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is lonely hid in the mountain cave no roof to shield his head no boughs to wave no birds to sing their summer song when days begin no stars to glitter in his sky when evening in no welcome from the household band of brothers sisters friends no smile of childhood s happiness its sunshine the s home is lonely for pain and penance meet the rock his couch his pillow cold the stone beneath hi feet i the s home he asks no more the bed the gold embroidered the sparkling bowl were all to him but idle toys at best the s home is silent no its calm no echo but the voice of prayer his weary bosom s the seeks no passing change to bring his thoughts relief no tidings ever reach his car of human joy or grief the world is all shut out and free from every sordid pain he folds that sacred page and reads then thinks and reads again thus glide the hours from early till evening round when low the his knee upon the cold damp ground while turning to that above the skull the s home with feelings deep and hope sublime his fervent heart is full oh holy man and as good no cares are thine teach me oh teach me how to make thy hopes and pleasures mine the cliffs of oh never was s home so bold as that where the cliffs of stand the stern and cold guarding the shores of that mountain land and fearful the roar of those hollow the of waters those rocks among as the screaming sea bird and in the that dance to the s song and fearful the winds that are there and heavy the swell of that foaming tide when the pilot his bark with care and the frown in their stormy pride and never shall peace be on that shore nor silence within those deep live till the cliffs of frown no more and winds and waters have ceased to strive oh or the last interview of louis xvi with his family oh wondrous power of human skill with very tears the eye to fill to make the tide of deepest wo for ever rise for ever flow and casting o er the living form a beauty ever bright and warm defy the power of time to chill that burning grief that cry to still yes let the bright sun rise and set those never can forget let years roll on and other hearts have prompted all their parts let changing fortunes bring their share o of mingled sorrow joy and care that scene will be locked in agony that father s calm and look fixed like the page of sacred book to which we turn from year to year and find the truth still written there those younger forms that loving that mother with her anguish oh majesty of human grief beyond all pity all relief to live amid this changing life above its and strife and keep one feeling ever new holy and deep and firm and true the orphan nephew young grey was a youth the chase was all he loved nor tasks nor prayers nor parents tears his heedless bosom moved he was forth at with the early dawn while the dew lay on the ground away away o er burn and away with hawk and hound away with his mother s favourite away with his father s gold the were proud of their youthful lord and called him brave and bold they were proud and pleased with his open hand and cared no more than he what sorrow might come to his father s home if he their lord might be the orphan nephew they asked not why his mother s eye was dim with falling tears the of her cheek to them awoke no anxious fears what the youth young grey sits lonely in his tower why does he weep while others sleep through the silent midnight hour bright morning o er the grassy that skirt his wide domain r where are they those ones why come they not again a pall hangs over his father s his mother s head lies low their hall of state is desolate where is its welcome now he seeks once more the rosy bower his mother loved so much he calls to mind her accents kind he feels her tenderest touch no never more oh never more that gentle hand will stray the orphan nephew o er the wild of her where fondly it used to play alone for ever the friends who loved him best who flattered not but made his lot or would have made it grey is an altered youth he has an u stern and he his pride er a wiser lesson to learn he bows his head like a broken flower why stooped he not before that lesson he when he might have learned with a heart less sad and sore he might have listened while soft eyes with tears of tenderness and words of truth might have guided his youth from lips that longed to bless now all around looks dark and hope s promised joys grow dim for stem and strange is the fearful change which death has brought to him the orphan nephew o ye who slight your parents care your parents prayers remember that done when they are gone will love you with love like theirs the fair dance i wonder if ever the fairy world enchanted another like me when i used to wish and almost pray that a fairy i might see i remember a parlour with window low an old bow window wide a vine grew within it sweet roses without and many a flower beside and there i dreamed my early dreams a child	41
ere hanging the earth and sky the flight of that dizzy height in broken ruins around shall lie and thus we think when the cheek grows pale that death is there but life can tell a darker tale of long despair which eats the bloom from the rose of youth leaving the to linger on the visions of early truth one by one thb leaning of thus in the inmost soul there lies a secret power which pain perchance in some fair disguise it concealed from mortal eyes to suffer af ain the chase tell a noble game through fields and forests fair with yelling hound and echoing horn to chase the timid hare they tell me tis a noble art to ride at furious speed to win the race o er bush and and see the victim they say that britain s noblest sons the generous kind and true were ever foremost in the chase and britain s daughters too but tell not me of glorious deeds that have no generous aim the only noble sport is that where all enjoy the same v the chase the blood stain in the cheerful track the death cry in the field to savage natures a selfish joy may yield but give me that which all partake the bliss which all may borrow the laughter that no tear the joy that brings no sorrow id n city of ancient splendour where is now the wreath of fame that hound thy stately brow thy wealth of thy pomp and pride that rode triumphant on the heaving tide thy busy multitudes thy crowded courts and laden ships that sought thy sheltered ports thy gorgeous palaces thy towers thy fruitful gardens and thy blooming the s promise resting on thy land whose soil no stranger might command envy of nations mistress of the sea where are the golden hopes that dwelt with thee why the glory on thine ancient brow the same bright sun is shining on thee now the same of blue is still above thee still the traveller s view is bounded by the same unbroken range of everlasting hills that know no change si don yet time hath wrought oh what a change in thee no more thy o er the sea thy streets are desolate thy halls of pride a range of ruins stretched along the tide where many a broken arch and crumbling wall thy noon of glory and thy pomp recall a sea now sleeps along thy shore where idle the fruitless oar and the lone stranger pauses to survey the silent splendour of thy slow decay the they took him from the fight from childhood s songs of glee from green wood gay and sunshine and placed him with a noble knight his lady s page to be their castle frowned upon the deep in stern majestic pride around its base the sweep the rocks are wild and steep and fierce the foaming tide and he who loved the rosy bower and bank so well the waving bough the april shower and all the tints of leaf and in those dark must dwell no never will his bosom brook a page to be the discontented page his soul is with haughty look with task and weary book and with that restless sea he pines to see the forest gay to hear the hunter s horn or well remembered with sweet toned echo far away on mountain breezes borne and thus with many a childish tear he his plaintive moan the looks up to hear from d window cold and that melancholy tone oh thou with heart so warm and true the brave sir i if thou or thine my sorrows knew you would not leave me here to the hardship of my lot strange were the sounds from that lone tower the draws near they seemed to have the power of music in a fairy bower so gentle and so clear g the discontented fa b and sure ho deemed some lady fair by cruel foes betrayed poured to the winds her piteous prayer in hope some knight might wander there her plight to aid he knew the good sir he knew him kind and brave his oath of ne er forgot he soon would hasten to the spot to rescue and to save sir i brings a crew he comes at dead of night the towers are high his friends are few but thanks to that bold and true a ladder scales their height and soon a gentle form appears a stranger mute and meek is it because of maiden fears or shame or grief that burning tears are chasing o er that check sir was a courteous knight he spoke in accents mild o o c o the discontented page that well might soothe a when lo i there rose upon his sight the features of his child low bent the page upon his knee his tears burst forth he only asked for liberty within his father s halls to be a happy child again that boon was granted and away across the bay they sailed in his own castle far away sir oft the day when childhood s tears prevailed o ths shepherd of mount watching by thy sheep from the till night listening to the murmur deep of yon torrent clear and bright where it rushes from between lofty pine and old hastening to the banks of green with its waters pure and cold lonely shepherd on the hill where no other footstep comes when thy wandering flocks are still when the seek their homes when no moving is seen and no sound in earth or air tell that life has ever been with its joys and sorrows there shepherd dost thou ever look back into the page of time l q the of to that holy book faithful record of thy where	41
the prophet s hymn hath told told in strains of melody how thy firm and bold types of human strength may be lonely shepherd hast thou ne er heard those tell their story to the wandering mountain air whispering of their ancient glory how the king of chose from the forests at thy feet lofty such as those for his lord s own temple meet shepherd hast thou never dreamed s waves were swelling near when the blast has seemed like a tempest to thine ear hast thou never learned to see former things in those that are made them live again and be just as real as they were lonely shepherd none have told half this wondrous tale to thee the of who the truth shall now who shall set thy spirit free free to range the utmost scope of this world so fair and bright free to on wings of hope to the of life and light shepherd thou hast never learned how the page of thought to fill thine the evening fire has burned thine the cottage on the hill thine the range of fields and this glorious all the boon thou ask st it space to feed thy flocks upon the orphan sisters were those orphan girls the world was cold around them thus closer to each youthful heart they drew the that hound them and thus they spoke so tenderly and smiled upon each other for both had wept a father s death and both had lost a mother the same soft hand in childhood s hour had smoothed their nightly pillow and now they venture forth alone upon life s stormy but like two vessels side by side in calm or boisterous weather the they sail beneath the same blue sky or meet the blast together the world has not a sunny spot or path of duty but they would share its weariness as they would share its beauty and ever if a cloud appears or shade comes o er their pleasure they turn to where a fair their mutual treasure in gentle words of deepest truth traced by a dying mother they read her last her parting prayer her charge to love each other nor can they look upon the page without a tear drop stealing for life has nothing left to them like that fond mother s feeling save that a sister s tenderness a mother s smile may borrow and thus may cheer the hour and soothe the deepest sorrow o the sisters then gently guard a sister s love tis richly worth thy keeping nor let it first be sought when thou an orphan s tears art weeping city of these is a grave in every land where british weep nor snowy height nor burning sand but some keep of those who bravely fought and fell with none to catch their last farewell or hang upon the lingering tone of that fond word tiu life was gone even here where are bright and trees that grow in indian soil the traveller s wandering gaze invite and him on for many a mile the fate of these officers is by a stately erected near their graves in the centre of the town of a scene which naturally leads to a train of melancholy and interesting reflections in the minds of those travellers who visit the remote and almost inaccessible capital of city of up mountain and shadowy by pathway rudely made where scarce a human step would seem to trace that path save in a dream even here a city old and strong like lion seems to lie the silent hills among while far away the wandering eye stretches across a world of space the serpent winding stream to trade till lost in distance faint and gray it into the clouds away even here what tells that column what language speaks that honoured grave within the city s ancient wall of those whom victory could not save four british warriors lowly laid sleep where that column casts its shade their pillow on that burning land as peaceful as their native strand italy oh i could the sea with its silvery flow bring repose or the shadows that come and go over the rose could the skies that shine with eternal or air from gardens that bloom in their richest green and fair could the mountains that live in that calm blue heaven still and bright save that their tops are tempest and mock the sight could the woods with their cool and to rest or fountains bright with sparkling showers or ocean s breast q italy reflecting every picture again pillar and wall mountain and wood in the crystal plain all could these with the thousand hues they take to charm and please as the airs from the mountain wake the whispering trees bring to the heart that is weary with care all it desires sweet were the refuge the shelter there when the world sweet to the traveller tossed and worn his wanderings o er to float on those silvery waters borne to s shore i a b b e i dreamed that where the ocean ware old s ruins frown upon there yawned beneath my feet a grave there woke a low tone and listening to that voice of dread i there held converse with the dead perplexed and curious oft had strayed my steps to where the dead were laid this splendid and venerable ruin of an origin earlier than the eighth century is a memorial of departed years whether it be viewed as the altar on which a maiden sacrificed her earthly hopes thither led by an enthusiastic and mistaken seal or as the fortress of an imperious who strangely blended piety with warfare and religious services with the shock of arms it calls up visions of other days on which the poet the	41
philosopher and the historian delight to dwell ruin sublime oh who could on thee untouched by tender thoughts and glimmering dreams of long departed years abbey with and grassy mound to mark that consecrated ground musing on days of glory past when stood those walls so proud and vast by the tempest din of war without and strife within musing on happier times when rung the s evening and peaceful brethren came and trod with d feet that sod musing and wondering what could bring from far and near such different minds such various voices there to sing their mingled to the winds tell me thou of the tomb speak from thy cave of silent gloom speak for that truth the living truth dwells in the grave speak then i cried and in mine ear woke both deep and clear like rippling swell of foaming tide when fall its side by side first sweeping o er the sandy bay then sinking fainting fast away d g abbey proud child of earth the voice began tis thine the ways of heaven to with listening ear and envious eye to on man s destiny yet mark thou well this sacred truth remembered best when learned in youth the only worship meet for heaven in of mind is given then let not garb conceal thy secret want of fervent zeal let no vain thoughts or selfish end lead thee to tread this sod let no purpose with service rendered to thy god mine was the warrior s battle cry mine was the banner floating high mine was the victory won and on the lists of fame was s bold and name from to son i said that victory s wreath was mine but mark my words that wreath to with fortune firm and true falls to the favoured lot of few q abbey and ere my locks were gray the tide of conquest away borne down by numbers wasted worn by treacherous laughed to scorn i sought the s power to shield me in mine evil hour but who shall tell what thoughts were there mingling with penance and with prayer what schemes of vengeance dire and deep flashed through my brain awake asleep for ever in my burning breast i nursed the same dark foe to rest a spirit to attain the dizzy heights of fame again nor mine alone that mockery made of worship when my thoughts have strayed back to the stir of battle field to waving banner sword and shield and shout of victory wild and high from thousands met to fight and die yet these were mine when kneeling low on the cold stones i pressed my brow and many a heart with secret pride and many a bending form beside met there and on that pavement rude with lowly mien and look offered that seeming sacrifice a holy god might well despise of earth be warned by me bend not to heaven the knee nor walk before the eyes of men an saint with solemn mien unless thy bosom the while with love of truth and hate of for not the s walls alone and not the altar s sacred stone bear witness to that treason bold of outward zeal with cold i woke the warning dream remained the voice still echoes on mine ear the truths it taught have sometimes and sometimes made the true more dear m thi great of behold what bustling scenes hath life at home abroad the same the same toil and strife for glory wealth or fame the same quick step and eager eye where interest points the way temptation spread for those who buy and smiles for those who pay but pass ye on from glittering from wrought with gold from robe with hem and treasures yet though brightly shines the diamond wreath and the rich perfume pass on for tears may flow beneath where scented roses bloom i of within the s silken folds the secret lies there and robe too often holds the worm of care i fa of well might the in his pride prefer thy fresh and foaming tide thou sparkling mountain stream where should the fainting go to him from his deadly foe but to the springs that sweetly flow and ever purer seem yet not thy crystal waters pure were those of healing safe and sure else had the plague been stayed of the majestic beauty of the scene here represented a deep interest to this mountain stream as being the ancient which the lord so naturally esteemed above the to whose waters he was recommended to resort for the healing of his in the peaceful homes of the mountain ballad is heard the tale told and the wine of drunk and a mild and kind and well dressed circle round the stranger at is not this delightful in such a land pass of but man s proud heart of flesh must learn from things of high to turn nor must the t the little hebrew maid when god has blessed with healing touch tis ours to seek those streams as such where er their current flows nor all the ancient city gave of pomp and splendour to that wave which owned no sovereign power to save could make it sweet as those c ths eye they murmured against the of the house saying these last have wrought but one hour and thou hast made them equal unto us which have borne the burden and heat of the day but he answered one of them and said friend i do thee no wrong who hath bitterness on earth he who hates another s good he who cannot share in mirth lest a happier brother should envy s evil eye can see cause for malice and for blame where the warmest praise should be poured upon a name keen to feel and	41
