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Replies to Minor Queries.
_Tennyson's In Memoriam_ (Vol. iii., p. 142.).--
"Before the crimson-circled star
Had fallen into her father's grave."
means "before the planet Venus had sunk into the sea."
In Smith's _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology_, under
the word Aphrodite or Venus, we find that--
"Some traditions stated that she had sprung from the foam ([Greek:
aphros]) of the sea which had gathered around the mutilated parts of
Uranus, that had been thrown into the sea by Kronos, after he had
unmanned his father."--Hesiod. _Theog._ 190.
The allusion in the first stanza of _In Memoriam_ is, I think, to Shelley.
The doctrine referred to is common to him and many other poets; but he
perhaps inculcates it more frequently than any other. (See _Queen Mab_ sub
finem. _Revolt of Islam_, canto xii. st. 17. _Adonais_, stanzas 39. 41. et
passim.) Besides this, the phrase "clear harp" seems peculiarly applicable
to Shelley, who is remarkable for the simplicity of his language.