"But hush while I tell, As the _shrill whispers flutter_ Through the pores of the sea,-- Whatever they utter I'll interpret to thee. King Neptune now craves Of his turbulent vassals Their workings to quell; And the billows are quiet, _Though thinking on riot._ On the left and the right In ranks they are coil'd up, {72} Like snakes on the plain; And each one has roll'd up A bright flashing streak Of the white moonlight On his glassy green neck: On every one's forehead There glitters a star, With a hairy train Of light _floating from afar_, And pale or fiery red. Now old Eolus goes To each muttering blast, Scattering blows; And some he binds fast In hollow rocks vast, And others he gags With thick heavy foam. 'Twing them round The sharp rugged crags That are sticking out near,' Growls he, 'for fear They all should rebel, And so play hell.' Those that he bound, Their prison-walls grasp, And through the dark gloom Scream fierce and yell: While all the rest gasp, In rage fruitless and vain. Their shepherd now leaves them To howl and to roar-- Of his presence bereaves them, To feed some young breeze On the violet odour, And to teach it on shore To rock the green trees. But no more can be said Of what was transacted And what was enacted In the heaving abodes Of the great sea-gods." * * * * * THE IMPOSSIBILITIES OF HISTORY. In _The Tablet_ of June 18 is a leading article on the proposed erection of Baron Marochetti's statue of Richard Coeur de Lion. Theology and history are mixed: of course I shall carefully exclude the former. I have tried to trace the statements to their sources; and where I have failed, perhaps some of your readers may be able to help me. "When the physicians told him that they could do nothing more for him, and when his confessor had done his duty faithfully and with all honesty, the stern old soldier commanded his attendants to take him off the bed, and lay him naked on the bare floor. When this was done, he then bade them take a discipline and scourge him with all their might. This was the last command of their royal master; and in this he was obeyed with more zeal than he found displayed when at the head of his troops in Palestine."