[33] 'Then comes forth the Spring and Venus, and the harbinger of Spring steps on before them, the winged Zephyr; and near their footsteps, Mother Flora, scattering her treasures before her, fills all the way with glorious colours and fragrance.'—v. 737-40.
[34] Cp. 'Keats has, above all, a sense of what is pleasurable and open in the life of Nature; for him she is the Alma Parens: his expression has, therefore, more than Guérin's, something genial, outward, and sensuous. Guérin has above all a sense of what there is adorable and secret in the life of Nature; for him she is the Magna Parens; his expression has, therefore, more than Keats', something mystic, inward, and profound.' Essays in Criticism, by M. Arnold, p. 130. Third Edition.
[35] v. 842.
[36] 'Nor can the strong bridges endure the sudden force of the rushing water: in such wise, swollen by heavy rain, the stream with mighty force dashes upon the piers.'—i. 285-87.
[37] 'Percolatur enim virus,' etc.
[38] 'Finally, in their wandering they made their dwelling in the familiar woodland grottoes of the nymphs, from which they marked the rills of water laving the dripping rocks, made slippery with their abundant flow,—dripping rocks, with drops oozing out above the green moss,—and gushing forth and forcing their way over the level plain.'—v. 944-52.
[39] 'And in like manner we see shells paint the lap of the earth, where with its soft waves the sea beats on the porous sand of the winding shore.'—ii. 374-76.
[40] 'When the dawn first sheds its new light over the earth, and birds of every kind, flying over the pathless woods through the delicate air, fill all the land with their clear notes, the suddenness with which the risen sun then clothes and steeps the world in his light, is clear and evident to all men.'—ii. 144-49.
[41] 'Just as when first the morning beams of the bright sun glow all golden through the grass gemmed with dew, and a mist arises from meres and flowing streams; and as even the earth itself is sometimes seen to steam; then all these vapours gather together above, and taking shape, as clouds on high, weave a canopy beneath the sky.'—v. 460-66.
[42] Excursion, Book ii:—