Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. III, No. XVII, October 1851Various
History
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. III, No. XVII, October 1851
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
conscience, and quick phansy, conjure up such a lively picture of the
queen o' the fairies' court, and alle the sayings and doings therein,
that never was I more sorry than when my gaoler let me goe free, and
bade me rise up and be doing. In place, therefore, my daughter, of
thinking of me in thy night watches as beating my wings agaynst my cage
bars, trust that God comes to look in upon me without knocking or
bell-ringing. Often in spiritt I am with you alle; in the chapel, in the
hall, in the garden; now in the hayfield, with my head on thy lap, now
on the river, with Will and Rupert at the oar. You see me not about your
path, you won't see my disembodied spiritt beside you hereafter, but it
may be close upon you once and agayn for alle that: maybe, at times when
you have prayed with most passion, or suffered with most patience, or
performed my hests with most exactness, or remembered my care of you
with most affection. And now, good speed, good Meg, I hear the key turn
in the door.... This kiss for thy mother, this for Bess, this for Cecil,
... this and this for my whole school. Keep dry eyes and a hopeful
heart; and reflect that nought but unpardoned sin should make us weep
forever."
BOOKWORMS.
"Like caterpillar, eating his way in silence!"
The natural history of the bookworm has escaped the observation of
Cuvier. Yet the bookworm shares his habitat in common with the student,
and no doubt has often rubbed shoulder with the naturalist. The haunts
of the bookworm are the national libraries, the old booksellers' shops
about Holborn and Great Queen-street, Long-acre, and the bookstalls
generally. One will be sure to meet with him--a weary, worn, and faded
personage--in the reading-room of the Museum. The goodly morocco-bound
tome in folio is the bookworm's _bonne bouche_. Its scented binding and
odorous pages form the choicest of his meals. The atmosphere of the
national reading-room is close and redolent of strange smells; the
bookworm, however, enjoys it with the readier zest. Worm-like, he is a
reproducer, and capable of spinning words by the myriad, which he
deposits upon the surfaces of foolscap.
The bookworm's natural disposition is gentle; but his temper is
irritable. His nature is indolent. He loves to doze over a Harleian
manuscript, or a dusty Elzevir or black letter. It is legendary that his
mission upon earth is occult--_videlicet_, to discover those lost
treasures the Sibylline Leaves, supposed to be embedded and fossilized
somewhere in the forest of leaves monastic. The hiding-place of the
Sibyl's precious autograph, albeit, remains, like the philosopher's
stone, a secret yet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account