189 114-115. Thou wert to be found neither among the Teutons nor among the Celts, the two great northern races of Europe.

189 119. The Galilean serpent: Christianity.

189 ix-x. In the time of Alfred the Spirit of Liberty reappeared, developed in the republican cities of Italy, which, under her influence, became the home of Art; next, this same spirit is apparent in the work of Luther and of some English men, - Milton, for example.

190 xi-xii. There followed a general revival of freedom, which, however, again suffered eclipse from the excesses of the French Revolution.

191 xiii. Spain calls upon England to free herself, a task much easier than that which Spain herself had undertaken.

191 185. Æolian isle: the name Eolian was applied to a group of islands to the northeast of Sicily.

191 186.

Pithecusa island at the entrance of the Bay of Naples.

Pelorus: a promontory northeast of Sicily.

Mr.

191 192-5. These obscure lines are variously interpreted. Swinburne (Essays and Studies, p. 189) says: "The poet bids the two nations, 'twins of a single destiny,' appeal to the years to come." The sense of what follows is, Mr. Swinburne thinks, Impress us with all ye have thought and done, which time cannot dare conceal." Mr. Forman is inclined to read as for us. He says: "To me the poet seems to invoke England and Spain to rise together and appeal to the future of Republican America, to impress on them, as from a seal, all that had been and should be thought and done by Republicanism in America; and that invocation is supported by the simple proposition that Time cannot dare conceal anything." Professor Woodberry in his note on the passage says: "The lines contain a twofold appeal: first, to the future, typified in America; second, to the past, realized in Spanish and English history, or, by paraphrase, great ages that were and that Time will not dare forget, stamp on man's mind, with the clear and fixed impression of a seal, your image or memory. The difficulty arises from the condensation involved in the sudden identification of England and Spain with what they have thought and done, as being ideally what they essentially are, and in the abruptness with which the immortal memory of that achievement is then stated. The words 'all have thought and done' are to be taken as in the case of address." To the present editor the words "the eternal . . . West" seem to refer, not to the future, but to the past, the years which have passed

ye

into the west with setting suns; the meaning of the second part of the passage is sufficiently indicated by Mr. Swinburne and Professor Woodberry, though, as the former says, the construction falls to pieces. 192 xiv. Appeal to Germany and to Italy.

192 196. Arminius the hero who, 9 A.D., maintained the liberties of Germany by checking the advance of the Romans beyond the Rhine. 192 200-1. The poet refers to Germany's freedom in speculative thought, which has inspired her with new ideas, although political freedom is wanting.

192 xv-xvi. These stanzas are characteristic of the thought of Shelley and of the school to which he is inclined. Evil in the world is due mainly to bad government and to religion; men freed from these two influences would naturally become good.

193 xvii. Of what avail are skill and mastery of men if they voluntarily make slaves of themselves?

193 248. And power in thought, etc.: 'If thought is capable of developing power, as the seed is capable of developing the tree,' or perhaps: If intellectual power is now to that which it will be as the seed is to the tree.'

193 249-255. Of what avail is it that man by his art becomes master of natural forces, if wealth can extort from the poor and suffering the benefits resulting from art and liberty in the proportion of a thousand to one?

193 253-4. The cry of Art ends at "depth."

193 254-5.

"Wealth" is the subject of "can rend"; "thy" means Liberty's; "hers," Art's.

194 xviii.

dom, etc.

194 258.

Liberty will come to the world and bring with her Wis

Eoan wave wave of dawn (Gk. ws, dawn). 194 259. her: Wisdom's.

194 270.

"tears."

The words of the "voice out of the deep" (1. 15) end at

194 xix. The inspiration of the poetic seer vanishes.

ARETHUSA.

Arethusa was a fountain in the island of Ortygia near Syracuse in Sicily; Alpheus, a river in the Peloponnesus which in parts of its course flows underground. "This subterranean descent gave rise to the story about the river god Alpheus and the nymph Arethusa. The latter,

pursued by Alpheus, was changed by Artemis into the fountain of Arethusa, but the god continued to pursue her under the sea, and attempted to mingle his stream with the fountain in Ortygia."

The reader will note the resemblance of this poem to The Cloud in general character and in versification.

195 3. Acroceraunian mountains: Acroceraunia was the ancient name of a promontory in Epirus, formed by the western extremity of a chain known as the Ceraunii Montes.

195 24. Erymanthus: a mountain of Arcadia in the Peloponnesus. 195 25-27. The south wind which Erymanthus concealed behind its snowy peaks.

196 52-53.

with note.

For the rhyme, cf. Hymn to Intellectual Beauty, 11. 50-51,

197 60. unvalued inestimable; cf. "thy unvalu'd book "in Milton's Epitaph on Shakespeare.

197 74.

Enna see note on Prometheus, III, iii, 43.

197 87. Ortygian: see introductory note on this poem.

THE QUESTION.

