towards no other heavenly body. While bowing to the lordly sun in devout adoration, he endowed the moon with the feminine attributes of gentleness, love, and weakness. This idea of tenderness and familiarity, is well expressed in the lines of Wordsworth:—
" Wanderer, that stoop'st so low and comest so near
To human life's unsettled atmosphere;
Who lovest with night and silence to partake,
So might it seem, the cares of them that wake.
The most rude,
Cut off from home and country, may have stood,
Even till long gazing hath bedimm'd his eye,
Or the mute rapture ended in a sigh.
With some internal lights to memory dear,
Or fancies stealing forth to soothe the breast.
Tired with its daily share of earth's unrest;
Gentle awakenings, visitations meek,
A kindly influence whereof few will speak,
Though it can wet with tears the hardest cheek."
The charm of the moon over the infant mind, is described, by the same author, in the following lines: —
"Oh, still beloved, (for thine, meek power, are charms
That fascinate the very babe in arms.
While he, uplifted towards thee, laughs outright,
Spreading his palms in his glad mother's sight.)
Oh, still beloved, once worshipp'd."
The aspect of the moon, to the unaided eye, presents a most tantalising appearance. We just see enough to assure us, that there is something more to be seen. In the other heavenly bodies, we see only a uniform blaze of light, and there is little to tempt our curiosity. It is not so with the moon: there
