4. An instance of the compound epithets so much used by Chapman in his translation of Homer, is found in Spenser's description of the sea-nymphs, book iv. canto xi. verse 50.:
"Eione well-in-age,
And seeming-still-to-smile Glauconome."
J. H. C.
Adelaide, South Australia.
Prayer of Mary Queen of Scots.—The incorrect arrangement, in Seward's Anecdotes, of the following beautiful lines, said to be composed by Mary Queen of Scots, and repeated immediately before her execution, and a diffuse paraphrase subjoined, in which all their tenderness is lost by destroying their brevity and simplicity, may justify another arrangement, and an attempt to preserve their simple and tender character in fewer words and a different measure:—
| "O Domine Deus, Speravi in Te, O mi care Jesu, Nunc libera me: In dura catena, Desidero Te. Languendo, gemendo, Et genu flectendo, Adoro, imploro, Ut liberes me. | O Lord, my God, I have trusted in Thee: My Jesu beloved, Me presently free: In cruel chains, In penal pains, I long for Thee, I moan, I groan, I bend my knee; I adore, I implore, Me presently free." |
Can any of your correspondents inform me where these lines first appear? on what authority they are ascribed to Mary Queen of Scots? and also who mentions their having been repeated immediately before her execution?
Alexander Pytts Falconer.
Beeton-Christchurch, Hants.