'tis so rockless and so clear, That the rich bottom does appear Paved all with precious things, not torn وو And of the application of" born," also, to the flower, which "blushes unseen,' the same may be the account. It is not metaphysically used, to denote necessity or fate; but physically, to denote production. The use of " born" for "destined," is too proverbial for poetry. "Purest ray serene," has been censured by some as obscure, and by others as redundant. But that an expression, which seems to have been studiously sought, should have had no meaning in the mind of its author, it is scarcely reasonable to suppose. Gray, in the maturer part of his life, addicted himself to the study of natural history. It is not * Loving at First Sight. impossible that, in some of the writers he had read on these subjects, he had found" ray serene;" (raggio sereno ;) used, as a technical term, for what, in precious stones, is commonly called the water. "Purest ray," taken by itself, is the expression of Thomson; who afterwards calls it "collected light compact," according to a mode, not uncommon with him, of thrusting in his noun betwixt two shouldering epithets; in the use of which mode, he and his fellow imitators were, as I have heard Savage humorously observe, kept in countenance by Milton's "human face divine." Of this stanza, before I conclude the examination, I am willing to gratify the reader with a communication on the sub * Paradise Lost, Book iii. ject, made to me by the late Dr Calvert Blake, a gentleman of eminent taste, and most extensive acquaintance with the body of English poetry; and who, by the cabals of trusted malignity, was driven from high hopes of merited preferment ; and forced, though a series of accumulating misfortunes (of the greatest part of which, as he informed me, he had a regular presentiment,) to seek refuge in the mountains of Wales, where he taught the private school founded by the benefaction of the late Colonel Perkins, till death put an end to his distress. It was the opinion of Dr Blake, that Gray was drawn into this expression incidentally, by the instinctive operation of his ear, presenting him with indistinct and faint renewals of sounds, which he had treasured up mechanically, and without purpose of recal. Thomson had said, purest ray," and Milton, with an ar 66 rangement very like the present, thick a drop serene ;"' and from the two together was formed by Gray his " purest ray serene." Thus far Dr Blake. Whether his conjecture be well founded, I do not here mean to inquire. The coincidence of rhythm and form is remarkable. 66 Drop serene," is a translation of "gutta serena," a technical expression for a disease of the eyes, proceeding from an inspissation of humours, and terminating in the loss of sight. Of the application of the term serene, to a case where there is a total shutting out of light, Physic may be left, at her own leisure, to give her own account. 'Paradise Lost, Book iii. XV. Of the fifteenth stanza I find little to praise, either in the poetry or politics: for politics it does contain; although it is part of a meditation on death. Gray had passed his youth like most young men, who are taught, or teach themselves, to consider something peculiarly respectable as associated with the character of Whig. Of the ebullitions of his uninformed youth, he was unfortunate enough to reserve considerable part for the plague of his riper age. Of his whiggish preju dices his poetry is full. That whiggism is the best poetical side of the question, candour is content to allow. If it seldom puts much money in the poet's purse, or brings with it much quiet to his mind, it is useful to him in F |