Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/125

 9 th S. II. AUG. 6, '98.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

117

of saints the complete sympathetic co-opera- tion of brethren is a potent influence, even " as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew thai descended upon the mountains of Zion." So the conferring of spiritual blessings is as the infusion of new life into languid nature by the gentle ministration of dew. In Hosea xiv. 5 this promise of restoration is made to the backslider, " I will be as the dew unto Israel : lie shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon." Renewal, refreshing, reinvigoration of plant-life are effected by the presence of dew, and sleep similarly benefits the wearied frame of mortals. The similarity of action and result is so readily perceived that the figurative application is easy and appropriate. Thus one accepts without demur "the golden dew of sleep" of ' Richard III.,' IV. i. 83 ; nor does Brutus give pause when he says ('Julius Caesar,' II. i. 230) :

Boy ! Lucius ! fast asleep ? It is no matter ; Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber : Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies, Which busy care draws in the brains of men ; Therefore them sleep'st so sound.

Milton's "dewy-feathered sleep "is in keep- ing with these precedents.

THOMAS BAYNE.

Helensburgh, N.B.

Compare Milton's own words in ' Paradise Lost,' iv. 614,

and the timely dew of sleep, Now falling with soft slumbrous weight, incline Our eyelids,

and Keble's

When the soft dews of kindly sleep My wearied eyelids gently steep.

' Christian Year,' ' Evening.'

See also Shakespeare, ' Richard III.,' IV. i., and 'Julius Ctesar,' II. i.

EDWARD H. MARSHALL, M.A. Hastings.

Sleep is also associated with moisture in Keble's lines,

When the soft dews of kindly sleep My wearied eyelids gently steep.

ST. SWITHIN.

" Entice the dewy-feathered sleep " appears to suggest sleep that falls so lightly that its wings are but of dew. I imagine that the dewiness of the wings of sleep suggests im- perceptible lightness, and not dampness. A close examination of metaphor is, however, a heartless task. ED. PHILIP BELBEN.

The dew is of the night, and suggests cool- ness and refreshment. So Keble,

When the soft dews of kindly sleep.

Milton, however, probably alludes to the passage in Virgil ('^Eneid,' v. 854) in which the god of sleep is described as shaking over the hero's brow a branch drenched in the dew of Lethe, and so dissolving his eyes in sleep.

C. C. B.

DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH PROVERBS (9 th S. i. 487). In the first book of Kings, iv. 32, we are told that Solomon " spake three thousand proverbs." In 1819 the Rev. George Holden, M.A., issued 'An Attempt towards an Im- proved Translation of the Proverbs of Solomon from the Original Hebrew, with Notes, Critical and Explanatory, and a Preliminary Disser- tation.' During 1842 a volume was pub- lished entitled 'National Proverbs in the Principal Languages of Europe,' by Caroline Ward. In 1857 Henry G. Bonn gave in his " Antiquarian library " series a ' Handbook of Proverbs,' in which 'Ray's Collection of English Proverbs' is included. In 1869 there appeared ' English .Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, collected from the most authentic Sources, alphabetically arranged and anno- tated by W. Carew Hazlitt.' Lastly, but by no means the least, we have the indexes to the eight series of 'N. & Q.,' each containing references to about three hundred proverbs and phrases. EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road.

The most easily obtained works on English proverbs are 'English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases,' by W. Carew Hazlitt; 'A Handbook of Proverbs,' Routledge, s. a., pp. 192 (Rout- ledge) ; Geo. Herbert, ' Outlandish Proverbs ' (scarce). I have a rather long list, but most of them are not accessible except at public libraries such as the British Museum.

GEORGE WHITE.

Ashley House, Epsom.

Perhaps INQUIRER does not know of George Herbert s ' Jacula Prudentum,' of which the irst edition was, I think, printed in 1 640, and an enlarged edition eleven years later.

F. JARRATT.

The following may be the book INQUIRER wants : 'English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases,' collected, &c., and annotated by W. arew Hazlitt (London, 1869). The preface of twenty-nine pages is worth perusing as it contains information on the subject, and gives an opinion of the collectors of the past and their works. JOHN RADCLIFFE.

" HARROW " (9 th S. i. 485 ; ii. 32). Since my >aper on this subject appeared I have met with two persons who have seen farm harrows vith wooden teeth. One example was at n in Lincolnshire but my informant