too vulgar and too frequently assented too to need repetition here except as an established j feet the nature cause and consequence of which i propose endeavouring to point out in the following pages a taste for poetry exists there will be a desire to read as well as to write to receive as well as to impart that enjoyment which poetic feeling in other cases of produce the supply is found to keep pace with the demand except when physical causes operate against it if the poets of the present day have written themselves out as the common and expression is what with a rapidly increasing population should hinder the springing up of fresh poets to delight the world the fact is that most of the living poets have themselves to prose as employment thus proving that the taste for poetry is in the public mind and while on one hand genius is weeping over her harvest in the sun without hope of profit to repay the toil of gathering in the golden store on the other criticism is in arms against less sordid and calls in no measured terms upon the mighty of past ages to of her three different motives operate in men to poetry the love of fame the want of money and an internal restlessness of feeling which is too called genius the of these ceases with the second for without the means of circulation there can be no hope of fame the third alone in tjie present day and small indeed is tlie bestowed in these ungrateful times upon the poets who write because they cannot help it yet all is not this the true and legitimate method by which the genuine coin of genius is the love of fame is a high and soul principle but still degraded tlie of selfish and who does not feel that a shade is cast upon those expressions of noble sentiment which bear the impress of having been prepared and set forth solely for public approbation the want of money is indeed a potent how potent let the midnight labours of tlie starving poet testify the want of money may it is true urge onward ds the same goal as the love of fame but the one as it were from behind by the application of a while the other and by tlie brightness of some object before which too proves to be an in the distance but there is within the human mind an active and powerful principle that the faculties lights up the brain and forth imagination to gather up from the wide realm of nature the very essence of what every human bosom pines for when it to a higher state of existence and feels the of this it is this heaven bom and ethereal principle not as the spirit of that a of the flowers which imagination has and from the of its own passion to impart as well as to receive enjoyment casts this at the feet of the sordid and busy multitude who pause not to admire hut b e ty in ft is this principle that will not let the intellectual faculties remain but is for ever working in the of the brain it is this principle when under the ent of right reason which is properly called genius it is this principle when from its high purpose and made the minister of base passions which produces most d most ruin it is this when devoted to tlie cause of which over tlie path of desolation flowers of love floods of light upon our distant prospects of the celestial city and the of h ta melody this principle in less t would describe as the poetry of life j because it all things either felt or understood where the associations are sublime beautiful and tender or in short where tho ideas which naturally connect themselves with our contemplation subjects are most exclusively and te se n e that there is in real hfe with all its sorrows and pains and sordid anxieties and that all is not vanity and vexation of spirit under the sun to him who can honestly and innocently enjoy the commonest blessings of providence has been already proved by one in whose steps i feel that am unworthy to walk but since in his admirable lectures on poetry he has treated the subject than a principle i am to take up me to which he above all men more especially above all women would have done justice had he chosen to forth into more and notions respecting the nature and influence of poetic feeling that the poetry of the present times is an article needs then no farther proof than the observation and experience of every day and since it is as difficult to believe that the human mind with all the advantages afforded by the most enlightened state of civilization should have become more base and as that the treasury of nature should be exhausted it becomes a subject of curious and interesting investigation to search out the cause and ascertain whether it may not be in some to pr t system of education l ing np f w rather of ideas of the head er than of tj e heart of calculation rather moral feeling while the full and free tide of knowledge is daily pouring from the press while books and book makers appear before us in every possible situation and under all imaginable circumstances so that to have written a volume is no less a distinction to have read one through while cheap and popular with all manner of interesting details are accessible to the poorest classes of the it is impossible to believe that is not sufficient talent concentrated or afloat to constitute a poet and while the blue over all while that sky is studded with the same bright host of stars amongst which the philosopher is perpetually discovering	41
fresh worlds of glory while the seasons with infinite variety still continue to bring forth to and to perfect the produce of the earth while the woods are with melody and ihe air is peopled witli of beings whose busy wings are dipped in gold or bathed in or light and fragile as the yet ever bearing them on through a region of delight from tlie snowy bosom of the to the scented atmosphere of the rose while the mountain stream rushes down from the hills or the rivers roll onward to the sea and above all while there exists in the heart of man a deep sense of these a mirror in which beauty is reflected an echo to the voice of music while he is capable of feeling admiration for tliat which is n ble or sublime tenderness for the weak sympathy for the suffering and for all things lovely it is impossible to believe that true should cease to please or fail to awaken a response in the human heart that man it capable of and more and more capable in proportion as he r of poetry i and the noblest of his nature we have to thank the of all our the creator of all our how are these faculties now cultivated knowledge is power but neither is knowledge all that we for nor power that we there are d mysteries m the book nature which can but none will ever un der stand until the veil f shall be withdrawn there are m the soul of man which constitute the very essence of his being and wliich neither satisfy nor su ue yet this mystery more truly than tlie proofs or of science a master hand has b en for ages and js still at work above beneath and around us and this moving principle is for ever reminding us tliat in our nature we inherit the of a future existence over which time has no influence and the grave no victory far be it from every liberal mind to maintain the superiority of feeling over tlie faculties of our nature in forming a correct opinion on any subject of taste it i to examine c re and with an eye to what is most admirable and a judgment controlled by a strict to tlie rules of art no argument is required to prove that were feeling allowed to be the sole impulse of our actions we should become as morals as absurd in our pursuits or that the man gifted with the and keenest yet in scientific rules would expose himself to well ridicule should he attempt in a poem or a picture to his own of grandeur or beauty even were he able to throw into his performance the force of the most daring genius or ihe most enthusiasm it would prove in the end no better than a mockery of art and a memorial of his own madness and folly nor on the other hand will he who is by nature destitute of sensibility or he who has pent e spring time f existence in the city and expended all the fresh of his mind in the bustle and hurry of sordid occupations having laid up secret store of associations with what is noble lovely or refined in nature be able to produce a poem or a picture that will please the imagination or warm the heart even though in his performance the should find no fault with the harmony of his numbers tlie choice of his colouring or the subjects of both the of a true poet are in the first place natural capacity and favourable opportunity for receiving impressions and in the second to arrange compare and select from these impressions without the former he must be deficient m materials for his work without the latter he must want the power to make a rational use of any materials whatever it is tlie former alone tliat we suppose to be wanting in tlie present day for though the human mind unquestionably the same it possessed in the last century it is possible that opportunities for strong from external nature may not now be with tlie same and that in the present rapid march of intellect the muse of may be so hurried out of breath as not to find time to chant her charmed lays the same causes which tend to destroy that taste which would to tlie works of our poets a welcome reception in refined and intellectual circles of society necessarily operate against the production of poetry and while we to our minds witli ideas of tlie sublime beautiful we must naturally lose the and finer of our nature to awaken these and these by out what it is which the poetry of life will be the task of the writer through the following pages to prove that in order to see think or write it is necessary that we should at some period of our have had time and opportunity to receive deep and lasting impressions and that out of impressions is woven tlie interminable chain of association which our of things present with o r ideas or of those which are remote in a serious and task it would ill become an agent to neglect the important inquiry of what may be the moral good of such an im i li and here the question will naturally occur to many whether poetry is of any real value in the happiness of man england is a commercial and we know tliat poetry has little to do with increasing the of commerce as little as with better of the poor laws or with the settlement of any of those leading questions which at present the political world but poetry has a world of its a world in which jf sordid have no place no le tiie part our nature is cherished ed d upon	41
this inspiring theme it is impossible not to the of moderate powers when compared with those of perhaps the most luminous writers the present day whose review of milton s works contains in direct relation to this subject the following eloquent and appeal to tlie t of human np t quote at great length t e i would not break the charm of the whole passage by and i risk the quotation at the peril of having the rest of my book contrasted with these pages like a of mock gems in which is one true diamond milton s fame rests chiefly on liis poetry and to this we naturally give our first tion by those who are apt to speak of as light reading milton s eminence in this sphere may be considered as only giving him a high rank among the to public amusement not so thought milton of all god s gifts of intellect he esteemed poetical genius the most he esteemed it in as a of inspiration and his great works with something of the conscious dignity of a prophet we agree with milton in his estimate of poetry it seems to us the of all arts for it is the breathing or expression of tliat principle of li is deepest and in human nature we mean of that thirst or to which no mind is wholly a stranger for something purer and something more powerful lofty and than ordinary and real life affords no doctrine more christians than that of man s immortality but it is ot so generally understood that the or principles of his whole future being are wrapped up in ins soul as the me tee seed as a re of this the soul possessed and moved by these mighty though infant energies is perpetually stretching beyond what is and visible ig against se bounds ear ly prison house and seeking relief and joy in of unseen and ideal being this view of our nature which has never been fully developed and which goes farther towards explaining the of human life than all others carries us to the very foundation and sources of poetry he who cannot interpret by his own consciousness what we have now said wants the true key to works of genius he has not penetrated those sacred recesses of the soul where poetry i s b pr n and and immortal vigour and wings herself for her flight in an intellectual nature framed for progress and for higher modes of being there must be energies powers of original and ever growing thought and poetry is the form in which these energies are chiefly th of art that it makes all things new for the gratification of a divine instinct it indeed finds its elements in what it actually sees and experiences in the worlds of matter and mind but it and these into new forms and according to new breaks down if we may so say tlie distinctions and bounds of nature to material objects life and sentiment and emotion and the mind with the powers and of the outward creation describes the in the colours which the passions throw over it and the mind in those modes of repose or agitation of tenderness or sublime which manifest its thirst for a more and joyful existence to a man of a literal and character the mind may seem lawless in these workings but it higher laws than it the laws of the i l intellect it is trying and developing us best and in the objects which it describes or in the emotions it those states of power splendour beauty and happiness for which it was created v t i of poetry i we accordingly believe that poetry so far from society is one of the great instruments of its refinement and it the mind above ordinary j gives it a from aad of ith w t p e j et in its legitimate and highest efforts it has the tendency and aim with christianity that is to our nature true poetry has b n made tee instrument of vice the of bad passions but when genius thus it its fires and parts with much of its power and even when poetry is to or she cannot wholly forget her true strains of pure feeling touches of tenderness images of innocent happiness sympathies with virtue bursts of scorn or indignation at the of the world passages true to our moral nature escape in an work and show us how hard it is for a spirit to divorce itself wholly from what is good poetry has a natural alliance with our best affections it delights tn the beauty and of the outward creation and of the soul it indeed with energy the of the passions but they are passions which show a mighty nature which are full of power which command awe and excite a deep though shuddering sympathy its great tendency and purpose is to carry the mind beyond and above the beaten dusty weary walks of ordinary life to lift it into a purer element and to breathe into it more profound and generous emotion it to us the loveliness of nature brings back the freshness of youthful feeling the relish of simple pleasures keeps the enthusiasm which warmed the of our being youthful love our interest in human nature by vivid of its tenderest and feeling us by new ties with universal being and through the brightness of its prophetic visions helps to lay hold on the future life we are aware that it is objected to poetry that it gives wrong views and false expectations of life the mind with shadows and illusions and up imagination on the ruins of wisdom that there is a wisdom against which poetry wars the wisdom of the senses which makes physical comfort and gratification the supreme good and wealth the chief interest of life we do not	41
