"But not to one in this benighted age, Is that diviner inspiration given, That burns in Shakspeare's or in Milton's page, The pomp and prodigality of heaven, As when conspiring in the diamond's blaze, The meaner gems, that singly charm the sight, Together dart their intermingled rays, And dazzle with a luxury of light." _Stanzas to Mr. Bentley._ From a memorandum made by Gray himself, it is evident that he once had contemplated placing his "Bard" in a _sitting_ posture; but I cannot but rejoice that he altered his mind, for such breath-taking words could never have been uttered in so composed and contented a posture. I give part of it from Mr. Mason's edition: "The army of Edward I., as they marched through a deep valley, are suddenly stopped by the appearance of a venerable figure, _seated_ on the summit of an inaccessible rock; who, with a voice more than human, reproaches the king with all the misery and desolation he had brought on his country, &c., &c. His song ended, he precipitates himself from the mountain, and is swallowed up by the river that rolls at its foot."--Vol. i. p. 73. Lond. 1807. The last two lines of the passage before us-- "And with a master's hand, and prophet's fire, _Struck the deep sorrows of his lyre_"-- remind us in some degree of Cowley: "Sic cecinit sanctus _vates_, digitosque volantes Innumeris per fila modis trepidantia movit, _Intimaque elicuit Medici miracula plectri_." _Davideidos_, lib. i. p. 13. Again: "Dear as the _light that visits these sad eyes_." Gray, _The Bard_. "Namque _oculis plus illa suis, plus lumine coeli Dilexit_." _Davideidos_, lib. i. p. 14. And-- "The Attick warbler pours her _throat_." _Ode to Spring._ "Tum magnum tenui cecinerunt _gutture_ Numen." _Davideidos_, lib. i. p. 20. Also-- "The hues of bliss more brightly glow, _Chastis'd_ by sabler tints of woe; And blended form with artful strife, The strength and harmony of life." Gray, _On the Pleasure arising from Vicissitude_. The word _chastised_ is similarly used by Cowley: "From Saul his growth, and manly strength he took, _Chastised_ by bright Ahinoam's gentler look." _Davideidos_, lib. iv. p. 133. The _idea_ of the whole passage may be found in Pope: "Love, Hope, and Joy, fair Pleasure's smiling train; Hate, Fear, and Grief, the family of Pain; These mix'd with art, and to due bounds confin'd, Make and maintain the balance of the mind; _The lights and shades, whose well accorded strife, Gives all the strength and colour of our life_." _Essay on Man_, Epist. II. Again: "Amazement in his van with Flight combin'd, And Sorrow's faded form, and Solitude behind." Gray, _The Bard_.