cify it among the "best pieces" of the author. The Suspicion of Herod has always been estimated as a mere translation; but it may not be uninteresting to show that many parts of it are enriched by the fancy of Crashaw. This can be easily done by accompanying the English version with the parallel passages in Italian. He saw heaven blossom with a new-born light, The golden eyes of night. Vede dal ciel con peregrino raggio He saw how in that blest day-bearing night Vede della felice, santa notte And when Alecto, the most terrible of the infernal sisters, ascends to earth at the command of Satan: Heaven saw her rise, and saw Hell in the sight, Parvero i fiori intorno, e la verdura Sentir forza di peste, ira di verno. The soliloquy of Satan, though wonderfully close, has an air of original inspiration. It reads like a copy by Milton: While new thoughts boiled in his enraged breast, His gloomy bosom's darkest character Was in his shady forehead's seen exprest. The forehead's shade in grief's expression there. The face's lightening, or a smile is here. Those stings of care that his strong heart opprest, Down my proud thought, and leave it in a trance? He has my heaven (what would he more?) whose bright My fair inheritance, he confines me here, That mankind's torment waits upon my tears. Dark dusky man he needs must single forth, What though I missed my blow! yet I strook high, Art thou not Lucifer? he to whom the droves Such, and so rich, the flames that from thine eyes * Che più può farmi omai chi la celeste How grandly wrought up is the apostrophe to the fallen Spirit! Disdainful wretch! how hath one bold sin cost The fine trait in the countenance of the Destroyer, which Milton has borrowed, belongs to Crashaw: From Death's sad shades to the life-breathing air, Questi dall' ombre morte à l'aria viva, A few detached lines may be added. Sleep is said to tame Of sorrow. The rebellious eye The eyes of Satan which are The sullen dens of death and night, * Negli occhi, ove mestizia alberga, e morte, The Erinnys which came to Herod, resembles her who was present at "Thebes' dire feast:” Her sulphur-breathing torches brandishing *. The sun is seen by the Tempter to Make proud the ruby Portals of the East†. The author of La Strage degl' Innocenti was Giambattista Marino, upon whose style Crashaw formed his own, and who is, therefore, entitled to a brief notice in this place. His Rime Amorose, Sacre e Varie came out in 1602, and quickly diffused his fame, which subsequent works contributed to increase. His death, in 1625, removed him in the flower of his days. He was buried with the honours of a prince; all the nobles of the land attended his funeral, bearing torches in their hands, and his coffin was covered with crowns of laurel‡. Men of genius emulated each other in exalting his memory, and Italy bewailed her Homer, the delight of poesy, and the glory of the Muses. Such are the terms in which his biographer, Loredano, mentions his talents: but a reaction of opinion has now taken place, and he, whose compositions were to be co-existent with the world, has been called by Tiraboschi, the chief corrupter of Italian taste. Marino has experienced a fate by no means uncommon, that of being eulogized and calumniated with equal extravagance and impropriety. His powers have been measured by his lighter Rime, while his sacred poetry has been left almost entirely unexplored. But we had nothing before Fletcher * E qual già con facelle empie e funeste + La Reggia Oriental. So, also, in the Hymn for the Epiphany: Aurora shall set ope Her ruby casements. Tutti i Titolati e tutti i principi l' accompagnarono con dopieri accesi nelle mane: la bara era coperto di veluto nero con gli adornamenti cavallereschi e con le corone d' alloro.- Vita del Marino, da G. F. Loredano. upon a religious theme, to oppose to the Slaughter of the Innocents. What might not the author of that powerful production have accomplished, if the nerves of his fancy had not been relaxed by dalliance with a more earthly Muse, and if he had consecrated the morning of his life to Him from whom all poetry descends! In his closing hours he lamented the profanation of his genius, and directed all his amatory verses to be burnt in his presence. But the dragon's teeth were sown, and if they have not sprung up to a deadly harvest, we owe no gratitude to the sower. The translation of the Dies Irae is spoken of by Pope, as one of the most excellent of Crashaw's compositions. Warton coldly observes, that he has "very well translated the Dies Ira*, to which translation Roscommon is much indebted, in his poem on the Day of Judgment." And Dr. Johnson says, speaking of Roscommon, that the best line is taken from Dryden, not remembering that the entire poem shines with a light borrowed from Crashaw. The genius of the noble author was more adapted to write verses "on a Lap-dog," than to paraphrase the Psalms; and yet, in the Lives of the Poets, how highly exalted he is above him whom he imitated! With how much generosity are this trifler's benefactions to English literature acknowledged, while a man of a truly poetic mind is passed over in silence. But to style Crashaw's poem a translation, is scarcely to render justice to its merits; he has expanded the original outline, brightened the colouring, and enlivened the expression. A few verses of the Latin hymn are subjoined in a note, that the reader may compare them with the paraphrase†. * Essay on the Genius and Writings of Pope. Crucis expandens vexilla |