198 9. wind-flowers: see note on The Sensitive Plant, l. 17.

198 10. Arcturi: Arcturus was the name of the constellation of the Little Bear, or of a star in it. This constellation never sets; hence the ever-blooming daisies are called Arcturi (cf. To Jane — The Invitation, 1. 58).

198 13. The reference in "that tall flower" which drops dew upon the earth is uncertain; "the most likely suggestions are 'crown imperial,' large campanula, and tulip. See The Sensitive Plant: 'The pied wind-flowers and the tulip tall"" (Miss M. A. Wood's Third Poetry Book).

199 15. heaven's collected: so the existing MS. copies read, as also the text published in the poet's lifetime. Mrs. Shelley's edition reads

heaven-collected, and she is followed by Forman.

SONG OF PROSERPINE.

Proserpine was the daughter of Demeter (the latter name probably signifies mother-earth), the goddess of the earth. Proserpine was carried off by the god of the lower world, but returned to spend a por

tion of each year with her mother. The story is told in Ovid's Metamorphoses, V. Proserpine probably symbolizes the seed-corn, which is buried, but comes again to life.

Enna see note on Arethusa, 1. 4.

HYMN OF APOLLO.

This and the Hymn of Pan were written to be inserted in a drama by Edward Williams. Apollo and Pan were represented as contending before Tmolus for the prize in music. In this hymn Apollo appears as the sun god.

HYMN OF PAN.

Pan was the god of flocks and shepherds; he was the inventor of the shepherd's flute, which he constructed from a reed.

202 11.

Tmolus: the god of Mount Tmolus in Lydia; he is said to have been judge of a musical contest between Apollo and Pan. 202 13-15. Peneus, Tempe, Pelion: a river, a valley, and a mountain in Thessaly.

203 18. Sileni (satyrs) in Greek mythology were followers of Bacchus; they dwelt in forests and partook somewhat of the nature of lower animals. Fauns were similar creatures of Latin mythology. Sylvans, spirits of the forest.

203 26. dædal: marvellously wrought; see on Prometheus, Act III, i, 26.

203 30. Menalus: a mountain in Arcadia sacred to Pan.

LETTER TO MARIA GISBORNE.

This was written as a friendly letter, probably without the slightest idea of its ever becoming public, and exhibits Shelley in an easy, familiar vein. It was first printed in the Posthumous Poems of 1824, but certain passages were omitted. A transcript in Mrs. Shelley's writing is in existence; as also, at Boscombe, a very illegible draft in Shelley's hand. Mrs. Shelley says: "He addressed the letter to Mrs. Gisborne from this house [at Leghorn], which was hers; he made a study of the

workshop of her son, who was an engineer.

Mrs. Gisborne had been a

She was a lady of great

friend of my father in her younger days. accomplishments, and charming from her frank and affectionate nature." For further particulars in regard to Mrs. Gisborne, see the Introduction, p. lxii, and Dowden's Life, Vol. II, p. 206.

203 1-14. Shelley represents himself as engaged in weaving poems, not to catch present applause, but lasting fame in the future.

204 13.

must is the reading of the Boscombe MS., but most of Mrs. Shelley's transcript and the edition of 1824.

204 17. Archimedean: Archimedes of Syracuse (287-212 B.C.) was a famous mathematician and inventor of various mechanical appliances. 204 24. Ixion or the Titan: the Titan is Prometheus; both he and Ixion were submitted to tortures by Jupiter.

204 25. St. Dominic: a Spaniard who flourished in the beginning of the thirteenth century and founded the order of Dominican Friars; in the text there is reference to the part he took in the crusade against heretics.

204 27-43. The reference is to instruments of torture sent by the Spaniards in the Armada.

204 33-34. Referring to the uprisal in Spain in 1820; see notes on the Ode to Liberty, p. 343.

204 34. Empire is apparently used here as a trisyllable; cf. Prometheus, Act I, i, 15.

204 35.

With is to be construed with "giving," 1. 30.

205 59. swink: work; a common word in earlier English.

206 75.

Forman and Dowden put a colon at the end of this line, without authority, and to the injury of the sense. The "hollow screw is the "idealism of a paper boat "; otherwise, as Professor Woodberry notes, the word "mischief" (1. 80) is without application. Shelley was addicted to sailing paper boats on streams and ponds (see the Introduction, p. lvii).

206 81. them: the "bills and calculations" (1. 79).

206 93-95. Treatises by various mathematical writers, from Saunderson to Laplace, are strewed about. Laplace, distinguished French mathematician (1749–1827); Saunderson, a blind mathematician, professor at Cambridge in the early part of the last century; Sims, a mathematical instrument maker of the time (Ellis's Concordance); Baron de Tott, a diplomatist, traveller, and author, 1733-93.

206 103. as Spenser says: this clause applies to "with many mo,” mo being a form of more frequently found in Spenser and other elder writers.

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