The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-05-20

80 N Ilot iDttct u1l Ofccttd scenery
Pessesses de peculiar charm Of blended and
in.eFadnglsd land and ses; The breaking
waves and changing brightness Of the re-
sounding OCEAN, amidst shores adorned with
segelalion, OF picturesque cliffs nchly tinged
With aerial lIuess Whilst 10 other nations
The different pursuits belonging 70 the sea
and 10 the land appeared separate and dis
sinct, tie Greeks, not only Of the islands,
bat also Sf almost all the southern portion
VI glse mainlaIid. enjoyed The continual
presence Of the greater variety and richness.
as well As Of the higher character Of beau
y. gwen By the contact and mutual inhu.
ence Of the two elements. How can we
imagine that race 30 happily organized by
nature, and whose perception Of beauty
Was 80 intense, should have been unmoved
BY the aspect OF the wood-crowned cliffs
--ol the deeply indented shores Of the Med
ieflanean. the varied distribution OF vegeta-
be forms, and, spread over all, the added
CHAINS dependent on atmospheric iuln-
enccs, varying by a silent Interchange with
the varying surfaces Of land and sea OF
nloInltain and Of plain. as well as with the
varying hours and seasons Or how, in
the age when the poetic tendency was high
est, can emotions OF the mind thus swaken-
edlthrOugh the seuses have failed to resolve
themselves into ideal contemplationl The
Greeks, We know, imagined the vegetable
world connected by a thousand mythical re-
laiions with he heroes and the gods: syen-
ging chastisement following injury 10 the
sacred trees or plants. But while trees and
. flowers were animated and pessonifed. the
prevailing forms Of poetry in which the pc
culisr mental development OF the Greeks un-
folded itself, allowed but a limited space TO
descriptions Of nature Yet, deep sense
OF the beauty Of nature breaks forth some
times even in their tragic poets, in the midst
Of deep sadness, or Of the most tunultnoos
sgitstion Of the passions. When Gdipns
IS approaching the grove Of the Furies, the
chorus sings. -the noble resting -Plaos of glo-
Iious COlOnOs, where the melodiOUs night
ingale loves to dwell, and mourns in clear
and plaintive strains il sings the verdant
darkness Of the thick empowering ivy, the
narcissus bathed in the dews Of heaven, the
golden beaming crocus, and the ineradiea-
bic, ever fIeshspringing olive tree. SOph-
Ocles in striving TO glonfy his native Colo
nos, places the lofty form Of the faie-pursa-
ed, Wandering king, By de side Of the sleep
less waters Of the CePhisus. surrounded By
soft and bright imagery. The rePose Of ma
tare heighlens the impressiOn Of pain called
forth BY the desOlaie aspect OF the blind ex-
lie, the victim OF q dreadful and mysteri-
Gus destiny. EanPedes also takes pleas
UTe in the picturesque description Of "the
pastures Of Messenia and Lsconia, refresh
ed BY thousand fountains. under an ever
mod SKY, and through which he beautiful
Panlisus rolls bis steam B0coIic poetry
born ia the Sicilian fields, and popularity
inclined 70 the dramatic, has been called,
with reason. transitional form. These
pastoral epics on a small scale depict human
beings rather than scenery; they Dc 80 IN
Theocritus, in whose hands this form Of DO
cry reached as greatest perfection. A soft,
elegiac element ,is-Ihdeed everywhere prop
eT TO the 1dyll; as il il had arisen from fbe
ioaEing for a lost IDEAL or as IL in the hn-
man breast degree Of melancholy were
ever blended with the deeper feelings which
the view Of nature inspires. When the true
poetry Of Greece expired with Grecian lib
ery, that which remained became descrip-
tive, didactic, instrucGive;--astronomy ge-
ogrsphy, and the arts Of the hunter and fish
enmsn, appeared in the age Of Alexander
and has Successors. as objects Of poetry, and
were indeed often adorned with much met.
neal skill.-HnmbOldf Cosmos.