EDNote: I had not seen this connection before; I knew of the E.Darwin
poem, but have not read it.
-------- Original Message --------
My student, Tiffany DeRewal, brought to my attention today a long poem
of
four cantos in heroic couplets by Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802)called
"Loves
of the Plants: A Poem with Philosophical Notes." The poem references
Zembla in one passage (--And now, PHILANTHROPY! thy rays divine / Dart
round the globe from Zembla to the Line), is filled with nymphs and
crystal
and several plants that appear in Pale Fire, and it contains the
following
passage:
So when Aeneas through the flames of Troy
270 Bore his pale fire, and led his lovely boy;
With loitering step the fair Creusa stay'd,
And Death involved her in eternal shade.--
Oft the lone Pilgrim that his road forsakes,
Marks the wide ruins, and the sulphur'd lakes;
275 On mouldering piles amid asphaltic mud
Hears the hoarse bittern, where Gomorrah stood;
Recalls the unhappy Pair with lifted eye,
Leans on the crystal tomb, and breathes the silent sigh.
I told Tiffany that I was sure this had all been addressed somewhere,
but
now that I've gone to look for it, I can't find it anywhere--not in
Boyd,
Meyer, the list archives, or anywhere in the MLAIB, or indeed via
Google.
Assuming there is some mention of this link somewhere, can someone
enlighten me as to where it may be found?
Many thanks,
Matt Roth