That sees through tears the mummers leap, | IX. [And friends, dear friends,] when it shall be, | 45. Sees... leap. Gr. 76, Ex. 1 and 108; iii. 2. That can only look upon mirth and iollity through its tears. 50 and 51. Subs. Sentences, both in apposition with it in line 49. 55 and 56. Two Subs. Sentences. Obiected to say. SECTION II. THE DESERTED VILLAGE. THIS is considered, for felicity of diction and charm of style, one of the best poems in the English language. It describes the scenes of a happy country village in the olden time, and the desolation produced by the eviction and emigration of the tenantry. The beauty of the poem lies wholly in the detailed descriptions. The moralizing is more sentimental than philosophic. [SWEET Auburn! loveliest village of the plain,] And parting Summer's lingering blooms delay'd :] Seats of my youth,] when every sport could please : | Where humble happiness endear'd each scene! | 10 The shelter'd cot, the cultivated farm, The never-failing brook, the busy mill, The decent church) that topp'd the neighbouring hill; | 1. Auburn-Under this name Goldsmith describes his native village, Lissoy, in Ireland. 2 and 3. Adjective sentences- Where is here equivalent to in which. 3. Its-It is to be regretted that the poet did not personify Spring. 5. Bowers-Cottages, as lines 33, 37, 47, 6,366. The word bower belongs to a class of words, in one sense peculiar to this kind of idyllic poetry. Such words are swain (lines 64, 90, 117), nymph, lawn (lines 35, 65), train (lines 17, 63, 135, 149, 252, 337), band (lines 24, 300), virgin (line 29), matron (line 30). 7, 9, 15. Exclamatory sentences. 10, 11, 12, 13. Cot, farm, brook, mill church, bush-All in apposition with, and explanatory of the word " charm." 14. Made-Qualifying "seats." 15 How often have I bless'd the coming day, Succeeding sports the mirthful band inspired-) 30 The matron's glance,) that would those looks reprove : | 35 One only master grasps the whole domain, | Along thy glades, a solitary guest, The hollow-sounding bittern guards its nest ;| 45 Amidst thy desert walks the lapwing flies, | And tires their echoes with unvaried cries :] 20. The young contending. Nom. absolute. 25-30. Pair, swain, looks, glance—All in apposition with these; and Subj. to "were thy charms." 27. Mistrustless-A double negative in one word is hard and unpleasant. 31. Sweet is too quickly repeated in the following line, and again line 35. 45. Desert-Used here for deserted. Sunk are thy bowers in shapeless ruin all,| Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, A time there was, [ere England's griefs began, But times are alter'd ;| Trade's unfeeling train And every pang] that folly pays to pride. | 75 And rural mirth and manners are no more. [Sweet Auburn! parent of the blissful hour,] Thy glades forlorn confess the tyrant's power. | Here,) as I take my solitary rounds, Amidst thy tangling walks and ruin'd grounds, | 50. Far away thy children leave the land. Does away stand for behind? The phraseology is evidently indefinite. 61 and 62. These two lines may be taken as nom. absolutes, and, as such, attached to the principal sent. contained in line 59. 68. And every pang, &c., reposes. Think of pangs reposing! Another example of the want of accuracy of expression which is observable in Goldsmith, despite his remarkable genius. 74. Are no more, scil. here. And, many a year elapsed, return to view] 80 Where once the cottage stood, | the hawthorn grew ;] Remembrance wakes with all her busy train,) Swells at my breast,] and turns the past to pain.] In all my wanderings through this world of care, In all my griefs-[and God has given my share-] 85 I still had hopes, my latest hours to crown, Amidst these humble bowers to lay me down ; And keep the flame from wasting, by repose :| And,) as a hare,) whom hounds and horns pursue, | [O blest retirement, friend to life's decline, Retreat from care,] that never must be mine, | How blest is he who crowns, in shades like these, 100 A youth of labour with an age of ease; Who quits a world where strong temptations try, | 79. Many a year elapsed-Nom. abs., forming adjunct of time. 85. Construe-I still had hopes amidst these humble bowers to lay me down in order to crown my latest hours. To crown, is used as in line 99. 88. And by repose keep the flame from wasting. 89. Still-ever, always. 90. Skill is not used here in its proper sense; for skill is eminently gained by practice, not from books and theory. It is meant here to stand for knowledge. 94. From whence is a pleonastic expression, which first arose from not observing, that whence implies motion from a place, being equal to from where. The phrases from hence, from thence, have now become, however, currently used, though they are just as anomalous as if we were to say to whither, or at where. 94. Flew is the Imperf. of fly, and is here confounded with fled, the Imperf. of flee Though these two verbs are of cognate origin and signification, it is much to be regretted that the still existing difference should be so often overlooked, and that the language should be deprived of a nice distinction between two shades of meaning. The same confusion recurs, line 102. The rhyme has a great deal to do with it. 97. O blest retirement An invocation without a sequence. |