Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 · Chapter 5Copyright, 1892, by SELMAR HESS (5)
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No less praiseworthy are the sisters three,
The honour of the noble family
Of which I meanest boast myself to be ...
Phyllis, Charyllis, and sweet Amaryllis:
Phyllis the fair is eldest of the three,
The next to her is bountiful Charyllis,
But th' youngest is the highest in degree.
Spenser, Colin Clout's Come Home Again (1594).
Am'asisi, Amosis, or Aah'mes (3 syl.), founder of the eighteenth Egyptian dynasty (B.C. 1610). Lord Brooke attributes to him one of the pyramids. The three chief pyramids are usually ascribed to Suphis (or Cheops), Sen-Suphis (or Cephrenês), and Mencherês, all of the fourth dynasty.
Amasis and Cheops how can time forgive.
Who in their useless pyramids would live?
Lord Brooke, Peace.
Amateur (An), Pierce Egan the younger published under this pseudonym his Real Life in London, or The Rambles and Adventures of Rob Tally-ho, Esq., and his Cousin, the Hon. Tom Dashall, through the Metropolis (1821-2).
Amaurots (The), a people whose kingdom was invaded by the Dipsodes (2 syl.), but Pantag'ruel, coming to their defence, utterly routed the invaders.—Rabelais, Pantagruel, ii. (1533).
Ama'via, the personification of Intemperance in grief. Hearing that her husband, sir Mordant, had been enticed to the Bower of Bliss by the enchantress Acra'sia, she went in quest of him, and found him so changed in mind and body she could scarcely recognize him; however, she managed by tact to bring him away, but he died on the road, and Amavia stabbed herself from excessive grief.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, ii. 1 (1590).
Amazo'na, a fairy, who freed a certain country from the Ogri and the Blue Centaur. When she sounded her trumpet, the sick were recovered and became both young and strong. She gave the princess Carpil'lona a bunch of gilly-flowers, which enabled her to pass unrecognized before those who knew her well.—Comtesse D'Aunoy, Fairy Tales ("The Princess Carpillona," 1682).
Amazons, a fabled race of women-warriors. It was said that in order to use the bow, they cut off one of their breasts.
Amber, said to be a concretion of birds' tears, but the birds were the sisters of Melea'ger, called Meleag'ridês, who never ceased weeping for their dead brother.—Pliny, Natural History, xxxvii. 2, 11.
Around thee shall glisten the loveliest amber.
That ever the sorrowing sea-birds have wept.
T. Moore, Fire-Worshippers.
Am'brose (2 syl.), a sharper, who assumed in the presence of Gil Blas the character of a devotee. He was in league with a fellow who assumed the name of don Raphael, and a young woman who called herself Camilla, cousin of donna Mencia. These three sharpers allure Gil Blas to a house which Camilla says is hers, fleece him of his ring, his portmanteau, and his money, decamp, and leave him to find out that the house is only a hired lodging.—Lesage, Gil Blas, i. 15, 16 (1715).
(This incident is borrowed from Espinel's romance entitled Vida de Escudero, marcos de Obregon, 1618.)
Am'brose (2 syl.), a male domestic servant waiting on Miss Seraphine and Miss Angelica Arthuret.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George II.).
Ambrose (Brother), a monk who attended the prior Aymer, of Jorvaulx Abbey.—Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).
Am'brosius (Father), abbot of Kennaquhair, is Edward Glendinning, brother of sir Halbert Glendinning (the knight of Avenel). He appears at Kinross, disguised as a nobleman's retainer.—Sir W. Scott, The Abbot (time, Elizabeth).
Ame'lia, heroine of novel of same name. Young daughter of a German inn-keeper, who rises to a high position in society, through native merit, graces of mind and person.—Eliza Leslie (1843).
Ame'lia, a model of conjugal affection, in Fielding's novel so called. It is said that the character was modelled from his own wife. Dr. Johnson read this novel from beginning to end without once stopping.
Amelia is perhaps the only book of which, being printed off betimes one morning, a new edition was called for before night. The character of Amelia is the most pleasing heroine of all the romances.—Dr. Johnson.
