It was formerly a custom with itinerant showmen, who had tolerably sized eagles among their “wonders of nature,” to call them “Eagles of the Sun.”
To the Sun.
Most glorious orb! that wert a worship, ere
The mystery of thy making was reveal’d!
Thou earliest minister of the Almighty,
Which gladden’d, on their mountain tops, the hearts
Of the Chaldean shepherds, till they pour’d
Themselves in orisons! Thou material God!
And representative of the Unknown—
Who chose thee for His shadow! Thou chief star!
Centre of many stars! which mak’st our earth
Endurable, and temperest the hues
And hearts of all who walk within thy rays;
Sire of the seasons! Monarch of the climes,
And those who dwell in them! for near or far,
Our inborn spirits have a tint of thee,
Even as our outward aspects;—thou dost rise,
And shine, and set in glory. Fare thee well!
Byron.
Sunset.
We walked along the pathway of a field,
Which to the east a hoar wood shadowed o’er,
But to the west was open to the sky:
There now the sun had sunk; but lines of gold
Hung on the ashen clouds, and on the points
Of the far level grass and nodding flowers,
And the old dandelion’s hoary beard,
And, mingled with the shades of twilight lay
On the brown massy woods: and in the east
The broad and burning moon lingeringly rose
Between the black trunks of the crowded trees,
While the faint stars were gathering overhead.
NATURALISTS’ CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature 62·45.