Deep-rooted in thy soul, its influence shed, Of life to him? 'Till then, th' important work 1 Or sunk in dotage, can no more exert Their wonted functions. In that doleful hour, The Moon Irksome or disregarded; all around Gloomy and sad. The harbingers of Death, N And heavier show'rs pour down; so thy complaints In constant rounds of grief and pain succeed, 1 ༧༩ **** [2] While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened; nor the clouds return after the rain: 8 [3] In ទ Some apply the former part of this verse to the dimness of sight incident to old age, but very injudiciously, as this circum Religious duties to commence, and raise Its wants, with paralytic tremours seiz'd, 1 Enervate hang? When the firm Columns bend Beneath its weight, unable to support The tott'ring fabric ?2 When the Mill, worn out the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, 1 and the strong men shall bow themselves, 2 and the grinders cease because 4 stance is afterwards expressly taken notice of; and it can scarcely be supposed, that, in so short a description, Solomon should mention the same thing twice. It is far more agreeable to the scripture style, as well as to the present subject, to apply these words to the decay of the intellectual faculties, which are the luminaries of the soul; as also to the sad and uncomfortable state that age reduces men to, insomuch that the most cheerful objects in nature grow irksome and distasteful. The Preacher therefore begins with the nobler part, and then proceeds to enumerate those disorders which chiefly affect the body, to which the words in the latter part of the verse are a fine introduction. [V. 2. While the sun is not obscured, And the light, or of the moon or of the stars; And clouds return after the rain : An exact description of winter in Judea; and a striking representation of the winter of life, old age. Comp. Joel iii. 15. Matthew xxiv. 29. ED.]' $ 1 We need not observe here, that man, sinking under a load of of age and infirmities, is most aptly compared to an old crazy House, whose inhabitant is unable to keep it in repair. The hands and arms are, no doubt, intended by the Keepers of this House, which being destined for its defence, and to provide it with necessaries, are now so affected with paralytic disorders, as to be incapable of either. 2 And the strong shall bow themselves, Our version has inserted in this clause the word men; but we think, that of Junius and Tremellius is to be preferred, who have rendered it valentes robore, i. e. the mighty ones, or those that excel in strength; not only as the word man does not appear in the original, but by this expression something is left to the reader's imagination, and thereby the By all-consuming time, no more can grind, 8 Thine ailments, feeble, low, and tremulous Thy lips, the two leav'd doors without, are clos'd, Admittance, or refuses to convey they are few, 3 and those that look out of the windows be darkened 4 [4] And the doors shall be shut in the streets, allegory made more of a piece. Some understand by these strong ones, the back and shoulders; others the reins; but the most generally received exposition is, that the legs and thighs are here denoted, which, like two pillars, support the whole weight of the body. In which soever of these senses they be taken, the difference is not material, as those parts are undoubtedly intended, wherein man's principal strength consists. 3 That by the grinders are meant the teeth, admits of no dispute; for these, being partly dropped out from their sockets, and the few that remain, loose or straggling, are of no more use to the mastication of food than a broken mill-stone to the grinding of corn. 4 It is universally agreed, that by this expression is meant the dimness of sight so remarkable in old men. As to the phrase, Lookers out of the windows, or casements, it hath a peculiar force or significancy, which none but those who are versed in Optics, and acquainted with the wonderful structure of the eye, (through which organ the soul discerns all external objects painted on the Retina,) can have any idea of. And, indeed, it must be acknowledged, that notwithstanding the many ingenious tracts written on the theory of Vision, there is something so astonishing in its nature, as to be utterly inexplicable.“ Such due supplies as languid Nature craves. 5 མ་ ་་ From his loath'd couch at earliest dawn, to change. ན། The scene of woes; and whilst in softest notes... ཡ༣ when the sound of the grinding is low; 5 and he shall rise up at i 5 And the doors (or two leaved portals) shall be shut in the streets (or open passages,) when the sound of the grinding is low. These words are not without their obscurity, as appears from the variety of arbitrary interpretations. Some expound them literally, as meaning no more than that old people are forced to keep within. doors, their voice being so low and feeble, that none can hear what.. they say; for which reason, they are excluded from public assem blies; that their lips are shut in eating, because they have lost their teeth, and therefore can only mumble their food. It must be owned, that old men are generally in the condition here described; and I believe it is found, by daily experience, that, when they are grown tired of themselves, their most intimate acquaintance are no less tired of their company, and would willingly get rid of them. Bishop Patrick, in his paraphrase, seems to understand the words in this sense, which therefore we have partly followed; though critics, we apprehend, will not be thoroughly satisfied with it. As to Dr. Smith's comment on this obscure passage, which that learned Prelate allows to be very ingenious, though he thinks it too philosophical, it appears to us by far the most eligible. Solomon, according to the Doctor, by these words, intended that internal grinding in the stomach, and other parts, wherein the food, having been first coarsely ground in the mouth, (which may properly be styled the outward Mill, is, by a peculiar fermentation, ground over again, and reduced into the minutest particles, of a different colour and consistence, called Chyle and that this same Chyle, in its continued progress through the other vessels destined for its reception, still receives farther alterations, till at length the finer and more volatile parts receive their utmost degree of perfection, being exalted into blood, and last of all, into animal spirits. From this supposition which appears to be no less probable than ingenious, the c Doctor infers, that, by the low sound of the grinding, here mentioned, are denoted a total indigestion, with all those symptoms which indicate that nature can no longer perform her ordinary functions. We have paid the more regard to this explication, as it carries on the metaphor of an Old House, whose passages to all the chambers and inward apartments, as well as the Street door, the two leaved portals (the lips) are of no farther use. The feather'd choir begin t' express their joy, 6 Some expound these words thus-He shall be startled out of his sleep at the smallest noise, even at the chirping of a little bird. But this interpretation contradicts what immediately follows, which implies deafness. Others take the meaning to be, that his voice shall be now so low and feeble, as to rise to no higher a pitch than that of a Sparrow. Among many other expositions, that of Dr. Edwards is very singular, to wit, that the old man, though he has lost his appetite, yet at the mention of some nice delicate bit, such, for instance, as a Partridge or Pheasant, will be tempted to rise and eat; which is contrary to the tenor of the whole description, that supposes him incapable of taking the least pleasure in any thing. We have followed the interpretation which is most obvious and natural, to wit, that the wretched old man, being tired of his bed, where his complicated infirmities would not suffer him to take any rest in the night, rises at break of day, when the Cock begins to crow, and the Birds to warble out their notes; not that he is disturbed at the noise they make, which the very next words, as we before observed, sup--pose him incapable of hearing, but because he cannot sleep, on account of his ailments. It is likewise to be noted here, that as, in the preceding instances, the expressions are evidently allegorical, alluding to the several parts of the House, and the different offices of the domestics, if we may be allowed to use the term, so in the passage now before us, the words, which are plain and simple, may be said, with propriety enough, to denote the forlorn condition of the Master of the House himself. 7 These words, according to the Hebrew Idiom, may signify either those organs which modulate the voice, and produce Harmony, or those which receive it, and are affected by it. We have taken them in the latter sense, with St. Jerome, who thus renders this passage; Et obsurdescent omnes filiæ Carminis. [See II Sam. xix. 35. Ed] |