Ame'lia, in Thomson's Seasons, a beautiful, innocent young woman, overtaken by a storm while walking with her troth-plight lover, Cel'adon, "with equal virtue formed, and equal grace. Hers the mild lustre of the blooming morn, and his the radiance of the risen day." Amelia grew frightened, but Celadon said, "'Tis safety to be near thee, sure;" when a flash of lightning struck her dead in his arms.—"Summer" (1727).
Amelia, in Schiller's tragedy of The Robbers.
Or they will learn how generous worth sublimes
The robber Moor, and pleads for all his crimes;
How poor Amelia kissed with many a tear
His hand, blood-stained, but ever, ever dear.
Campbell, Pleasures of Hope, ii. (1799).
Amelia Bailey, ambitious woman with "literary tastes," who in pursuit of a suitable sphere, marries a rich Californian, and "shines with the diamonds her husband has bought, and makes a noise, but it is the blare of vulgar ostentation,"—William Henry Rideing, A Little Upstart (1885).
Amelot (2 syl.), the page of sir Damian de Lacy.—Sir W. Scott, The Betrothed (time, Henry II.).
Am'giad, son of Camaralzaman and Badoura, and half-brother of Assad (son of Camaralzaman and Haiatal'nefous). Each of the two mothers conceived a base passion for the other's son, and when the young princes revolted at their advances, accused them to their father of designs upon their honor. Camaralzaman ordered his emir Giondar to put them both to death, but as the young men had saved him from a lion he laid no hand on them, but told them not to return to their father's dominions. They wandered on for a time, and then parted, but both reached the same place, which was a city of the Magi. Here, by a strange adventure Amgiad was made vizier, while Assad was thrown into a dungeon, where he was designed as a sacrifice to the fire-god. Bosta'na, a daughter of the old man who imprisoned Assad, released him, and Amgiad out of gratitude made her his wife. After which, the king, who was greatly advanced in years, appointed him his successor, and Amgiad used his best efforts to abolish the worship of fire and establish "the true faith."—Arabian Nights ("Amgiad and Assad").
Am'yas, a squire of low degree, beloved by Aemylia. They agreed to meet at a given spot, but on their way thither both were taken captives—Amyas by Corflambo, and Aemylia by a man monster. Aemylia was released by Belphoebê (3 syl.), who slew "the caitiff;" and Amyas by prince Arthur, who slew Corflambo. The two lovers were then brought together by the prince "in peace and joyous blis."—Spenser, Faëry Queen, iv. 7, 9 (1596).
Ami'das, the younger brother of Brac'idas, sons of Mile'sio; the former in love with the dowerless Lucy, and the latter with the wealthy Philtra. The two brothers had each an island of equal size and value left them by their father, but the sea daily added to the island of the younger brother, and encroached on that belonging to Bracidas. When Philtra saw that the property of Amidas was daily increasing, she forsook the elder brother and married the wealthier; while Lucy, seeing herself jilted, threw herself into the sea. A floating chest attracted her attention, she clung to it, and was drifted to the wasted island. It was found to contain great riches, and Lucy gave its contents and herself to Bracidas. Amidas claimed the chest as his own by right, and the question in dispute was submitted to sir Ar'tegal. The wise arbiter decided, that whereas Armidas claimed as his own all the additions given to his island by the sea, Lucy might claim as her own the chest, because the sea had given it to her.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, v. 4 (1596).
Am'iel, in Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, is meant for sir Edward Seymour, Speaker of the House of Commons.
Who can Amiel's praise refuse?
Of ancient race by birth, but nobler yet
In his own worth, and without title great.
The sanhedrim long time as chief he ruled,
Their reason guided, and their passion cooled.
Part i.
A'min (Prince), son of the caliph Haroun-al-Raschid; he married Am'inê, sister of Zobeide (3 syl.), the caliph's wife.—Arabian Nights' Entertainments ("The History of Amine").
Am'ina, an orphan, who walked in her sleep. She was betrothed to Elvi'no, a rich farmer, but being found the night before the wedding in the chamber of count Rodolpho, Elvino rightly refused to marry her. The count remonstrated with the young farmer, and while they were talking, the orphan was seen to get out of a window and walk along the narrow edge of a mill-roof while the great wheel was rapidly revolving; she then crossed a crazy old bridge, and came into the same chamber. Here she awoke, and, seeing Elvino, threw her arms around him so lovingly, that all his doubts vanished, and he married her.—Bellini, La Sonnambula (an opera, 1831).
