" … cana legam tenera lanugine mala Castaneasque nuces …"[290]
then, I think, we shall be disposed to say that in Shakespeare's
"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine—"[291]
it is mainly a Greek note which is struck. Then, again in his
" … look how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold!"[292]
we are at the very point of transition from the Greek note to the Celtic; there is the Greek clearness and brightness, with the Celtic aërialness and magic coming in. Then we have the sheer, inimitable Celtic note in passages like this:—
"Met we on hill, in dale, forest or mead,
By paved fountain or by rushy brook,
Or in the beached margent of the sea—"[293]
or this, the last I will quote:—
"The moon shines bright. In such a night as this,
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees,
And they did make no noise, in such a night
Troilus, methinks, mounted the Trojan walls—
… in such a night Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew— … in such a night Stood Dido, with a willow in her hand, Upon the wild sea-banks, and waved her love To come again to Carthage."[294]