THE PHOENIX.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 698, 24 December 1909, Page 5

THE PHOENIX.

> A corrospondenttotho Now' York a ■ few weeks ago remarked that Sylvester in : translating Du Bartas had expanded liis description .of ..the -phoenix. Whether it is dosirablo - that all: descriptions of the phoenix:' should, bo identical 1 is ;a ; matter, of opinion:' l ' Perliips (the' '"Manchester Guardian" observes) - some, day some scholar mil set himielf to ■ :■ trace the successive stages in the growth of the conception of'the phoenix from the time when' the-priests of Heliopolis bo: badly "drow the > > ■ leg" of poor old Herodotua on tho subject. ; -l In the meantime it may bo interesting to ' touch; upon certain of the points individual- " 1 ' ising the Arabian bird which have 1 enriched with ■a: series of images and metaphors every ' -1 literature,-in Europe. I One of those is the fact of its unique exist- 1 >■ 1 " once. It was this, inaood,' which led - Sir Thomas Browne shrewdly to suspect thnt the - v phoenix did; not .exist.after,all. Because, ho - argued/if' .pnly one' oxistedi at a .timo, how could it 'como into tho Ark in a pair like tho othor birds? Moreover, the command to inultiply was laid on the birds of the air as well as upon tho .beasts of the field, and had tho 1 phoenix dono it? Nay, marry. To which ono &' can only- answer; that although not without sympathy with Sir Thomas's scepticism in tho matter, yet tho'idea of a: unique bird, real or j not,' has,; served; tea capital -- To Maundeville it Vicemed an emblem: of self- - oxistonco -and' syhibolised God, while to thii day anyone who is 'pre-eminent- in respect oi;. ; . ; -i' some'favourable ;qunfity : may be for that rea • son described as the'phoenix of it. Tho bird itself j.was prc-ominent. in .respect of its i 1;-' No bird bearing such 'a : word moans ■ purple—could have commonplace plumage, and thus a family.\rosemblanco runs through the; ■ ■: poets'; various - descriptions; and ■ all ' concur -in. -. : an impression ;of .-extreme- richness, and'.splen-' - - " dour of colouring. Uore is Sylvester's already:alluded to 1

Two sparkling eyes; upon her crown a crest. • Of starry sprigs more • splendid than tho restj i■' A golden: down about hor - dainty ncck; -v;<. Her breast deep purple,, audi a. scarlet back; :-.<■■ Her wings and train of feathers- mixed fine, ■■■>.■• Of Orient azure and incarnadine,- -

He who would bo at the truth of tho matter, ' however, had bptter collate' with, those ' lincsv' 1 ';.; passages first,of Claudian's '•bidyllm'" •>->{ in-tho Scottish Solomon s obscure allegory '-Tlio :. ' Phoenix," and the descriptive paragraph in Maundeville's travels. ; '. -'.yy-..'.kVt? '...'Needless to say, a fowl of bo fine a feather. - inust,needs hafo. a fine nest to match, and: tlioi.-' iii\ nest 'of the phoenix was fragrant. It was woven of aromatic "plants,, odorous twigs- nnd ■ v spices', and to tho'purchasers in tho old. wurH< e » ket cinnamon como commended by., tho; story that'-; the Arabs" shot it out of tho nest by a - discharge' of .leaden bolts.- Thus,;.mctaphpricv'.!};;'! ally: used, it .became as suitable a tide for aSi : ;.\:S' anthology as the "pageants" 'and "processionk''i-<;£ of out own' day;' 'Accordingly in 1593 there njh'':.Vijv poared a collection of- some score, or so of graceful prose and'vorso ;undor that-namo;" ; ;» ; '!; writ by sundry "noblemen, worthy knightv-:, :> ; 'gallant • gentlemen;= masters of arts andi.braYO scholars, full of varieties, excellent invention, and singular- delight." It must ho ndmittcd.- i however, that in actuality", tho phoenix nest was also its pyro. In it took place that chance : \ which . renders , the phoenix equally, suitable . ' ; as a symbol of. immortality and as the emblem • of a firo insurance .company, .Tho new - rose from tho ashes of the old. So veraoious Mwm witness as Bartholomew Anglicanus cites an' "actual occurrence,'' A bishop, Onyas, < ono ••••• Eastor-day. was, burning a sacrifice at Helio-,• polis oil a pile of fragrant: fuel, when a strange and beautiful bird appeared overhead, . and - '. plunging into the flames was consumed. Tlio; : - ashes woro carefully collected, and in tlirco days a worm developed, which, in turn, be- . enmo a ohiok and finally flow off,, the new phoenix, into tho wilderness.