What secret charms their soft delusion spread, "Son," the heavenly visitant replies, Full thirty Christian monarchs meet thine eyes. years shall see Successive kings of France, and sprung from thee. And read the distant glories of thy race." Vol. II. P. 92. The French monarchs now pass in review before his eyes. The horrors of the Revolution are shortly touched upon, or rather obscurely intimated. Our readers in this vision will trace an imitation of the prophecy of Anchises to his son in the shades below; nor is Dr. Butler's version unworthy of the Vir gilian origin of the scene. Witikind in the morning dispatches a message to seek haptism and peace at the hand of Charles. Rodmir, Armelia, and the chief of the Druids rise in conspiracy against the monarch; finding however that but few are added to their conspiracy, they join Theudon the king of the Huns, and agree to advance towards Rome. The victory of Charles over these next succeeds, and with the surprise and plunder of the camp occupies the chief part of the seventeenth Canto. The eighteenth commences with the complaint of the Poet, which is expressed in a very artless and affecting strain. I. "What storm has swept the lyre since late I sung, gaze, When first it glittered in the orient rays." Vol. II. P. 241: Dr. Dr Butler has done justice to the expression of pathos in the following stanza, IV. "Here sad captivity's dull weight I find; Nought pleases here, nought soothes my listless mind; Run to my knees, my children, cherished wife, On Afric's rock I seize my lyre again." Vol. II. P. 143. The sorrows and repentance of Laurentia for her acceptance of the crown of Austrasia for her children are now recorded. As she bends before the altar in deep penitence, the Virgin appears before her, and conducts her to the mount of Purgatory, where, among other spirits, who are now undergoing the discipline necessary to prepare them for eternal bliss, she recognizes the soul of her husband Carloman. To the introduction of purgatory we have already stated our objections, and although in point of justice they still remain in full force, yet we must confess that we should have been sorry to have lost the beautiful strain of poetry which appears in the version of Dr. Butler. The reader, though he may condemn the machinery of the Poem, will still reserve a point in favour of the exquisite versification, and will be tempted to think Si non errasset, fecerat ille minus, as far at least as the English translation is concerned. XLIV. "Child of Martel," her virgin guide replies; To heaven's own walls its towering height ascends: XLV. "Canst thou yon shades upon the heights descry, These These in the fiery gulf have purged the stains, And feel no suffering care or sorrow more." Vol. II. P. 164. The picture of a father, who views in this wretched state the miseries of his children, whose vices are leading them also onward to a state of torment, is drawn in a simple and affecting style. XLVIII. "Too well foresees he the consuming pains Vol. II. P. 165. The whole of this Canto is well worthy of the attention of the reader. Laurentia awakened from her dream, flies, attended by her children, through the Landes. There is much genuine pathos in many parts of this description. Feverish and fatigued, they reach a hermitage, in ruins and desolation by the hands of the Moors; she their finds rest and refreshment: she pursues her journey, and is cheered by a vision from Heaven; who directs her to the walls of Sere, about nine miles from the present scite of Bourdeaux, where she finds concealment and protection from the veteran Melaric. We now return to Mr. Hodgson, who from the beginning of the twentieth Canto, conducts us to the close of our journey. Rodmir and Armelia are advanced to the very walls of Rome. United with Didier they are possessed of the tomb of the emperor Adrian. The interior of the temple is carried by the allied force. The apostrophe to the ruins of Tusculum, for five years the residence of Lucien, has the greatest of all beauties, the feeling of the heart. The events now begin to thicken. Charlemagne appears on the banks of the Tiber. A furious combat ensues, in which the hero of the poem like Achilles of old, bears the whole brunt of the war. The Lombards are driven to the tower of Belisarius their last strong hold. "Each XL: "Each hero's armour is distained with gore; And seeks the bosom of the flood below.. Vol. II. P. 269. In the twenty-second Canto ensue the single combats of the Paladins. Soon after these, Charles is wounded by the spear of Ormez, but the blow is followed, with no danger to his life. Ormez during the night complains of his ill fortune to his deity. The following magnificent stanzes are worthy of Mr. Hodgson. XL. "Thus his foul god in execrable prayer The Druid calls, and shakes the shuddering air In brazen mail, and horrible to sight, Before his trembling priest confess'd he stood.... XLI. My breath inspired thee, when at Rodmir's side I stalked before thee through the dying band, XLII. "Sunk into shade, the giant form is gone.. Irmensul's Irmensul's soldiers arm their daring hands.. Vol. II. P. 293. The Pagan army reach the church of St. Peter, part of which is laid desolate; the conflagration becomes general, and now Ormez in the heat of sacrilegious fury approaches the shrine of St. Peter. If the Oeds and unxavns could be delivered from the objections which we have already stated to attend its introduction, it would be in the following most animated and awful description. "A golden glory with portentous ray Shot o'er the dome a brilliant stream of day; "Irmensul's soldiers feel their courage die.... LIII. "He speaks....leaps down, and maddening, rushes on, Full on the shrine he hurls his flaming brand, And strikes the Saint of Saints with impious hand? The brazen axe re-echoes as it falls.. Rolling at once around the shadowy walls, Aerial thunders burst in vollies dread, Launched o'er this new Abiron's guilty head. Firm stands the shrine.. the raging whirlwind grows. LIV. "With long reverberating crash below, Through the deep vaults the peals tremendous go: |