“The night was extremely dark and the rain fell so heavily that in spite of the abundant supply of dry firewood, which we had luckily provided, it was not without difficulty that we could keep one watchfire burning.... About midnight we were suddenly roused by the roar of a lion close to our tents. It was so loud and tremendous that for the moment I actually thought that a thunderstorm had burst upon us.... We roused up the half-extinguished fire to a roaring blaze ... this unwonted display probably daunted our grim visitor, for he gave us no further trouble that night.” [12] With this _cf_. Leopardi, _Aspasia_, 53-60:— Non cape in quelle Anguste fronti ugual concetto. E male Al vivo sfolgora di quegli sguardi Spera l’uomo ingannato, e mal chiede Sensi profondi, sconosciuti, è molto Più che virili, in chi dell’ uomo al tutto Da natura è minor. Che se più molli E più tenui le membra, essa la mente Men capace e men forte anco riceve. [13] One wonders Tennyson could have had the heart to excise the beautiful couplet which in his MS. followed this stanza. All about a summer ocean, leagues on leagues of golden calm, And within melodious waters rolling round the knolls of palm. [14] 1842 and all up to and inclusive of 1850. Droops the trailer. This is one of Tennyson’s many felicitous corrections. In the monotonous, motionless splendour of a tropical landscape the smallest movement catches the eye, the flight of a bird, the gentle waving of the trailer stirred by the breeze from the sea. [15] _Cf_. Shakespeare, “foreheads villainously low”. [16] 1842. Peoples spin. [17] Tennyson tells us that when he travelled by the first train from Liverpool to Manchester in 1830 it was night and he thought that the wheels ran in a groove, hence this line. [18] 1842. The world. [19] Cathay, the old name for China. [20] _Cf_. Tasso, _Gems_, ix., st. 91:— Nuova nube di polve ecco vicina Che fulgori in grembo tiene. (Lo! a fresh cloud of dust is near which Carries in its breast thunderbolts.) Godiva First published in 1842. No alteration was made in any subsequent edition.