on a throne of gold; now in a chariot drawn by swift horses, and bearing along with her the day; and at other times she is ushered in by the star which is her harbinger, and which gives the signal of the morning's approach. On this, as a ground, the poets following Homer have run their divisions of fancy: this will appear by the following instances out of Virgil, which I shall present to the reader in Mr. Dryden's translation :— Aurora now had left her saffron bed, And beams of early light the heavens o'erspread. The Morn began from Ida to display Her rosy cheeks, and Phosphor led the day. And now the rosy Morn began to rise, And waved her saffron streamer through the skies. Now rose the ruddy Morn from Tithon's bed, The Morn ensuing from the mountain's height I have not room here to multiply examples out of the ancient poets, but shall shew how the same images have been copied or diversified by the moderns. The following description is Tasso's, as it is very closely traced in the old translation of Mr. Fairfax: The purple Morning left her crimson bed, And our own Spenser, who excels in all kinds of imagery, following the same originals, represents the morning after the like manner : Now when the rosy-fingered Morning fair, The Day, forth dawning from the east, Commanded them their daily works renew. But of all descriptions of the Morning as a person, it is impossible to find a more beautiful one than that of Shakspeare: Look where the Morn, in russet mantle clad, VOL. I. The same author has in another place embellished his subject thus: Look what streaks Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east. The two following descriptions likewise, by the same hand, are very poetical: The glow-worm shews the Matin to be near, The wolves have prey'd; and look, the gentle Day, Dapples the drowsy East with spots of grey. In Milton's Paradise Lost, the descriptions of the Morning are drawn with exquisite beauty: yet some of them retain (though in a Christian poem) a mixture of the same mythology: Now Morn her rosy steps in th' eastern clime The Morn, Wak'd by the circling Hours, with rosy hand And now went forth the Morn, Mean while, To resalute the world with sacred light, Now sacred Light began to dawn In Eden, on the humid flowers that breath'd With grateful smell In some of these poetical pictures which I have here set before the reader, the heavens only are shewn, and the first springing of light there; in others, the earth is taken into the prospect, with her flowers wet with dew, and her rising vapours; and sometimes the occupations of living creatures proper to the season are represented, and afford a yet greater diversity of amusing images. Such is that admirable description in Otway's Orphan : the plains Wish'd Morning's come; and now upon To follow in the field his daily toil, And dress the grateful glebe that yields him fruits.. The beasts, that under the warm hedges slept, Assemble all in choirs, and with their notes I shall conclude this paper with a remark, which, I believe, will be allowed by all impartial critics; that whoever will take the pains to look into the several descriptions of this kind, which may be found in the works of ancient and modern writers, will find that the English poets have described the Morning with at least as much elegance of fancy as any others have done, and with more variety. LAY-MONASTERY, No. 39, Feb. 12, 1713. As the juxta-position of descriptions thus beautiful forms an elegant entertainment to the lovers of poetry, I shall beg leave to enlarge the list of parallelisms by the adduction of a few more passages: Primum Aurora novo quam spargit lumine terras, Convestire suâ perfundens omnia luce, Omnibus in promptu manifestumque esse videmus. When first Aurora o'er the dewy earth LUCRETIUS. Spreads her soft light, and through the pathless grove |