The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1868-06-19
TIE R1issbosC.
FOR The Union and Journal.

Il
One Of the most beautiful objects In Nature,
b the rainbow. This brilliant oolored arch Is
formed by the union OF ssvsu different oolors.
% insermiuslsd and pleaded togsther that We
cannot distinguish where one sads snd snothes
beei,s. The account Of this bow given in the
Bible, u, that, when the water, Of the food
had aba,ed and Noah, With bis family had come
forth frum The ark. and had onsrsd 70 God An
acceptable sacrifice, God promised that He
would no moro curse the earth, and, - token
Of His covenant with Noah, He placed His bow
In the cloud. eve may reasonably suppose
that men had seen this beautiful object shining
10 the heavens previous to this, but that Il re-
osived new glory. when 6sd oonsscratsd II ~
the sign Of His love, and Tie witness Of His
promise.' .'..4.S nrl i"'i' a'I a. y
In Roman N ythology. Iris q the psrsouinca-
ton Of the rainbow, or the goddess Of IT, she
il represented - putting on her robs. Of many
colors, and tinging the sky with her bow. Tho
general idea among the snoients. however, was,
that the rainbow was only the path on which
Iris travelled between Heaven and earth, sp-
pesring when she wanted Il, and vanishing
when Il was no longer needed. Virgil, In his
description Of the closing scene Of Dido's life,
thus aludes in beautitsl language, to the my
biological Office Of Iris, Junos messenger;
"Ergs iris. erseefs per eosnm ro,eida pssns,
Mile bsAss. ssriss sdssr'e s'is COLOR, ''. p
=. ,l-to
drawing thonand di1srsnt huss from the oppo-
sito sun. aies through tho heavens"
In Scandinavian mythology, the rainbow 70
called Bifrost. and 10 the bridge between tho
earth and the abode Of the gods. As this ID
the only way Of access 70 Asgard, consisting Of
golden and silver palaces, the dwellings OF the
gods, Heimdall their watohnan, Is stationed on
the borders Of heaven near this bridge 70 pre-
vent the giants from forcing their way over u.
The rainbow Is thus philosophically explain
ed:-white light may be dsoomposSd into its
seven component parts, red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, indigo and violet, which arc called
primary or prsmatio oolors. When Il rains
each drop operates like prism, and dccom-
poses the suns rays that strike It. These rays
are refr~etcd and reflected 20 that the oobserver's
eye receives ous color from ono dror, the 9TH
or colors from other drops, and thus has An
arched spectrum complete. Truly - we'll a.
poetically, has Percivsl, In one Of his remarka-
bic descriptions In verse, called the rainbow,
.bright daughter OF the SUM-" For It Is the clear
pure light OF the sun that causes the dark clouds
to produce form so bright and radiant ss to
receive the admiration Of the world. The poet
thus sings OF the clouds: ''a. ''
aye elcuds who art tho ornament ofhesven,
70 who lie,
After tho storm Is over, far away,
Crosning the dripping forests with the arch
OF beauty, such AZ lives alone in heaven,
Prom mcunta ~ 10 mountain like the wfeath
Sf Sf J,sS'SIsi ,Sy sSS SIil & s'n''r telling
When the shower Is over, and the clouds arc
beginning to depart, we lovo to gaze upon this
bright. beauteous bow, and our souls arc filed
with holy. calm delight, for We sec token of
Gods covenant therein. Only an 0mnipotent
Being could paint the sky with 90 delicate. yet
20 respleudeut ooios combined with such ar
tistic skill! We admire the splendor Of this
bow, and yet I doubt whether It generally
makes such an impression upon our minds a.
to b remembered long years afterwards. l
can, however, call to mind ono most brilliant
bow, the hues Of which almost seem to See.
They are intensely bright, and the clouds form
ing the back ground OF the soene are masses OF
thick solid darkness. No description that |
have ever read. equals the vision. save that by
T. Starr King. In his ..'whito Hills" He was
Just returning to Gorham from Berlin Falls,
when slight shower arose and rainbow ap-
peared, and "concentrsted It's splendor against
the lowest summit Of Mount Carter" 'The
back. ground Of the mountains was blue-black,
nots tree was visible, not an irregulanty OF
the surface. II was one smooth mass Of solid
darkness. soft as It was deep. And the Iris was
not bow, but pillar OF light. II rested on
the ground; Its top did not quite reach to
the summit Of the mountain.
The red prcdominated. It's Intensity increased
till the mountain shadow behind It Was black
as midnight. And yet the pillar stood arm.
is not the mountain on frei' said my oompan-
ion. Certainly that Is fame Five minutes,
ten minutes, fifteen minutes, the gorgeous
vision staid. and ve steadily rode nearer. Really
We began to feel UNEASY. We expected tn sec
smoke The color was 80 intense that there
seemed to be real danger Of the trees klndling
,ndsr n. Wa could not keen In mind that Il
,r,-. 60,
was celestial nre Wc were looking AZURE oooi
an the wafer drops out of which Il was born,
and ON which Il reclipes.'
Poets have sung Of the glories OF the rain
-, r,ov v,,b 4. ,,viny l;yht.
.',.,.,,, ..a.,,,nc Al, The .n,snilor. Iclio.ov.
soemnsy 'euo0"s -" ~.
and sotness OF shade and tint, thAt real heav-
only arch can disclose. Campbell out Of the
fullncss OF his soul. utters
crS sii lt that g optic: T,is. teach. unfold
sWbeu drcamt Of gems and gold