are added other Miscellaneous Pieces, in Blank Verse and Rhyme. Crown 8vo. pp.
200. 6s. Boards. White. 1801.1
Mythology tells us that, in days
of yore, the man who slept on the top of Parnassus became a poet: —he slept, he
waked, And lisp’d in numbers, for the numbers came.2 space between stanzasNow whether this part of the mountain has been swallowed up by an earthquake,
or worn out by continual usage; whether the identical spot, the once favoured soil
of
inspiration, be so overgrown by weeds as to be rendered impervious; or whether the
would-be Bard—now anticipates his nap, and falls into his trance in the middle or
at
the bottom of the hill;—may be matter worthy of the investigation of the speculative
inquirer, who feels himself anxiously solicitous to account for the degeneracy of
the
race of poets. To us these desultory ideas have occurred from venerable recollection
of the sublime worthies of antient days: but we are ready to pay the due tribute of
praise to all our modern Bards, whose merits we would not appreciate by the rules
of
invidious comparison; and we shall readily allow that, if the poems before us do not
rank in the first class of excellence, they are yet far above mediocrity.
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The poetical oglio3 here presented to us supplies a variety
that may suit every taste; and the author tells us, in his preface, that his subjects
have been produced under the very different impressions of joy and sorrow. Hence flow
Lamentations, Elegies, Pastorals, Songs, and Sonnets.—The volume opens with the poem
which, as being most considerable in size, gives title to the publication. Here we
travel through the most dreary and gloomy paths of human life. The muse addresses
an
invocation to melancholy; and the pensive mind, obedient to the summons, accompanies
her to the end of the journey. This poem, however, is correctly moral and religious,
and will meet the approbation of the reflecting reader. The destructive vice of
gaming is reprobated with a virtuous indignation:
In page 42, we have a pleasing illustration of the superior state of happiness
resulting from the retired life of virtuous innocence,when contrasted with the scenes
of vice and pampered luxury:
From the miscellaneous compositions, were it not that our boundary is circumscribed,
we could select more than one poem which pleases us:—the following, on Lelia, obtains
a preference:
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Among the Songs, we find several that are sprightly and convivial; and the poet seems
to celebrate the juice of the grape and the charms of his mistress equally con amore. His devotion to both is pleasantly manifested
in the following lines; though here the little blind Deity is a more principal object
of worship that the jolly God:
We are glad to leave the author merrier at the conclusion of his volume than we find
him at the beginning: but, before we part, we must comply with our usual custom of
adding a few mild strictures, where they are requisite. In his blank verse, he is
too
frequently prosaic: e. g.
In his rhyme, the poet’s ear has often failed to perceive the effect that the simple
transposition of a word produces, in the harmony of numbers: while his alliterations
are still more obviously harsh and unpleasing; as in the line, page 189, in a poem
on
sleep:
It may be said that such faults are trifles: but, with respect to a writer’s
reputation,