THERE are words which, although unnoticed in the delightful1 treatises2 of the Dean of Westminster 1 (may his fame increase!) have a strange power upon the heart,—words which can ring for us, listening by the brookside, and in arbours and meadow-haunts once more, the joy-bells of a former mirth, or toll3 above past sorrows and buried hopes their muffled4 and mournful peal5. Breathes there, for instance, a man with soul so dead, who can hear of a primrose6 bank, or a cowslip-ball, or a roly-poly pudding, or a sillabub, or a soap bubble, or a pantomime, or of Robinson Crusoe, and not feel himself, though it be but for a moment, a happy child again? And do we not realise, on the other hand, in all their brief intensity7, our earliest sorrows, when memory suggests to us those solemn sounds of woe8, measles9, big-brother, ghosts, dentists, castor-oil?
And who (to pass on to boyhood) can ever hear of foot-ball, especially if Tom Brown speak, without longing11 for a kick to goal? Who can be reminded of the river, and not remember those summer days, when, nude12 and jubilant, we took first a preliminary canter among the haycocks, and then “a header” into the deep, cold stream? or, again, those merry days of winter, when, from our slippery skates we took—well, anything but “a header” upon its glibly13 frozen surface? On the other hand, who does not felicitate himself that he has arrived at man's estate, when he recalls those awful impositions which he still believes have softened14 his brain, or when his memory (not to particularise) is tingling15 at the idea of birch, and contemplating16 a “Visitation of Arms and Seats” long anterior17 to Mr. Bernard Burke's?
Chiefly, perhaps, when we come to shave, or, more wisely, to cherish instead of destroying (with many a grimace18 and groan), those healthful adjuncts to manly19 beauty, “quas Natura sud sponte suggerit” is felt this great influence of words. I have seen the cheek of a pallid20 friend suddenly to assume the hues21 of a peony, the rich crimson22 tint23 of dining-room curtains, at mention of the name of “Rose;” and I remember how a Brasenose man, whose fresh ruddy countenance24 was much more suggestive of Burton-upon-Trent than it was of Burton upon Melancholy25, and whom we called Chief Mourner, because he was always first after the bier, would become colourless, and “pale his ineffectual fire,” at the very sound of Blanche. Nor do I see any discredit26 in confessing my own inability to hear certain sweet Christian-Names (sixteen in all, but nine in particular), without emotions of a troublous, but delightful, character.
And as at this era, just as in the two preceding it, there are special words which bring joy and animation27 to man (let me briefly28 instance gone-away, mark-woodcock, sillery, deux-temps), so there are terms of terror (e.g. jilt, tailor, Little-Go, lurit-server, poacher, vulpicide), of potent29 and cruel import.
I might amplify30 for my readers this etymological31 treat. I might expatiate32 on the different effects produced by. the same word upon different minds, videlicet, by the word Tally-ho, as heard at the covert-side by sportsman or by muff, by the man who rides with hounds, or the skirting path-finder who rides without them; but I have already travelled by a too circuitous33 route to my conclusion,—that it is sweet to hear the mere34 names of those things, which are pleasant and lovable in themselves, and that to those who have seen the Irish lakes, the word Killarney is “a joy for ever.”
Coming so immediately from the wild grandeur35 of Connamara to these scenes of tranquil36 beauty, I think that our first view of the Lakes, as we left the Victoria Hotel, was rather a disappointment. The landscape (or waterscape?) was so calm and still, that it had somewhat of a dioramic effect, and one almost expected to see it move slowly onwards to an accompaniment of organ music. But as the olive lends a zest37 to generous wine, even so this tiny discontentment served but to enhance our subsequent and full fruition. For, once upon the waters, you become forthwith convinced, not only how impossible it is to exaggerate the beauties of Killarney (as well might a painter essay to flatter or improve a sunset), but for pen or pencil to do them justice.
There is such infinite variety, from the white and golden lilies, (which, close to land, look like miniature canoes, from which fairy watermen have just sprung lightly ashore), to the towering heights and aeries; such diversity of tint and outline in the mountains, tree-clothed from crown to base; in those “islets so freshly fair;” and in those dancing waters, which raise their smiling waves to kiss the flowers and ferns; such contrasts, and yet such a perfect whole, of wood and water, “harmoniously confused;” such transformations39, wrought40 by cloud and breeze, yet always such complete repose41; that the eye can never weary.
We hired a boat, and set forth38 for Innisfallen, just at that delightful time between sunset and moonrise,
“When in the crimson cloud of even
The lingering light decays,
And Hesper, on the front of Heaven,
Presently, the moon came up above those lofty hills, 1 and as bugle43 music from the returning boats was wafted44 over the shining waters, and lost itself among the mountains, we turned to each other, Frank and I, at the same moment, with those thrilling lines,
“O hark! O hear! how thin and clear;
And thinner, clearer, farther going.
O, sweet and far, from cliff and scar,
The horns of Elf-land faintly blowing.
Blow! let us hear the purple glens replying.
Blow, bugle; answer echoes, dying, dying, dying!”
1 In a Trip to Ireland, by a Cambridge M. A. (1858), there
is written, gravely written, at page 18, the following most
crescent moon, like a silver knocker on the star-studded
gate of heaven, and one can almost fancy some angel-warder
will, ere long, break the silence with the gracious
invitation, 'Come up hither.'”
Indeed, you would suppose that Tennyson must have written this heart-stirring song at Killarney, did not the engraving46 prefixed to it, represent so different and dismally47 inferior a scene. To look and listen, as we rowed slowly onwards, seemed to be more happiness than we, undeserving, could at once enjoy; and it required a contemplation of meaner things, to convince us that the whole scene was not, in the words of Ireland's poet, writing at Killarney, and of it,—
“One of those dreams, that by music are brought,
Like a light summer-haze, o'er the poet's warm thought.”
