CVII.

(5) Oh Hesperus! thou bringest all good things—
Home to the weary, to the hungry cheer,

To the young bird the parent's brooding wings,
The welcome stall to the o'erlabour'd steer ;
Whate'er of peace about our hearthstone clings,
Whate'er our household gods protect of dear,

Are gather'd round us by thy look of rest;
Thou bring'st the child, too, to the mother's breast.

CVIII.

(6) Soft hour! which wakes the wish and melts the heart Of those who sail the seas, on the first day

When they from their sweet friends are torn apart;
Or fills with love the pilgrim on his way
As the far bell of vesper makes him start,
Seeming to weep the dying day's decay;

Is this a fancy which our reason scorns?

Ah! surely nothing dies but something mourns!

CIX.

When Nero perish'd by the justest doom
Which ever the destroyer yet destroy'd,
Amidst the roar of liberated Rome,

Of nations freed, and the world overjoy'd,

Some hands unseen strew'd flowers upon his tomb : (7)
Perhaps the weakness of a heart not void

Of feeling for some kindness done when power
Had left the wretch an uncorrupted hour.

CX.

But I'm digressing; what on earth has Nero,

Or any such like sovereign buffoons,

To do with the transactions of my hero,

More than such madmen's fellow man-the moon's?

Sure my invention must be down at zero,

And I grown one of many " wooden spoons"

Of verse (the name with which we Cantabs please
To dub the last of honours in degrees).

CXI.

I feel this tediousness will never do—
"Tis being too epic, and I must cut down
(In copying) this long canto into two;

They'll never find it out, unless I own
The fact, excepting some experienced few;
And then as an improvement 'twill be shown:
I'll prove that such the opinion of the critic is
From Aristotle passim.—See Пointinns.

END OF CANTO III.

NOTES TO CANTO III.

Note 1, page 25, stanza xlv.

For none likes more to hear himself converse.
Rispone allor' Margatte, a dir tel tosto,

Io non credo piu al nero ch' all'azzurro ;
Ma nel cappone, o lesso, o vuogli arrosto,
E credo alcuna volta anco nel burro;
Nella cervigia, e quando io n' ho nel mosto,
E molto piu nell' espro che il mangurro;

Ma

sopra tutto nel buon vino ho fede,

E credo che sia salvo chi gli crede.

PULCI, Morgante Maggiore, Canto 18, Stanza 151.

Note 2, page 38, stanza lxxi.

That e'er by precious metal was held in.

This dress is Moorish, and the bracelets and bar are worn in the manner described. The reader will perceive hereafter, that as the mother of Haidee was of Fez, her daughter wore the garb of the country.

F

Note 3, page 39, stanza lxxii.

A like gold bar above her instep rolled.

The bar of gold above the instep is a mark of sovereign rank in the women of the families of the deys, and is worn as such by their female relatives.

Her

Note 4, page 39, stanza lxxiii.

person if allow'd at large to run.

This is no exaggeration; there were four women whom I remember to have seen, who possessed their hair in this profusion; of these, three were English, the other was a Levantine. Their hair was of that length and quantity, that when let down, it almost entirely shaded the person, so as nearly to render dress a superfluity. Of these, only one had dark hair; the Oriental's had, perhaps, the lightest colour of the four.

Note 5, page 62, stanza cvii.

Oh Hesperus! thou bringest all good things—

Εσπερε παντα φερεις

Φερεις οινον φερεις αιγα

Φερεις ματερι

παιδα.

Fragment of Sappho.