Moon Lore

MOON LORE
BY THE
REV. TIMOTHY HARLEY, F.R.A.S.
And when the clear moon, with its soothing influences, rises full in my view,--from the wall-like rocks, out of the damp underwood, the silvery forms of past ages hover up to me, and soften the austere pleasure of contemplation. Goethe's Faust. Hayward's Translation, London , 1855, p . 100.
LONDON: SWAN SONNENSCHEIN, LE BAS & LOWREY, PATERNOSTER SQUARE 1885 BUTLER & TAYLOR THE SELWOOD PRINTING WORKS FROME, AND LONDON
I beheld the moon walking in brightness. -- Job xxxi. 26. The moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained. -- Psalm viii. 3. Who is she that looketh forth, fair as the moon? -- Solomon's Song vi. 10. The precious things put forth by the moon. -- Deuteronomy xxxiii. 14. Soon as the evening shades prevail, The moon takes up the wondrous tale. --Addison's Ode . In fall-orbed glory, yonder moon Divine Rolls through the dark-blue depths. --Southey's Thalaba . Queen of the silver bow! by thy pale beam, Alone and pensive, I delight to stray, And watch thy shadow trembling in the stream, Or mark the floating clouds that cross thy way; And while I gaze, thy mild and placid light Sheds a soft calm upon my troubled breast: And oft I think-fair planet of the night-- That in thy orb the wretched may have rest; The sufferers of the earth perhaps may go-- Released by death-to thy benignant sphere; And the sad children of despair and woe Forget in thee their cup of sorrow here. Oh that I soon may reach thy world serene, Poor wearied pilgrim in this toiling scene! -- Charlotte Smith .
PREFACE
This work is a contribution to light literature, and to the literature of light. Though a monograph, it is also a medley.
The first part is mythological and mirthsome. It is the original nucleus around which the other parts have gathered. Some years since, the writer was led to investigate the world-wide myth of the Man in the Moon, in its legendary and ludicrous aspects; and one study being a stepping-stone to another, the ball was enlarged as it rolled.