Basil and mint, and thyme and rosemary,
Were sprinkled on the kid's well roasted length,
Awaiting Rhaicos. Home he came at last,
Not hungry, but pretending hunger keen,
With head and eyes just o'er the maple plate.
"Thou seest but badly, coming from the sun,
Boy Rhaicos!" said the father. "That oak's bark
Must have been tough, with little sap between ;
It ought to run; but it and I are old."
Rhaicos, although each morsel of the bread
Increased by chewing, and the meat grew cold
And tasteless to his palate, took a draught
Of gold-bright wine, which, thirsty as he was,
He thought not of until his father fill'd
The cup, averring water was amiss,

But wine had been at all times poured on kid,..
It was religion.

He thus fortified,

Said, not quite boldly, and not quite abasht,
"Father, that oak is Jove's own tree: that oak
Year after year will bring thee wealth from wax
And honey. There is one who fears the gods
And the gods love.. that one"

What one)

(He blusht, nor said

"Has promist this, and may do more. Thou hast not many moons to wait until

The bees have done their best: if then there come

Nor wax nor honey, let the tree be hewn."

"Zeus hath bestow'd on thee a prudent mind," Said the glad sire: but look thou often there, And gather all the honey thou canst find

In every crevice, over and above

What has been promist; would they reckon that?" Rhaicos went daily; but the nymph as oft Invisible. To play at love, she knew,

Stopping its breathings when it breathes most soft,

Is sweeter than to play on any pipe.

She play'd on his: she fed upon his sighs:

They pleased her when they gently waved her hair, Cooling the pulses of her purple veins,

And when her absence brought them out they pleased. Even among the fondest of them all,

What mortal or immortal maid is more

Content with giving happiness than pain?
One day he was returning from the wood

Despondently. She pitied him, and said

"Come back!" and twined her fingers in the hem
Above his shoulder. Then she led his steps

To a cool rill that ran o'er level sand
Through lentisk and through oleander, there
Bathed she his feet, lifting them on her lap
When bathed, and drying them in both her hands.
He dared complain; for those who most are loved
Most dare it; but not harsh was his complaint.
"O thou inconstant!" said she, "if stern law
Bind thee, or will, stronger than sternest law,
O, let me know henceforward when to hope
The fruit of love that grows for me but here."

He spake; and pluckt it from its pliant stem.
"Impatient Rhaicos! why thus intercept
The answer I would give? There is a bee
Whom I have fed, a bee who knows my thoughts
And executes my wishes; I will send

That messenger. If ever thou art false,
Drawn by another, own it not, but drive
My bee away: then shall I know my fate,

And,.. for thou must be wretched,.. weep at thine.
But often as my heart persuades to lay
Its cares on thine and throb itself to rest,
Expect her with thee, whether it be morn
Or eve, at any time when woods are safe."

Day after day the Hours beheld them blest,
Season after season: years had past,
Blest were they still. He who asserts that Love
Ever is sated of sweet things, the same
Sweet thing he fretted for in earlier days,
Never, by Zeus! loved he a Hamadryad.

The nights had now grown longer, and perhaps
The Hamadryads find them lone and dull
Among their woods: one did, alas! She called
Her faithful bee: 'twas when all bees should sleep,
And all did sleep but hers. She was sent forth
To bring that light which never wintry blast
Blows out, nor rain nor snow extinguishes,
The light that shines from loving eyes upon
Eyes that love back, till they can see no more.

Rhaicos was sitting at his father's hearth:
Between them stood the table, not o'erspread
With fruits which autumn now profusely bore,
Nor anise cakes, nor odorous wine; but there
The draft-board was expanded; at which game
Triumphant sat old Thallinos; the son
Was puzzled, vext, discomfited, distraught.
A buzz was at his ear: up went his hand,
And it was heard no longer. The poor bee
Return'd (but not until the morn shone bright)
And found the Hamadryad with her head
Upon her aching wrist, and showed one wing
Half-broken off, the other's meshes marr'd,
And there were bruises which no eye could see
Saving a Hamadryad's.

At this sight

Down fell the languid brow, both hands fell down, A shriek was carried to the ancient hall

Of Thallinos: he heard it not; his son

Heard it, and ran forthwith into the wood.

No bark was on the tree, no leaf was green,

The trunk was riven through. From that day forth
Nor word nor whisper soothed his ear, nor sound

Even of insect wing: but loud laments
The woodmen and the shepherds one long year
Heard day and night; for Rhaicos would not quit
The solitary place, but moan'd and died.

Hence milk and honey wonder not, O guest,
To find set duly on the hollow stone.

