Letitia Elizabeth Landon

“ The youthful monarch had enough to do; he had to rescue his throne from the usurpation of his brother, aided by the evil genii, and his mistress from an enchanted sleep, in a tomb of black marble. If an author could choose his destiny, he would only implore fortune to grant him youthful readers. The vivid feeling and the rich imagination of the young, lend their own freshness to the page ”

“ Fakirs' houses occur at every turn, adorned with idols, and sending out an unceasing tinkling of vinas, bugals, and other discordant instruments: while religious mendicants, of every Hindoo sect, offering every conceivable deformity, which chalk, disease, matted locks, distorted limbs, and disgusting attitudes of penance, can shew, literally line the principal streets." "The houses are painted of a deep red, and covered with paintings, in gaudy colours, of flower-pots, men, women, bulls, elephants, gods and goddesses, in all their many-headed, many-handed, many-weaponed varieties." ”

“ But dust and ruins, Death and Time!
* Captain Elliot says, "that a single century, or even a shorter space of time, is sufficient to reduce the streets and bazaars of an Indian city to a level with the earth from whence they rose, and to become almost as if they had never been; while the larger mosques and tombs remain with little deterioration, and stand as melancholy monuments of the earlier splendour and prosperity of the Eastern capitals." ”

“ He comes from Kilas, earth and sky,
Bright before the deity;
The sun shines, as he shone when first
His glory over ocean burst.
The vales put forth a thousand flowers,
Mingling the spring and summer hours;
The Suras* fill with songs the air,
The Genii and their lutes are there;
By gladness stirred, the mighty sea
Flings up its waves rejoicingly;
And Music wanders o'er its tide,
For Siva comes to meet his bride. ”

“ No bold or fair imaginings within our hearts are found.
So vortex-like doth wealth now draw, all other feelings in,
Too much we calculate, and wealth, becomes almost a sin;
We look upon the lovely earth, and think what it may yield ”

“ This valley is bounded by huge naked rocks, piled one upon the other, and resembling extensive ruins: vast fragments overspread the ground, and exhibit on every side awful vestiges of convulsion and desolation. ”

“ The calm and picturesque scenery of the Lake of Windermere might awake a thousand far more romantic visions than that of the return of the first warm feelings of youth. Shut out as it were from the world, and enshrined in delicious seclusion; here might the weary heart dream itself away, and find the freshness of the spring-time of the spirit return upon it. ”

“ As beauties o'er their mirror bend,
So bent they o'er the tide.
Those giant warriors of the wood,
Palms with their leafy crest,
Like waving feathers caught each breeze,
That wandered from the west ”

“ Ah! these were not the times to praise,
Thank God, we know more peaceful days.
Oh! better that the ivy wreath
Should clothe the mouldering tower,
Than it should be a place of strength,
For passion and for power. ”

“ Is breaking beautiful through night;
Urge the boat through the surge, once more
We are beside our English shore.
Oh! weary nights and days to me
Have set and risen upon the sea;
I never wish to sail again
O'er the interminable main. ”

“ Shakspeare showed his usual judgment in putting the well-known exclamation, "What's in a name," into the mouth of a young lady in love, who may very well be supposed not to know what she was talking about: and if a castle is to have such a name, it must be content to abide by its associations. The tea-table was the last resource of these little attentions; but the "bubbling urn's" dismissal has carried with it that once-common flattery of "Pray, Miss, look in the cup, and then it won't want sugar." Alas! our grandmothers were better off than we are. ”

“ The noise of falling waters near—
All these have left his mournful ear.
A sad, sad silence, whose worst power
Is felt in others’ gladdest hour.
But, ah, to what can it not move
Th' unconquerable strength of love! ”

“ Will insist that your wardrobe in his care be placed;
The silk he will save! the blonde he will spare—
I wish he may leave Your Grace any to wear,
That feminine fancy, a will of your own,
Is a luxury wholly denied to a throne ”

“ An ebbing tide of fire, the evil powers
In fear and anger here are paramount,
Rending the bosom of the fertile earth,
And spreading desolation. Black as night,
And terrible, as if the grave had sent
Its own dark atmosphere to upper air,
The heavy vapours rise; from out the smoke
Break the red volumes of the central flame,
And lava floods and burning showers descend,
Parching the soil to barrenness. ”

“ In gardens, with their growth of cultured flowers;
The quiet winding of that tideless stream,
Whose very movement is repose, whose waves
Are rarely stirred save by the falling rain,
Which comes when sunshine asks relief from showers ”

“ But when to the sight is added the appalling effect of the various unnatural and fearful noises, the muttering and sighing, the groaning and blowing, the every agonized struggling, of the mighty action within, as a whole, it is too horrible. ”

“ Our prize is won, our chase is o’er,
Turn the vessel to the shore.
Place yon rock, so that the wind,
Like a prisoner, howl behind;
Which is darkest—wave, or cloud?
One a grave, and one a shroud. ”

“ The number of temples is very great, mostly small, and stand like shrines in the angles of the streets. Many of them are entirely covered over with beautiful and elaborate carvings of flowers, animals, and palm branches, equalling in minuteness and richness the best specimens I have seen of Gothic or Grecian architecture. ”

“ The city of Agra was greatly embellished by the Emperor Akbar, and it certainly contains some of the most beautiful remains of architecture that are to be found in India, where the face of a vast country is covered with the ruins of two great empires. ”

“ He cannot hear the skylark sing,
The music of the wild bee’s wing;
The murmur of the plaining bough;
A gentle whisper fairy low;
The noise of falling waters near—
All these have left his mournful ear. ”

“ We’d not change for heaven's own stars,
Yon glad heap of red dinars; * [1]
See the crimson silks unfold,
And the slender chains of gold,
Like the glittering curls descending,
When the bright one’s head is bending ”

