palace; there sits Death as a guest invited to cast his sombre shade amongst these sublimities: sweet gentle Taste and Memory are part of her court; the knell of judgment rolls across the enchanted towers. List! she moves—the chimes of enchantment have commenced; she summons her spirits to wait upon her, they strew stars of mystic brilliancy; she stares at Death until he hies away; she charges the cauldron of unearthly elements, a thick cloud arises, spreading narcotic fragances; her brow is damp with immortal dews; the quivering of the aspen comes o'er this magnificence and all its elements: Memory steps from her seat—the spell is broken, and the passion of genius is o'er. But, there are other revelations in which she exercises; she turns towards the blue sky, she sees some fond companion, some loving star, they exchange radiations of affection; she thinks of future days, when the silver wings of Imagination may enter heaven, and partakes of sublime delights; she waits without the gate, but hears the blast of the trumpet's sound, which calls the choir of Heaven to rehearse "the immortality of beauty."[1]
- ↑ In the Memoranda of that extraordinary genius, Mrs. Siddons, it appears that on one occasion, when the family had retired to rest, she determined to study the part of Lady Macbeth; and having steeped her feelings in the spirit of the character, she became alarmed with the poignancy of the passion, and so much was she affrighted that she ran upstairs to bed, but could not find courage to extinguish the taper.—See Boaden’s Life.
