The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and
Instruction, by Various

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Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction
Vol. XVII. No. 469. Saturday January 1, 1831

Author: Various

Release Date: August 17, 2004 [EBook #13199]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.

No. 469.] SATURDAY JANUARY 1, 1831 [PRICE 2d.

* * * * *

[Illustration: Copied from one of the prints of last year's Landscape
Annual, from a drawing, by Prout. This proves what we said of the
imperishable interest of the Engravings of the L.A.]

* * * * *

Petrarch and Arqua; Ariosto, Tasso, and Ferrara;--how delightfully are
these names and sites linked in the fervour of Italian poetry. Lord
Byron halted at these consecrated spots, in his "Pilgrimage" through
the land of song:--

There is a tomb in Arqua;--rear'd in air,
Pillar'd in their sarcophagus, repose
The bones of Laura's lover: here repair
Many familiar with his well-sung woes,
The pilgrims of his genius. He arose
To raise a language, and his land reclaim
From the dull yoke of her barbaric foes:
Watering the tree which bears his lady's name
With his melodious tears, he gave himself to fame.

They keep his dust in Arqua, where he died;
The mountain-village where his latter days
Went down the vale of years; and 'tis their pride--
An honest pride--and let it be their praise,
To offer to the passing stranger's gaze
His mansion and his sepulchre; both plain
And venerably simple; such as raise
A feeling more accordant with his strain
Than if a pyramid form'd his monumental fane.

And the soft quiet hamlet where he dwelt
Is one of that complexion which seems made
For those who their mortality have felt,
And sought a refuge from their hopes decay'd
In the deep umbrage of a green hill's shade,
Which sho