Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1855-01-12
ltohREsPOSDHNCE OF the PREE PRESS
Letters from England.
NO. NJ.
H.

To RE Editor and Readc,, eCits Ete, P,,,s
Let us now enter the Abbey not by tho great
door in the wcst-front, which is never oprncd
save for he ehhy IF Sorragn and tro,a on
state occasions, but by little door in the
southeast corner Of the southern TRANSIENT -
Butas you enter, walk sorty; unbracc your
foot unhraid your brow
4" Each tribute that may eracc
threshold here DC paid -
for this is the ''ponts' Corner T."
Every one knows what will first meet his
eye on entering "pocts Corner" So when
the little green door has closed behind YOU,
and You look up at o RARE BEN
J o II y 5 o y, words made 50 familiar that
they naturally follow the mention Of West
minister Abbey, the emotion produced is not
wonder us at the sight Of Il novelty but de-
lighuul assurance, coming over you like the
realization Of "A dream, that YOU are really
standing in ''Pocts' Corner doubt whcth-
or the most stoical visitor, if at all imbucd
with the spirit OF English Literature. can for
the first time look up at those worls-so
long kind Of Keynote to all the associations
The first Poet buried IN the Abby was
Chauccr, whose monument, u plain altar,
placed in the Abbey about three ccnturcsago.
stands ON the right ofthc entrance Close bv
Chauccrs tomb is the bust of Phillips. Mil
tons nephew, which for moro than one reason
deserves notice. Around the efigy Of Pill
lips is wreath of laurel and aIplc boughs
intertwincd, with a motto from Nirgil's
Eclogucs "Houos CRIT hue 9uo9,tc po,no, "
this apple also shall have honor; aludIng to
/ Phillips poem on cider But there is Il little
bit Of history connected with this monument
which attracts to it different kind of inter
est. In a rather lengthy Latin inscription,
| there is an alusion to Milton as the only SUI
| pcrior Of Phillips in a certain style Of writing
/ DR.. Sprat, then Dean Of Westminster Abbey,
refused to admit to the walls of building
dedicated to religion, the name Of such man
as Milton. However, the Or. was a mortal :,
and soon needed monument himself if the
visitor wishes to see it he will not find a crowd
around it. But not far from the entrance is n
bust Of Milton himself, before which every
ent on a Deans favor for his immortalitv-
Byron's remains were refused a spot in the
Abbey on the same grounds Goldsmith wa.
to have been buried here. but the grea
amount of his debts left unpaid at his death
caused him to lie excluded CamIleH wa
buried in great ro,nf -,ieh ms brother poets
but his statue has been now long time wait
E i, Il, II / =
ter will not grant until fec Of 5000 has beer
paid them The musings towhch one feel
inclined, while walking in the Abbey, are no
all peaceful and subducd
Near the bust Of Milton, i. tie chastc me
mortal Of Spencer, who came next after hi
master, Chauccr, to rest in the sacred spot
The present tombstone WAS, in lis, substi
tutcd for an older one of which 1t is an cxac
COPY the original one having been much mu
| tlatci The beautiful inscription which i
bears, is perhaps familiar to you, but mus
transcribc it
- IIrIv liz (rAI'rvtiug the ooeand oo.,.in
Of our Saviour Christ jesus the body of Ell
d mund spencer, the Prince of Poets in hi
y time, whose divine spirit needs no other wit
. .'.'.e .l"'. tho ,vor!,r Which lac left benin
IS him. lie was born in London in 1853, an
c died in lj9S"
Crossing to the opposite side of the tran
) saIt. our attention is drawn to drapc
u statue in white marble upon a pedestal 49,
" tHnn"n- from tho mild pure countcnlucc
the iucription below, we are irrcsistiblv cal
ricd back a hundred and forty years to
g scene in which the original Of the figure be
e fore us is brought into startling compariso
/ with ourselves as we walk and muse anon
C the memorials Of the dead When am i
y serious humor," says Add,sop, q" yer
often walk by myself in Westminster Abbey
where the Cloomncss of the place and til
use to which it is applied, with the solcmnit
- Of the building and the condition Of the pee
Il pie who lie in it. are apt to fill the mind wit
y a kind Of melancholy, Or rather thoughtful
d ness, that is not disagrccable." During thes
hundred and forty years which have passe
. since the Spectator moralizcd in West
Abbey, there have been gathered to tn
number Of those who lie IN it, the MORALS
e himsolf aud many of the kings, warriors
>. statesmen, poets, and moralsts of four sui
b. sequcnt generations. Addison's body lies i
0 one of the chapcls along with tho hugs
a his monument is placed where it should be
+ in the " Poets Corner" Beneath a pai
. slab in the pavement, near the pedestal o
which stands the figure of Addison, lie tn
. remains of DR.. johnson, His monument i
t at ST. Paul'.. \ fine bust of Dryden stand
under an arch near the entrance to the chap
c els, bearing the simple inscription, 81. Dry
den" Shakespeare, Milton, Gray, Thomr
= son, Butler, Mason, and Goldsmith, all hav
memorials in Poets Corner, though burie
elsewhere \ statue Of Wordsworth, repre-
=. senting him as seated on a knoll in con
templative attItnae a pencil in his hand an
e a book lying open upon his lap, has just bee
n placed in recess containing the ancient ton
J. under one Of the western towers. 1t has II
% inscription but sonnet on baptism tran
: scribed from his " Ecclesiastical Sonnets" i
suspended near the statue This is ccrtainl
4, appropriate to the place Of the monument
n but neither 10 the position nor the exprcssio
d "' the Poet, seated H. he lie in tho opon all
L. his eyes directed to the flowers growing nbou
l. his feet. Some one has happily sug5estc
that We may fancy him saying
" t. ne the mcancst fovor that blow. can give
- Thought. that do often lie too deep for tears"
y. but We have been lingering in Poet
10 Corner until our visit las already becom
d long, Meantime tho hour of service has al
# rived, for twice daily it is performed in III
Is choir of Westminster Abbey and we are re
u 1,uoStnl ,,unt IN wall ol,ut Iu,ir, scry,,o