INTRODUCTORY. THE SENSE OF TRAVEL. ΤΟ HAST thou not read the wild but all-true story And cloudless joy went wandering side by side? Now by the Turcoman's ferocious hordes Guarded, and tended with religious care, Now proudly feasted at the imperial boards Of Isfahan and Shiras, peerless pair! * Pietro della Valle, il Pellegrino, commenced his strange wanderings in 1614. The chivalry of his character, his singular marriage, and the novelty of the world he opens to Europe in all truth and simplicity, make these volumes most agreeable reading. B What was to them the peril and the toil, Till envious Death forbade the further sight Which never might refresh their souls again. : But though thus late, why should'st not Thou and I, Before our lives' short seasons downward tend, Renew that long-extinguished memory, My falcon-eyed, my falcon-hearted Friend? It is a high vocation, to go out Upon the dædal Earth, and watch the sun Through scenes, which to the habitants of each To pass light-winged, and free as birds of air To live whole years in some short span of days,― When close before us spreads some famous land, On Memory's shoulder, and she dare not go :— For then the Soul can best its ear apply, To which the Earth, in its pure prime, went round. Such generous ends will surely energise Thy flower-frail form, till it becomes so strong, That in dark ways and under sternest skies, Serene and fearless thou wilt move along; And Nature's shapes and each historic place And lucid with the light of thy clear mind. |