Am'ine (3 syl.), half-sister of Zobei'dè (3 syl.), and wife of Amin, the caliph's son. One day she went to purchase a robe, and the seller told her he would charge nothing if she would suffer him to kiss her cheek. Instead of kissing he bit it, and Amine, being asked by her husband how she came by the wound, so shuffled in her answers that he commanded her to be put to death, a sentence he afterwards commuted to scourging. One day she and her sister told the stories of their lives to the caliph Haroun-al-Raschid, when Amin became reconciled to his wife, and the caliph married her half-sister.—Arabian Nights'Entertainments ("History of Zobeide and History of Amine").
Am'ine (3 syl.) or Am'ines (3 syl.), the beautiful wife of Sidi Nouman. Instead of eating her rice with a spoon, she used a bodkin for the purpose, and carried it to her mouth in infinitesimal portions. This went on for some time, till Sidi Nouman determined to ascertain on what his wife really fed, and to his horror discovered that she was a ghoul, who went stealthily by night to the cemetery, and feasted on the freshly-buried dead.—Arabian Nights ("History of Sidi Nouman").
One of the Aminês' sort, who pick up their
grains of food with a bodkin.—O.W. Holmes,
Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table
.
Amin'tor, a young nobleman, the troth-plight husband of Aspatia, but by the king's command he marries Evad'ne (3 syl.). This is the great event of the tragedy of which Amintor is the hero. The sad story of Evadne, the heroine, gives name to the play.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Maid's Tragedy (1610).
(Till the reign of Charles II., the kings of England claimed the feudal right of disposing in marriage any one who owed them feudal allegiance. In All's Well that Ends Well, Shakespeare makes the king of France exercise a similar right, when he commands Bertram, count of Rousillon, to marry against his will Hel'ena, the physician's daughter.)
Amis the Priest, the hero of a comic German epic of the 13th century, represented as an Englishman, a man of great wit and humor, but ignorant and hypocritical. His popularity excites the envy of the superior clergy, who seek to depose him from the priesthood by making public exposition of his ignorance, but by his quickness at repartee he always manages to turn the laugh against them.—Ascribed to Stricker of Austria.
Am'let (Richard), the gamester in Vanbrugh's Confederacy (1695). He is usually called "Dick."
I saw Miss Pope for the second time, in the year 1790, in the character of "Flippanta," John Palmer being "Dick Amlet," and Mrs. Jordan "Corinna."—James Smith.
Mrs. Amlet, a rich, vulgar tradeswoman, mother of Dick, of whom she is very proud, although she calls him a "sad scapegrace," and swears "he will be hanged." At last she settles on him £10,000, and he marries Corinna, daughter of Gripe the rich scrivener.
Ammo'nian Horn (The), the cornucopia. Ammon king of Lib'ya gave to his mistress Amalthe'a (mother of Bacchus) a tract of land resembling a ram's horn in shape, and hence called the "Ammonian horn" (from the giver), the "Amalthe'an horn" (from the receiver), and the "Hesperian horn" (from its locality). Amalthea also personifies fertility. (Ammon is Ham, son of Noah, founder of the African race.) (See AMALTHEA.)
[Here] Amalthea pours,
Well pleased, the wealth of that Ammonian horn,
Her dower. Akenside,
Hymn to the Naiads
.
Am'mon's Son. Alexander the Great called himself the son of the god Ammon, but others call him the son of Philip of Macedon.
Of food I think with Philip's son, or rather
Ammon's (ill pleased with one world and one
father).
Byron, Don Juan, v. 31.
(Alluding to the tale that when Alexander had conquered the whole world, he wept that there was no other world to conquer.)
A'mon's Son is Rinaldo, eldest son of Amon or Aymon marquis d'Este, and nephew of Charlemagne.—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).
Am'oret, a modest, faithful shepherdess, who plighted her troth to Per'igot (t sounded) at the "Virtuous Well." The wanton shepherdess Amarillis, having by enchantment assumed her appearance and dress, so disgusted Perigot with her bold ways, that he lost his love for the true Amoret, repulsed her with indignation, and tried to kill her. The deception was revealed by Cor'in, "the faithful shepherdess," and the lovers being reconciled, were happily married.—John Fletcher, The Faithful Shepherdess (before 1611).
