lj;5 MEMOIRS OF 



defrauding magnificence. We do not 

 find it for the moon in Cowper's more 

 literal tranflation of the Homeric land- 

 fcape, two fins againft truth pardoned, 

 and the fcene, as penciled by Cowper, is 

 beautiful ; thus : 



As when around the clear, bright moon, the ftars 

 Shine in full fplendor, and the winds are huuYd, 

 The groves, the mountain tops, the headland heights, 

 Stand all apparent j not a vapor ftreaks 

 The boundlefs blue, but aether, open'd wide, 

 - All glitters, and the fhepherd's heart is cheer'd. 



Surely the original does not fandlion an 

 image which nature never prefents, fince, 

 when the moon is clear and bright, the 

 ftars do not fpangle the firmament plen- 

 teoufly, or fplendidly. A few ftars, and 

 never more than a few, fometimes glimmer 

 through her flood of fnowy and abforbing 

 light. At any rate, fplendor is a falfe 

 term. When the night is cloudlefs, and 

 the moon abfent, the ftellar hoft glows 



and 



