Complete Poetical Works of Charlotte Smith

by Charlotte Smith

  From his low homested with the morning springs,

  And far above the floating vapour sings,

  At such an height,

  That even the shepherd lad upon the hill,

  Hearing his matin note so shrill,

  With shaded eyes against the lustre bright,

  Scarce sees him twinkling in flood of light—”

  Mr. Graham, in a more lengthened description, says of the Lark: “ —— —— —— — he towers

  In loftier poise, with sweeter fuller pipe,

  Cheering the ploughman at his furrow end,

  The while he clears the share; or listening, leans

  Upon his paddle staff; and with rais’d hand

  Shadows his half-shut eyes, striving to scan

  The songster melting in the flood of light—”

  The extreme resemblance of these passages may be accounted for, however, by the observation very justly made, that natural objects being equally visible to all, it is very probable that descriptions of such objects will be often alike.

  I cannot help remarking another coincidence. My lines on the female Lark sitting, are: “She leaves her nest reluctant and in haste,

  And scarce allows herself to taste

  A dew drop and a few small seeds—”

  Mr. Graham says of the Wren: “ —— —— never flitting off,

  Save when the morning Sun is high, to drink

  A dew drop from the nearest flower cup—”

  ADDITIONAL NOTES TO THE FABLES.

  The varieties of pigeons here named, as Fantail, Carrier, Pouter, Almond Tumbler, and Nun, with many others, are varieties produced by art from the common pigeon. Societies exist in which prizes are given to those who produce birds nearest to the standard of imaginary perfection. A Pouter is a bird of which the crop is capable of being so much distended with wind, that the animal appears to be without a head. On this enlargement of the crop depends the beauty and value of the bird.

  These Fanciers are to Ornithologists, what Flower Fanciers are to Botanists.

  NOTES ON THE SWALLOW.

  Page 79. Line 1.

  The Gorse-Furze. — Ulex Europæus. Called so in many counties of England.

  Line 2. “The banks with speedwell flowers are gay.”

  Veronica chamoedrys. — This elegant flower, though not celebrated like the Primrose, Cowslip, and Daisy, is in all its varieties one of the most beautiful of indigenous plants.

  Page 80. Line 6. “As fables tell, an Indian Sage—”

  There are two or three fables that relate the knowledge acquired by some Indian recluse, of the language of birds.

  Page 81. Line 8.

  The Cuckoo, the Rail, and many species of Doves, are all emigrants. “Were you in Asia ? O relate,

  If there your fabled sister’s woes

  She seem’d in sorrow to relate,

  Or sings she but to celebrate

  Her nuptials with the Rose ?”

  Alluding to the Ovidian fable of the Metamorphosis of Procne and Philomela into the Swallow and the Nightingale; and to the oriental story of the Loves of the Nightingale and the Rose; which is told with such elegant extravagance in the Botanic Garden.

  Page 82. Line 4. “And come to build anew among—”

  Accurate observers have remarked, that an equal

  number of these birds return every year to build in the places they frequented before; and that each pair set immediately about repairing a particular nest.

  Page 82. “You hide, tho’ none know where or how,

  In the cliff’s excavated brow,” &c.

  Many persons have supported the idea, that the Hirundines linger concealed among rocks and hollows in a torpid state, and that all do not emigrate.

  Page 83. “Or if, by instinct taught to know

  Approaching dearth of insect food,

  To isles and willowy aits you go.”

  Another opinion is, that the Swallows, at the time they disappear, assemble about rivers and ponds, and

  a number of them settling on the pliant boughs of willow and osier, sink by their weight into the water; at the bottom of which they remain torpid till the ensuing spring. For the foundation of these various theories, see “White’s History of Selbourne.”

  NOTES TO FLORA

  Page 85. Line 5. “Whose first prerogative,” &c. V. Cowper.

