Shop. (Pacchiarotto, with other Poems, 1876.) “As even in science all roads,” it has been said, “lead to the mouth,” so is it with Art and Letters. The poet deplores the life of a tradesman who knows no other use of life but to enable him to drive a roaring business, his “meat and drink but money chink,”—and so, because flesh must be fed, spirit is chained to the counter. The poet would have the tradesman brighten his daily life with art and song, as men do who let their good angels sometimes converse with them, in lands where poets and painters think more of art than money. The danger and wickedness of compelling the soul to be the eternal slave of sordid desires and petty anxieties is pointed out in this poem, and by “shop” we are not only to think of tradesmen, but of all the large class of those who are, like the man in the Pilgrim’s Progress, too busy with the muck-rake to look at the heavens above them, and losing their higher selves in their absorption in earthly employments.
Sibrandus Schafnaburgensis. (See [Garden Fancies].) The name of some old scholar, who has written a book, which is read by a profane fellow in a garden, who throws it into a decaying tree, there to be in company with congenial fungi.
“Sighed Rawdon Brown.” (See [Rawdon Brown].)
Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister. [Dramatic Lyrics, in Bells and Pomegranates, III., 1842, under the title of “Camp and Cloister—I. Camp (French), II. Cloister (Spanish).”] There is, of course, no historical basis for the subject-matter of this poem; but there is no reason why such things should not occur in a convent or monastery. Human nature, we find, is pretty much the same, under whatever conditions we examine it; and petty malice, ill-nature, and evil passions, find their congenial soil alike in the cloister and the world. Some of the most unpleasant failings of our nature are no doubt directly fostered by cloister life, just as religious people of every class are often censorious, uncharitable in their judgments, pharisaical and severe. Unless monks and nuns are regularly and entirely employed in useful labour, these evil weeds are certain to spring up in the untilled soil of the human heart. Work is the only remedy for pettiness of spirit, and active employment the only atmosphere for the nobler products of the soul. It must never be forgotten, however, that thousands of the most beautiful characters which have blessed the world have been formed in the cloister; such are being formed now, and will continue to be so formed, in direct proportion to the useful work in which its inmates are employed.—To inferior and evil natures the lofty and noble soul is generally an object of hatred and jealousy. In this poem we have a coarse-minded Spanish monk, boiling over with abhorrence of a good, gentle brother, who loves his flowers, trims his bushes and waters his rose trees with tender solicitude for the welfare of his plants, the only things in the monastery he can love. The simple talk of the hated friar at meal-time and recreation disgusts him; he knows in his heart that the good brother is a saint, though he tries in his malice to rake up some remembrance of a wandering look at odd times, and is not so ritualistically exact as he is himself. He spites him by damaging his plants all he can in a sly and ingenious way. He would like him to lose his chances of salvation if he could, so he will endeavour to pervert his orthodoxy and trip him up on his way to heaven; he will slip in amongst his greengages a wicked French novel; or he will even go so far as to ask Satan’s aid,—when, as he meditates all this evil doing, the vesper bell rings and the wicked old fellow goes to his prayers.
Notes.—Verse ii., “Salve tibi”: a salutation, “Hail to thee!” Verse v., Cross-wise: the use of the sign of the cross is traceable to the earliest Christian times; “The Trinity illustrate”: when the sign of the cross is made it is usual to add internally “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” A Catholic remembers the Trinity in numberless ways; Arian: “One who adheres to the doctrines of Arius, a presbyter of the Church in the fourth century, who held Christ to be a created being, inferior to God the Father in nature and dignity, though the first and noblest of created beings.” (Mosheim.) Verse vii., “The great text in the Galatians” I take to be the tenth verse of the third chapter: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, ‘Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.’” “It is written,”—that is to say, in the book of Deuteronomy, xxviii., 15 to 68, wherein are set forth at length the curses for disobedience. Those arithmetically-minded commentators on this poem who have been disappointed in finding only some “seventeen works of the flesh” in Galatians v. 19-21 will find an abundant opportunity for their discrimination in the chapter of Deuteronomy to which I refer. The question to settle is “the twenty-nine distinct damnations.” St. James says in his epistle (ii. 10), that “he who offends against the law in one point is guilty of all.” If, therefore, the envious monk could induce his brother to trust to his works instead of to his faith, he would fall under the condemnation of the law, as explained by St. Paul in his epistle. Manichee: “A follower of Manes, a Persian, who tried to combine the Oriental philosophy with Christianity; and maintained that there are two supreme principles: the first of which, light, was held to be the author of all good; the second, darkness, the author of all evil” (Webster’s Dict.). Verse viii., Belial: an evil spirit; “Plena gratiâ Ave, Virgo!”: probably intended to represent “the angelical salutation,” which is “Ave Maria, gratiâ plena”—“Hail, Mary, full of grace!”
Solomon and Balkis. (Jocoseria, 1883.) The Queen of Sheba sits on Solomon’s ivory throne, and talks of deep mysteries and things sublime; she proves the king with hard problems, which he solves ere she has finished her questions. He humiliates the Queen by making her difficulties appear so childish that there is no spirit in her; but she musters up strength enough for just one more hard question: “Who are those,” she asks, “who of all mankind should be admitted to the palace of the wisest monarch on application?” Solomon says the wise are the equals of the king; those who are kingly in craft should be his friends. He in turn asks the Queen, “Who are those whom she would admit on similar terms?” “The good,” replies the Queen; and as she speaks she contrives to jostle the king’s right hand, so that the ring which he wore was turned from inside now to outside. The ring bore the “truth-compelling Name” of Jehovah; then the King was obliged to confess that those only would be considered wise who came to offer him the incense of their flattery.—“You cat, you!” he adds; and then, turning the Name towards her, makes her also tell the truth. Promptly she is compelled to answer that by the good she means young men, strong, tall, and proper: these she enlists always as her servants. Then sighed the King: the soul that aspires to soar, yet ever crawls, can discern the great, yet always chooses the small; there is earth’s rest, as well as heaven’s rest; above, the soul may fly; here, she must plod heavily on earth. Solomon proposes to resume their discourse; but the Queen tells him that she came to see Solomon the wise man; not to commune with mind, but body—and, if she does not make too bold, would rather have a kiss!