an imagination so dull but the contemplation of a ruin will awaken it to some dim and dreamy associations with past ages scarcely a heart so but it will feel in with such a scene some touch of that melancholy which inspired the memorable exclamation all is vanity and vexation of spirit but let the of man erect a modem ruin or mock arch for arch and pillar for pillar nay let him if possible plant weed for weed the fancy not be into illusion this toy of yesterday will remain a still amongst the labours of man s ingenuity and skill there are few things more poetical than the aspect of a ship at sea whether she goes forth with swelling sails before the wind or upon a quiet even the simplest or vessels floating on the surface of the water from the lazy that along the smooth canal to the that sports among the glowing waters of more classic shores from the simple craft that upon our own rivers to the rude of e savage darting among of coral choice subjects for the painter s pencil and the poet s song who ms not watched with intense interest a little speck upon the ocean that and until human forms at length were visible and then the splash of the oar was heard at regular intervals and at last on the crest of a foaming wave the boat seemed to bound triumphant on the shore where a little band of e long tried and the faithful amongst whom woman is never found wanting welcome the home safe from the storms and the dangers of the sea who has not stood upon the beach a silent but deeply interested spectator while a crew of hardy sailors launched forth their little bark amongst the roaring their way through foam and now dipping into the dark hollows between every swell and then rising upon the snowy crest of the raging a few moments more of determined struggle and the difficulty is overcome and now they have hoisted sail and are gone bounding over the dark blue waters perhaps never to return who has not marked while gazing on the surface of the silent lake when the moon was shining that long line of trembling that looks like a pathway to a better world suddenly broken by the of some object that proves to be a boat in which human forms are though distant yet marked out with a momentary distinctness which imagination a fund of associations connecting those unknown objects so quickly seen and then lost for ever with vague speculations about what they are or have been from whence they have so suddenly emerged to what unseen of space they may be destined and what may be the darkness or the radiance poetical subjects future course or who has ever the departure of a gallant vessel it skies bound on a distant uncertain voyage her sails all trim her ing tight her deck well her secure as skill and foresight can e it while she one moment with to rise more proudly the y bursting through the ruffled waters dashing from her sides the i without thinking of a proud and rushing forth on its adventurous er unconscious of the rocks and rude and the raging that it its onward course or who without of something more than earthly gaze over the surface of when the winds are sleeping and the es at rest except on the near voyage of blue expanse where a gentle murmur regular ebb and flow of soothing and sound marks the intervals at which e of sleepy waves rise and fall and other without pause or car up the sparkling shore and into the depths of the smooth and ing he sun is in the heavens the air is r and now and then a white i sails along the field of its misty marked out in momentary darkness on below like the passing shadow of an il a wings while far far in the distance gliding on towards the horizon are wandering messengers of the deep that tidings from shore to shore their now glancing white in the now darkened by the passing cloud ing on such a scene we forget our own our own earthly bodily existence in a world of spirits and are lost in in memories and hopes belong not to the things of clay every we behold is and the rugged terrible majesty and seem to threaten e they wn upon the shore and boundless sea represented at as acting or by its own or power is now more than ever the thoughts and passions of spiritual ence and seems to speak to us in its solemn and most intelligible language of terror in motion and in repose but more than all the ships that go for upon its bosom convey to our fancy the idea of influenced by an instinct of their own so well ordered are all their movements so perfect appears the harmony of their construction and design yet so hidden by the obscurity of the distance is the moving principle within that by their own faith they seem to trust themselves where the foot of man dare not tread and by their own they seem to be on to some distant point which the eye of man is unable to discern in a widely extended sea view there is unquestionably poetry enough to inspire the happiest lays but the converse of lis picture is easily drawn and fatal to the poet s song would be the first view of the interior of any one of those gallant and stately ships about which we have been dreaming the moving principle within respecting which we have had such refined is now in a company of hardy sailors whose rude laughter and oaths are no less to our ear than to our	41
taste it is true that a certain kind of order and discipline amongst them but the wretched passengers below are lost for a time to all mental sensations and or with them we soon forget the poetry of life there is poetry in the of sparkling waters that burst forth from the hill side in some lonely and spot and flow on in amongst the rocks and and of wild plants on on for ever and yet perpetually losing themselves in the bosom of the silent and majestic river where the hurry and murmur of their course is lost like the restless passions that the breast of man in the ocean of eternity and there is poetry in the burst of the that comes over the brow of the precipice with a seeming consciousness of its own power to bear down and to subdue it is related of richard that when he first beheld the celebrated falls of term he exclaimed well done water p here indeed was no poetry no association his mind was too full of that mighty object as it first struck upon his senses to admit at the the poetry op life i ii moment of any relative idea his was one of mere animal surprise such as his dog mi t have uttered had he possessed the organs of speech and yet the same man when he seized his pencil and gave up his imagination to the full force of those impressions which if we may judge hy his works few have felt more intensely was able to nature not merely seen as it is in any given section of the earth s surface but to group together and in one scene all that is most harmonious in the quickly and beauties of wood and water hill and valley sombre shade and glowing deep and heavens there is poetry in the hum of bees when the are in bloom and the sun is shining in the waving meadows garden is richly with spring flowers there is poetry in the hum of the bee because it brings back to us as in a dream the memory of days when our hearts were alive to the happiness of childhood the time when we could lie down upon the green bank and enjoy the stillness of summer s noon when our hopes were in the blossoms of the orchard our delight in the sun shine our in the meadows and our perpetual amusement in the scented flowers since these days time has rolled over us with such a of incident bringing so many changes in our modes of living and t that we have learned perhaps at some cost to our feelings and to say rather than feel that there is poetry in the hum of bees but let one of these honey laden find his way into our apartment and while he struggles with efforts to escape through the closed window we cease to find pleasure in his busy hum there is poetry in the flowers that grow in sweet profusion upon wild and spots of earth exposing their delicate to the tread of the rude inhabitants of the and spreading forth their scented charms to the careless mountain wind in tiie thousand thousand little stars of beauty looking forth like eyes with no eye to look again or cups that seem formed to catch the dew drops or of varied hue shooting up from leafy beds and pointing faithfully to the shining sky or crowns of golden splendour mounted upon fragile stems or purple wreaths that never touched a human brow all bursting forth blooming and then fading with endless succession in the midst of in rain and sunshine in silent night and glowing day with an end and purpose in their brief existence inscrutable to the mind of man the flowers of the garden though possessing more richness and gorgeous beauty are less poetical because we see too clearly in their arrangement and culture the art and labour of man we are reminded at every group of the work of the and perceive at once and without mystery why they have been planted in the exact spot i where they now grow i there is poetry in the first contemplation of those numerous islands which the southern ocean poetry in the majestic that rise one above another their varied peaks and clear and bright in sunshine and their very clothed with while bursting from amongst their deep recesses are innumerable streams that glide down their rugged sides now glancing out like threads of silver now hidden in shade and darkness until they find their way into the broad and silent where the angry surf and the mountains woods and streams are seen again in the of the water save by the rapid gliding of the light that among the coral rocks and then lies in still water beneath some stately tree whose leafy boughs form a welcome of shade for the luxuriant in that sunny time was when those who had over the first contemplation of this scene were compelled to mourn over the contrast which ignorance and presented on a nearer view but now blessed be the power that can the heart of man with all that ia grateful and genial in the external world the traveller approaching and beholding this lovely picture need no longer shrink from the horrors which a i closer inspection formerly revealed poetical subjects external with poetry much more forcibly does it faculties and sentiments of the l consider only three love hope memory what power even in the ns of the was ever able to like the passion of love is with all that we desire into loveliness discord for harmony giving to the the exquisite faculty of it and to the e r a secret m that turns every sound to music hope would be hope no longer	41
if it did paint the future in the colours we most ire its very existence depends upon power it possesses to to the rt the otherwise bitter cup of life love and hope may be degraded by the estimate we sometimes form of what is thy of our admiration passion too i her mastery over both blind and willing slaves to call evil and good evil while memory if not faithful to her trust is at least to hold it and thus in their genuine distinctness the of life but kindly e which are most in in looking upon the past little that is sordid mean or selfish conspicuous n w past hours of ie every day enjoyment are invested i a charm they knew not at the time ed is thrown over the petty cares of by b years passion is of its h bom violence and sorrow looks so ly in the distance that we almost ourselves it was better to weep such s as we wept then than to smile as we e now at why pursue this theme it is that neither sounds objects nor of contemplation are poetical in but in their associations and that they so just in proportion as these i are intellectual and refined nature is of poetry from the high mountain to the valley from the bleak le grove from the star lit i to the earth and the mind can most itself of ideas and sen ns belonging exclusively to matter will be able to in the of nature with the most perfect of delight individual the of taste not found in persons whose station and habits of life are similar may be attributed both to individual and to those instances of early bias received from local circumstances which none can remember and which consequently no pen can record that of taste is chiefly owing to the influence of association is shown by those minor or which certain individuals for things possessing no quality inherent in themselves to justify such peculiar choice or and which have no corresponding in the opinion of mankind in general without returning to the days of infancy when the first impressions were made upon our senses when our eyes were first able to see and our ears to hear it would be impossible to trace to their origin au our peculiarities of taste and feeling or to the precise reason why we are subject to sensations of pleasure or disgust from causes which do not influence the rest of mankind in a similar manner sensations which from their and to others apparent absurd ty fall under the of caprice who can say how far his peculiar ideas of beauty and melody may have been derived from the countenance of the kind nurse who first smiled upon him in his cradle and the sweet voice that first sung him to sleep or of and discord from the harsh brow whose he first learned to dread and the voice whose threatening tones were followed by punishment and pain if the taste of one individual is gratified by a picture upon which a strong and vivid light is thrown and another prefers that which the cool tints of a cloudy atmosphere it is attributed to some peculiarity in their several organs of sight but is it not equally possible to be in some measure owing to one having been too much confined to i the poetry op life darkness in his infancy and the other painfully exposed to the glare of too much light these may appear but idle speculations since we are and ever must remain in want of that master key to the human the knowledge of the state of the infant mind its degree of and the manner in which it first receives impressions through the organs of sense so far as we can recollect however it is clear to all who will take the trouble to examine the subject that strong and prejudices are in very early life before we are capable of reasoning and that these sometimes remain with us to the last there are seldom two persons who agree exactly in their of the proper names of individuals one what the other and scarcely one instance in twenty occurs in which their feelings are the same nor is it merely the harmony or discord of the sound which occasions preference or dislike each to the name in question a distinct character most probably owing to some association of ideas between that name and a certain individual known in early life and though they may have both known and lived amongst the same individuals it is hardly probable that two minds should have regarded them precisely in the same manner hence different associations arises a difference of taste in the present state of society are few persons who have not in the course of their reading become with scripture names earlier than with any other and this one would suppose should lead to their being generally preferred and adopted yet so far from this being the case they are many of them regarded with a degree of ridicule and disgust which can only be accounted for by our first becoming acquainted with them before we have been inspired with love gratitude or reverence for tlie record in which they are found nor is it easy to account for the of the fine roman names in their usual application to our dogs and other animals and next to them to those miserable from human fellowship which a christian world has deemed unworthy of a christian the negro slaves unless that have generally enjoyed the honour of their fathers dogs when they were more familiar with caesar s than with the character of the illustrious roman why are we not able for many years after our to perceive and relish the beauties of those from the poets which we were	41
