The Age of Fable by Thomas Bulfinch
page 45 of 589 (07%)
page 45 of 589 (07%)
![]() | ![]() |
|
strong as thine. I will follow thee in death, for I have been the
cause; and death which alone could part us shall not prevent my joining thee. And ye, unhappy parents of us both, deny us not our united request. As love and death have joined us, let one tomb contain us. And thou, tree, retain the marks of slaughter. Let thy berries still serve for memorials of our blood." So saying she plunged the sword into her breast. Her parents ratified her wish, the gods also ratified it. The two bodies were buried in one sepulchre, and the tree ever after brought forth purple berries, as it does to this day. Moore, in the "Sylph's Ball," speaking of Davy's Safety Lamp, is reminded of the wall that separated Thisbe and her lover: "O for that Lamp's metallic gauze, That curtain of protecting wire, Which Davy delicately draws Around illicit, dangerous fire! The wall he sets 'twixt Flame and Air, (Like that which barred young Thisbe's bliss,) Through whose small holes this dangerous pair May see each other, but not kiss." In Mickle's translation of the "Lusiad" occurs the following allusion to the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, and the metamorphosis of the mulberries. The poet is describing the Island of Love: "... here each gift Pomona's hand bestows In cultured garden, free uncultured flows, |
|