Amoret'ta or Am'oret, twin-born with Belphoebê (3 syl.), their mother being Chrysog'onê (4 syl.). While the mother and her two babes were asleep, Diana took one (Belphoebê) to bring up, and Venus the other. Venus committed Amoretta to the charge of Psychê (2 syl.), and Psychê tended her as lovingly as she tended her own daughter Pleasure, "to whom she became the companion." When grown to marriageable estate, Amoretta was brought to Fairyland, and wounded many a heart, but gave her own only to sir Scudamore (bk. iii. 6). Being seized by Bu'sirane, an enchanter, she was kept in durance by him because she would not "her true love deny;" but Britomart delivered her and bound the enchanter (bk. iii. 11, 12), after which she became the tender, loving wife of sir Scudamore.
Amoret is the type of female loveliness and wifely affection, soft, warm, chaste, gentle, and ardent; not sensual nor yet platonic, but that living, breathing, warm-hearted love which fits woman for the fond mother and faithful wife.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, iii. (1590).
Amour'y (Sir Giles), the Grand-Master of the Knights Templars, who conspires with the marquis of Montserrat against Richard I. Saladin cuts off the Templar's head while in the act of drinking.—Sir W. Scott, The Talisman (time, Richard I.).
Am'phibal (St.), confessor of St. Alban of Verulam. When Maximia'nus Hercu'lius, general of Diocle'tian's army in Britain, pulled down the Christian churches, burnt the Holy Scriptures, and put to death the Christians with unflagging zeal, Alban hid his confessor, and offered to die for him.
A thousand other saints whom Amphibal had taught ...
Were slain where Lichfield is, whose name doth rightly sound
(There of those Christians slain), "Dead-field" or burying-ground.
Drayton, Polyolbion, xxiv. (1622).
Amphi'on is said to have built Thebes by the music of his lute. Tennyson has a poem called Amphion, a skit and rhyming jeu d'esprit.
Amphion there the loud creating lyre
Strikes, and behold a sudden Thebes aspire.
Pope, Temple of Fame.
Amphis-baena, a reptile which could go head foremost either way, because it had a head at each extremity. Milton uses the word in Paradise Lost, x. 524. (Greek, ampi baino, "I go both ways.")
The amphis-baena doubly armed appears,
At either end a threatening head she rears.
Rowe, Pharsalia, ix. 696, etc. (by Lucan).
Amphitryon, a Theban general, husband of Alcme'nê (3 syl.). While Amphitryon was absent at war with Pter'elas, king of the Tel'eboans, Jupiter assumed his form, and visited Alcmenê, who in due time became the mother of Her'culês. Next day Amphitryon returned, having slain Pterelas, and Alcmenê was surprised to see him so soon again. Here a great entanglement arose, Alcmenê telling her husband he visited her last night, and showing him the ring he gave her, and Amphitryon declaring he was with the army. This confusion is still further increased by his slave Sos'ia, who went to take to Alcmenê the news of victory, but was stopped at the door of the house by Mercury, who had assumed for the nonce Sosia's form, and the slave could not make out whether he was himself or not. This plot has been made a comedy by Plautus, Molière, and Dryden.
The scenes which Plautus drew, to-night we show,
Touched by Molière, by Dryden taught to glow.
Prologue to Hawksworth's version
.
As an Amphitryon chez qui l'on dine, no one knows better than Ouidà the uses of a recherché dinner.—E. Yates, Celebrities, xix.
"Amphitryon": Le véritable Amphitryon est l'Amphitryon où l'on dine ("The master of the feast is the master of the house"). While the confusion was at its height between the false and true Amphitryon, Socie [Sosia] the slave is requested to decide which was which, and replied—
Je ne me trompois pas, messieurs; ce mot termine
Toute l'irrésolution;
Le véritable Amphitryon
Est l'Amphitryon où l'on dine.
Molière,
Amphitryon
, iii. 5 (1668).
Demosthenes and Cicero
Are doubtless stately names to hear,
But that of good Amphitryon
Sounds far more pleasant to my ear.
M.A. Désaugiers (1772-1827).