compelled to learn by heart as at school it is because our first acquaintance with them was formed under sensations of pain and which time is long in out if by the mere sound of a name such sensations are excited in different minds how much more extensive must be the variety of those called up by words of more comprehensive let us suppose four individuals a newly elected member of parliament a a and a poet each at liberty to pursue his own reflections when the word winter is suddenly introduced to his mind the immediately thinks of the next of the representatives of the people when he shall stand forth to make his maiden speech of the important subjects that will probably be laid before the consideration of the house of the part he shall feel himself called upon to take in the discussion of these and how he may be able to act so as to satisfy the claims of his and his conscience without offending either the thinks of his bills and his bad debts of the price of coals and the winter fashions the thinks and while he thinks of the cold of that season of the various signs and that a hard winter and of how much or rather how little the parish will be likely to allow to his necessities for clothing food and fire by a slight and almost transition of thought one of these has already arrived at the idea of conscience another at that of fashion and a third at that of fire but the poet provided he be not identified with the passing over subjects of merely interest knows no bounds to his his lively and fancy carries him northward to those frozen regions which man has visited but in thought here he associations through the thin and piercing air then upon a sea of ice or looks down from of everlasting snow until wearied with the solitude he seeks the of man and follows the fur clad with his faithful over and but the poet though a wanderer by profession yet still faithful to home and early returns every excursion to drink of his native well and to enjoy the peace of his paternal hearth here in the he loves he a scene of picturesque and beauty a still and morning when the frost is glittering upon every spray and the trees laden with a burden cast their deep shadows here and there upon the silvery and bosom of the earth he sees the solitary robin perched upon the thorn and hears its winter song of melancholy sweetness that plaintive touching strain to which every human bosom echoes with a sad response but quickly comes the roaring blast like a torrent rushing down from the hills the light snow is tossed like foam upon the waves of tiie wind and the mountain pine shaking off the frosty from his boughs for one moment before the fury of the thundering tempest and then stands erect again upon the steep where his forefathers have stood for ages night in with darkness and dismay and while the moaning of the venerable oak the forest like the voice of a mighty and unseen spirit and the of the blast seems mingled with the shrieks of bewildered travellers or on the deep the poet in the distance the glimmering lights of some hospitable mansion and in an instant he is transported to a scene of happiness glowing with social comforts and glee where the wanderer finds safety the weary are welcomed to repose and the wretched exchange their tears for joy impressions made upon our minds by local circumstances are frequently of so deep and a nature as to all the of chance and change which to us in after life should the poet or the painter in his study endeavour to place before his mind s eye the picture of a brilliant sunset he that scenery in the midst ot which his youthful imagination was first warmed into poetic life by the golden day s decline he sees bright and gorgeous with the distant hill which his boyish fancy taught him to believe it would be the height of happiness to climb the sombre woods that skirt the horizon the valley misty and indistinct below the wandering river whose glancing waters are here and there touched as they gleam out with the radiance of the west and while memory again the long deep shadows of the trees that grew around his father s dwelling he feels the calm of that peaceful hour mingling with the thousand associations that combine to form his most vivid and poetical idea of sunset in this manner we not single out from the works of art some favorite object upon which we bestow an interest so deep a regard so earnest that they wear the character of admiration which no perceptible quality in the object itself can justify and which other are unable to understand in a collection of paintings we look around for those which are most worthy of general notice when suddenly our attention is struck with one uttle almost concealed in an obscure comer and totally unobserved by any one beside it is the representation of a village church the very church where we learned to feel and in part to understand the solemnity of the sabbath beside its venerable walls are the last of our kindred and beneath that dark and mournful is the ancient s grave here is the winding path so familiar to our steps when we trod the earth more lightly than we do now the on which the little orphan girl used to sit while her brothers were at play and the low bench beside the cottage door where the ancient dame used to pore over her bible in the bright sunshine perhaps the wheels of	41
time have rolled over us with no pressure since we that scene the of our present lot makes the brightness of the past more t whatever the cause may be our gaze is fixed and fascinated and we away firom the more the poetry op life wonderful productions of art to muse upon that little picture again and again when all but ourselves have passed it by without a thought it is not however the earliest impressions made upon the mind which are always the most lasting or vivid we are all subject to the influence of strong and overpowering associations with circumstances which occur in life and of which we retain a clear recollection we are apt to be deeply yet differently affected by certain kinds of music in the same apartment and while the same air is sung or played by a unconscious of its secret power and some of the audience will be thrown into of delight and calling forth the strain again with enjoyment while one in whose sad heart the springs of memory are opened will turn away unnoticed in that happy crowd to the tears which the thoughts of home and early days when that was first heard have called forth from the eyes of a stranger in a strange land if i might always listen to that tune one i should never know again spare me that song of mirth is the secret prayer of the stranger it belongs to my own country it me of the beauty and gladness of my native land spare me that song of mirth for my heart is sorrowful and i am alone innumerable are the instances of daily and almost occurrence in which we perceive that some particular tone of feeling is excited but know not whence it takes its rise as we listen to the wild music of the harp that perpetually from one melody to another we see the thrilling we hear the sweet and plaintive sound but we know not with all our wisdom what particular note the unseen will next produce nor can we calculate the caused by powerful but invisible hand when we hear the tender and affectionate expression i love this book because it wan my mother s we know at once why a book approved by a mother s judgment should be valued by a but when we hear any say i prefer this room this table or this chair to all because they belonged to my mother the though quite as common and equally natural ia not so generally the room may be the least in the house the table the least convenient the chair the least easy yet they are valued not the less because they are associated with the image of one who was more dear perhaps more dear than any one will ever be again i have known the first wild rose of summer gathered with such such deep and earnest love such of the heart for by gone pleasures that for a moment its beauty was obscured by tears the of a bell after it has been heard for a departed friend has a tone of peculiar and painful solemnity the face of one whom we have met with comparative indifference in a season of happiness is afterwards hailed with delight when it is all that remains to us of the past the that was gathered on a distant shore becomes valuable as a when we know that we shall visit that land no more there is no sound however simple or sweet that may not be converted into discord when it calls up sensations in the mind nor is there any melody in nature to the tones of the voice that has once spoken to the heart wept on beholding the little common flower that we call he wept because he was alone and it reminded him of the beloved friend at whose feet it had been gathered i remember being affected by this circumstance at a very early age and the association has become so powerful that in looking at this flower i always feel a sensation of melancholy and persuade myself that the pale blue star half concealed beneath the dark green leaves is like a soft blue eye that scarcely to look up from beneath the gloom of sorrow the of the cock is generally considered a lively and cheering sound yet i knew one who for many years could not hear a cock crow at midnight without sensations of anguish and horror because it had once been painfully forced upon her notice while she was watching the dead a gentleman of my acquaintance in speaking to me of his mother s death which was sudden and unexpected described the day individual associations on which this event took place as one of those periods in our existence when the mind seems incapable o feeling what it knows to be a painful truth he had retired to rest with an indistinct idea of what occurred but remained unable to realize the extent of his calamity it had been his mother s custom to take away his candle every night perhaps to breathe a prayer at his bed side as he laid his head upon the pillow he saw the light standing as usual but no gentle form approached and m an instant he felt the full force of his he was setting off in life with brighter hopes than fall to the lot of many but that first and purest of earth s blessings a mother s love was lost to him for ever associations of this kind however are not such as constitute the subjects for the poet because from their local or particular nature they excite no general interest they may be powerful in the mind of the writer but will fail to awaken in other minds a degree of feeling except when the sensible object	41
or particular fact described is introduced merely as a for subjects of a nature to be generally felt and understood such as memory hope or love thus the poet may properly address an object of which he alone the beauty or describe a circumstance of which he alone feels the pathos provided he does not dwell too long upon the object or circumstance merely as such but carries the mind onward by some ingenious association to recollections which they naturally recall hopes which were then cherished or love whose nature may be connected with ail things lovely by dwelling exclusively upon one subject of merely local interest and such relative ideas as are common to all the most in matters of taste are every day committed are uttered which however entertaining to those who know to what circumstances they owe their value excite no corresponding in the wondering or insensible hearers anecdotes are related which from being out of place or seem to fall from the lips of the speaker as a wearisome and empty sound subjects of conversation are introduced in society perhaps intensely to one or two but from which all others are shut out books are selected and read aloud to those who will not listen pictures are exhibited to those who cannot see their beauty pleasures are proposed which from their want of are converted into pain intentions are and die best to be agreeable rewarded with disappointment and ingratitude in short for want of that and most valuable quality which mankind have agreed to call tact and which might be described as the nerve of human society many opportunities of enjoyment are wasted many good people are neglected and many good things are lost it would be hard indeed if we might not indulge our individual fancies by each the we like best the absurdity consists in compelling others to ride with us in forcing our upon their regard and expecting from them tiie same tribute of admiration which we ourselves bestow there is no moral law to prevent our being delighted with what is repulsive to others but it is an essential part of good manners to keep back from the notice of society such particular a great proof of good taste so to discipline our feelings that we derive the most enjoyment from what is generally pleasing general associations in turning our attention to the subject of general associations we enter upon a field so wide and fertile that to select suitable for examination appears the only difficulty all our most powerful and sublime ideas are common to mankind in a civilized state and arise in the minds of countless multitudes from the same causes by the phenomena of nature as well as by the magnificent productions of art we are all affected according to our various degrees of in precisely the same manner we all agree in the impressions we receive from extreme cases whether they belong to the majestic or the minute ao the poetry op life and no one who retained the of his reason would be excited to laughter by a thunder storm or to awe and reverence by the tricks of a merry but there are medium cases of a minor and more nature in which the poet s eye can distinguish what is exalted or refined or base and consequently what is most worthy of his genius nor let him who has openly committed himself in verse believe that such distinction him to make laws for his own and observe or the established rules of taste just as his own fancy may dictate the same celestial fire whidi his lay is warming blossoms amongst the crowd and mingled with the dense multitude which he are countless poets who constitute a from which there is no appeal who must eventually sit in judgment upon his works give the tone to public opinion and his doom him to oblivion or to fame those who have taken little pains to inquire into the nature and origin of their mental sensations often express a correct judgment of works of art from what they would be very likely to call a kind of instinct or perception of what is right or wrong but which might more be referred to of ideas derived from certain impressions associated compared and established by a process of the mind which they took no note of at the time and with which tbey have never made themselves acquainted of such is a great proportion of the multitude composed and it is this fact which gives to public that overpowering weight against which no single critic or even select body of critics can prevail the poet who is not a blind will learn by experience if he know not without that the public taste must be consulted in order to recommend himself to public approbation he therefore gives himself up to the study of what is universally regarded as most touching or sublime he to forget himself and setting aside the pains and pleasures of his own limited experience as a private store to draw upon when occasion may require or as a secret lamp from which he may sometimes borrow light to his imagination forth into the world of thought and from all existing or imaginable things that which the aspect of nature the soul of man and gives even to his every day existence such intensity of enjoyment as those who look at only as they are recorded and study matter merely as it is can never know general associations must therefore occupy an important place in the consideration of all who would study the poetry of life nor wiu such deem their time in following up a close examination of some particular subjects with reference to this essential point let us first consider that well known and familiar object the human face of even single and distinct features have frequently been thought important to	41
inspire the poet s lay from the earliest times the forehead has been dignified with a kind of personality and regarded as an index to the character of man whether bold or bland threatening or disturbed or serene nor is it in language peculiar to the poets only that we speak of a enemies with brow or that he his sentence of punishment with a forehead undisturbed that we are encouraged to hope for mercy by the bland or forehead of the judge or bear with a brow serene profess to read the natural character of man chiefly from the form of forehead but whether studied or not we all know in an instant what is indicated by the and lowering of the brow we know also without much assistance from study of any kind when the nature of the forehead is noble or mean harsh or mild we naturally look to the upper part of the face m order to form those opinions of our at first sight which are not a near approach to truth and we may with some degree of certainty read in the forehead when at rest what are the principal elements of character in those with whom we associate but scarcely can general associations a be or a passion than the muscles of the forehead are agitated by a corresponding movement how suddenly and strongly is the forehead affected by and even in listening attentively to a common story the eyebrows are occasionally elevated and thus a sure indication that the is interested and that the may proceed how striking is the of the forehead in deep and earnest thought how mournful under the gloom of sorrow how distorted by the violence of rage how solemn and yet how lovely in its character of intellectual beauty it is difficult to connect one idea of a gross or nature with the forehead all its are those of mind and most of them of a powerful refined or elevated character from the whom no painter has thought worthy of a high degree of yet whose forehead invariably a character mild delicate and pure to the dying whose anguish is less of the body than of the mind the forehead therefore is a subject well fitted for the poet s pen and he may sing of its various without fear of the rules of good taste the eye is poetical in a still higher degree because it possesses a greater facility in itself to present and in greater and variety the passions and affections of the mind indeed so perfect is the eye as an organ of intelligence that it is more frequently spoken of in its sense than in any other and there is scarcely a writer however grave whose pages are not by frequent poetical expressions in which the eye is the principal agent such as the language of the eye the eye of the mind the eye of and a countless multitude of figures without which we should find it difficult to express our ideas and which sufficiently prove how intimate and familiar is our acquaintance with the eye as a medium of intelligence no less than as an organ of sense with the universally intelligible expression of the eye are associated our first ideas of pain or pleasure fear or confidence the infant looks up into its mother s eye to read there the confirmation of her strange tones of anger or reproof and if there is no condemnation in that of truth he feels that her words are but empty threats returns to his and laughs again the lover knows that his earnest suit is rejected if the eye of his mistress has no in its glance and the criminal who for some of his sentence looks for mercy in the eye of the judge it would be a expenditure of words to set about establishing the fact that the eye is poetical every poet capable of a rhyme has proved it to the world every heart capable of feeling has acknowledged it to be true but while thousands and of thousands are about the eye no one dares venture upon the nose a fact which can only be accounted for by our having no intellectual associations with this member and being accustomed to regard it merely for its sense of smell or as an essential ornament to the face the nose is incapable of expressing any emotion of mind except those which are vulgar or grotesque such as laughter or gross impertinence it is true the nostrils are by any effort of daring but it is rather with animal than moral courage such as might a or a horse it is indeed a curious but fact that while the slave of beauty is at liberty to his poetic fire in to his lady s eye no sooner does he descend to the adjoining feature than the poetry of his lay is converted into and he is himself dismissed as a of love and the the mouth though spoken of in a sense is less poetical than the eye most probably because of its immediate with the of the body in the language of poetry the lips and the tongue are generally for the mouth the one being associated with the more refined idea of a smile and the other with the organs of speech every one sees at the first glance that the chin is not a subject for poetry for though its peculiar formation may be strongly of boldness or timidity as well as some traits of character it is so the poetry op life incapable of with the c emotions of the mind that the chin must remain to be considered merely as a feature of the face and nothing more these notions derived from the study of the human countenance may appear to give to the subject a greater degree of	41