  “The spleen is seldom felt where Flora reigns —

  The lowering eye, the petulance, the frown,

  And sullen sadness, that do shade, distort,

  And mar the face of Beauty, when no cause

  For such immeasurable grief appears,

  These Flora banishes.”

  Page 86. Line 9.

  Saxifraga hypnoides. — Moss Saxifrage, commonly called Ladies’ Cushion.

  Line 13. “The tufted rush;” &c.

  Eriophorum angustifolium.

  Page 87. Line 3. “And wild convolvuli,” &c.

  Convolvulus arvensis. — A remarkably pretty plant, but no favourite with the husbandman.

  Line 7. “The rest were by the Scandix’ points confin’d—”

  Scandix pecten. — Venus’ comb or Shepherd’s needle.

  Line 10. “She waved the Anthoxanthum in her hand.”

  Anthoxanthum odoratum. — Vernal Meadow Grass. It is to this grass that hay owes its fine odour.

  Page 88. Line 8. “And brush the aphis,”&c.

  Aphis, or Aphides. — These are the “myriads brushed from Russian wilds;” the blights, cankers, lice, or vermin, to use common phrases, that so often disfigure, and destroy the fairest vegetable productions.

  Line 11. “Of Lichen tough.”

  Lichen. — Of these many have forms of shields, when in fructification.

  Page 88. Line 12. “Lunaria’s pearly circlet.”

  Lunaria annua. — Moonwort, usually called Honesty.

  Line 13. “ — the crimson foxglove glows.”

  Digitalis purpurea.

  Line 14. “Or Scutellaria guards,” &c.

  Scutellaria galericulata. — Small skull-cap.

  Page 89. Line 1. “While the Leontodon,” &c.

  Leontodon officinalis. — Common Dent-de-lion.

  Page 89. Line 4. “ — from Arum’s blood-dropt leaf.”

  Arum maculatum — Vulgarly Cuckoo pint, or Lords and Ladies.

  Line 5. “This, with the Burdock’s hooks,” &c.

  Arctium lappa.

  Line 9. “Fearless the scaled libellula,” &c.

  The Dragon-fly, or as it is called in the southern countries, the Horse-stinger, though it preys only on other insects. Several sorts of these are seen about water; but its introduction here is a poetical licence, as it does not feed on, or injure flowers.

  Page 90. Line 2. “Spun of the tufts the Tradescantia bore.”

  Tradescantia virginica. — The silk-like tuft within this plant appears to the eye composed of very fine filaments; but on examining one of these small silky threads through a microscope, it looks like a string of Amethysts.

  Line 3. “The Cistus’ flowers,” &c.

  Cistus helianthemum. Dwarf Cistus.

  Line 4. “And threads of Yucca,”

  Yucca filamentosa.

  Page 90. Line 5. “From the wild bee,” &c.

  Apis centuncularis. This insect weaves, or rather cements rose leaves together, to form its cell.

  Line 8. “And the Hypericum,” &c.

  An elegant shrub, of which Cowper thus speaks:

  “Hypericum all bloom, so thick a swarm

  Of flowers, like flies clothing her slender rods,

  That scarce a leaf appears.”

  It seems admirably adapted to a fairy garland.

  Line 13. “So did the Passiflora’s radii shed.”

  Passiflora cerulea.

  Page 91. Line 4. “A brown transparent spatha,” &c.

  The sheath from which many flowers spring, such as the Narcissus, &c.

  Line 6. “Xeranthemum’s unfadi
ng calyx bear.”

  The scales of one species of the Xeranthemum are particularly elegant.

  Line 7. “ —— — of spiral Ophrys,” &c.

  Ophrys spiralis. — Ladies traces.

  The following lines describing well known flowers, notes would be superfluous.

  Page 94. Line 6. “With female fern,” — Polypodium filix foemina.

  Page 94. Line 6. “And glossy adder’s-tongue.”

  Asplenium scolopendrium.

  Line 10. “The reed-bird whispers.”

