184 POETICAL NOTICES OF THEM. 



" I would have broke mine eye-string's ; crack'd them, but 

 To look upon him, till the diminution 

 Of space had pointed him sharp as my needle ; 

 Nay, followed him, till he had melted from 

 Tlie smallness of a g'nat, to air ; and then 

 Have turn'd mine eye and wept." 



Cymbeline, Act I. Sc. IV. 



The manner in which these insects keep pace witli 

 the traveller, has been thus noticed by Wordsworth — 



"Across a bare, wide common I was toiling; 

 With lanafuid feet, which by the slippery ground 

 Were baffled ; nor could my weak arm disperse 

 The hosts of insects gathering round my face. 

 And ever with me as I paced along." 



The Excursion. 



The same poet has elsewhere admitted the cheerful 

 influence of their humming : — 



"'Tis now the hour of deepest noon. 



At this still season of repose and peace. 



This hour, when all things which are not at rest 



Are cheerful — while the multitude of flies 



Is filling all the air with melody, 



"Wliy should a tear be iu an old man's eye ? " 



TJie Excurnoii. 



The influence which the sun possesses in summoning 

 those insects to their mazy dances in the air, or in 

 sending them to their lurking places by withdrawing 

 his beams, has not been passed by unheeded. Thus 

 we read — 



"WTien the sun shines, let foolish gnats make sport ; 

 But creep in crannies, when he hides his beams." 



Comedy of Errors, Act II. Sc. 11. 



