12 S. III. AUG., 1917.]
NOTES AND QQERIES.
401
KEATS QUERIES (12 S. iii. 273). Poets
and especially poets like Keats, must no
be interpreted too strictly by the letter
Their language is figurative and allusive
they give us (as somebody has said) not the
bare fact, but its emotional value. But i
is not difficult, I think, to get at the idea
behind the words in most of the passage:
queried by your contributor.
"A young palmer in Love's eye " ('Isa bella,' 1. 2). One whom Love regards as a palmer or pilgrim, or what the old song calls " the pilgrim of Love."
" If looks speak love-laws, I will drink her tears" (ib. 39). I read this : " It is the law of love that we share a loved one'? sorrow ; if looks can speak, mine shall show that I share hers." Cp. Psalm Ixxx. o.
The passage relating to "Theseus spouse " (ib. 96) does not seem to need an\ further explanation than your correspondent .gives it, but, as to the bowing, compare Keats' s own " far-spooming ocean bows to thee."
" Great wits in Spanish, Tuscan, anc Malay" (ib. 136) probably means cunning in the use of the tongues in which their business was conducted. They took no account of " the songs of Grecian years " : their learning was all for gain.
Waking an Indian from his cloudy hall " is highly allusive, even for Keats, but not. I think, extravagantly so. Compare " a poor Indian's sleep " in ' Sleep and Poetry' (1. 87).
41 Atom darkness " (ib. 322) seems to mean a darkness that when the spirit dis- appears breaks up into palpable particles ; so, in 1. 327, we find " the spangly gloom froth up and boil."
"Atom-universe" (' Hyperion,' ii. 183): compare Young's " atom- world " ('Night Thoughts,' iv. 421), and Leibnitz's theory of monads, in which God Himself is the supreme monad. C. C. B.
"Love's eye" ('Isabella,' 1. 2). Love's sight, view, perception.
"Love-laws" ('Isabella,' 1. 39). Love's desires. Laws express desires, and so here the word stands for desires.
" Great wits in Spanish, Tuscan, and Malay" ('Isabella,' 1. 136). Great adven- turers using their wits in Spanish, Tuscan, and Malay trade.
" Waking an Indian from his cloudy hall" ('Isabella,' 1. 270). " Cloudy hall" seems to imply a state of sleep or dream brought about by a narcotic or intoxicant. I hardly think it can mean^an Indianjpara-
dise, for one would think that, the " happy
hunting ground " once attained, no " cruel
pierce " could bring again " sense of the
gnawing fire at heart and brain."
" Atom darkness " ('Isabella,' 1. 322); " Atom-universe " (' Hyperion,' ii. 1. 183). Made of atoms : material, not spiritual.
"Sing not your ' Well-a-way ' ' ('Isa- bella,' 1. 485). To use " out " instead of "not" would spoil the poet's meaning... which is that the grief has become so pro- found that it cannot even make lament.
" Visions wide " (' The Eve of St. Agnes, r 1. 202). Visions uncramped where the imagination has full rein and gets satisfac- tion. Madeline is " all akin to spirits of the air," and they are untrammelled in their desires. The words remind me of Shelley's lines near the beginning of his ' Julian and Maddalo ' :
I love all waste
And solitary places ; where we taste The pleasure of believing what we see Is boundless, as we wish our souls to be.
W. H. PINCHBECK.
PICTURE OF OUR LORD (12 S. iii. 332). See the communication at 9 S. i. 234 on ' Portraits of Christ ' by W. C. B. (the late Rev. Walter Consitt Boulter), with the many references there given ; also Macray's ' Annals of the Bodleian,' under the year 1722. The statement in the inscription that rhis representation of Christ was sent to Pope Innocent VIII. by the Sultan in order
- o redeem his captive brother is amusing,
- onsidering that Bajazet II. " was willing
o pay a large sum to have Djem put to
death, or to pay a yearly tribute to have lim kept safely in prison where he could do
no mischief " (Creighton, ' History of the Papacy,' bk. v. chap. v.). According to the
usual version of the story, the special relic y the gift of which Bajazet tried to secure he Pope's goodwill was the head of the spear ay which o\ir Saviour's side was pierced on he cross. See Platina's life of Innocent VIII. n his ' Historia de Vitis Pontificum Ro-
manorum.' This offering from an infidel eems to have provoked doubts :
There was some discussion among the Cardinals bout the reception of this holy relic. It was pointed ut that already both Paris and Niirnberg claimed o possess the same thing: it was urged that the mltan, an enemy of the Christian faith, might be ending the gift in derision. The majority of the Cardinals were in favour of receiving it without ny solemnity and waiting to make inquiries about ts genuineness. But the Pope thought other- ise." Creighton.
EDWARD BENSLY.
