150 



POETSY 



necessary to go back to the relation- 

 ship between Apollo and Esculapius 

 to, show the close consanguinity 

 that exists between literature and 

 the healing art ; between that art 

 which purifies and strengthens the 

 body, and those pursuits that refine 

 and invigorate the intellect. Long,' 

 I added, ' may they both continue 

 to bless you with their beneficent 

 effects ! Long may health and the 

 Muses walk your beautiful hills to- 

 gether, and mutually mingle their 

 respective influences, till your 

 springs themselves shall grow 

 springs of inspiration, and it may 

 be said, 



' Flavus Apollo 

 Pocula Castalia plena ministrat aqua." 



Quite overwhelmed with praises, I 

 left the room. Elwyn and I, ac- 

 companied by Bayly, and a sensi- 

 ble Irishman, E. introduced me to 

 (Ellis) ; went to the play together. 

 Home to Elwyn's house, where I 

 slept. 



"Jan. 22, 1825. Bowles highly 

 gratified with what I said of him. 

 Asked by every one to give a cor- 

 rect copy of it for the newspapers, 

 but shall not, for it would break 

 the charm which all lies in manner, 

 the occasion, &c., &c. Duncan of 

 Oxford said to me, 'I have had 

 that sweet oratory ringing in my 

 ears all night.' " 



" April 11 to May 11. For this 

 whole month have been too closely 

 occupied with my Sheridan task to 

 write a word here, and must, there- 

 fore, only recollect what I can. 

 Received a letter from some Mrs. 

 F. (whom E never heard of before) 

 in which she says, ' Your talents 

 and excellence have long been the 

 idols of my heart. "With thee were 

 the dreams of my earliest love,' 

 &c.^ The object of the letter is to 

 invite me to a dinner she is about 

 to give to ' a few select friends in 

 memory of Lord Byron !' Her hus- 

 band, she adds, is a 'gentleman 



POETS. 



and a scholar ;' I wish him joy of 

 her." 



WORDSWORTH AND SIR H. DAVY. 



We talked of Wordsworth's ex- 

 ceedingly high opinion of himself ; 

 and she mentioned that one day, in 

 a large party, Wordsworth, with- 

 out any thing having been pre- 

 viously said that could lead to the 

 subject, called out suddenly from 

 the top of the table to the bottom, 

 in his most epic tone, " Davy !" 

 and, on Davy's putting forth his 

 head in awful expectation of what 

 was coming, saicl, "Do you know 

 the reason why I published the 

 White Doe in quarto?'"' "No, what 

 was it ?" " To show the world my 

 own opinion of it." (Moore.) 



H. K. WHITE'S LOVE OP FAME. 



That youthful poet and eminent 

 scholar, Henry Kirke White, toiled 

 hard for fame. His ambition was, 

 that his name might not be for- 

 gotten; that among the aspirants 

 to literary distinction he might be 

 recognized, and his genius acknow- 

 ledged. It was the fear of falling 

 short of this that made him mourn- 

 fully inquire, 



" Fifty yenvs h^r.ce, and who will hear 

 of Ileriry ?" 



Under this impulse he sacrificed 

 health, and even life. He trimmed 

 the midnight lamp with a tremu- 

 lous hand, and scanned the classic 

 page with an eye almost drowsy in 

 death. 



" lie nursed the pinion that impelled 

 the steel." 



Having received, according to his 

 aims, the highest honours of the 

 university, he exclaimed, respect- 

 ing these laurels, which he had so 

 hardly won, and which, as the se- 

 quel proved, he was so soon to re- 

 linquish, 



" What fire ye now, 

 But thorns about my bleeding brow ?" 



In sacrificing health to fame, how- 