“ For man upon the tree;
"He suffered," said the holy child,
"For you as well as me."
Sorrow and death have need of faith—
The African believed;
As rains fall fertile on the earth,
Those words his soul received. ”

“ What an Arabian poet says of those he loved in early days, I say, too, of all childhood's books, hopes, and feelings. The Arabian line runs thus—
"We never meet with friends like the friends of our
Youth—when we have lost them." ”

“ I shall only attempt, by illustration, to shew the accordance of what in England has long been termed "a French compliment," with our notion of Irish blarney: as it is impossible better to illustrate Blarney Castle, than by compositions which embody its very spirit. ”

“ The early history of Mandoo is involved in much obscurity: it was first possessed by the Dhar Rajahs; to one of these the above verses refer.
Camdeo is the Indian Cupid. He is represented by the Hindoo writers as a beautiful youth, sometimes floating down the Ganges on a lotus; or, at others, riding on a loorie by moonlight, attended by dancing nymphs, the foremost of whom carries his banner, which displays a fish on a red ground. He bears four arrows, each headed by a different flower ”

“ The romantic story of Kate Kearney, "who dwelt by the shore of Killarney," is too well known to need repetition. She is said to have cherished a visionary passion for O'Donoghue, an enchanted chieftain who haunts those beautiful Lakes, and to have died the victim "of folly, of love, and of madness." ”

“ Sir Joshua Reynolds, in his discourses, observes, that "Travellers into the East tell us, that when the ignorant inhabitants of these countries are interrogated concerning the ruins of stately edifices yet remaining among them, the melancholy monuments of their former grandeur and long-lost science, they always answer, that they were built by magicians. ”

“ The untaught mind finds a vast gulf between its own powers and those works of complicated art which it is utterly unable to fathom, and it supposes that such a void can only be passed by supernatural means. ”

“ "Aye, build it on these banks," the monarch said,
"That when the autumn winds have swept the sea,
They may come hither with their falling rains,
A voice of mighty weeping o'er her grave." ”

“ The magnificent basaltic formation on the northern coast of Ireland, called the "Giants' Causeway," presents so artificial an appearance, that some writers have asserted that it is not a natural production, and it is traditionally said to have been the work of those mighty men of old, after whom it is named. ”

“ Monkeys sacred to Hunooman, the divine ape who conquered Ceylon, are in some parts of the town equally numerous, clinging to all the roofs, and putting their heads or hands into every fruiterer's or confectioner's shop, and snatching the food from the children at their meals. ”

“ The lotus is a species of large lily, of which there are many varieties; some of a pure white, others tinged with a faint, others with a deep red. On a clear wave, the rich crimson has a splendid effect.—Asiatic Annual Register. ”

“ A Seat of the Marquis of Waterford.—The name signifies "the great plain," and the
surrounding country is of singular beauty and fertility.
Summer, shining summer,
Art thou bringing now
Colours to the red rose,
Green leaves to the bough,
Music to the singing birds,
And honey to the bee ”

“ Tin was then one of the precious metals, and used for personal adornment; and the barter must have been as profitable, as civilized people always made their dealings with savages. Knowledge usually turns ignorance to profit. ”

“ IN THE PROVINCE OF GURWALL.
"The English who have lost their health, often resort to these hills for the hot season, where the air and exercise are sometimes as beneficial as the voyage to Europe." The following verses allude to the early death of a young friend, who, adopted by some distant relatives, accompanied them to India; and died in this very spot, whither she had been taken for the recovery of her health. ”

“ A rich strain of flattery pervaded our elder poets. A lover bids his lady unveil in the following imagery:
"As some fair tulip, by a storm opprest,
Shrinks up, and folds its silken arms to rest,
Hears from within the wind sing round its head ”

“ Humanity ashamed and proud. 'Tis strange
To think what toil is wasted upon some,
How ancient scrolls unfold their precious store,
The learned folio yields its silver clasp,
The modern page marks out its easy way
Some learned man to aid, assist, explain,
And all to prove some fool is also dunce. ”

“ I was told, that, all through the inclemency of last winter, there dwelled here a solitary stranger, of noble mien, in an unseemly hut, made by his own hands. The people, in speaking of the stranger, called him, from his aspect, 'The Man of Sorrow;' and ’tis not unlikely, poor gentleman, he was one of the rebels who fled out of Scotland. ”

“ Benares may be called the Rome of Hindostan, being the sacred city, the centre of the Hindoo religion. Bishop Heber states, that "no Europeans live in the town, nor are any of the streets wide enough to admit a wheel carriage." ”

“ Among the guests who attended his wedding were "Brahma, who came on his goose"—" the Kerokee and other serpents all drest in habits of ceremony." Query, What habits of ceremony did the serpents wear? Vide Maurice. Captain Sykes mentions, that one of the compartments represent Siva and Parvati playing at dice, her attitude expressing "unsuccess or denial." May not this allude to their celebrated quarrel, so often mentioned by Hindoo writers. The tale is as follows. Siva and Parvati parted, owing to a quarrel at dice. They severally performed rigid acts of devotion ”

“ How man relies on some superior might.
The soul mid darkness feels its birth divine,
And owns the true God in the false god's shrine.
⁠* Hurdwar, or Haridwar, means the gate of Vishnoo, the Prinsir. The Hindoos perform this pilgrimage, to bathe in a particular spot of the Ganges,† at the time when the sun enters the sign Aries. A fair is then held, which, thanks to the precautions taken by the British government, has, of late years, gone off without bloodshed. "At the annual fairs, it is supposed, from 200,000 to 300,000 persons are collected. ”