Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-08-18
SUNDAY READING.
PICKED UP, HEEE AND THERE.
1aF, Il. VT.I. o.~a.

PICKED UP, HERE AND THEBE.
Alsin de pIsle says:
Tutor est locus in terra-quam turribusaltis
] " Qui jacet IN terra non habet upde cadat y
which may be rendered,
IT'S safer on the ground than on TAN towers
I Whose on earth lies hath not whence 70 fal,
with which those may console them
selves who are weighed down with none
] Of the responsibilities that political rights
impose, and over whom Sickles anC
/ Sheridan rule and reign, and who car
say, with Richard II
4 What can We beQueath
" Save our deposed bodies to the ground?-
/ "Our lands, our lives, our all, are Boiling
And nothing can we call our own but death
" And that small model Of the barren earth
Which serves as paste and cover TO ouI
bones"
The lark sings among the clouds, but
! it nests on the earth, and sleeps In safety
when the tempet uproots the Oak,-if the
the oak does not fall upon its nest and
crush il. 1t is the poor who pay for the
follies Of the great; and despotism, like
q poisonous malaria, finds entrance into
the cottage of the low as well as into the
palace Of the lofty.
The times are out Of joint
" The gentleman free born, who never wore
The rags Of any great mans looks, nor fed
Upon their after-msals, who never crouched
Unto the Offal OF an ONCE promised
Now holds his all, even his life, at the
sufferanee OF the most worthless OF men,
whose follies he may see, and foresee
their ruinous consequences, but cannot
prevent them.'
The HistorietteS of TaIIemant des
Reaux, which are sketches, biographical
Nd oil ion Of M
times Of Louis Kill, Henri W., Louis
XIV, and Louis XIV, are q mine Of wit
and humour, subtle and delicate, vastly
ENJOYABLE when one has leisure to read.
It was said Of Courart, I" II nc scat
rien, ct ma que Ia rOntiRe:; :" he knows
nothing, and has only rOntine.
Camus, Bishop of Bellay, said Of the
Due d'OTleans, "a les BleiLleureS flteT'
tiOJts, nldis IL ma jGDldiS riel fat q1i
UdiHe he has the best intentions, but
he has never done anything worth
cent.
1t was said of de Harlay, Archbishop
of ROuen, " It eStOit bon hOnlBle, franc ct
sincere, Blais .jdBldis Il n'e1It I1l grain de
cerveHe :" be was a good man, frank
and sincere, but he never had grain OF
brain and it was said of the COmte d.
AvauX, "H a Ia teSte an IOeu bieH petite
pour dUOir beducOUp de cerUeile he has
a little too small a head, TO have much
brain.
Nevertheless, they use such men in
republics, for Legislators, Statesmen
and Diplomats. We allow nothing to be
wasted but public moneys and genius,
intellect and learning. We have slwsys
been in the predicsment of Madame
Pilou: 4" y eStOis," she said, "cOBlnae la
serUdnte de . drche; qttGEd j dUOis
chase les 5eStes d' an endrOit, eltes y rev.
enOieHt GUSSytOSt :" l was like the maid
servant in the ark (; when had driven
away the beasts from any spot, they re-
turned there Immediately. The public
never waaries either of the dull and
heavy, or of the lOquacious. The inca
pable never did, in any time, die when
the brains were out. The political Tur-
yeydrOps cling to Office like leeches.
Pity the old English poets should be so
little read. Our new poets would profit
more by them than by studying and imi-
tating Tepuyson and SWiRburne. Here
are passages that no modern poets have
exceIled. These have not monopoly of
grace, imagination, or delicacy Of
thought. Where is there a sweeter
verse than this:
% Lord what is this worldys blsse,
That changeth as the moon?
My summers day in lusty May
Is darked before the noon
Or two lines finer than these:
The trees hath leaves, the bowes done spread,
new changed is the yere,
The water brooks are c'ean sunk down, the
pleasant banks appear.
SHIRLEY's lines are exquisite, begin
ning;-
The glories OF our birth and state
Are shadows. not substantial things;
There is no armour against fate:
Death lays his icy hands on Kings:
Sceptre and crown
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade
And ending;-
only the actisns OF the just
Smell sweet, ana blossom in the dust
And these;-
For age with stealing steps
Hath clawed me with his crutch,
Ana lusty NOuthe away he leapes,
As there had been none SUCH"
Kit MsrIowe wrote,
" By shallow rivers, 10 whose falls.
Mslodious birds make madrigals,"
md in the fine old ballad of Gil MOrrice !
I is said;
"9n Morrtce safe in guide creme wOde,
He whistled and he sang:
%, what mean a the folk cumingG
Mymither tarries lang
His hair was ike the threads Of gold
Drawn from Minerga's loom,
His lips Ike roses dropping dew,
His breath was a. PERFUME"
How many of the old words, now dis !
Ised, were pOetical. Why does not |
iome writer restore them? We might at |
east revive the words, ShdlO, q wood; |
Oood.1Uele, a thrush; slGde, q valley be-
ween woods lOICe, little hill; lefe, |
lear; fere, companion; bale, wo; 5e1'tS, /
ields; glede, a red-hOt coal hoits, |
woods: bHde, tree? Lurden is g good |
word, too, for sluggsrd UOde for mad |
md store, for fight. They are all !
egitimate English words.