In this brief and hasty article we have not attempted any thing like an adequate criticism of one of the most peculiar and delightful writers in the English language. We have only stated some of the sharper impressions of him which remain in our memory, after an acquaintance of many years. We feel that what we have said is exceedingly imperfect But we shall be satisfied if we lead any one to desire that better knowledge of him which his works alone can furnish. To give an idea of the character of the man, a very few quotations would suffice, but to show the value of his writings we should be obliged to copy nearly all of them. We are sometimes inclined to think of Wordsworth, that, if he has not reduced poetry to the level of commonplace, he has at least glorified commonplace by elevating it into the diviner æther of poetry; and we may say of Landor that he has clothed common-sense with the singing-robes of imagination. In this respect he resembles Goethe, and we feel that he eminently deserves one of the titles of the great German- the Wise, for, as common-sense dwelling in the ordinary plane of life becomes experience and prudence, so, looking down from the summits of imagination, she is heightened into inspiration and wisdom.

ART. V.-A NEW THEORY OF THE EFFECT OF THE TIDES.

AMONG the discoveries in science recently made on this side of the ocean, is one which has excited much interest among geologists and navigators; and which seems to us equally to merit the attention of scientific men in Europe. We mean the tide-theory of Captain Davis, recently laid before the Association of American Geologists and Naturalists in Philadelphia. Having had occasion to become familiar with the elements of this theory during a stay of several months this summer, on board the vessel commanded by Captain Davis, as the officer superintending one of the divisions of the United States Coast-Survey, we thought it might be profitable to publish a sketch of the principal results at which our

learned friend has arrived, after long and patient investigations.*

The eastern coast of the United States is bordered throughout its whole extent by a line of sand-banks and islands of very various forms and outlines, but very uniform in their mineralogical character, being composed, for the most part, of a fine white and very quartzose sand. On the coasts of the Southern States, (the Carolinas and Virginia), they form a chain of low islands, separated from the coast by a series of lagoons, which give a peculiar character to the navigation of those districts.

Higher up, on the southern coasts of New England, they occur as submarine ridges, parallel to the coast, and separated from each other by wide channels. Farther North, these deposits are more extensive, and form vast submarine plateaus, such as the St. George's and Newfoundland Banks. Finally, deposits analogous to these are formed at the bottom of bays, but in a state of more complete trituration. These are known under the name of flats.

Mr. Davis, after having devoted several years to the study of these various species of banks, has arrived at this result: that their forms, extent, and distribution are principally determined by tides; the wind and the waves playing but a subordinate part in their formation.

One of the first points on which Mr. Davis insists, is the relation that exists between the strength of tides and the distribution of sand-banks. On both sides of the Atlantic we invariably find sand-banks most numerous where the tides are slight, or where their force is exhausted after having been considerable. Mr. Davis accounts for this in the following manner: According to the researches of Mr. Whewell, the tidal wave, on entering the Atlantic Ocean, passes onward in the form of an arc; the convexity of which is turned toward the north. In its progress northward, this wave strikes against the coasts of the two continents of Africa and America. From this shock proceed the various local currents which are desig nated under the name of tidal currents, the direction and rapidity of which are determined by the shape of the coasts. Their rapidity is, in general, in proportion to the directness of the obstacles opposing them, and the narrowness of the chan

*Mr. Davis is now engaged in preparing a detailed paper on this subject, which will appear in the transactions of the American Academy.

nels through which they run. These tidal currents, in running with great rapidity along a coast, raise up and carry with them the movable deposits and the detritus of all sorts which the waves and atmospheric forces have detached from the beaches. These currents, however, soon lose their force, unless new obstacles come in their way; and in proportion as they abate, the substances held suspended begin to be depos ited. Any inequality of the bottom is then sufficient to form the nucleus or point of departure of a sand-bank, the direction of which will be parallel to that of the current. Such, for instance, is the origin of the narrow banks bordering the island of Nantucket, and known under the names of Bass Rip, Great Rip, South Shoal, &c.

But the most favorable conditions for the formation of sanddeposits exist where the tidal current, after passing a promontory, is deflected laterally into a wide bay, where it can expand freely. Not only the heavy materials, but also the more minute particles are then deposited at the bottom of the bay; no longer under the form of narrow ridges, but as broad continuous strata or flats, generally composed of very fine sand, or of calcareous mud, where the deposit takes place in the neighbourhood of coral reefs. This is the reason why the most extensive and regular deposits are found at the bottom of wide bays. Cape Cod Bay, on the coast of Massachusetts, is cited by Mr. Davis as an example of this mode of deposition.

On the contrary, when the bay is narrow, as the fiords of Norway, or when it lies in the direction of the current, so as to allow the tide to rush in without obstacle and rise to a great height, as for instance the Bay of Fundy, the ebb and flood are too violent, and occasion too rapid currents to allow the water to deposit any of the materials which it holds suspended. Hence it is that such bays are generally without sandbanks, unless it be in their lateral coves.

A remarkable phenomenon takes place when the tidal current flows with a moderate rapidity along a coast, so as to deposit a bank of sand against the cliffs. In this case, it is not unusual to see the bank stretching out into the sea, but instead of following the direction of the coast, it inclines, from the pressure from without, towards the interior of the bay, so as to describe a bend, which the seamen of this country call a Hook. Sandy Hook, in the bay of New York, is of this character. Such, also, are the Hook of Cape Cod and the Hook