the tact of Lucile. Subsequently Lord Vargrave's son and Constance, the niece and ward of the Duke mutually love one another, but their marriage is strictly forbidden by the Duke on account of his former grudge against Vargrave. The boy is wounded at the battle of Inkerman, and the Duke, who is serving as a general in the French army, is persuaded to withdraw his opposition to the marriage through the influence of Lucile, who has visited the battlefield in the character of a Sister of Charity. NOTE 20, PAGE 258. — The Judgment of Prometheus is a short poem of some two hundred and fifty lines. The author has the following explanatory note prefixed to it: 'Strife having arisen between Zeus and Poseidon for the sake of Thetis, daughter of Nereus the sea-god, Prometheus was delivered from bondage on Caucasus, and called to declare the award of Fate known to him alone.' The selection given commences just after Prometheus is represented as having made the award. NOTE 21, PAGE 312. The Fortunate Islands. 'This piece is a rhymed loose version of a passage in the Vera Historia of Lucian. The humorist was unable to resist the temptation to introduce passages of mockery, which are here omitted. Part of his description of the Isles of the Blest has a close and singular resemblance to the New Jerusalem of the Apocalypse. The clear River of Life and the prodigality of gold and of precious stones may especially be noticed.' Author's note. The author has also the following note explanatory of the lines in italics commencing 'Whoso doth taste the dead man's bread,' et seq., page 316. 'This belief that the living may visit, on occasion, the dwellings of the dead, but can never return to earth if they taste the food of the departed, is expressed in myths of world-wide distribution. Because she ate the pomegranate seed, Persephone became subject to the spell of Hades. In Apuleius, Psyche, when she visits the place of souls, is advised to abstain from food. Kohl found the myth among the Ojibbeways, Mr. Codrington among the Solomon Islanders; it occurs in Samoa, in the Finnish Kalewala (where Wainamoinen, in Pohjola, refrains from touching meat or drink), and the belief has left its mark on the medieval ballad of Thomas of Ercildoune. When he is in Fairy Land, the Fairy Queen supplies him with the bread and wine of earth, and will not suffer him to touch the fruits which grow "in this countrie." See also "Wandering Willie" in Redgauntlet.' |