importance than it really deserves for there are many individuals not aware that they have ever bestowed more study upon the face of man than upon the plate from which they dine but let one of these relate his favourite story to a stranger who neither raises his eyes nor his eyebrows while he is speaking whose mouth never for one moment into a smile and who gives no sign that he is interested by any other motion of the head or face the of the story how little he may think he has studied the subject will perceive that he has wasted his words upon one who could not or would not appreciate their value this fact he knows with certainty and without being told because from childhood he has always been accustomed to see earnest attention accompanied by certain movements or positions of the face and has observed that the same face would be very differently affected by weariness or absence of mind thus we gather knowledge from experience every day without being aware of it and are satisfied with the possession of our gain without from whence it was obtained the sentiments upon which mankind are generally agreed respecting the beauty or of the human countenance more frequently in association than without examination of the subject we should be disposed to allow how are we struck with a between certain faces and certain animals of the brute creation and just in proportion as the resemblance is gross and brutal we regard it with disgust and horror the established for themselves a standard of beauty as far removed from such resemblance as the form of the human countenance would allow and sometimes in their contempt for the rude expression of animal life they rushed into e opposite extreme and extinguished all apparent of living in their anxiety to avoid the mark of the beast they lost sight of the of the man the appear to have in their the or rather the ro idea of the sublime and their huge massive and heads scarcely into form are as far removed their expression from what is gross as what is human the knew better what was requisite to the gratification of a refined and intellectual taste they knew that in order to their representations of the countenance of man it must not only be of all resemblance to the brute but that to rouse the human bosom to sensations of admiration and delight it must be with the expression of human intelligence had they proceeded but one step farther in their imitation of nature as it is had they consulted the sympathies and affections of humanity they might have the genius of e times by productions equally sublime but infinitely more touching and beautiful as the reasoned and acted in the early stage of civilization so we in our notions of the nature of beauty reason perhaps to ourselves we see that a low and rapidly retreating forehead sunken eyes short nose and elevated at the tip wide mouth and scarcely perceptible are common to animals of the most repulsive character and we the image of a human animal in any way resembling these with that inherent in our nature to rush towards the opposite of every thing which dislike or pain we create a false taste and affect to admire what is not to be found in real life and as most living faces have some faint touch of resemblance to the animal creation we are more than the rules of would warrant with the cold sublime of nor is this taste likely to be corrected because we study these marble beauties as statues only and consequently find in them all that is required for in repose but could a divinity step down from her and come to visit our couch in sorrow bend over us in sickness or meet us at the door of our home long and weary travel we should then perceive the l general associations coldness of what are called celestial brows but which were certainly never in tended to into the expression of kindness or sympathy the faces which are universally considered most interesting are those which vary with every emotion of the soul which seldom fail to please in general society by keeping up a sort of corresponding with the feelings excited by different subjects under discussion yet these tions not be too rapid they must not correspond with every trifling change or the expression will become because we are sure that so many emotions felt in quick succession must each other and we consequently doubt whether any feeling in with such a countenance can be deep or lasting there is however beyond this charm of the human face another of a more and intellectual character one which more properly it to be poetical and here it may not be improper to remark that a certain degree of mystery the value of almost all our mental the human mind is so constituted that it peculiar gratification in being occasionally thrown upon its own resources instead of being constantly supplied with food selected and prepared for its use it delights in being sometimes permitted to issue forth on an excursion of discovery and is satisfied on such occasions with very uncertain mystery to the mind this kind of liberty we dwell the longest upon that face which a great deal but not all of what the thoughts are engaged with we with interest to those subjects which we do not on first examination fully understand but to return to the human countenance we meet with many faces animated lively and quickly affected by the topics or events of the moment we remark of such that tbey are pleasing and our admiration ends but if the crowd we distinguish one possessed of this in the extreme not always using it however but sometimes looking grave and abstracted	41
retiring as it were from the confusion o the fi of die passing scene to listen for to the inner the voice of the spirit while the of unutterable thoughts is traced upon it we immediately begin to upon what may be the secret springs from whence flow the thoughts feelings and affections of such a character we bestow upon it much of what is closely with our own we invest it with imaginary powers and believe it to be possessed of resources m which the mind may draw as from wells until at last we seem to have established an ideal intercourse with the mysterious ui own and to have made a friend by no other agency than the sympathy of what is most generally esteemed in society might be easily discovered by what the number of individuals are disposed to affect thus while the affectation of attention is often for attention itself while dull faces are compelled to into smiles without the animation of joy while brows are stretched into a mockery of good humour when good humour is wanting there are deeper playing off the art of being mysterious dealing in half revealed secrets concealing their own names looking abstracted by design and forming plans for their own dignity the and they resemble lord with a hundred besides too gross or to contemptible to yet all tending to prove that there is a disposition prevailing amongst mankind to admire and delight in what is mysterious if we are generally agreed in our notions of the beauty or of the human face we are still more unanimous in our estimate of that of animal form in general some it is true may prefer a tall or abroad figure and others may choose exactly the opposite but we are all of one on the subject of and proportion because our associations are the same and we bestow the highest degree of admiration on the bodies both of men and animals when they the combined of firmness and all who have bestowed any attention upon the horse must regard this noble animal with feelings of admiration and delight it needs not the aid of scientific study to perceive in what perfection he possesses the combined qualities of strength and endurance and facility of motion had one of these qualities been wanting had he been feeble or had his power or his patience been soon expended had he moved with awkwardness or difficulty our admiration would have been considerably less and we should probably now look with as little pleasure on the horse as on the again every one thinks the a beautiful animal perhaps the most beautiful in nature but the wants the majestic power of the horse to give him an aspect of nobility and therefore our admiration of him is of a qualified and secondary nature in the same manner it would not be difficult to trace the correspondence of our ideas through the whole extent of animal creation except only where the chain of association is broken by accidental or local circumstances and happy is it for the human race that they are so constituted as to be disposed to avoid what is repulsive and are able to partake m social of the exquisite enjoyment of admiring what is beautiful had the mind of man been composed of or elements he must have wanted the grand principle of happiness sympathy with his fellow creatures he might unquestionably have possessed his own but he must have been a selfish and isolated being his powers might possibly have been cultivated but without the of social affection growth must have been without grace and their fruit without value to the distance of the to measure the surface of the earth and penetrate into its secret mines are occupations which might be on by man in his solitary and character but in order that he might enjoy the benefit of a high tone of moral feeling and thus be fitted for a state of existence where knowledge is only less supreme than love it was necessary that the general current of his feelings should be softened and refined by innumerable springs of tenderness and affection flowing through the finer of his nature and filling that ocean of enjoyment of which the human family have drank together in unity since the world began and may to drink for generations yet to come without fear that fountains should be sealed or the waters should become less pure the poetry op flowers there are few natural objects more poetical in their general associations than flowers nor has there ever been a poet simple or sublime who has not adorned his verse with these specimens of nature s cunning from the majestic towering above her sisters of the garden and faithfully turning to welcome the god of day to the little humble and well known weed that is said to close its crimson eye before impending showers there is scarcely one flower which may not from its loveliness its perfume its natural situation or its classical association be considered highly poetical as the welcome m of spring the claims our first regard and countless are the lays in which the praises of this modest flower are sung the contrast it presents of green and white ever the most pleasing of to the human eye may be one reason why mankind agree in their admiration of its simple beauties but a far more powerful reason is the delightful association by which it is connected with the idea of returning spring the conviction that the vegetable world through the tedious winter months has not been dead but sleeping and that long nights fearful storms and have a and a bound assigned them and must in their appointed time give place to the and genial influence of spring perhaps we have murmured for what is there in the of providence at which man will not dare	41
to murmur at the of winter perhaps we have the rough blast too piercing to accord with our artificial habits perhaps we have thought long of the melting of the snow that our noon day walk but it at last and there beneath its white lies the delicate so pure and pale so true an emblem of hope and trust and confidence that k the poetry of rs it might teach a to the and show the useless and how invaluable are the of that energy that can work out its purpose in secret and under oppression and te ready in the of time to make that purpose manifest and complete the teaches also another on it marks out the progress of time wc cannot behold it without feeling that another spring has come and immediately our thoughts to the events which have occurred since last its fairy bells were expanded we think of those who were near and dear to us then it is possible they may never be near again it is equally possible they may be dear no longer memory is busy with the past until anticipation takes up the chain of thought and we up and at last shape out in characters of hope a long succession of chances and changes to fill up the revolving seasons which must come and go before that uttle flower shall burst forth in its loveliness again happy is it for those who have so counted the cost of the coming year that they shall not find at the end they have expended either hope or desire in fruitless speculations it is of consequence what flower comes next under consideration a few specimens will serve the purpose of proving that these lovely productions of nature are in their general associations highly poetical the se is one upon which we dwell with pleasure to our taste for rural scenery and the estimate we have previously formed of the advantages of a peaceful and secluded in with this flower imagination pictures a cottage standing on the slope of the hill and a little whose green banks are all over with yellow stars while a troop of rosy children are on the same bank gathering the flowers as we used to gather them ourselves before the toils and struggles of mortal conflict had worn us down to what we are now and thus presenting to the mind the combined ideas of natural enjoyment innocence and rural peace the more vivid because we can remember the time when something like this was mingled with the cup of which we drank the more touching because we doubt whether if such pure drops were still there they would not to our taste have lost their sweetness the violet while it pleases by its modest retiring beauty possesses the additional charm of the most exquisite of all which with the pure and breezes of spring always brings back in remembrance a conception of that season thus in the language of poetry the violet scented gale is with those accumulated and which we derive from flowers and breezes and above all from the contemplation of nature once more bursting forth into beauty and perfection the also with its dark green leaves and little silver stars us with its scent through the open and the whole atmosphere of the garden with its sweetness has been sung and celebrated by so many poets that our associations are with their numbers rather than with any in the flower itself indeed whatever may have first established the rank of flowers in the poetical world they have become to us like notes of music passed on from to and whenever a is with the harmony of song these lovely images present themselves neither in their beauty nor exhausted of their sweetness for having been the medium of poetic feeling ever since the world began it is impossible to a moment s thought upon the lily without to that memorable passage in the sacred volume consider the of the field how tliey grow they toil not neither do they spin and yet i say unto you that solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these from the common flower called heart s ease we turn to that well known passage of were the fairy king beautifully describes the httle western flower and the forget me not has a thousand associations tender and touching but unfortunately like many other sweet things rude hands have almost robbed it of its charm who can behold the pale standing by the silent brook its stately form reflected in the mirror without losing themselves in that most fanciful of all poetical in which the graceful youth is described as gazing upon his own beauty until he becomes lost in admiration and finally of himself while hopeless echo sighs herself away into a sound for the love which having in such en object was never to be bought by her caresses nor won by her despair through gardens fields forests and even over rugged we might wander on in this fanciful quest remote ideas of sensation connected with present beauty and enjoyment nor would our search be fruitless so long as the bosom of the earth a for the seed so long as the gentle of summer continued to them from the parent stem or so long as the welcome sun looked forth upon the ever blooming garden of nature one instance more and we have done the lady rose as poets have this queen o beauty claims the latest though not the least consideration in speaking of the poetry of flowers in the poetic world the first honors have been to the rose for what reason it is not easy to define unless from its exquisite combination of perfume form and colour which have entitled this sovereign of flowers in one country to be with the in another to be chosen with the	41
