ORION THE HUNTER. 13 



ORION. 



One of the finest and loftiest flights of Longfellow's imagina- 

 tion is to be found in his poem on the occupation of Orion. 

 He has seldom, if ever, sounded a more vigorous strain. 

 After alluding to that music of the spheres which Pythagoras 

 dreamed of, and which Shakespeare has described in a passage 

 of great beauty, he continues : 



" Beneath the sky's triumphal arch 

 This music sounded like a march, 

 And with its chorus seemed to be 

 Preluding some great tragedy. 

 Sirius was rising in the east ; 

 And, slow ascending one by one, 

 The kindling constellations shone. 

 Begirt with many a blazing star, 

 Stood the great giant Algebar, 

 Orion, hunter of the beast ! 

 His sword hung gleaming by his side ; 

 And, on his arm, the lion's hide 

 Scattered across the midnight air 

 The golden radiance of its hair." 



The most ancient observer who wished, with his own eyes, 

 to assure himself whether the number of the stars was infinite, 

 must have quickly perceived that, in spite of an apparent 

 impossibility, it is no difficult task to complete their enumera- 

 tion. To execute this operation conveniently, however, we 

 must invent a process ; and of all processes, the simplest, and 

 that which first occurs to the mind, is to group the stars by 

 configurations which, to a certain degree, are mnemo-technical. 



