TENNYSON AND BOTANY. 195 



priate images borrowed from trees. His artistic use of the pine as a 

 simile for Satan's spear — 



" to equal which the tallest pine, 

 Hewn on Norwegian hills to be the mast 

 Of some great ammiral, were but a wand " — 



and the comparison of the rebel host to blasted pines, are fine exam- 

 ples of the poetical transmutation of botanical knowledge. Still finer 

 is the exquisite description in " Lycidas " of the vernal flowers strewed 

 on the hearse of his lamented friend. And, not to multiply quotations 

 further, the vale of Yallombrosa has been immortalized forever by 

 three lines in " Paradise Lost." l 



In later poetry, not of the present century, Shenstone and Cowper 

 were both genuine lovers of Nature, and their works abound with pas- 

 sages relating to rural pleasures and scenery. Cowper, indeed, might 

 be styled par excellence the poet of the country. No one ever believed 

 more thoroughly than himself in his own epigrammatic line — 



" God made the country, and man made the town." 



The revolution in the poetical taste of the time, afterward consum- 

 mated by "Wordsworth, was mainly initiated by the recluse of Olney. 

 In Shenstone's poems, now, it is to be feared, little read, there are 

 some verses bearing on the subject of this essay which have a curious 

 resemblance to Mr. Tennyson's famous song, " Come into the garden, 

 Maud." We quote eight lines to be found in the piece designated a 

 "Pastoral Ballad, in Four Parts : " 



" From the plains, from the woodlands and groves, 

 "What strains of wild melody flow ! 

 How the nightingales warble their loves 

 From thickets of roses that blow ! 



" Then the lily no longer is white ; 



Then the rose is deprived of its bloom ; 

 Then the violets die with despite, 

 And the woodbines give up their perfume." 



The ring and manner of this are very similar to Mr. Tennyson's com- 

 position, and, although the measure is a little different, these verses 

 might be interpolated in the modern song without in the least impair- 

 ing its harmony, or affecting its verisimilitude. 



The most distinguished names in the list of the natural poets of 

 the present century are undoubtedly Sir Walter Scott, Wordsworth, 

 and Mr. Tennyson. Of the two former it may be said, in passing, 



1 " Till on the beach 

 Of that inflamed sea he stood, and called 

 His legions, angel forms, who lay intranced, 

 Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks 

 In Vallombrosa." 



