Chapter IX:
Think not my magic wonders wrought by aid
Of Stygian angels summoned up from hell;
Scorned and accursed be those who have essay'd
Her gloomy Dives and Afrites to compel.
But by perception of the secret powers
Of mineral springs in Nature's inmost cell,
Of herbs in curtain of her greenest bowers,
And of the moving stars o'er mountain tops and towers.
Wiffen's "Translation of Tasso," cant. XIV. 43.
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The line "crowned with flowers culled in Paradise." gets a footnote from the author telling us which Christian Poet he is refering to: -- l'aurea testa Di rose colte in Paradiso infiora. Tasso, "Gerusal. Lib." IV. l
Tasso: Torquato Tasso, 16th century Italian poet most famous for his "Gerusalemme Liberata". Apparently he was very popular right up until the start of 20th century. Hence when Zanoni invokes the poet here, recalling the current timeframe in the story in 1794, we can expect an artist like Glyndon to be familiar with Tasso.
Footnote from the author about the Stygian Rebels: See this remarkable passage, which does indeed not unfaithfully represent the doctrine of the Pythagorean and the Platonist, in Tasso, cant. XIV. stanzas 41. to 47. ("Gerusal. Lib.") They are beautifully translated by Wiffen.
Footnote after "They fancied an affinity existing among all the works of Nature, and that in the lowliest lay the secret attraction that might conduct them upward to the loftiest.": Agreeably, it would seem, to the notion of Iamblichus and Plotinus, that the universe is as an animal; so that there is sympathy and communication between one part and the other; in the smallest part may be the subtlest nerve. And hence the universal magnetism of Nature. But man contemplates the universe as an animalcule would an elephant. The animalcule, seeing scarcely the tip of the hoof, would be incapable of comprehending that the trunk belonged to the same creature - that the effect produced upon one extremity would be felt in an instant by the other.
"There is a principle of the soul superior to all external nature ... with which it blends and mingles." - citation from the author: From Iamblichus, "On the Mysteries," cap. 7, sect. 7.
"If they could conquer Death, why live they not yet?" - we get a footnote reminder from the author here: Glyndon appears to forget that Mejnour had before answered the very question which his doubts here a second time suggest.
The picture used is of Nabonidus, king of Babylonia; slab in the British Museum. Photo by Jona lendering, used here under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en).
Nabonidus is considered to be the last king of the Chaldean Dynasty of Chaldean Empire, better known today as the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Where the Chaldean Dynasty was founded in 626 BC, it ended with Nabonidus in 539 BC.
To follow along: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2664/2664-h/2664-h.htm#link2HCH0073
There was some rainfall part way though, but I don't think it was quite loud enough to be picked up. I hear in the recording because I know it's there and where it is, but I doubt you will notice it.