Amrah, the faithful woman-servant of the household of Ben-Hur in Lew Wallace's novel, Ben-Hur. Through her heroic services, Judah, the son, finds the mother and sister from whom he has been so long separated (1880).
Am'ri, in Absalom and Achitophel, by Dryden and Tate, is Heneage Finch, earl of Nottingham and lord chancellor. He is called "The Father of Equity" (1621-1682).
To whom the double blessing did belong,
With Moses' inspiration, Aaron's tongue.
Part ii.
Amun'deville (Lord Henry), one of the "British privy council." After the sessions of parliament he retired to his country seat, where he entertained a select and numerous party, among which were the duchess of Fitz-Fulke, Aurora Raby, and don Juan, "the Russian envoy." His wife was lady Adeline. (His character is given in xiv. 70, 71.)—Byron, Don Juan, xiii. to end.
Am'urath III., sixth emperor of the Turks. He succeeded his father, Selim II., and reigned 1574-1595. His first act was to invite all his brothers to a banquet, and strangle them. Henry IV. alludes to this when he says—
This is the English, not the Turkish court;
Not Amurath an Amurath succeeds,
But Harry, Harry.
Shakespeare, 2 Henry IV. act v. sc. 2 (1598).
Amusements of Kings. The great amusement of Ardeltas of Arabia Petraea, was currying horses; of Artaba'nus of Persia, was mole-catching; of Domitian of Rome, was catching flies; of Ferdinand VII., of Spain, was embroidering petticoats; of Louis XVI., clock and lock making; of George IV., the game of patience.
Amy March, the artist sister in Louisa M. Alcott's Little Women (1868).
Amy Wentworth, the high-born but contented wife of the "Brown Viking of the Fishing-smack," in John Greenleaf Whittier's poem, Amy Wentworth.
She sings, and smiling, hears her praise,
But dreams the while of one
Who watches from his sea-blown deck
The ice-bergs in the sun. (1860.)
Amyn'tas, in Colin Clout's Come Home Again, by Spenser, is Ferdinando earl of Derby, who died 1594.
Amyntas, flower of shepherd's pride forlorn.
He, whilst he lived, was the noblest swain
That ever pipèd on an oaten quill.
Spenser, Colin Clout's Come Home Again (1591).
Amyn'tor. (See AMINTOR.)
A'mys and Amy'lion, the Damon and Pythias of mediaeval romance.—See Ellis's Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances.
Amytis, the Median queen of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Beautiful, passionate, and conscienceless, she condemns an innocent rival to the worst of fates, without a pang of conscience, and dies a violent death at the hands of one who was once her lover.
The gardens were well-watered and dripped luxuriantly.... At this time of the morning, Amytis amused herself alone, or with a few favored slaves. She dipped through artificial dew and pollen, bloom and fountain, like one of the butterflies that circled above her small head, or one of the bright cold lizards that crept about her feet. She bathed, she ran, she sang, and curled to sleep, and stirred and bathed again.—The Master of the Magicians, by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and Herbert D. Ward (1890).
Anacharsis [Clootz]. Baron Jean Baptiste Clootz assumed the prenome of Anacharsis, from the Scythian so called, who travelled about Greece and other countries to gather knowledge and improve his own countrymen. The baron wished by the name to intimate that his own object in life was like that of Anacharsis (1755-1794).
Anachronisms. (See ERRORS.)
CHAUCER, in his tale of Troilus, at the siege of Troy, makes Pandarus refer to Robin Hood.
And to himselfe ful soberly he saied,
From hasellwood there jolly Robin plaied.
Book v.
GILES FLETCHER, in Christ's Victory, pt. ii. makes the Tempter seem to be "a good old hermit or palmer, travelling to see some saint, and telling his beads!!"
LODGE, in The True Tragedies of Marius and Sylla (1594), mentions "the razor of Palermo" and "St. Paul's steeple," and introduces Frenchmen who "for forty crowns" undertake to poison the Roman consul.
MORGLAY makes Dido tell Æneas that she should have been contented with a son, even "if he had been a cockney dandiprat" (1582).
SCHILLER, in his Piccolomini, speaks of lightning conductors. This was about 150 years before they were invented.
SHAKESPEAKE, in his Coriolanus (act ii. sc. 1), makes Menenius refer to Galen above 600 years before he was born.
