E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram;
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction;
William Flis;
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
THE MIRROR
OF
LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
| Vol. XII. No. 344. | SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER | [PRICE 2d. |
Ehrenbreitstein on Rhine.
Here Ehrenbreitstein, with her shattered wall,
Black with the miners' blast, upon her height,
Yet shows of what she was, when shell and ball
Rebounding idly on her strength, did light;
A tower of victory! from whence the flight
Of baffled foes was watched along the plain:
But peace destroyed what war could never blight,
And laid those proud roofs bare to summer's rain,
On which the iron shower for years had poured in vain.
Childe Harold.
SPIRIT OF THE "ANNUALS."
We have the pleasure of presenting to the readers of the MIRROR,the completion of our notices of these very elegant publications;and in pursuance of the plan of our former Supplement, we areenabled to assemble within the present sheet the characteristics ofeight works, whilst our quotations include fourteenprose tales and sketches, and poetical pieces, of great merit.
The above engraving and its pendant are copied from theLiterary Souvenir, specially noticed in our last Supplement.The original is a drawing by J.M.W. Turner, R.A. and the plate inthe Souvenir is by J. Pye—both artists of highexcellence in their respective departments:—
The waters of the Rhine have long maintained their pre-eminence,as forming one of the mightiest and loveliest among the highways ofEurope.
But among all its united trophies of art and nature, there isnot one more brightly endowed with picturesque beauty, or romantic[pg370] association, than the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein. Whenthe eye of our own Childe Harold rested upon its "shattered wall,"and when the pencil of Turner immortalized its season ofdesolation, it had been smitten in the pride of its strength by theiron glaive of war: and its blackened fragments and stupendousruins had their voice for the heart of the moralist, as well astheir charm for the inspired mind of genius. But now that militaryart hath knit those granite ribs anew,—now that the beautifuleminence rears once more its crested head, like a sculpturedCybele, with a coronet of towers,—new feelings, and analtered scale of admiration wait upon its glories. Once more ituplifts its giant height beside the Rhine, repelling in Titanmajesty the ambition of France; once more, by its united gifts ofnatural position and scientific aid, it appears prepared tovindicate its noble appellation of "the broad stone of honour."
The Musical Souvenir.
This is an elegant little collection of seven songs, a trio,duet, and glee, set to music, or "as they are appointed to be saidor sung." As we have not our musical types in or