distinction of red and white as the of two honourable and royal houses it would be difficult to trace the of the rose to its origin but mankind have so generally agreed in paying homage to her charms that our associations in the present day are chiefly with the poetic strains in which tliey are celebrated the beauty of the rose is exhibited under so many forms that it would be impossible to say which had the greatest claim upon the regard of the poet but certainly those kinds which have been recently introduced or those which are reared by unnatural means with care and are to us the least poetical because our associations with them are comparatively few and those few relate chiefly to garden culture all the pains that have been taken to procure and the rose there is one kind perpetually blooming around us through the summer without the aid or interference of man which seems to defy his art to introduce a rival to his own beauty the common wild rose so luxuriant that it bursts into blushing life sometimes crowning the rock with a blooming and sometimes struggling with the weeds of the wilderness yet ever finding its way to the open day that it may and smile and look up with to the bright sun without whose rays its cheek would know no beauty so tender that the wild bee which had in its scented bosom when that sun went down returns in the morning and the colour faded from its cheek while hy its side an infant rose is rising with the blush of a its to live its little day and then having expended its sweetness to die like its fair sisters without murmur or regret blooming in the waste this lovely flower is seen its fair leaves where there is no beauty to reflect its own and thus calling back the heart of the weary traveller to thoughts of peace and joy reminding him that the wilderness d human life though rugged and barren to the discontented has also its sweet flowers not the less welcome for being for nor the less lovely for being cherished by a hand unseen there is one circumstance connected with the rose which renders it a more true and striking emblem of earthly pleasure than any other flower u bears a thorn while its breath is floating on the summer gale and its blushing cheek half hid amongst the leaves seems to and yet shrink from the s gaze touch but with adventurous hand the garden queen and you are pierced with her protecting thorns would you pluck the rose and it into a for the brow you love best that brow will be wounded or place the sweet blossom in your bosom the thorn will be there this real or ideal mingling of and sorrow with the exquisite beauty of the rose a theme to those who are best acquainted with the inevitable of clouds and sunshine hope and fear and wo in this our earthly inheritance the poetry of flowers with every thing fair or sweet or exquisite in this world it has seemed meet to that wisdom which our sorrows and sets a bound to our to some stain some bitterness or some which may not be called in language a thorn st paul emphatically speaks of a in the flesh and from this expression as well as from his earnestness in having prayed thrice that it might be removed we conclude it must have been something particularly to the natural man we hear of the thorn of ingratitude the thorn of envy the thorn of love indeed of thorns as numerous as our pleasures and few there are who can look back upon the experience of life without acknowledging that every earthly good they have desired pursued or attained has had its peculiar thorn has ever cast himself into the lap of luxury without finding that his couch was with thorns who has reached the summit of his ambition without feeling on that exalted that he stood on thorns who has placed the upon his brow without perceiving that thorns were thickly set within the royal who has folded to his bosom all that he desired of earth s treasures without feeling that bosom pierced with thorns all that we enjoy in this world or to possess has this the more intense the enjoyment the the thorn and those who hav described most the inner workings of the human heart have touched upon this fact with the melancholy sadness of truth far be it from one who would not willingly fall under the of ingratitude to the nature or the number of earthly pleasures pleasures which are spread before us without price or in our daily walk and in our nightly rest pleasures which he scattered around our path when we go forth upon the hills or wander in the valley when we look up to the sky or down to the fruitful earth pleasures which the human family in one bond of fellowship surround us at our board cheer us at our fire side smooth the couch on which we slumber and even follow our w steps long long alter we have ceased to regard them with gratitude or joy i speak of the thorn which these pleasures not with murmuring or complaint i speak of the wounds inflicted by this thorn with a consciousness of their and anguish because exquisite and dear as mere earthly pleasures may sometimes be i would still contrast them with such as are not earthly i would contrast the thorn and the wound the disappointment and the pain which accompany all such pleasures as are merely with the fulness of the peace and the crown accompanying those which are eternal the poetry of trees in contemplating the external aspect of nature trees in their infinite variety	41
to place a log of the same wood upon the blazing hearth and to them with powers both mental and bodily firm stable and as this sturdy tree amongst the trees of the forest the elm may very properly be placed next in rank to the oak from its majestic size and importance yet the elm has a very character and consequently in the mind a different train of associations and ideas the massive and boughs or rather arms of the elm stretching forth at right angles with its stately stem present to the imagination a picture of calm dignity rather than power from the superficial manner in which die roots of this tree are connected with the earth it is ill calculated to sustain the force of the tempest and is frequently torn from its hold and laid prostrate on the ground by the gale whose violence appears to be by its brethren of the forest in painting or in ideal picture making we plant the elm upon the green a sort of lord of that peopled territory or in stately rows the of the dead where the deep shadow from its dark green foliage falls upon the quiet graves and the long rank grass and on the village church when from her gray sides and arched windows she the rays of the setting sun and looks in her silence and solemnity like a sister to those venerable trees there are no gorgeous hues in the foliage of the elm no light waving dancing or glistening amongst its heavy boughs all is grave majesty and when we see the smoke of the cottage slowly ascending and clearly revealed against the sombre darkness of the elm we think of the returning to his evening meal the birds folding their weary wings the of the wood pigeon the gentle fall of evening dew the lull of winds and waves the universal calm of nature and a thousand associations rush upon us connecting that lovely and scene with vast and profound ideas of solemnity and repose to the willow belongs a character peculiarly its own it has no or majesty or depth of shadow to strike the senses and set the imagination afloat but this mournful tree possesses a claim upon our attention as having become the universal of sorrow adopted by the victims of despair and worn as a by the broken hearted it has also a beauty and a charm of its own it carries us in idea to green pastures and peaceful herds that in deep meadows by the of some peaceful river whose sleepy waters silently gliding over their bed seem to bear away our anxious and conflicting thoughts along with them seated by the rude and ancient looking stem of this tree we listen to the whispering of the wind among its silvery leaves and gaze upon the surface of the slowly moving stream just here and there by a stray branch projecting from the bank or a fairy forest of springing up in spite of the ceaseless and invincible flow of that tide we gaze until the precise distinctions of past present and future fade away the ocean of time flows past us like that silent river would it were as in its real course and while retaining a dim and mysterious consciousness of our own existence we lose all remembrance of its rough passages all perception of its present bitterness and all apprehension of its future perils from such if too frequently indulged we awake to a melancholy state of feeling of which the willow has by the common consent of mankind become morbid and we shrink from the stirring necessities of life we behold the happy still feeding and almost wish that hke them we could be content with a rich as the poetry of life the bound of our ambition like them live die and be forgotten the dreamy silence of those low damp fields our melancholy and the pale and mournful aspect of tlie willow becomes an emblem of our own fate and condition it grows not erect and stately like the stem elm or bold and free like the waving ash but stooping over the stream or shrinking from its companions with distorted limbs tells to the morbid and imaginative a sad tale of early or the rough dealing of rude and adverse winds the still to leave a spot where one bitter root may yet remain he while he and thinks he hears the willow whispering its sorrows to the passing gale the gale blows more and the willow then seems to sigh and shiver with the newly awakened agonies of despair thus can the distorted eye of melancholy look on every object with a glass of its own colouring and thus it is possible one of our most common and unimportant trees naturally growing in the walks of man in the small near his door the green or the luxuriant meadow may have acquired by the sanction of feeling not of reason its peculiar character as an emblem of sorrow and gloom the weeping as being more gracefully mournful might very properly have claimed that attention which has been given to the common and members of its family but the weeping willow while it has in this country fewer natural associations is and robbed of its poetic character by a great number of such as are neither natural nor pleasing could we think of this elegant and picturesque tree only in its most appropriate situation drooping over the tomb of napoleon or could we have beheld this tomb itself without its infinitely multiplied representations in and every other kind of painting we might then ha re enjoyed ideas and sensations connected with it of the most touching and exquisite nature but alas our first failure in drawing has been upon the dangling boughs of ihe weeping willow our first has been addressed to this pathetic tree our	41
the elm may be magnificent in themselves the willow the heath and the ivy may each present a picture to the imagination but what are these considered separately compared with the ever varying combination of form and colour majesty and grace presented by the forest or the the sloping banks of the river or the leafy where the round and the massive figures are broken by the stem or the foliage that in the passing gale where the hues that are most vivid or most delicate stand forth in clear contrast from the depths of sombre shade wh e every pro i the poetry of life rock and rugged is fringed with a curtain of green and every stream again in its mirror the variety and the magnificence of the surrounding groves yet what are words lo tell of the perfection of nature the glories that he scattered even in our daily path and what are we that we should pursue the sordid of life without pausing to admire in order that the harmony of sweet sounds may be distinctly perceived and to the taste there must be a formation of the human ear nor is it possible for the poetry of any object even the most beautiful in nature to be felt or understood without an answering in the human heart there are many rational beings worthy and in their way altogether insensible to the unseen or spiritual charm which lies in almost every subject of intellectual contemplation who gaze upon the ivy ruin and behold nothing more than gray walls with a partial covering of green hke the man so by when he the by the water s brim a yellow to him and it was nothing more but there ire others whether happier in this state of being it might not be easy to prove but certainly more capable of intense and refined enjoyment who accustomed to live in a world of thought and to derive their happiness from remote and of things rather than from things themselves cannot look on nature nor behold any object with which poetical association holds the most distant but immediately a spark in the train of imagination is kindled and consciousness memory and anticipation heap fuel on the living fire which through the soul it is still to speak by the light of this fire that they see what is to other eyes they can discover types c in all created things and having received in their own minds deep and impressions of beauty and harmony majesty and awe can to those impressions through the channels which external afford and draw from thence a never failing supply of the purest poetical enjoyment the poetry op animals while flowers and trees and plants in general afford an immense fund of interest to the the animal kingdom yet scarcely touched upon in these pages is perhaps equally fertile in poetical associations from the reflections of the melancholy upon the wounded deer down to the pretty nursery fable of the in the wood the same natural desire to associate with our own the habits and feelings of the more sensitive and amiable of the inferior animals is as well in the productions of the as the simplest poet address to a mouse proves to us with how much genuine pathos a familiar and ordinary subject may be invested no mind which had never bathed in the fountain of poetry whose remotest attributes had not been with this ethereal principle as with a living fire could have ventured upon such a theme in common hands a moral drawn from a mouse and clothed in the language of verse would have been better than a or a baby s song at best but in these beautiful and touching lines so perfect is the of the language to the subject so evident without the deep feeling of the bard himself that the moral flows in witli a natural simplicity which cannot fail to charm the most fastidious reader the in which describes himself as a stricken deer are also affecting in the extreme but as my object is not to quote instances but to examine why certain things are pre eminently poetical we will proceed to the considerations of a few individual subjects first that animals obtain the character of being so in a greater degree in proportion as we imagine them to possess such qualities as are elevated or refined in and in a less degree as we become with their bodily functions because the of the poetry of animals our ideas in with them must then be of a gross material character just as we may speak in poetry of the wild of he wilderness while the tame of the is a thing wholly forbidden the elephant is allowed to be the most sagacious of the brute creation but his sagacity is celebrated chiefly in anecdotes of trick and cunning which qualities being the very reverse of what is elevated or noble in human nature he possesses in spite of his curious formation and majestic power little claim to poetical interest the dog very properly stands next in the scale of intellect and so far as faithful attachment is a rare and beautiful trait in the character both of man and brute the dog may be said to be poetical but we are too familiar with this animal to regard him with the reverence which hie good qualities might seem to demand we feed him on and or we see him until he becomes greedy and neglected until he becomes and until he a vengeance which he dares not execute the claims of the horse to the general admiration of are too well understood to need our notice here especially as they have already been examined in a former chapter to the horse belong no associations with ideas of what is gross or mean his most striking attribute is	41
