Compare the remarkable Liberty which Pamela took
with the 137th Psalm.
My Joys and Hopes all overthrown,
My Heartstrings almost broke,
Unfit my Mind for Melody,
Much more to bear a Joke.
But yet, if from my Innocence
I, even in Thought, should slide,
Then, let my fingers quite forget
The sweet Spinnet to guide!
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, vol. i., p. 184., 1785
Footnotes:
{1} N.B. There is only one veracious statement in this ballade,
which must not be accepted as autobiographical.
{2} These lines do NOT apply to Miss Annie P. (or Daisy) Miller,
and her delightful sisters, Gades aditurae mecum, in the pocket
edition of Mr. James's novels, if ever I go to Gades.
{3} Tonatiu, the Thunder Bird; well known to the Dacotahs and
Zulus.
{4} The Hawk, in the myth of the Galinameros of Central
California, lit up the Sun.
{5} Pundjel, the Eagle Hawk, is the demiurge and "culture-hero"
of several Australian tribes.
{6} The Creation of Man is thus described by the Australians.
{7} In Andaman, Thlinkeet, Melanesian, and other myths, a Bird is
the Prometheus Purphoros; in Normandy this part is played by the
Wren.
{8} Yehl: the Raven God of the Thlinkeets.
{9} Indra stole Soma as a Hawk and as a Quail.
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