Neither this, nor any of the other sonnets in the collection, with the
exception of the one from the Portuguese, is framed according to the
legitimate Italian model, which, in the author's opinion, possesses no
peculiar beauty for an ear accustomed only to the metrical forms of our
own language. The sonnets in this collection are rather poems in
fourteen lines than sonnets.
Page 119.
_The slim papaya ripens_, etc.
Papaya--papaw, custard-apple. Flint, in his excellent work on the
Geography and History of the Western States, thus describes this tree
and its fruit:
"A papaw-shrub hanging full of fruits, of a size and weight so
disproportioned to the stem, and from under long and rich-looking
leaves, of the same yellow with the ripened fruit, and of an African
luxuriance of growth, is to us one of the richest spectacles that we
have ever contemplated in the array of the woods. The fruit contains
from two to six seeds like those of the tamarind, except that they are
double the size. The pulp of the fruit resembles egg-custard in
consistence and appearance. It has the same creamy feeling in the mouth,
and unites the taste of eggs, cream, sugar, and spice. It is a natural
custard, too luscious for the relish of most people."
Chateaubriand, in his Travels, speaks disparagingly of the fruit of the
papaw; but on the authority of Mr. Flint, who must know more of the
matter, I have ventured to make my Western lover enumerate it among the
delicacies of the wilderness.
Page 130.
_The surface rolls and fluctuates to the eye._
The prairies of the West, with an undulating surface, _rolling prairies,
_as they are called, present to the unaccustomed eye a singular
spectacle when the shadows of the clouds are passing rapidly over them.
The face of the ground seems to fluctuate and toss like billows of the
sea.
Page 131.
_The prairie-hawk that, poised on high,
Flaps his broad wings, yet moves not._
_I _have seen the prairie-hawk balancing himself in the air for hours
together, apparently over the same spot; probably watching his prey.
Page 131.
_These ample fields
Nourished their harvests._
The size and extent of the mounds in the valley of the Mississippi
indicate the existence, at a remote period, of a nation at once populous
and laborious, and therefore probably subsisting by agriculture.
Page 132.
_The rude conquerors
Seated the captive with their chiefs._
Instances ace not wanting of generosity like this among the North
American Indians toward a captive or survivor of a hostile tribe on
which the greatest cruelties had been exercised.
Page 134.