AS RELATED TO TASTE. 67 



ture of nature, such as the Naturalist delights to 

 contemplate. Not indeed accurate in all respects 

 we have in many points the ignorance of the times, 

 and absurd theories ; but mingled with this, the ac- 

 curate description, and the fresh painting of natu- 

 ral objects, which made the work a blessing to Italy 

 and the delight of every age. 



But poems in our own language are not only 

 quite equal in this respect to the Greek and Latin, 

 but surpass them. Thompson sings of the seasons ; 

 but they are the grand moving panorama, that 

 would be blank canvas, but for the objects of nature 

 which follow in quick succession. He paints with a 

 master's hand, and the charm that envelops the 

 whole is the picturing, so true to nature that you 

 seem in the mine where crystals shine, and by 

 brooks where the flowers blossom. In his tribute to 

 the sun, the gems seem to glisten as though set in a 

 coronet of beauty. 



" The lively diamond drinks thy purest rays, 

 Collected light, compact, .... 

 At thee the ruby lights its deepening glow, 

 And with a waving radiance inward flames ; 