Cominius alludes to Roman Plays, but no such things were known for 250 years after the death of Cominius.—Coriolanus, act ii. sc. 2.
Brutus refers to the "Marcian Waters brought to Rome by Censorinus." This was not done till 300 years afterwards.
In Hamlet, the prince Hamlet was educated at Wittemberg School, which was not founded till 1502; whereas Saxo-Germanicus, from whom Shakespeare borrowed the tale, died in 1204. Hamlet was thirty years old when his mother talks of his going back to school (act i. sc. 2).
In 1 Henry IV., the carrier complains that "the turkeys in his pannier are quite starved" (act ii. sc. 5), whereas turkeys came from America, and the New World was not even discovered for a century after. Again in Henry V., Grower is made to say to Fluellen, "Here comes Pistol, swelling like a turkey-cock" (act v. sc. 1).
In Julius Cæsar, Brutus says to Cassius, "Peace, count the clock." To which Cassius replies, "The clock has stricken three."
Clocks were not known to the Romans, and striking-clocks were not invented till some 1400 years after the death of Cæsar.
VIRGIL places Æneas in the port Velinus, which was made by Curius Dentatus.
This list, with very little trouble, might be greatly multiplied. The hotbed of anachronisms is mediaeval romance; there nations, times and places, are most recklessly disregarded. This may be instanced by a few examples from Ariosto's great poem, Orlando Furioso.
Here we have Charlemagne and his paladins joined by Edward king of England, Richard earl of Warwick, Henry duke of Clarence, and the dukes of York and Gloucester (bk. vi.). We have cannons employed by Cymosco king of Friza (bk. iv.), and also in the siege of Paris (bk. vi.). We have the Moors established in Spain, whereas they were not invited over by the Saracens for nearly 300 years after Charlemagne's death. In bk. xvii. we have Prester John, who died in 1202; and in the last three books we have Constantine the Great, who died in 337.
Anac'reon, the prince of erotic and bacchanalian poets, insomuch that songs on these subjects are still called Anacreon'tic (B.C. 563-478).
Anacreon of Painters, Francesco Albano or Alba'ni (1578-1660).
Anacreon of the Guillotine, Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac (1755-1841).
Anacreon of the Temple, Guillaume Amfrye, abbé de Chaulieu (1639-1720).
Anacreon of the Twelfth Century, Walter Mapes, "The Jovial Toper." His famous drinking song, "Meum est prepositum ..." has been translated by Leigh Hunt (1150-1196).
The French Anacreon. 1. Pontus de Thiard, one of the "Pleiad poets" (1521-1605). 2. P. Laujon, perpetual president of the Caveau Moderne, a Paris club, noted for its good dinners, but every member was of necessity a poet (1727-1811).
The Persian Anacreon, Mahommed Hafiz. The collection of his poems is called The Divan (1310-1389).
The Sicilian Anacreon, Giovanni Meli (1740-1815).
Anacreon Moore, Thomas Moore of Dublin (1780-1852), poet, called "Anacreon," from his translation of that Greek poet, and his own original anacreontic songs.
Described by Mahomet and Anacreon Moore.
Byron, Don Juan, i. 104.
Anagnus, Inchastity personified in The Purple Island, by Phineas Fletcher (canto vii.). He had four sons by Caro, named Maechus (adultery), Pornei'us (fornication), Acath'arus, and Asel'gês (lasciviousness), all of whom are fully described by the poet. In the battle of Mansoul (canto xi.) Anagnus is slain by Agnei'a (wifely chastity), the spouse of Encra'tes (temperance) and sister of Parthen'ia (maidenly chastity). (Greek, anagnos, "impure.") (1633.)
Anagrams.
CHARLES JAMES STUART (James I.). Claims Arthur's Seat.
DAME ELEANOR DAVIES (prophetess in the reign of Charles I.). Never so mad a ladie.
HORATIO NELSON. Honor est a Nilo.
MARIE TOUCHET (mistress of Charles IX.). Je charme tout (made by Henri IV.).
Pilate's question, QUID EST VERITAS? Est vir qui adest.
SIR ROGER CHARLES DOUGHTY TICHBORNE, BARONET. You horrid butcher, Orton, biggest rascal here.