power and the with which he enters into the excitement of the chase or the battle gives him a character so approaching to what is most admired in the human species that the delighted to represent this noble animal not as he is but with nostrils indicating a courage almost more than animal with eyes animated with mental as well as physical energy and with the broad intellectual forehead of a man the ass is certainly less poetical than picturesque but still it is poetical in its patient endurance of suffering in its association with the wandering from society whose tents are in the wilderness and whose lodging is on the cold ground in its humble and in its submission to the most abject degradation let us hope that the patience of the ass arises from its own and that its sufferings though frequent are attended with httle of sensation but they are sufferings still borne with a that looks so much like the christian virtue resignation that in contemplating the hard condition of this degraded animal the heart is with feelings of sorrow and compassion and we long to rescue it from the yoke of the i have thought there was something peculiarly in the character of the young ass something almost to the soul in its sudden starts of short in its appearance there is a strange unnatural mixture of infant glee with a mournful and almost venerable gravity its long melancholy ears are in perfect contrast with its innocent and happy face it seems to have heard what is seldom heard in extreme youth tlie sad of its latter days and when it crops the and sports among the it appears to be with the vain hope of carrying the spirit of joy along with it through the after of its hard and bitter lot the cow is poetical not from any quality inherent or even imagined to be inherent in itself but from its invariable association with rich pastures and meadows and as an almost indispensable ornament to pictures of quiet rural scenery time was when the cow was poetical m her association with rosy maidens over the lawn and village the rustic reed but since the high of modem investigation has been applied to pastoral subjects have been pronounced to be too homely for the poet s theme village have been detected in and both with their flocks and their herds and with pastoral poetry altogether have been dismissed from the theatre of intellectual entertainment nothing however that has yet been effected by the various changes to which taste is liable has destroyed the poetical character of the deer our associations with the deer are far removed from every thing gross or familiar we think of it only as a free of the woods in its movements graceful in its elastic step delicate in all its and alive to the dangers which threaten it on every hand we imagine it retiring from the broad clear light of day into the seclusion of the mountain stooping in silence and solitude to drink of the pure waters in their and melodious flow gazing on through the rocky or in amongst the hollows on the banks of the stream with its clear calm eye that looks too full of love and tenderness to be betrayed yet ever watchful from an instinctive sense of the multiplied which the innocent and helpless listening to the of earth or air the rustling of the spray that springs back from the foot of the fairy or the fall of the leaf that from bough to bough and then as the and the gathering breeze comes like a voice through the leafy depths of ths forest over the turf and away along the sides of the away to join the herd and give them intelligence of an approaching but unseen foe or when the chase is ended and the wounded deer returns to away its parting breath in the same where it upon the grass a and he comes back with weary foot and bleeding bosom to his burning thirst in the same fountain where so he has bathed his vigorous and elastic limbs the woods are still peaceful the birds sing on regardless of his groans the stream receives the life blood from his wound his brethren of the herd again are on the distant hills and alone in his mortal agony he and dies but of all the animal creation birds have ever been the poet s favourite theme in the beauty of their form and in their soaring flight in their and timidity and in the lightness and of their movements there is something to our so intimately connected with that we can readily with the of the imaginative to in these gentle and ethereal beings the souls of their departed friends and of the superstitious to regard them as winged messengers laden with the of an fate it is a curious fact that in our ideal of forms we do not perceive that they lose any thing of their intellectual or celestial character by having to them the entire wings of a bird whether from this association we have learned to consider birds as less material than other animals or whether from the flight of birds the artist and the poet have learned to represent beings as borne along the fields of air on wings it is certain that the capacity of flight loses none of its poetical and grace by being connected in our notions with the only means of which we have any knowledge birds in their partiality for the of man a striking appeal to the sensitive and benevolent mind why should they cast themselves into the path of the or expose their frail to the grasp of his hand is it that they feel some touch of love for their imperious master or that they seek from his power what his mercy	41
too or would they ask in the day of their distress for the of his plenty and pay him back with the rich melody of their summer songs whatever maybe the cause they flock around him as if the manly privilege of destruction had never been exercised upon their community yet mark how well they know the nature of creation s lord they tremble at his coming they flutter in his grasp they look upon him from the bough they regard him with perpetual suspicion and above all some of their species will their beloved and carefully constructed if he has but them with his touch it can be no want of parental which drives them to this unnatural alternative for how diligently have they toiled with what exquisite have they constructed their children s home how faithfully have they watched how patiently have they waited for the fulfilment of their hopes yet in one fatal moment the silken cord that strung together their secret joys is broken another spring may renew labours and their loves but they know it not their all was in that narrow point and to them the hopes and the labours of a whole life are lost the delicacy of perception which them to detect the slightest intrusion upon the sacred mysteries of their nest gives them a character of the poetry of animals and sensibility far beyond that of other animals and it is a wonderful and mysterious instinct which makes them resign all they have loved and cherished even when no change is perceptible to other eyes and when it is certain at no injury has been sustained it is a refinement upon feeling which strikes the imagination with a strong resemblance to some of those in human life which divert the inner channel of the thoughts and without the superficial observer being aware of any change those lamentable upon the of domestic confidence which by a word a look a touch may at once destroy the of that which is nothing better than a degrading bond the spell of its secret charm is broken the whose charmed lays have a two fold glory in their native melody and in the poet s song claims the first place in our consideration though i own i am much disposed to think that this bird owes half its to the circumstance of its singing in the night when the visionary wrapped in the mantle of deep thought forth to gaze upon the stars and to court the refreshment of silence and solitude it is then that the voice of the upon his ear and he feels that a kindred spirit is awake perhaps like him to sweet to sorrows too deep for tears and joys for which music alone can find a voice he and the ever varying melody rises and falls upon the wandering wind he pines for some spiritual communion with this unseen being he to ask why sleep is banished from a breast so to joy and joy alone it cannot be which that solitary lay no there are tones of tenderness too much like grief and is not grief the bond of fellowship by which impassioned souls are held together thus the upon the heart of the poet strains which thrill with those sensations that have given pathos to his muse and he pays her back by her midnight in song the is of all the tribe most invariably associated with ideas of rap pure and elevated enjoyment such as we ourselves had glimpses of in early life when the animal excitement of childhood mingling with the first bright of reason us high into the regions of thought and taught us to at the harsh discipline of real life from flights such as these we have so often fallen prone upon the earth that they have ceased to tempt our full powers and even if the brilliancy of thought remained to us on the animal would be wanting and we should be conscious of our utter inability on the first attempt to again but the memory of this feeling still remains and when we think of the aspirations of and happy spirits we compare them to the upward flight of the lark or to the of that innocent joy which we ourselves have felt but feel no more and then there is the glad voice of the lark that spring of perpetual freshness pouring forth its and inexhaustible melody like an joy whose race ia begun who ever listened to this voice on a clear spring morning when nature was first rising from her wintry bed when the was in bloom and the at play and the and the violet scented the delicious south wind that came with the glad tidings of life who ever listened to the song of the lark on such a morning while the dew was upon the grass and the sun was smiling through a sky without feeling that the spirit of joy was still alive within and above him and that those wild and happy strains floating in melody upon the scented air were the of a gratitude too for words nor is it the power of birds which gives us the highest idea of their intellectual capacity their of particular regions of the globe and the with which they go forth on their mysterious passage at particular seasons of e year form perhaps the most wonderful in their nature it is true that instinct is the spring of their actions and it is possible that they are themselves unconscious of any motive or reason for the important change which instinct them to make but in speaking of the poetry of birds the poetry of life i wish to be understood to refer to the ideas which their habits naturally excite not to the facts which they we know that bird are by no means distinguished above other animals	41
by their intellectual capacity but so wonderful so far beyond our comprehension is the instinct exhibited in their transient that instead of having always in mind the scheme which for the wants and wishes even of the meanest insect we are apt to indulge our by to the winged of the air vague yet poetical ideas of their own mental and half believe to be by a delicacy of sense and in many cases superior to our own whether this with which the minds of children are so strongly and which about us long we have become acquainted with its be any bar to the progress of philosophical knowledge i am not prepared to say but certainly it is the very essence of poetical and for one visionary who would scruple to kill a bird for because it had been the companion of his walks there will remain to be a thousand practical men who would care little what strains had issued from that throat if they could but ascertain how the throat itself was constructed it is precisely the same principle which us with the ideas of the majesty of the universe by in the stars the mountains the or the some unseen but powerful that offers for our enjoyment a never ending companionship in the woods and through an ideal of every thing sweet and fair it is this principle which makes us hail the return of certain birds as if they had been thinking of us and of our fields and gardens in that far distant land of which they tell no tidings and taking into consideration the changes of the seasons had consulted upon the best means of escaping the dangers of the threatening storm as if they had spread their feeble wings to bear them over the wide waste of waters from the energy of their own hearts and had come back to us from their own and fervent love if it be poetry to gaze upon the mighty ocean with that strange deep wonder with which we regard the of a mysterious but concentrated and individual j power to feel that he stretches his expanse from pole to pole that he his foaming mane rushes upon the shore or that he in his silent glory beneath the blaze of our sun and through the still midnight of the island gardens that the south pacific it is not less in with poetic feeling nor less productive of thought to the trees an j the flowers and the streams and to welcome with gratitude tlie fairy forms and glad voices that come to tell us of returning spring who that has tasted the of poetry would be deprived of this power of ie imagination to people the air and the whole creation let the critic smile let the count his pence and reckon up how httle imagination has ever added to liis store let the modern philosopher examine the leaf and the flower and the bird s wing and pronounce them equally material and devoid of mind let the good man say that poetry is a vain pursuit and that these things are not worthy of our regard i maintain tliat these notions visionary as they are tend to innocent enjoyment and that innocent is not a vain pursuit because it may and ought to inspire us with love and gratitude towards him who has not only given us a glorious creation to enjoy but faculties to enjoy it with and imagination to make the most of it with the swallow we associate the idea of returning summer we watch for its coming and rejoice to hear the merry voice that seems to teu of a life of innocent and careless glee an existence by a storm as the summer advances and we seek shelter from the noon day heat in the deep shade of the leafy boughs that wave around the margin of the stream it is here that the swallow is not our sole companion and ever as we call to remembrance its yet graceful flight we picture it darting from the branches of the willow stooping to cool its wing upon the surface of the glancing waters and then away the poetry op animals than thought into mid air to sport one moment with beings again it sweeps in silence past our feet over the around above us gliding through the and flickering through the sunshine but never resting and yet never weary for the spirit than its bounding bosom and stretches forth its giddy wing is one that knows no sleep until has vanished from the world no sadness until the sweets of summer are exhausted and then that vague mysterious longing for a sphere that irrepressible energy to do and dare what to mere reason would appear and forth it with its faithful companions true to the appointed time upon the boundless ocean of trusting to it knows not what yet trusting still with the our associations are in some respects the same as with the swallow except that we are in the habit of it simply as a voice and what a voice how calm and clear and rich how full of all that can be told of the endless profusion of summer s charms of the in its scented bloom of the blossoms of the apple and the silvery waving of the fresh green com of the in the meadow and the wild rose by the path and last but not least in its poetical beauty of the springing up of the meek eyed to welcome the foot of the traveller upon the and grassy turf above all other birds the dove is most and familiarly associated in our minds with ideas of the quiet seclusion of rural life and the enjoyment of peace and love this simple bird by no means remarkable for its sagacity so in its colouring	41
and graceful in its form that we cannot behold it without being conscious of its perfect loveliness is in some instances endowed with an extraordinary instinct which adds greatly to its poetical interest that species the pigeon has been celebrated for the with which it its mysterious way but never more beautifully than in the following lines by the bird let l in eastern hastening fondly home ne er to earth her wing or where wanderer bat high the shoots through air and light above all low where nothing y her flight or shadow her way grant me god every stain or passion aloft through virtue s purer air to steer ray flight to thee no sin to cloud no to stay my soul as home she springs thy sunshine on her way thy on her wings but neither the wonderful instinct of this messenger nor even the classical association of the two white with the queen of love and beauty are more powerful in awakening poetical ideas than the simple our own wood pigeon heard sometimes in the silent solemnity of summer s noon when there is no other sound but the hum of tlie wandering bee as he comes laden and rejoicing home when the sim is alone in the heavens and the cattle are sleeping in the shade and not a single breath of air is whispering through the boughs and the deep dark shadows of the elm and the lie motionless upon the earth or in the cool evening when the shadows less distinct are lengthened out upon tlie lawn and the golden west is here and there the bright green with a brighter hue when the shepherd is his flock and the is returning to his rest it is then that the sweet of the dove bursting forth as it were from the pure of love and joy within its breast like the of nature and over the mind that holy calm which belongs to our best and happiest feelings from the timid cock the and the shy water fowl that scarcely dares to its wing in the moonlight of our evening when tlie floods are high and the wind rushes whispering through the long grass down to the that looks so gravely conscious of the of life there is scarcely one class of the tribe to which imagination does not readily and naturally an intellectual or rather a moral character it with feelings and of which the httle ib perhaps happily for itself unconscious the poetry of life the is a striking illustration of this fact the beauty of his is in all probability lost upon him yet because it consists of that rich and gaudy colouring which is consistent with our notions of delights in and because the lengthened of his tail requires that for convenience and repose he should place himself in an elevated situation he has obtained a character which there is little in his real nature to justify and as an emblem of pride is placed by the side of in her dignity this tendency of the mind to throw over sensible objects a colouring of its own is also proved by the character which mankind have bestowed upon the robin in reality a jealous and bird yet such is the ai id meek beauty of its httle form the touching pathos of its still small voice and the appeals it seems ever to be making to the kindness and protection of man that the poet perpetually speaks of the robin with tenderness and love and even the rode of the woods a breast so lovely and so full of simple melody birds as well as other animals owe much of their poetical interest to the part of their history thus the is said to feed her young with the life blood flowing from her own bosom and this unnatural act of maternal affection is quoted by the poet as a favourite for self devotion under various forms of the swan it is said and sung that in dying she breathes forth a strain of plaintive song but even without this poetical fable the swan is associated with much that is graceful and lovely that we cannot think of this majestic queen of the water sailing forth like a snow white gallery on the silver tide without losing ourselves in a romantic dream of lakes and rivers and that scenery which the swan is known to frequent we have yet given our attention only to those birds whose nature and habits are productive of pleasing associations there are others no less poetical whose home is in the desert or the mountain whose life is in the storm or on the field of and it is to these especially that history has given importance and for its mysterious and gloomy character the owl is particularly distinguished and such is the grave aspect of its countenance so nearly resembling the human face in tiie traits which are considered as of sagacity and earnest thought that the dignified this bird by making it the emblem of wisdom though there seems to be little in its real nature to merit such exaltation from extreme timidity of the owl and its habitual concealment firom the light of day it is difficult to become familiar with its character we see it sailing forth on expanded wings in the gray twilight of the evening when other birds have retired to their nightly rest or we behold it in the distance a misty speck half light half shadow just visible in the proportion and with the same obscurity of outline and colour as in our we fancied that spiritual beings from another world made perceptible in this besides which the voice of the owl as it comes shrieking on the midnight blast and its mysterious half sighs half whispers heard amongst the ivy wreaths of the ruin all tend to give to this bird a character of	41
