the law of Asychis, the grandson of Cheops, in imitation of which, according to Mr. Gifford, the supposed law of Europe has been introduced, I confess I am but a novice in the Antiquities of Egypt compared with that gentleman; but I should submit to him, that the imitation is very remote and improbable, and the copy at best very unlike the original. Like all copies, if it ever existed, it would be a copy without the spirit of its prototype. It was customary in Egypt to embalm the bodies of the deceased, or to make mummies of them; and it is probable he who possessed the most of these precious remains was most honoured for his high birth. The mummy was then a moveable piece of goods, a valu able testimonial of nobility like the statues of the Roman patricians; and to pledge these, was to give a man an actual security for the money, which was advanced expressly upon that pledge, and apportioned to the natural value of it. But this was a stipulated pledge by the son, not an ordinary execution on the body of the father; and, however odious it may now appear in the spendthrift heir, was more reasonable than the pledge which the law is supposed to give of the dead body of the debtor, which must necessarily impose upon the creditor, who was to keep it unburied, the task of reviving, not the dead body, but the long lost art of embalming, which is nearly as hopeless an experiment. A DREAM OF ORPHEUS. I HAD a dream of Orpheus. The veil'd bed Broke o'er brown forests: torrents toss'd their spray Like smoke; and mountains heaved on heaven, where caves, That darken'd inward, sent the knell of waves In deaf and hollow clang on the far air: A sunless cataract stream was prison'd there, Plunging and writhing on its stony rack Where old volcanic flames had burn'd their track, It pierced the cavern's mouth, and saw the stream As ebony, yet with a lightning spark Upon its chafing waters; o'er their bed Droop'd yellow crystals: the bow'd rocks were clung Where dazzling day without the mountain burn'd, R Woods and emerging plains that seem'd almost Starting, as 'twere a leaf, scarce seen, and gone. Thus ruminating, on my ear there came A sound, a thrill, which was no more the same: And, with a thought, my airy presence stood Shook with green aspens, and did high o'er-reach And oak and cedar. Nymphs with vine-leaves crown'd Exhausted, flutter'd voiceless, breathless, spent. If I should lose that love-breathed symphony. SONG OF THE BACCHANTS. Alas, Eurydice!-and where was he, Within whose arm thy head had folded been? When through the boundless wood's untrodden scene Thou didst roam forth in thy simplicity? Within his cavern-fane he sate Unconscious of thy perilous flight; His God on whom he fix'd his dazzled sight, Could not his boasted God reveal thy fate? Had she with us adored that better shrine, And toss'd her wreathed locks and held The unfrequented shade; The shepherd Aristæus came Hot the pursuit and swift the flight, Alas, Eurydice !-thy God indeed Saved thee from one more terrible than death; And to a gnawing reptile yield thy breath? Who walks on dragons, in his fury trod, Did not his wand arouse the snake, Thy husband's soul to tremble at his name? Alas, Eurydice!-thy spouse we love, And loved thee for his sake and for thine own: These hands have well avenged thee, for the grove, Where lurk'd the shepherd, we have overthrown: Bow'd are the oaks within whose murmuring cell His bees, his life, were wont to dwell: Rifled and trampled are the bowers That breathed the luxury of trailing flowers. The shepherd saw our blazing eyes, Alas! Eurydice!-lift up thy head But others live who love as well; Again awake thy vocal shell, But hail the God, whom thou must serve and fear ; Turn from thy lifeless widowhood; Chuse midst the Dryads of the wood Chuse not departed joy, but find it here! ; "There was a pause; a silence fearful, deep, As though the wilderness were hush'd in sleep; The youth had grasp'd with agonizing hands His robe of snowy fleece, while propp'd he stands Against the granite rock: his frame is shook With ague thrills; a fire is in his look; And his wild locks seem curling from his head, And his cheeks flush with hectic stains of red; His hand is on his harp; and hark!-the clashShrill, loud, and sudden as the thunder flash! ORPHEUS. I fix my eyes upon thee, mighty sun! God of the vine they worship. Hear me now ! That run'st thy race of strength around the stars; Thou Neptune! brother of thyself, that rulest Thou! who art both the sign and source of all; And impious revellers, who crush the In the delirium of infuriate sense, grape And while their lips blush nectar grudge thee praise; Air, sea, and land,-I ask from thee a sign, That they may turn from phantoms, and discern, Through these thy names and powers, thyself alone! Sole energy!-great spirit!-universe! At thy blest bidding I forsook the wild Of snowy Thrace, and from her mountains brought Bride of my youth! my blooming prophetess! Whose eyes gave back the image of thyself; Who was the priestess of thy shrine; and sate, And beautiful!-restore Eurydice! She is among the shadows of the land Where dwell the dead, but thou art also there! In human forms survives the smouldering pyre, And thou couldst re-illume her scarce-cold limbs There was a crash of branches, for the beech His weight the reeling branch could scarcely bear The toppling tree; till when it bending swept Then javelins shook and clash'd: a long shrill yell My sprite was with the bard: I follow'd him To other mountains, where the sight grew dim If backward turn'd below: one arm the lyre Clasp'd close: the sun had touch'd a pine with fire; He snatch'd a branchy torch: I heard the wave Dash loud and long and shrill: a yawning cave Received him, and I enter'd: the cleft sides Foam'd with the rush and roar of cataract tides: The vaults shot light from crystals, and the walls, That flash'd with gleams of darkling waterfalls, Show'd the green tints volcanic fires had left When flames and waters hiss'd within the cleft. It was the cavern my far-gifted sight Had partly fathom'd: now a deeper night Hung o'er my sliding path, by fits illumed With glancing meteor flashes; as entomb'd I stood within th' eternal mountains: deep And deeper the descending chasm's ridged steep Open'd, and wide and wider that immense And endless cavern, to my sleeping sense, Struck its far vistas in the pillar'd stone, By the bard's waving pine-torch gleaming shown With all their spars of diamond, veins of gold: Gates of red brass upon their hinges roll'd Deafening the cataract's thunder: the pine's light, Now flashing keener flame, disclosed to sight The space beyond: the river rush'd between Those clanging valves: a rocky ledge was seen |