1. 23. he never ascertains his peculiar aim. In the same autobiographical letter, from which a quotation was made above, are the following sentences: "The great misfortune of my life was never to have an aim. I had felt early some stirrings of ambition, but they were the blind gropings of Homer's Cyclops round the walls of his cave. I saw my father's situation entailed on me perpetual labor. The only two doors by which I could enter the fields of fortune were-the mos niggardly economy or the little chicaning art of bargain-making. The first is so contracted an aperture, I never could squeeze myself into it; the last - I always hated the contamination of its threshold!" Are any of the statements made by Carlyle and Burns in regard to the self-knowledge and lack of aim of the latter inconsistent ? Page 59, line 19. priest-like father. Cf. The Cotter's Saturday Night. Page 60, line 15. in glory and in joy, etc. From Wordsworth's Leech Gatherer, stanza vii.; quoted also by Lockhart on the title-page of the Life of Burns. "My Page 63, line 11. passions raging like demons, etc. passions, when once they were lighted up, raged like so many devils till they got vent in rhyme; and then conning over my verses, like a spell, soothed all into quiet!" Written with reference to about the time of his twenty-third year. — Autobiographical letter to Dr. Moore. Page 64, line 3. hungry Ruin has him in the wind. Quoted by Burns as a reason for engaging a passage in the first ship that was to sail for Jamaica.— Autobiographical letter to Dr. Moore. 1. 7. the gloomy night is gathering fast, etc. The first line of the poem entitled Farewell to Ayr, of which Carlyle quotes the last four lines, substituting "Adieu, my native banks of Ayr," for "Farewell, the bonnie banks of Ayr." "I had for some time been skulking from covert to covert, under all the terrors of a jail; as some ill-advised, ungrateful people had uncoupled the merciless legal pack at my heels. I had taken the last farewell of my few friends; my chest was on the road to Greenock; I had composed a song, 'The gloomy night is gathering fast,' which was to be the last effort of my muse in Caledonia, when a letter from Dr. Blacklock to a friend of mine overthrew all my schemes, by rousing my poetic ambition. His idea, that I would meet with every encouragement for a second edition, fired me so much that away I posted for Edinburgh without a single acquaintance in town, or a single letter of recommendation in my pocket." — Autobiographical letter to Dr. Moore. Page 65, line 3. Rienzi (Nicolo Gabrini, 1313-1354) headed a revolt against the oligarchs of Rome and sought to reestablish the Republic. His head was turned by sudden success. Resorting to violence to raise funds, he lost his popularity, and was put to death by a mob. Page 67, line 5. Virgilium vidi tantum. Ovid: Tristia IV. 10, line 51. I have at least seen Virgil. Page 68, line 13. Langhorne (John, 1735-1779). An English clergyman and poet. For some of his poems see Chambers' Cyclopædia of English Literature. In quoting, Scott appears to have substituted "mother wept " for "parent mourned." 1. 23. Nasmyth's picture. See frontispiece. Page 70, line 12. in malam partem. Disparagingly. Page 76, line 2. Mæcenases. Mæcenas was a wealthy Roman of the equestrian order, who was a friend and patron of Horace and Virgil. His name has become a synonym for a liberal patron of letters. Page 78, line 14. Jacobin. Literally, a member of the club of radical political agitators who took their name from the Jacobin Convent in which they held their secret meetings during the French Revolution. Page 79, line 25. corn-bing. Heap of grain. Page 85, line 24. Patronage Cf. Burns's poem, The twice cursed, etc. Cf. Page 87, line 23. fardels of a weary life, etc. Fardels burdens. Cf. the famous soliloquy, Hamlet, III. i., in which are to be found the words, "who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life," etc. Page 88, line 13. Roger Bacon (1219-1294). An English Franciscan monk and philosopher, who was imprisoned because of his heretical writings. Galileo (1564-1642). A famous Italian astronomer, whose doctrines were condemned by the Pope, and who was forced by the Inquisition to abjure the Copernican theory. 1. 14. Tasso (Torquato, 1544–1595). An Italian poet. Camoens (Luiz de, 1524–1580). The greatest Portu 1. 15. guese poet. Page 91, line 18. Locke (John, 1632-1704). An English philosopher and political writer. Page 92, line 2. Araucana. Written by Alonso de Ercilla y Zuñiga (1533-1595), a Spanish soldier and poet. The epic is based upon his experiences as a soldier: he took an active part in a campaign against the Araucanos, an Indian tribe in South America. Page 93, line 23. Rabelais (François, 1495–1553). A brilliant, but sceptical French satirist. Page 95, line 5. Jean Paul, Johann Paul Friedrich Richter (1763-1825), a German poet and philosopher, introduced to the English public by Carlyle's Essay on Richter (1827). Page 96, line 17. Byron. For further light on the point under discussion, cf. Morley's Essay on Carlyle – "Mr. Carlyle's victory over Byronism," and Matthew Arnold's Essay on Byron. Page 98, line 18. words of Milton, etc. "And long it was not after, when I was confirmed in this opinion, that he who would not be frustrate of his hope to write well hereafter in laudable things ought himself to be a true poem; that is, a composition and pattern of the best and honorablest things; not presuming to sing high praises of heroic men, or famous cities, unless he have in himself the experience and the practice of all that which is praiseworthy.” — MILTON: An Apology for Smectymnuus (1642). Page 100, line 6. Plebiscita. Laws enacted by the common people. Page 101, line 6. Ramsgate. A popular seaside resort in Kent, about sixty miles east of London. 1. 7. Isle of Dogs. A peninsula of the Thames, three and a half miles east of St. Paul's, London, where the king's hounds were once kept. 1. 17. Valclusa Fountain. The fountain is associated with the poet Petrarch, who made his home in Valcluse, a village about ten miles east of Avignon. |