So we lit our pipes, and then the boatmen, whose colloquial48 powers we generally evoked49, as we tendered the calumet, or rather the tobacco-pouch, of friendship, began to tell us, how, once upon a time, it was all dry land about here; how some indiscreet, but anonymous50 individual had removed the lid from an enchanted51 well; and how the enchanted well had set to work, in consequence, and had flooded the valley in which stood the palace of King O'Donoghue, so suddenly, that a facetious52 sentinel had only just time to shout “All's Well!” at the top of his voice, when the waters, rising above his chin, and entering his vocal53 orifice, put a stop to further elocution.
It does not appear, as ordinary minds might have expected, that the prospects54 or spirits of the Donoghue were at all damped by this proceeding55; and though his property seemed to be hopelessly “dipped,” and his capital to be sunk beyond all recovery, he contrived56 not only to get his head above water, but even to ride the high horse afterwards. For the boatmen say, that the royal edifice57 still remains58, with all its inmates59, unaltered and unalterable, at the bottom of the lake, and there the king entertains his court, with fish-dinners and aquatic60 fêtes on an unprecedented61 scale of magnificence, save when requiring air and exercise, he rides over the waters on a snowy steed, and turns the whole locality into an Irish “Vale of White Horse.”
“And there's plinty as has seen him, your 'onnour,” (so said the bow-oar historian), “and will take their swear of it—glowry to God!” Very little glowry, thought I, from the perjury62 of these delectable63 witnesses, who must have seen this quaint64 display of horsemanship through a “summer haze” of whiskey, and been very deliriously65 drunk. But our boat touches Innisfallen.
Everyone falls in love with this sweet little island. It has such grand, old, giant trees, such charming glades66 and undulations, “green and of mild declivity,” that here, childhood might play, manhood make love, and old age meditate67, unwearied, from morn to night. Mr. Grieve would, in spite of his name, be joyful68, to wander through its vistas69 and alleys70 green, and find fresh scenes for his canvas. What dear little glens, what “banks and braes” for the fairies. Can this be Titania coming towards us over the moonlit sward, and leaning upon the arm of Oberon? No; it is a couple of nuptial71 neophytes, looking so happy, that, as they pass, I could take off my hat and cheer. Ah, if fair lnnisfallen is so beautiful to us poor bachelors by ordinary moonlight, what must it be to Benedict, to the man in the moon of honey? What must be the happiness of my Lord Castlerosse, the eldest72 son of the Lord of the Isles73 of Killarney, who has just brought home his bride? 1
1 August, 1858.
Were I ever constrained74 to be a monk75 and celibate76, I should wish my monastery77 to be at lnnisfallen, and I admire the taste of St. Finian (an ancestor, I presume, of Mr. Finn, our estimable host at the Victoria Hotel), who, some thirteen hundred years ago, selected this island for his retreat. The picturesque78 ruins of an ancient abbey still attest79, that long after his time, men sought, in this sylvan80 solitude81, that peace which they found not in the world.
Sweet Innisfallen! “thy praise is hymned by loftier harps82 than mine,” so lofty indeed, that my obtuse83 understanding is unable to read some of their music, as, for instance, where Moore sings,
“The steadiest light the sun e'er threw
Is lifeless to one gleam of thine.”
And, therefore, in plain prose, but with a full heart, Good night!
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1
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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treatises
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| n.专题著作，专题论文，专著( treatise的名词复数 ) | |
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toll
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| n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟) | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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primrose
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| n.樱草，最佳部分， | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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measles
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| n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子 | |
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trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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nude
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| adj.裸体的；n.裸体者，裸体艺术品 | |
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13
glibly
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| adv.流利地，流畅地；满口 | |
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14
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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anterior
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| adj.较早的；在前的 | |
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grimace
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| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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25
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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26
discredit
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| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
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27
animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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28
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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29
potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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30
amplify
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| vt.放大，增强；详述，详加解说 | |
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31
etymological
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| adj.语源的，根据语源学的 | |
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32
expatiate
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| v.细说，详述 | |
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33
circuitous
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| adj.迂回的路的，迂曲的，绕行的 | |
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34
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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35
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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36
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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37
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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38
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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39
transformations
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| n.变化( transformation的名词复数 )；转换；转换；变换 | |
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40
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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41
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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42
gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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43
bugle
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| n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集 | |
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44
wafted
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| v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
simile
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| n.直喻，明喻 | |
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46
engraving
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| n.版画；雕刻（作品）；雕刻艺术；镌版术v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的现在分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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47
dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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48
colloquial
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| adj.口语的，会话的 | |
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evoked
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| [医]诱发的 | |
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50
anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 | |
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51
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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52
facetious
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| adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的 | |
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53
vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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aquatic
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| adj.水生的，水栖的 | |
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unprecedented
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| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
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perjury
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| n.伪证；伪证罪 | |
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delectable
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| adj.使人愉快的；美味的 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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deliriously
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| adv.谵妄（性）；发狂；极度兴奋/亢奋；说胡话 | |
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glades
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| n.林中空地( glade的名词复数 ) | |
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meditate
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| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
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joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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vistas
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| 长条形景色( vista的名词复数 )； 回顾； 展望； （未来可能发生的）一系列情景 | |
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alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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nuptial
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| adj.婚姻的，婚礼的 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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celibate
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| adj.独身的，独身主义的；n.独身者 | |
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monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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attest
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| vt.证明，证实；表明 | |
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sylvan
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| adj.森林的 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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harps
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| abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 ) | |
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obtuse
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| adj.钝的；愚钝的 | |
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