A'nah, granddaughter of Cain and sister of Aholiba'mah. Japhet loved her, but she had set her heart on the seraph Azaz'iel, who carried her off to another planet when the Flood came.—Byron, Heaven and Earth.
Anah and Aholibamah are very different characters:
Anah is soft, gentle, and submissive; her
sister is proud, imperious, and aspiring; the one
loving in fear, the other in ambition. She fears
that her love makes her "heart grow impious,"
and that she worships the seraph rather than the
Creator.—Ed. Lytton Bulwer (Lord Lytton).
Anak of Publishers, so John Murray was called by lord Byron (1778-1843).
An'akim or Anak, a giant of Palestine, whose descendants were terrible for their gigantic stature. The Hebrew spies said that they themselves were mere grasshoppers in comparison of them.
I felt the thews of Anakim,
The pulses of a Titan's heart.
Tennyson, In Memoriam, iii.
(The Titans were giants, who, according to classic fable, made war with Jupiter or Zeus, 1 syl.)
Anamnes'tes (4 syl), the boy who waited on Eumnestês (Memory). Eumnestês was a very old man, decrepit and half blind, a "man of infinite remembrance, who things foregone through many ages held," but when unable to "fet" what he wanted, was helped by a little boy yclept Anamnestês, who sought out for him what "was lost or laid amiss." (Greek, eumnêstis, "good memory;" anamne'stis, "research or calling up to mind.")
And oft when things were lost or laid amiss,
That boy them sought and unto him did lend;
Therefore the Anamnestes clepêd is,
And that old man Eumnestes.
Spenser, Faëry Queen, ii. 9 (1590).
Anani'as, in The Alchemist, a comedy by Ben Jonson (1610).
("Wasp" in Bartholomew Fair, "Corbaccio" in The Fox, "Morose" in The Silent Woman, all by B. Jonson.)
Anarchus, king of the Dipsodes (2 syl.), defeated by Pantag'ruel, who dressed him in a ragged doublet, a cap with a cock's feather, and married him to "an old lantern-carrying hag." The prince gave the wedding-feast, which consisted of garlic and sour cider. His wife, being a regular termagant, "did beat him like plaster, and the ex-tyrant did not dare call his soul his own."—Rabelais, Pantagruel, ii. 31 (1533).
Anasta'sius, the hero of a novel called Memoirs of Anastasius, by Thomas Hope (1770-1831), a most brilliant and powerful book. It is the autobiography of a Greek, who, to escape the consequences of his crimes and villainies, becomes a renegade, and passes through a long series of adventures.
Fiction has but few pictures which will bear
comparison with that of Anastasius, sitting on
the steps of the lazaretto of Trieste, with his
dying boy in his arms.—
Encyc. Brit
. Art. "Romance."
Anastasius Grün, the nom de plume of Anton Alexander von Auersperg, a German poet (1806-1876).
Anasterax, brother of Niquee [ne.kay], with whom he lives in incestuous intercourse. The fairy Zorphee, in order to withdraw her god-daughter from this alliance, enchanted her.—Amadis de Gaul.
An'cho, a Spanish brownie, who haunts the shepherds' huts, warms himself at their fires, tastes their clotted milk and cheese, converses with the family, and is treated with familiarity mixed with terror. The Ancho hates church bells.
Ancient Mariner (The), by Coleridge. For the crime of having shot an albatross (a bird of good omen to seamen) terrible sufferings are visited upon him, which are finally remitted through his repentance; but he is doomed to wander over the earth and repeat his story to others as a warning lesson.
An'derson (Eppie), a servant at the inn of St. Ronan's Well, held by Meg Dods.—Sir W. Scott, St. Ronan's Well (time, George III.).
André (2 syl.). Petit-André and Trois Echelles are the executioners of Louis XI. of France. They are introduced by sir W. Scott, both in Quentin Durward and in Anne of Geierstein.
André, the hero and title of a novel by George Sand (Mde. Dudevant). This novel and that called Consuelo (4 syl.) are considered her best (1804-1876).
Andre'os, Fortitude personified in The Purple Island, by Phineas Fletcher (canto x.). "None fiercer to a stubborn enemy, but to the yielding none more sweetly kind." (Greek, andria or andreia, "manliness.")