  Motacilla salicaria. The Reed Sparrow, or Willow Wren. A bird that in a low and sweet note imitates several others, and sings all night.

  “And the Halcyon hides.”

  Alcedo hispida. — The Kingsfisher, or Halcyon, one of the most beautiful of English birds.

  Line 14. “The Water-lily lends,” &c.

  Nymphæa alba.

  Page 95. Line 1. “While Galium there,” &c.

  Galium palustre. — White Ladies’ bedstraw.

  Line 2.

  Epilobiums. — Willow herbs — various species.

  Line 7. “The Iris towers.”

  Iris patustris. — Yellow Iris. “ —— and here the Arrowhead,” &c.

  Sagittaria sagittifolia.

  Line 8. “And water Crowfoot,” &c.

  Ranunculus aquaticus.

  Line 11. “Her rosy umbels rears the flow’ring Rush.”

  Butomus umbellatus. The only native of England of the class Enneandria.

  Page 96. Line 2. “The Chelidonium blows.”

  Chelidonium glaucium. The horned or sea Poppy.

  Line 3. “ —— the thorn’d Eryngium,” &c.

  Eryngium maritimum. — Sea Holly.

  Line 7. “Springs the light Tamarisk.”

  Tamarix gallica. This elegant plant is not very uncommon on cliffs in the West of England, and was in 1800 to be found on an high rock to the eastward of the town of Hastings in Sussex.

  Page 96. Line 8. “Is tufted by the Statice.”

  Statice armeria. — Sea Pink, Sea Lavender, commonly called Thrift, is frequently used for borders of flower-beds. It covers some of the most sterile cliffs.

  Line 11. “The Saltwort’s starry stalks.”

  Salsola kali. This plant when burnt affords a fossile alkali, and is used in the manufacture of glass. The best is brought from the Mediterranean, and forms a considerable article of commerce. It is very frequent on the cliffs on the Sussex coast.

  Page 97. Line 1. “Where Algæ stream,” &c.

  The Algæ include all the sea plants, and some other aquatics.

  Page 97. Line 2. “ —— the Polyp hides,” &c.

  The Polypus or Sea Anemone. Coralline is, if I do not misunderstand the only book I have to consult, a shelly substance, the work of sea insects, adhering to stones and to sea-weeds.

  Line 9. “Green Byssus,” &c.

  Flos aquæ. —— Paper byssus; a semitransparent substance floating on the waves.

  Line 12. “Of silken Pinna,” &c.

  The Pinna, or Sea Wing, is contained in a two valved shell. It consists of fine long silk-like fibres. The Pinna on the coast of Provence, and Italy, is called the Silk-worm of the Sea. Stockings and gloves of exquisite fineness have been made of it. See note 27, to the Economy of Vegetation.

  The subsequent lines attempt a description of Sea Plants, without any correct classification.

  NOTES TO STUDIES BY THE SEA.

  Page 104. Line 6. “And murmuring seems in Fancy’s ear.”

  Whoever has listened on a still summer or autumnal evening, to the murmurs of the small waves, just

  breaking on the shingles, and remarked the low sounds reechoed by the distant rocks, will understand this.

  Page 105. Line 1. “And bid them know the annual tide.”

  The course of those wonderful swarms of fishes that take their annual journey is, I believe, less understood than the emigration of birds. I suppose them, without having any particular ground for my conjecture, to begin their voyage from beyond the extreme point of the southern continent of America. Many of the northern nations live almost entirely on fish. Their light, during the long night of an arctic winter, is supplied by the oil of marine animals.

  Page 105. Line 11. “The Highland native marks the flood.”

  In the countries where the produce of the sea is so necessary to human life, the arrival of shoals of fish is most eagerly waited for by the hardy inhabitant. Thrown on the summit of an high cliff, overlooking the sea, the native watches for the approach of the expected good, and sees with pleasure the numerous sea-birds, who by an instinct superior to his own, perceive it at a far greater distance, and follow to take their share of the swarming multitude.

