Saw him, with speed that mock'd the dazzled eye, Triumphs the Seer, and now secure observes The kindling passions of the rival CURVES. 105 And first, the fair PARABOLA behold, Her timid arms, with virgin blush, unfold! Though, on one focus fix'd, her eyes betray A heart that glows with love's resistless sway, Though, climbing oft, she strive with bolder grace Round his tall neck to clasp her fond embrace, 110 (as is finely expressed in the engraving in the original work) and revolves upon his bottom with great velocity. His skin, by magical means, has acquired an indefinite power of expansion, as well as that of assimilating to itself all the azote of the air which he decomposes by expiration from his lungs -an immense quantity, and which in our present unimproved and uneconomical mode of breathing, is quite thrown away. By this simple process the transformation is very naturally accounted for. Ver. 104. Phænician Cone-It was under this shape, that Venus was worshipped in Phoenicia. Mr. HIGGINS thinks it was the Venus Urania, or Celestial Venus; in allusion to which, the Phoenician grocers first introduced the practice of preserving sugar loaves in blue or sky-coloured paperhe also believes that the conical form of the original grenadiers' caps was typical of the loves of Mars and Venus. Ver. 107. Parabola-The curve described by projectiles of all sorts, as bombs, shuttle-cocks, &c. Still ere she reach it from his polish'd side Not thus HYPERBOLA:—with subtlest art 115 Through every posture of luxurious love, Where light Asymptotes o'er her bosom play, Yet why, ELLIPSIS, at thy fate repine ? More lasting bliss, securer joys are thine. 125 Though to each fair his treacherous wish may stray, Though each in turn, may seize a transient sway, "Tis thine with mild coercion to restrain, Twine round his struggling heart, and bind with endless chain. Ver. 115. Hyperbola-Not figuratively speaking, as in rhetoric, but mathematically; and therefore blue-eyed. Ver. 122. Asymptotes-" Lines which, though they may approach still nearer together, till they are nearer than the least assignable distance, yet being still produced infinitely, will never meet."-Johnson's Dictionary. Ver. 124. Ellipsis-A curve, the revolution of which on its axis produces an Ellipsoid, or solid, resembling the eggs of birds, particularly those of the gallinaceous tribe. Ellipsis is the only curve that embraces the Cone. Thus, happy France! in thy regenerate land, 130 Where TASTE with RAPINE saunters hand in hand; Where nursed in seats of innocence and bliss, The wrongs of PROVIDENCE, and rights of MAN; 135 scene, The Lantern bright, and brighter Guilloține ;— So, with dark dirge athwart the blasted heath, Three Sister Witches hail'd the appall'd Macbeth. 145 So, the Three Fates beneath grim Pluto's roof, Strain the dun warp, and weave the murky woof; 'Till deadly Atropos with fatal sheers Slits the thin promise of the expected years, While 'midst the dungeon's gloom or battle's din, 150 Ambition's victims perish as they spin. Thus, the Three Graces on the Idalian green, Bow with deft homage to Cythera's Queen; Her polish'd arms with pearly bracelets deck, And teach the unconscious zephyrs where to blow. So, with his Daughters Three, the unscepter'd Lear Heaved the loud sigh, and pour'd the glistering tear; His Daughters Three, save one alone, conspire (Rich in his gifts) to spurn their generous Sire; Bid the rude storm his hoary tresses drench, Stint the spare meal, the Hundred Knights retrench; 166 170 And folds the Parent-Monarch to her breast. Thus some fair Spinster grieves in wild affright, Vex'd with dull megrim, or vertigo light; Pleased round the fair Three dawdling doctors stand, Wave the white wig, and stretch the asking hand, 175 State the grave doubt,—the nauseous draught decree, And all receive, though none deserve, a fee. So down thy hill, romantic Ashbourn, glides The Derby dilly, carrying Three INSIDES. |