His archaeological tastes
are further shown by his enthusiastic study of heraldry, and by his
surrounding himself with old armor and other curious relics of the past.
Mr. Mitford, in a curious dissection of the _Elegy_, has found numerous
errors of rhetoric, and even of grammar.
His _Bard_ is founded on a tradition that Edward I., when he conquered
Wales, ordered all the bards to be put to death, that they might not, by
their songs, excite the Welsh people to revolt. The last one who figures
in his story, sings a lament for his brethren, prophesies the downfall of
the usurper, and then throws himself over the cliff:
"Be thine despair and sceptered care,
To triumph and to die are mine!"
He spoke, and headlong from the mountain's height,
Deep in the roaring tide, he plunged to endless night.
WILLIAM COWPER.--Next in the catalogue of the transition school occurs the
name of one who, like Gray, was a recluse, but with a better reason and a
sadder one. He was a gentle hypochondriac, and, at intervals, a maniac,
who literally turned to poetry, like Saul to the harper, for relief from
his sufferings.
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