ON a soft sunny morning in to indsor Castle. It is a place full of storied and poetical associations. ternal aspect of to inspire . It rears its irregular oy ridge, s royal banner in the surrounding world.
On t voluptuous vernal kind romance of a mans temperament, ?lling o quote poetry and dream of beauty. In saloons and long ecle I passed raits of atesmen, but lingered in ties resses, and ter Lely, ed rays of beauty. In traversing also t;large green courts,quot; turf, my mind ender, t, but of erings about tripling days, whe Lady Geraldine--
quot;it up unto tower,
it;
In tical susceptibility, I visited t keep of tle, land, ttiss and orians, ate. It is a large gray to ood t of ages, and is still in good preservation. It stands on a mound above ts of tle, and a great ?igeps leads to terior. In t of armor to James.
ed up a staircase to a suite of apartments, of faded magni?cence, oried tapestry, e and fanciful amour, ory try and ?ction.
tory of t unfortunate prince is ic. At tender age of eleven, from III., and destined for t, to be reared under treac surrounded tland. It o tained prisoner by anding t a truce existed betries.
telligence of ure, coming in train of many sorroers, proved fatal to ;t; old, quot;o give up t into ts t attended being carried to ained from all food, and in t Rot;*
* Buchanan.
James ained in captivity above eig, ty, reated due to aken to instruct ivated at t period, and to give al and personal accompliss deemed proper for a prince. Per age, as it enabled o apply o , and quietly to imbibe t rico c tastes o ure draisorians is ivating, and seems ration of a er in real ory. , old, quot;to ?go joust, to tourney, to le, to sing and dance; mediciner, rigy in playing bote and ruments of music, and in grammar, oratory, and poetry.quot;*
* Ballendens translation of or Boyce.
ition of manly and delicate accompliss, ?tting o sive and elegant life, and calculated to give ense relisence, it must rial, in an age of bustle and co pass time of onous captivity. It une of James, o be gifted ic fancy, and to be visited in inspirations of tive, under ty; otable; but it is ture of t to become tender and imaginative in t. s upon ts, and, like tive bird, pours forth his soul in melody.
<span style="color:grey">Even th prove
t all rees, range.
Indeed, it is ttribute of tion, t it is irrepressible, uncon?nable--t , it can create a self, and, ic poo make solitude populous, and irradiate t t lived round tasso in Ferrara, y at indsor, as anotiful breakings fortraint and gloom of the prison-house.
t of t, daug, and a princess of tivity. gives it a peculiar value, is, t it may be considered a transcript of true feelings, and tory of unes. It is not often t sovereigns e poetry or t poets deal in fact. It is gratifying to to ?nd a monarc o , and seeking to o is a proof of t equality of intellectual competition, rappings of factitious dignity, brings te doo a level o depend on ive poinction. It is curious, too, to get at tory of a monarc, and to ?nd tions of ure t James to be a poet before y, and reared in ts.
Monarcime to parley s or to meditate to poetry; and up amidst tion and gayety of a court, we sy, he Quair.
* Quair, an old term for book.
I icularly interested by ts of te ts concerning uation, or ment in toantial truto make t ive in ations.
Suc ed ting t ill mid-c nigars, of ;Cynt; less, and took a book to beguile tedious ius Consolations of Pers of t day, and ed by prototype, C is evident te volumes ext-book for meditation under adversity. It is t, puri?ed by sorroo its successors in calamity t morality, and trains of eloquent but simple reasoning, by o bear up against t is a talisman, e may treasure up in ly pillow.
After closing turns its contents over in o a ?t of musing on tune, tudes of aken ender youto matins, but its sound, co ing o e ory. In t of poetic errantry ermines to comply imation; akes pen in a sign of to implore a benediction, and sallies forto try. tremely fanciful in all t is interesting as furnisriking and beautiful instance of trains of poetical t are sometimes aerary enterprises suggested to the mind.
In te, to lonely and inactive life, and s up from t animal indulges unrestrained. tness, s; tations of an amiable and social spirit at being denied ts kind and generous propensities; ted; tural and toucoucy.
trast ?nely e and iterated repinings ry, ting, and venting tterness upon an unoffending e sensibility, but ioned to brood over unavoidable calamities. breaks forto complaint, must be t extorts tic, active, and accomplis off in tierprise, ts of life, as on, alive to all ties of nature and glories of art, oned lamentations over ual blindness.
James evinced a de?ciency of poetic arti?ce, tion as preparative to test scene of ory, and to contrast refulgence of lig exing accompaniment of bird and song, and foliage and ?o. It is ticular, le keep. daybreak, according to custom, to escape from tations of a sleepless pillo;Be;for, tired of t, and ; o to indulge tives miserable solace, of gazing fully upon t t of to , sered spot, adorned ected from trees and horn hedges.
<span style="color:grey">No by towers wall,
<span style="color:grey">An arbour green h wandis long and small
<span style="color:grey">as all t,
<span style="color:grey">t lyf* here forbye,
<span style="color:grey">t mig espye.
<span style="color:grey">So the leves grene,
<span style="color:grey">Grohere,
<span style="color:grey">t.
Righeir song----
* Lyf, Person. + tis, small bougwigs.
NOtE--tations is generally modernized.
It erprets tingale into the language of his enamoured feeling:
<span style="color:grey">ors lovers be, this May;
<span style="color:grey">Come, summer, come, t season and sun.
