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A brighter being than earth’s cold son of ill—
A brighter being, yet a Druid still— .
The Druids believed that the soul after death was
transmigrated into a higher sphere. They believed that both
spirit and matter eternal; that the world, unchangeable
in its substance, varied constantly in its form, under the
influence of two agencies fire and water; the soul in quitting
the body, passed into a superior or inferior sphere according
as it had deserved rewards or punishments. “ There are for
the soul,” observes The Triads, “three circles of existence :
first, the circle of infinity and immateriality, where the Deity
alone could live or dwell; secondly, the circle of a necessary
state (of origin or trial), inhabited by the being who draws
his existence from matter; and man goes through this circle;
thirdly, the circle of felicity, inhabited by the being who
draws his existence from what is animate, and man penetrates
through this to heaven.” And further on“ Three causes
make man return to the circle of trial: first, negligence in
instructing himself; secondly, his little love of good; thirdly,
his adherence to evil. The man who had lived well, resumed
in the circle of felicity his passions and his habits; the warrior
refound his weapons and his horse; the huntsman his dogs
and his javelins; and the priest his faithful followers. News
was sent of the living to the dead upon the pyre’s flame:
letters were thrown upon the bodies either for themselves or
other deceased. Money could be lent on earth payable in
a future state; and necessarily such wonderful and wild
conceptions became the sources of the most awful, the most
sublime, and the most fearful sacrifices.”—Translation of
“Histoire de la Bretagne, par Pitre Chevalier, dedié ~au
Comte de Chateaubriand."
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From the notes in:
Agabus; or, the Last of the Druids: an Historical Poem, [with notes.-The dying Druid, a poem by R. A. Davenport.]
books.google.com
Ref.
Animate > 1530s, "to fill with boldness or courage," from Latin animatus past participle of animare "give breath to," also "to endow with a particular spirit, to give courage to," from anima "life, breath" (see animus).
felicity
Animate > 1530s, "to fill with boldness or courage," from Latin animatus past participle of animare "give breath to," also "to endow with a particular spirit, to give courage to," from anima "life, breath" (see animus).
felicity
1.
| n |
pleasing and appropriate manner or style (especially manner or style of expression)
|
2.
| n |
state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy
|