Notes.—Conster: Old English for construe. “spheieron do”: (Greek), his home: the idea of Balkis talking Greek to Solomon is to show what a prig she was. Solomon’s Seal, as Solomon’s ring is commonly called, was celebrated for its potency over demons and genii. It is probably of Hindu origin, and bore the double triangle sign of the Kabalists. (See Isis Unveiled (Blavatsky), vol i., pp. 135-6.) “You cat, you!” Solomon descending to this is exquisitely funny. Habitat: a suitable dwelling-place. Hyssop (1 Kings iv. 33): a plant which grows in crevices of walls. Dr. J. Forbes Royle considers it to be the caper (Capparis spinosa), the asuf of the Arabs. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. xxiv., p. 738, the land of Sheba is Yemen, in Arabia. The ancient name of the people of Yemen was Saba (Sheba). “The Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon may have come with a caravan trading to Gaza, to see the great king whose ships plied on the Red Sea. The Biblical picture of the Sabæan kingdom is confirmed and supplemented by the Assyrian inscriptions. Tiglath Pileser II. (733 B.C.) tells us that Teima, Sabá, and Haipá (== Ephah, Gen. xxv. 4 and Isa. lx. 6) paid him tribute of gold, silver, and much incense. Similarly Sargon (715 B.C.), in his Annals, mentions the tribute of Shamsi, queen of Arabia, and of Itamara of the land of Sabá, gold and fragrant spices, horses and camels.” The following is the Talmudic legend concerning the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. “It is said that Solomon ruled the whole world, and this verse is quoted as proof of the assertion: ‘And Solomon was ruling over all the kingdoms, which brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life’ (1 Kings iv. 21). All the kingdoms congratulated Solomon as the worthy successor of his father, David, whose fame was great among the nations; all save one, the kingdom of Sheba, the capital of which was called Kitore. To this kingdom Solomon sent a letter: ‘From me, King Solomon, peace to thee and to thy government. Let it be known to thee that the Almighty God has made me to reign over the whole world, the kingdoms of the north, the south, the east, the west. Lo, they have come to me with their congratulations, all save thee alone. Come thou also, I pray thee, and submit to my authority, and much honour shall be done thee; but if thou refusest, behold, I shall by force compel thy acknowledgment.—To thee, Queen Sheba, is addressed this letter in peace from me, King Solomon, the son of David.’ Now, when Queen Sheba received this letter, she sent in haste for her elders and councillors, to ask their advice as to the nature of her reply. They spoke but lightly of the message and the one who sent it; but the Queen did not regard their words. She sent a vessel, carrying many presents of different metals, minerals, and precious stones, to Solomon. It was after a voyage of two years’ time that these presents arrived at Jerusalem; and in a letter intrusted to the captain, the Queen said ‘After thou hast received the message, then I myself will come to thee.’ And in two years after this time Queen Sheba arrived at Jerusalem. When Solomon heard that the Queen was coming, he sent Benayahu, the son of Jehoyadah, the general of his army, to meet her. When the Queen saw him she thought he was the King, and she alighted from her carriage. Then Benayahu asked, ‘Why alightest thou from thy carriage?’ And she answered, ‘Art thou not his majesty, the King?’ No, replied Benayahu, ‘I am but one of his officers.’ Then the Queen turned back and said to her ladies in attendance, ‘If this is but one of the officers, and he is so noble and imposing in appearance, how great must be his superior, the King!’ And Benayahu, the son of Jehoyadah, conducted Queen Sheba to the palace of the King. Solomon prepared to receive his visitor in an apartment laid and lined with glass; and the Queen at first was so deceived by the appearance that she imagined the King to be sitting in water. And when the Queen had tested Solomon’s wisdom[5] and witnessed his magnificence, she said: ‘I believed not what I heard; but now I have come, and my eyes have seen it all, behold, the half has not been told to me. Happy are thy servants who stand before thee continually to listen to thy words of wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath placed thee on a throne to rule righteously and in justice.’ When other kingdoms heard the words of the Queen of Sheba, they feared Solomon exceedingly, and he became greater than all the other kings of the earth in wisdom and in wealth. Solomon was born in the year 2912 A.M., and reigned over Israel forty years. Four hundred and thirty-three years elapsed between the date of Solomon’s reign and that of the Temple’s destruction.” (From Polano’s translation of selections from the Talmud.)
Sonnet:[6]—
“Eyes, calm beside thee, (Lady could’st thou know!)
May turn away thick with fast-gathering tears:
I glance not where all gaze: thrilling and low
Their passionate praises reach thee—my cheek wears
Alone no wonder when thou passest by;
Thy tremulous lids bent and suffused reply
To the irrepressible homage which doth glow
On every lip but mine: if in thine ears
Their accents linger—and thou dost recall
Me as I stood, still, guarded, very pale,
Beside each votarist whose lighted brow
Wore worship like an aureole, ‘O’er them all
My beauty,’ thou wilt murmur, ‘did prevail
Save that one only:’—Lady could’st thou know!
August 17th, 1834 Z.”