  Page 106. Line 7. “Yet every mountain, clothed with ling.”

  Ling. — A name given in many parts of England to the Erica vulgaris or Common Heath.

  Page 107. Line 6. “The Eider’s downy cradle.”

  Anas mollissima. While many sea-birds deposit their eggs on the bare rocks, the Eider duck lines her nest most carefully with the feathers from her own breast, which are particularly fine and light: the nest is robbed, and she a second time unplumes herself for the accommodation of her young. If the lining be again taken away, the drake lends his breast feathers; but if after that, their unreasonable persecutors deprive it of its lining, they abandon the nest in despair, the master of the domicile wisely judging, that any further sacrifice would be useless.

  Page 108 Line 2. “Scale the loose cliff where Gannets hide.”

  Pelicanus bassanus. The Gannet builds on the highest rocks.

  Line 3. “Or scarce suspended, in the air

  Hang perilous.”

  Suspended by a slight rope, the adventurous native of the north of Scotland is let down from the highest cliffs that hang over the sea, while with little or no support, he collects the eggs of the sea fowl, in a basket tied round his waist. The feathers also of these birds gathered from the rocks are a great object to these poor industrious people.

  Line 11. “Rav’d to the Walrus’ hollow roar.”

  Trichecus rosmarus. — The Walrus or Morse; a creature of the Seal kind, now said to be no longer found on the coast of Scotland, but still inhabiting other northern countries. They are sometimes eighteen or twenty feet long, and they roar like bulls.

  Line 12. “Or have by currents,” &c.

  Gulph currents are supposed to throw the remains of fruits of the tropical regions on the most northern coast of America; and it is asserted that the same fruits are also found on the coast of Norway. See “Les Etudes de la Nature.”

  NOTES ON THE HOROLOGE OF THE FIELDS.

  The sleep of plants has been frequently the subject of inquiry and admiration.

  “Vigiliæ Plantarum. — Botanists, under this term, comprehend the precise time of the day in which the flowers of different plants open, expand, and shut. As all plants do not flower in the same season, or month; in like manner, those which flower the same day in the same place, do not open and shut precisely at the same hour. Some open in the morning, as the lipped flowers, and compound flowers with flat spreading petals; others at noon, as the mallows; and a third set in the evening, or after sun-set, as some Geraniums and Opuntias. The hour of shutting is equally determined. Of those which open in the morning,

  some shut soon after, while others remain expanded till night.” For further information on this subject, see Milne’s Botanical Dictionary.

  Page 112. Line 4.

  Nymphæa alba. — The flower of this beautiful aquatic opens about seven in the morning, closes about four in the afternoon, and then lies down upon the surface of the water. Linnæus.

  Page 113. Line 1. “Hieracium’s various tribe.”

  All I believe of the solar tribe; the two mentioned by Withering are the sabaudum and murorum. The first opens at seven, and shuts between one and two the other expands at six in the morning, and closes between two and three in the afternoon.
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  Page 113. Line 6. “The Goat’sbeard,” &c.

  Tragopogon pratense. — A most unfortunate name for poetry. The yellow sort, which is the most common, opens about three in the morning, and closes between nine and ten. Withering.

  Line 10. “The Bethlem-star,” &c.

  Ornithogalum umbellatum.

  Page 114. Line. 2.

  Arenaria marina. — Flowers open at nine o’clock in the morning, and shut between two and three in the afternoon. Lightfoot’s Flora Scotica.

  Page 114. Line 6. “And those small bells so lightly ray’d

  With young Aurora’s rosy hue—”

  Convolvulus arvensis. — The flowers close in the evening.

  Line 11.

  Cichorium intybus. — Wild Succory, Cichory, or Endive. The flowers open at eight o’clock in the morning, and close at four in the afternoon. Withering.

  Page 115. Line 1. “And thou ‘Wee crimson-tipped flower.’”