Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 3.djvu/448

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [o*s. m. JUNK io/

spectacle. A young traveller from a court and a country which the Italians of that day seemed to regard much as we now do the Esquimaux, combining the learning of the scholar and the amiable bearing of the courtier, with all the rash bravery of youthful romance, astonished the in- habitants of that queenly city, first, by rivalling her polished nobles in the splendour of his state and the gallantry of his manners; and next, by boldly proclaiming that his ' Lady e- love' was superior to all that Italy could vaunt of beauty; that she was oltre le belle, bella, fair beyond the fairest; and maintaining his boast in a solemn tourney, held in her honour, to the overthrow of all his opponents. This was our English Surrey, one of the earliest and most elegant of our amatory poets, and the lover of the Fair Geraldiue. Accord- ing to the old tradition repeated by all Surrey's biographers, he visited on his travels the famous necromancer Cornelius Agrippa, who, in a magic mirror, revealed to him the fair figure of his Geraldine, lying dishevelled on a couch, and, by the light of a taper, reading one of his tenderest sonnets."' Loves of the Poets.'

'Twas thus, in the good days of eld,

When hearts burn'd with chivalry's blaze, Our own gallant Surrey beheld

Young Geraldine weep o'er his lays : 'Twas thus, by the dark wizard's spell,

He saw her reposing at eve, The song he had taught her so well,

Still making her young bosom heave ; Still waking as tender a sigh

As though her loved poet were near,- Still causing as tearful an eye

As though Surrey could kiss off each tear !

Oh ! would that our Sages had power

To call up such visions of bliss Fo show us, in hall or in bower,

Our ladies, through mirrors like this ; If, instead of their new Fiffure-Ltooms

For totting-up sixes and sevens, For our Warburtons, Althorpes, and Humes,

They 'd make a few portable Heavens Like these, for poor youths, who, with me,

Love to gaze on their mistresses' brow, What a fool Mr. Babbage would be

To such Glass Manufacturers now !

Though could we again hope to raise, From his grave, the famed Wizard to life,

, For a few of the bards of our da

Just to peep at a Love o Instead of beholding her lie

In this love-stricken pose, on her bed, Warm tears streaming down from her eye,

And the chaste silver moon o'er her head, Sobbing over a sonnet or lay,

Ten to one but the maid met his sight Spinning round, in a tee-totum way,

With some light-footed waltzer by night !

And oh ! by the Stars ! it were fun,

If a few little girls that one knows, Who each looks demure as a nun,

Could be seen through this glass by her beaux : Alas ! how the lovers would rave,

Alas ! how the maidens would swoon, And how many a Romeo's grave,

Chalk Farm ! wouldst thou see, by thy moon !

How seldom would bachelors wive, How plenty old maids would appear,

Could dear old Agrippa contrive To pass a few weeKs with us here !

It is the fashion now to disparage the

annuals," and it must be freely admitted
 * hat they were sometimes feeble, but at their

best they are often interesting. Mr. Frederic Mansel Reynolds, the editor of 'The Keepsake,' managed to secure some interesting con- tributors. A periodical for which Words- worth, Mrs. Shelley, and Aubrey de Vere wrote is not to be disdained.

WILLIAM E. A. AXON.

Moss Side, Manchester.

[Is it not possible that these poems are by another Fitzgerald, for whom see ' Lyra Elegantiarum ' ?]

THEODORA DE VERDION.

SOME time since a correspondent sent me the following interesting particulars, which he tells me he transcribed from a privately printed volume of memoirs :

"Commonly known by the name of Chevalier John Theodora de Verdion, who lived in London, disguised as a man, a teacher of languages and a walking bookseller, this singular woman was born in 1744, at Leipsic, in Germany, and died at her lodgings, in Upper Charles Street, Hatton Garden, London, 1802. She was the only daughter of an architect of the name of Grahn, who erected several edifices in the city of Berlin, particularly the Church of St. Peter's. She wrote an excel lent 'hand, and had learned the mathematics, the French, Italian, and English languages, and possessed a complete knowledge of her native tongue. Upon her arrival in England she commenced teaching of the German language under the name of Dr. John de Verdion. In her exterior, she was extremely grotesque, wearing a bag wig, a large cocked hat, three or four folio books under one arm and an umbrella under the other, her pockets completely filled with small volumes, and a stick in her right hand. She had a good knowledge of English books; many persons entertained her for her advice relative to purchasing them. She obtained a comfortable subsistence from teaching and translating foreign languages and by selling books, chieflv in foreign literature. She taught the Duke of Portland the German language and was always welcomed to his house ; the Prussian Ambassador to our Court re- ceived from her a knowledge of the English lan- guage; and several distinguished noblemen she frequently visited to instruct them in the French tongue ; she also taught Edward Gibbon, the cele- brated Roman historian, the German language i previous to his visiting that country. This extra- ordinary female has never been known to have | appeared in any other but the male dress since her j arrival in England, where she remained upwards of thirty years ; and upon occasions she would attend at Court, decked in a very superb attire : and was well remembered about the streets of London ; and particularly frequent in attending book auctions, and would buy to a large amount, sometimes a i coach-load. Here her singular figure generally ' made her the jest of the company. Her general