784 
POETRY. 
rival his fame in the Indies. Councils of the gods are 
held, in which Jupiter is introduced, as foretelling the 
downfal of Mahometanifm, and the propagation of the 
Gofpel. Vafco, in great diftrefs from a ftorm, prays moft 
ferioufly to God ; implores the aid of Chrift and the 
Virgin, and begs for fuch afliftance as was given to the 
Ifraelites when they were palling through the Red Sea, and 
to the apoftle Paul when he was in hazard of Ihipwreck. 
In return to this prayer, Venus appears, who, difcerning 
the ftorm to be the work of Bacchus, complains to Jupiter, 
and procures the winds to be calmed. Such ftrange and 
prepofterous machinery fnows how much authors have 
been milled by the abfurd opinion, that there could be 
no epic poetry without the gods of Homer. Towards the 
end of the work, indeed, the author gives us an awkward 
falvo for his whole mythology; making the goddefs 
Thetis inform Vafco, that the, and the reft of the Heathen 
deities, are no more than names to defcribe the operations 
of Providence.” There is, however, fome line machinery, 
of a different kind, in the Luliad. The genius of the 
river Ganges appearing to Emanuel king of Portugal in 
a dream, inviting that prince to difcover his fecret fprings, 
and acquainting him, that he was the deftined monarch 
for whom the treafures of the Eaft were relerved, is a 
happy idea. But the nobleft conception of this fort is in 
the fifth canto, where Vafco is recounting to the king of 
Melinda all the wonders which he met with in his navi¬ 
gation. He tells him, that when the fleet arrived at the 
Cape of Good Hope, which never before had been doubled 
by any navigator, there appeared to them on a fudden, a 
huge and monftrous phantom riling out of the fea, in 
the midft of tempefts and thunders, with a head that 
reached the clouds, and a countenance that filled them 
with terror. This was the genius, or guardian, of that 
hitherto-unknown ocean. It fpoke to them with a voice 
like thunder; menaced them for invading thofe feas 
which he had fo long pofl'efled undifturbed ; and for 
daring to explore thofe l'ecrets of the deep, which never 
had been revealed to the eye of mortals; required them 
to proceed no farther; if they Ihould proceed, foretold 
all the fucceflive calamities that were to befal them ; and 
then, with a mighty noife, difappeared. This picture is 
fufficient to (how that Camoens is a poet, though of an 
irregular, yet of a bold and a lofty, imagination. 
The following Ihort poems, tranflated by lord Strang- 
ford, are very pretty : 
Thou haft an eye of tender blue. 
And thou haft locks of Daphne’s hue, 
And cheeks that fliame the morning’s break, 
And lips that might forrednefs make 
Rofes feem pale befide them : 
But whetherfoft or fweet as they, 
Lady ! alas, I cannot fay, 
For I have never tried them. 
Yet thfis created for delight. 
Lady ! thou art not lovely quite, 
Fordoft thou not this maxim know. 
That Prudery is Beauty’s foe, 
A (lain that mars a jewel! 
And ev’n that woman’s angel face 
Loles a portion of its grace. 
If woman’s heart be cruel! 
Love is a fweet and blooming boy, 
Yet glowing with the blulh of joy, 
And (dill in youth’s delicious prime). 
Though ag’d as patriarchal Time, 
The withering god defpifes : 
Lady ! would’ft thou for ever be 
As fair, and young, and frelh, as he— 
Do all that Love advifes ! 
When the girl of my heart is on perjury bent, 
The fweeteft of oaths hides the falfeft intent. 
And Sufpicion, abalh’d, from her company flies, 
When (lie fmiles like an angel, and fwears by her eyes. 
For in them fuch magic, Ihe knows, is difplay’d, 
That a tear can convince, and a look can perfuade; 
And Ihe thinks that I dare not, or cannot, refufe 
To believe on their credit whate’er Ihe may chufe. 
But I’ve learn’d from the painful experience of youth. 
That vehement oaths never conftitute truth ; 
And I’ve ftudied thofe treacherous eyes, and I find 
They are mutable figns of a mutable mind ! 
Then, dear one, I’d rather, thrice rather, believe 
Whate’er you aflert, even though to deceive, 
Than that you “ by your eyes” Ihould fo wickedly fwear„ 
And fin againft heaven ; for heaven is there ! 
Of French Poetry. —We have before faid that the 
French have produced ballads of great antiquity. At 
a very early period they alfo compofed multitudes of 
romances on the fubjedf of Charlemagne, his knights, and 
his vidtories ; and moreover excelled in the great length and 
number of their allegories. But a ftili greater claim is 
preferred by them ; which is, that the creation of the 
theatre was the work of France. At a time when the 
ancient drama was forgotten, the French firft invented 
the reprefentation of the grand events which accompanied 
the eftablilhment of Chriftianity, or the myfteries of 
which it ordains the belief, or even domeftic fcenes of 
gaiety or delight to amufe the leifure of the great. The 
pilgrims who returned from the Holy Land firft awakened 
curiofity, by directing it to the reprefentation of the 
objedts which had occurred to them in their pilgrimage. 
As in early Greece, thefe dramatic reprefentations were 
reprefented in the ftreets and roads; and, in the four¬ 
teenth century, a company of pilgrims, who had folemn- 
ized by a brilliant fpedlacle the marriage of Charles VI. 
and Ifabeau of Bavaria, vras eftablilhed at Paris by a 
formal charter, and undertook to divert the people with 
regular reprefentations. They were called the Fraternity 
of the Pallion, from the moft celebrated of their fpeCtacles, 
which exhibited the myftery of the Pallion. Four-and-? 
twenty charadiers fucceflively appeared in this Myftery ; 
among whom were the three perfons of the Trinity, fix 
angels or archangels, twelve apoftles, fix devils, Herod 
with all his court, and feveral other charadiers created by 
the poet. Without detailing the mufical and mechanical 
inventions, which appear to have been confiderable, we 
will cite a pafiage as a fpecimen of the whole. After 
having baptized a number of perfons who had followed 
him into the defert, St. John is required to baptize Jefus 
himfelf. Here the verfification is not fo remarkable as 
the notes, which almoft carry us back to the times of 
thefe Gothic fpedlacles. 
“ Here Jefus enters naked into the river Jordan ; and St. 
John takes water in his hand, which he fprinkles over the 
head of Jefus : 
St.John. Sire, vous etes baptife. 
Qui a votre haute noblefle 
N’ appartient a ma fimplefle 
Si digue fervice de faire ; 
Toutefois, mon Dieu debonnaire, 
Veuille fuppleer le furplus. 
“ Here Jefus comes out of the river, and throws him¬ 
felf on his knees, naked as he is, before Paradife. Then 
God the Father fpeaks, and the Holy Ghoft defcends in 
the form of a white dove on the head of Jefus, and then 
returns to Paradife. Here be it remarked that the fpeech 
of God the Father t'nuft be very audibly pronounced, and 
well drawn out, in three voices ; that is to fay, a foprano, 
a counter-tenor, and thorough bafs, in good unifon ; and 
in this harmony mull be pronounced what follows : 
Hie efi filius meus diledus 
In quo mild bene compiacui. 
Celui-ci eft mon fils aime Jefus, 
Qui bien me plaift, ma plaifance eft en lui, &c.” 
Befides characters drawn from heaven and from hell, 
allegories, &c. even the tenfes of verbs were compelled 
to 
