THE THREE FATES. Fatum was the "spoken word" of Jupiter, originally single and unalterable. Developing mythology converted this into three goddesses-Lachesis, the spinner of life, with the distaff (the Past); Clotho, the guide, holding the thread, with varying flowers of fortune (the Present), and Atropos, the life-cutter, with the shears (the Future). The painting is by PAUL THUMAN, POEMS OF FANCY. I. THE IMAGINATION. FANTASY. FROM "THE VISION OF DELIGHT." BREAK, Fantasy, from thy cave of cloud, And various shapes of things; Create of airy forms a stream, It must have blood, and naught of phlegm ; And though it be a waking dream, Yet let it like an odor rise To all the senses here, And fall like sleep upon their eyes, Or music in their ear. HALLO, MY FANCY. IN melancholic fancy, Out of myself, In the vulcan dancy, BEN JONSON. All the world surveying, Nowhere staying, Just like a fairy elf; Out o'er the tops of highest mountains skipping, Out o'er the hills, the trees and valleys tripping, Out o'er the ocean seas, without an oar or shipping. Hallo, my fancy, whither wilt thou go? Amidst the misty vapors, Fain would I know What doth cause the tapers; Why the clouds benight us, While we travel here below. Fain would I know what makes the roaring thunder, And what these lightnings be that rend the clouds asunder, And what these comets are on which we gaze and wonder. Hallo, my fancy, whither wilt thou go? Fain would I know the reason Why the little ant, All the summer season, Layeth up provision, On condition To know no winter's want: And how these little fishes, that swim beneath salt water, Do never blind their eyes; methinks it is a matter An inch above the reach of old Erra Pater! Hallo, my fancy, whither wilt thou go? |