" . . . the soaring genius'd Sylvester
That earlier loosed the knot great Newton tied,"
An algebraic theorem announced by Newton was demonstrated and extended by Sylvester. — Sidney Lanier.
A Ballad of Trees and the Master.
`A Ballad of Trees and the Master' was conceived as an interlude of the latest `Hymn of the Marshes', `Sunrise', although written earlier. In the author's first copy and first revision of that `Hymn', the `Ballad' was incorporated, following the invocation to the trees which closes with:
"And there, oh there
As ye hang with your myriad palms upturned in the air,
Pray me a myriad prayer."
In Mr. Lanier's final copy the `Ballad' is omitted. It was one of several interludes which he at first designed, but, for some reason, afterwards abandoned.
To My Class: On Certain Fruits and Flowers Sent Me in Sickness.
A class in English Literature, composed of young girls who had been studying with Mr. Lanier `The Knighte's Tale' of Chaucer.
The sonnet `On Violet's Wafers' was addressed to a member of the same class, and is similarly conceived.
Under the Cedarcroft Chestnut.