 
when this is properly arranged, I con- 
sider the poem to be complete. The 
Germans have for along time claimed 
a superiority over all other nations in 
this species of poetry; that they have 
some very stimulant specimens of it, 
every one acquainted with their lite- 
rature will readily admit. But that 
they have attained the ne plus ultra of 
perfection, wiil be found, I believe, 
very difficult for them to prove. ‘‘ Leo- 
nora,” written by Burger, and ‘the 
Diver” of Schiller, are the master- 
pieces of the greatest of their pocts. 
Both abound in passages in which the 
poetry is as grand as the scenes it 
describes : the two great requisites of 
fear and wonder are unsparingly sup- 
plied; so that, while perusing them, 
the mind is raised to a pitch from 
which it never descends but by an 
effort of its own. And what is the 
reason of this? Simply because the 
comie is never once introduced. It 
was reserved for Scotland, in the per- 
son of her Burns, to overcome the 
obstacles which all others seem to 
have shrank terrified from encounter- 
ing. In“ Tam O'Shanter,” the first per- 
fect ballad was presented to the world. 
Here is a feast for all palates,—for 
the gloomy, the gay, and the romantic; 
the mind may here soar like an eagle, 
till it become dizzy from excess of 
height, and then be at once relieved 
by a sudden sweep which places it on 
level ground. That last leap of ‘Tam 
O’Shanter’s mare, not only brought off 
her master safe and uaharmed, with 
the loss of her “ain grey tail,” and 
left his pursuers panting on the other 
side of the stream, but it likewise 
placed the poet at a distance from all 
rivals, which they have not regained, 
and, in all probability, never will. 
The early manners of the north 
were peculiarly favourable to rs: 
re 
