SPRINGS. 261 



a striking change has taken place within the period of authentic history. Where are the 

 rich tributes of the Lydian king ? the spoils of Marathon and Salamis ? the sacred hall of 

 the Amphictyonic council? the temple of Apollo? the city of Delphi, whose buildings 

 are mentioned, in the records of its former magnificence, as covering two miles of ground ? 

 There is not a vestige to be identified ; but Parnassus still exhibits its bold heights and 



transparent waters, unaffected by the passage of ages. 

 ,"*-* 



" The shrine hath sunk ! but thou, unchang'd, art there ! 



Mount of the voice and vision, rob'd with dreams ! 



Unchang'd, and rushing through the radiant air, 



With thy dark waving pines, and flashing streams, 



And all thy founts of song ! Their bright course teems 



With inspiration yet ; and each dim haze, 



Or golden cloud, which floats around thee, seems 



As with its mantle veiling from our gaze 

 The mysteries of the past, the gods of elder days ! " 



The Castalian spring is now dedicated to St. John ; a pretty chapel bearing his name is by 

 its side ; pendent ivy, moss, brambles, flowering shrubs, and a large fig-tree, throw a cool 

 and refreshing gloom over the spot. Upon a buttress of the chapel, the inscription 

 occurs, " Byron, 1806." But the poet has left another memorial of his visit. 



" Happier in this than mightiest bards have been, 



Whose fate to distant homes confin'd their lot, 



Shall I unmov'd behold the hallow'd scene, 



Which others rave of, though they know it not ? 



Though here no more Apollo haunts his grot, 



And thou, the Muses' seat, and now their grave, 



Some gentle spirit still pervades the spot, 



Sighs in the gale, keeps silence in the cave, 

 And glides with glassy foot o'er yon melodious wave." 



Dr. Chandler speaks of the excessive coldness of the water of Castaly. " I began," he 

 states, " to wash my hands in it, but was instantly chilled, and seized with a tremor, 

 which rendered me unable to stand . or walk without support. This incident, when 

 Apollo was dreaded, might have been embellished with a superstitious interpretation. 

 Perhaps the Pythia, who bathed in this icy fluid, mistook her shivering for the god" 



It is in the sandy deserts bordering on the tropics that springs acquire their highest 

 importance and value, owing to the rarity of water, and the increased demand made for 

 it by the heat of the climate. Here they are frequently connected with verdant spots, 

 similar to that of the interview between the Scottish Knight and the Emir in the brilliant 

 tale of the " Talisman." " It was a scene," says Scott, " which, perhaps, would elsewhere 

 have deserved little notice ; but as the single speck, in a boundless horizon, which pro- 

 mised the refreshment of shade and living water, these blessings, held cheap where they 

 are common, rendered the fountain and its neighbourhood a little paradise. Some 

 generous or charitable hand, ere yet the evil days of Palestine began, had watted in and 

 arched over the fountain, to preserve it from being absorbed in the earth, or choked by 

 the flitting clouds of dust with which the least breath of wind covered the desert. The 

 arch was now broken, and partly ruinous ; but it still so far projected over, and covered 

 in the fountain, that it excluded the sun in a great measure from its waters, which, 

 hardly touched by a straggling beam, while all around was blazing, lay in a steady repose, 

 alike delightful to the eye and the imagination. Stealing from under the arch, they were 

 first received into a marble basin, much defaced indeed, but still cheering the eye, by 

 showing that the place was anciently considered as a station, that the hand of man had 



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