As ens to tes of to one of tender and unde?nable reveries, whis delicious season.
ten read, and ure into ecstasy and song. If it really be so great a felicity, and if it be a boon to t insigni?cant beings, s enjoyments?
<span style="color:grey">Oft may this be,
<span style="color:grey">t love is of suc and kynde?
<span style="color:grey">t h care and charge,
<span style="color:grey"> + to him, or done offense,
<span style="color:grey">t I am t large?
* Setten, incline.
+ Gilt, w injury c.
In t of s ;t and t young ?ourequot; t ever is to enjoy ty of t quot;fres; Breaking t in a moment of loneliness and excited susceptibility, s once captivates tic prince, and becomes t of he sovereign of his ideal world.
t resemblance to t of Cs tale, y of tual fact to t in ion of turesque and minute manner of er, and, being doubtless taken from t portrait of a beauty of t day. icle of of pearl, splendent con?ned o t;goodly c;* about , t seemed, e bosom. e tissue o enable o tendants, and about ed a little ed alian e symmetry among t times.
James closes ion by a burst of general eulogium:
<span style="color:grey">In y, ,
<span style="color:grey">isdom, largesse,+ estate,++ and cunningamp; sure.
<span style="color:grey">In word, in deed, in senance,
<span style="color:grey">t nature might no more her child advance.
* rought gold.
+ Largesse, bounty.
++ Estate, dignity.
amp; Cunning, discretion.
ture of ts an end to transient riot of t. its t emporary civity, and o loneliness, noenfold more intolerable by ttainable beauty.
t , and , ;bade fareo every leaf and ?o; ill lingers at tone, gives vent to a mingled ?oil, gradually lulled by te melanco a vision, ory of his passion.
rance, ony pillo, full of dreary re?ections, questions , ended to comfort and assure ter, some token may be sent to con?rm turtledove of t ts upon ten, in letters of gold, tence:
<span style="color:grey">t blissful is and sure
<span style="color:grey">Of t; now laugh, and play, and sing,
ure; and t token of ic ?ction, or o be determined according to te or fancy of timating t tored to liberty, and made .
Sucical account given by James of ures in indsor Castle. is absolute fact, and of fancy, it is fruitless to conjecture; let us not, every romantic incident as incompatible let us sometimes take a poet at iced merely ts of tely connected oed at t day. t and antiquated, so t ty of many of its golden p t day, but it is impossible not to be ciment, tful artlessness and urbanity, . tions of Nature too, is embellisrution, and a fres cultivated periods of t.
As an amatory poem, it is edifying, in to notice ture, re?nement, and exquisite delicacy expression, and presenting female loveliness, clots ctributes of almost supernatural purity and grace.
James ?ouris time of Cly an admirer and studier of tings. Indeed, in one of anzas ers; and in some parts of races of similarity to tions, more especially to tures of resemblance in temporary aut so mucimes. riters, like bees, toll ts in te ions, tes and ts current in society; and tion ures in common, ceristic of t lives.
James belongs to one of t brilliant eras of our literary ory, and establisry to a participation in its primitive a small cluster of Englisers are constantly cited as t Scottis to be passed over in silence; but ly little constellation of remote but never-failing luminaries of literature, and oget t daish poesy.
Suc be familiar tisory (t e been ivating ?ction a universal study) may be curious to learn somet ory of James and tunes of ivity, so it facilitated being imagined by t t a connection taco its oerests. imately restored to y and croland, and made tender and devoted wife.
confusion, tains aken advantage of troubles and irregularities of a long interregnum, to strengt to found tions of taco ion of abuses, temperate and equable administration of justice, t of ts of peace, and tion of every t could diffuse comfort, competency, and innocent enjoyment t ranks of society. ed tered into ts, and ts; informed s, and be patronized and improved; and , c eye over t of s. rong in ts of turned o curb tious nobility; to strip ties offences; and to bring to proper obedience to time t impatience and brooding resentment. A conspiracy lengt t Ste, Earl of Atoo old ration of tigated Ste, toget Grae, to commit to t near Pert-repeated ender body betual attempt to s until sorn from the murder was accomplished.
It ion of tic tale of former times, and of ttle poem, o made me visit terest. t of armor and embelliso ?gure in tourney, broug and romantic prince vividly before my imagination. I paced ted co persuade myself it ed by upon t rains of liquid melody; every ting into vegetation, and budding fortender promise of time, o obliterate terner memorials of o ly over ttle scene of poetry and love, and to ing uries till ?ouris t of to occupies of ts ed by dividing otill tered, blooming, and retired. t t t ed by tsteps of departed beauty, and consecrated by tions of t, is, indeed, t of poetry, to moves; to breature an odor more exquisite to s a tint more magical the blush of morning.
Otrious deeds of James as a or; but I ed to vie, stooping from ate to so ?ory and song in t to cultivate t of Scottis erner regions of tilizing arts of sout. o o t, and gentle arts, er of a people, and iness of a proud and . e many poems, ely for t to till preserved, called quot;Cs Kirk of t; sly ed ic sports and pastimes, ute suctisry; and simple and er into ts. ributed greatly to improve tional music; and traces of ender sentiment and elegant taste are said to exist in tcill piped among tains and lonely glens of Scotland. ed ever is most gracious and endearing in tional cer; ed o after-ages in treams of Scottision of t my , as I paced t scene of . I ed Vaucluse t Loretto; but I more poetical devotion templating totle garden at indsor, and musing over tic loves of t of Scotland.