winds itself in amongst the rustling grass how much like one of the fairest objects in nature a clear blue river wandering through a distant valley yet all these claims to beauty which the serpent unquestionably possesses it the more to the contempt and of mankind by obtaining for it the character of which tiie it is recorded to have practised upon our first mother seem fully to confirm the save for the precious jewel in his head can scarcely be called poetical though not found in verse aa a striking for the extreme of as well as for a to in what is earthly and most to our finer feelings from its low damp places the banks of pools or the and lone grass that wave over the gloomy and ground where the dead he sleeping in their silent rest the has certainly no strong claims to poetical merit yet we often find it serving the purpose of and illustration from its movements and the faculty it has of carrying about its home into which it on the first touch of the enemy and even the lowly worm has some title to the poet s regard because of its utter degradation and the circumstance of its being of all living things most liable to injury at the same time tl at it is one of the least capable of resistance or revenge passing slightly over the family of insects we leave the to his evening flight the whose merry the traveller the bee perhaps the most poetical of any from his opposite qualities of collecting honey and poison the whose are often the to whose milton describes as comparing the accumulated agony of his own restless thoughts the glow worm whose feeble light is like a fairy star beaming upward from a world upon which all other stars look down and the whose fatal destroy the bloom of youth and render void the of summer passing over all these and many more in which we recognise the familiar companions of the poet we turn our attention to the butterfly and the as being most associated with refined and agreeable ideas the butterfly is like a spiritual attendant upon the poet s whether he dreams of it as an emblem of the soul fluttering around the fair form of or it in no less reality sporting from flower to flower and teaching him the highest intellectual lesson to gather sweets from all we are apt in our childhood to delight in the u tales of fairy people the groves the gardens or the fields and with an interest superstitious that mysterious circle of dark green that remains from year to year marking the enchanted spot where they were believed to hold their midnight in their exquisite colouring their airy movements and lives exhibit to the imaginative no slight resemblance to these ideal beings as they through the scented atmosphere of the in the velvet leaves of the rose or touch without the snowy bosom of the lily the butterfly is also strikingly of that delicacy which from communion with all that is rude or base touch but its gorgeous wings and their beauty falls away the wanderer in and it pines and dies let the of the storm pass over il and in an it the is less splendidly beautiful than the butterfly it has a graver character and seeks the sunshine nor the flowers of summer yet it is to be destroyed by the same degree of violence supported by the same slight thread of and perceptible amongst the evening except as an animated speck of moving mist it yet possesses one striking characteristic of which the poet fails not to avail a tendency to seek the light even when that light must prove fatal to its own existence how many poetical ideas has this simple tendency excited but enough on this fertile theme the reader will doubtless be better pleased to examine the subject farther for himself than to have additional instances of the poetry of animals placed before his view it is sufficient to add in of this subject that without allowing ourselves time and opportunity to study the nature and habits of animals we can never really fed that they constitute an important part of the world which we we may read of them in books and even be able to class them according to their names and the to which they belong but they will not enter into our hearts as members of the brotherhood of nature claiming kindred with ourselves and entitled to our tenderness and love those who have known this fellowship in early life will never lose the remembrance of it to their latest day but will continue to derive from it refreshment and joy even as they tread the weary paths that lead through the dark passage of a sordid and troubled existence the difference between those who study nature for themselves and those who only read of it in books is much the same between those who travel and those who make themselves acquainted with the situation of different countries upon a map the mind of the traveller is stored with associations of a moral and intellectual character which no map can suggest and he who occasionally his soul to the genuine influence of nature as it is seen and felt in the external world will lay up a rich store of deep and precious thought to be referred to for amusement and consolation through the whole of his after life had pope our immortal poet not cultivated this intimate and familiar acquaintance with the nature and habits of animals he would never have thought them of importance to be made in conveying the following severe yet just reproof to man god thou fool i work d solely thy good i thy joy thy thy attire thy food i	41
learn that mystery has ever been powerful in its the poetry of evening influence upon the human mind all false have been built upon this foundation and even the true has its mysteries for which we reverence it the more those subjects which excite the deepest veneration and awe strike us with an indefinite sense of something which we do not which we cannot understand and the throne of the monarch by being veiled from vulgar eyes is thus invested with a mystery to which it is greatly indebted for its support were all mankind clearly convinced of the value of true virtue were they all noble generous and devoted and were all sovereigns they might then go forth amongst their people defended only by their own dignity supported only by the affection and esteem of their subjects but since we have learned in these times that kings are but men and since there are base natures abroad ever ready to lay hold of and expose the slightest proof of in their it is highly necessary to the maintenance of majesty that the sovereign should be raised above the of vulgar penetration that properly members should constitute the court within the ignorant and common herd are not permitted to intrude and that in order to give the which issues from the throne the awful solemnity of an its should be uttered unseen it next becomes our business to inquire bow mystery possesses this power to the strongest mind and to lead captive the most tumultuous passions along with mystery there is invariably some degree of excitement and excitement if we may judge by the general conduct and pursuits of mankind is when not extended as to create a feeling of pain a universally sensation in speaking of a love of excitement those who look gloomily upon human nature are apt to describe it as a defect but would it not be more philosophical as well as more consistent with a grateful disposition to regard this principle as having been in oar nature to us to exertion and to render the various occupations of life a of pleasing duties rather than of toils that excitement is the accompaniment of mystery is owing to this mystery is not the subject of any one particular train of ideas nor can it exclusively occupy the reasoning powers for want of some thing to lay hold of but while the senses or feelings are strongly affected by that which is new or strange or fearful or the magnificent it opens a field in which all the faculties of the mind set at from physical may rush forth to or combat without any one gaining tlie sometimes fear for a moment takes the lead but the want of sufficient proof or fact to establish any definite cause of alarm hope love the void with creatures of its own formation or hate revenge and malice their fury upon they know not what while imagination the sovereign queen of mystery supreme and undisturbed over her own realm thus does mystery afford scope for the perpetual activity and play of all the thoughts or passions of which we are capable by allowing liberty of operation to all the violence of each is and hence the power of mystery over the mind of man it may be argued that mystery has often been the means of exciting the most violent passions such as fear or superstition mystery has been made by artful men the means of exciting the curiosity and the attention of their followers and thus them more willing and of false views or base desires but in order that either fear or superstition should be excited to any violent degree it must have been necessary to the veil of mystery and reveal distinctly some palpable object of dread or subject of mistaken worship but to return from this to the more pleasing consideration of that delightful hour of day which brings to every creature the most powerful and associations with what it loves best home to the weary to the cheer to the bird iu mother s brooding wings before the mystery of evening if not in a higher degree we are charmed with its repose the stillness that gradually the poetry op life over the creation extends to our own hearts passion is and if we are not we long to be at rest i i will return at the close of day says the wanderer as he goes forth and in the evening we begin to listen for his welcome though weary step it is but another day of toil says the as he away the morning dew in the evening i shall rest again and already his children are watching at the cottage door and his wife is preparing his evening meal all day the rebellious child has resisted the of love but in the evening his soul is subdued and he upon his s bosom we can the of the heart and drive away reflection nay we can live without sympathy until evening around our path and tells us with a voice which makes itself be heard that we are alone in the freshness of morning and through all the stirring occupations of busy noon man can forget his maker but in the solemn evening hour he feels that be is in the presence of his god m the day time we move on with the noisy multitude in their quest of sordid gain or we wear without weariness or complaint the gilded chains which bind down the soul or we struggle against the tide of time and circumstance with and spending our strength in fruitless warfare but in the evening we long to find a path where the flowers are not trampled down by many feet to burst the degrading bonds of custom and to think and feel more like immortal beings we see the small importance of those points about	41
yet withal so simple that it seems but to in words the faint dreams that have floated through our own minds a thousand without finding utterance bow t the moonlight bank i here wiu we and let the sounds of creep la oar ears soft stillness and the night become the touches of sweet harmony bit look how the floor of heaven u thick with of bright gold there s not the smallest which thou behold st but in his motion like an angel sings to the young ey d harmony is in immortal souls bat whilst this muddy of decay i it in we cannot hear it in contemplating the different attributes of the moon first and most striking is that distinctness of light and shade which her influence over external nature here are no lesser lights no minor shadows to constitute a medium between the two extremes the whole earth is under the dominion of two ruling powers and every material object presents on one side a surface distinctly visible while the other is lost in impenetrable darkness not a wreath of ivy a projecting or a broken but the moon it with a beauty of her own more attractive to the eye and more potent in its influence upon the imagination from the depth of is shadow by which it is contrasted beautiful as her light is when it falls upon the of the sloping bank where every flower and leaf and have their shining surface contrasted with their shadow we should scarcely pause to offer our tribute of admiration by telling how the poet s lay has recorded events which took place on such a night but that in glancing from this scene of silvery brightness we behold the deep gloom of the surrounding woods the narrow or the hollow cave thin whose the queen of night with all her power and all her splendour is to penetrate another striking attribute of the moon and one which seems more especially to bring her within the sphere of human is her alternate darkness and illumination which last is familiarly spoken of as a for so powerful are the senses of the imagination it is with some difficulty we realize the truth that when the moon is invisible to our eyes she is in as present with us as when her soft light us in our nightly wanderings thus we hear perpetually of the constancy well as the of the moon just as a with either quality may suit the poet s need of her constancy because lost as she is to our ward we are able to calculate with certainty the hour of her return of her because how profound are the at her shrine that shrine is no sooner invested with the full splendour of her celestial brightness than the light begins to and finally from the long established custom of appealing to the moon in our descriptions of mental suffering we might almost be led to pronounce that melancholy was one of her chief characteristics were not this poetical easily accounted for by the of the of mankind being of such a nature as to confine their attention to social stirring subjects of interest or excitement and thus to leave time and less inclination for making observations upon the moon while under the influence of melancholy which has in all minds the same tendency to silence solitude and contemplation the eye is naturally directed to scenes of repose and serenity and more than all to the solemn aspect of the heavens it is here that we look for peace and we all can remember when through the long watches of the sleepless night the moon was our only companion the only friend who was near tis under the pressure of our calamity or who appeared to in our distress the poetry op life surely the sweet influence of the queen of night is in its own nature more cheering than melancholy how many glad occasions of social and entertainment are regulated by the moon we will visit our friends when the moon is at the full we will return by the light of the moon we wait for the moon before we set sail is the familiar language of every day and how much more must the on the mighty deep rejoice in her welcome and hail her nightly radiance as she rises over the abyss shines not the moon the of the prison from whence all other gentle are excluded smiling upon the criminal in his feverish sleep and reminding him when he starts into waking consciousness that while his brother man perhaps weak and as himself had he been is able to pursue and condemn according to the strict authority of laws which take no of want of knowledge of early bias and more than all of peculiar and temptation there is still mercy in the everlasting heavens an eye that looks down upon his earthly sufferings beholding through a clear and steady and impartial light all that is hidden from the scrutiny of man and that an humble solemn and appeal even from out his beneath his chains or upon the fatal may yet be made to that higher whose judgments are as in mercy as in justice is not the moon amidst all the chances and changes that occur to us in this scene still still the same we recall tlie sweet and social evenings when the moon looked in upon our childish play through the work of vine and that grew around our dwelling how looks that dwelling now the vine and the are rooted from the earth the walls are broken down and scarcely is one stone left upon another where are the companions of those happy hours some have paid the debt of nature and are gone we ask not where some are so altered in their loves and tliat we know them not	41
or perhaps they know not us and others are scattered abroad throughout the busy world chasing their different objects of ambition or desire in which we hold no share even our own hearts though they feel the same to us in their of suffering having learned to beat another tone to bum with different fires to be with a new life or subject to a which we far from then yet the moon the lovely moon is still the same shining on with the same teaching us that constancy is not an empty name though we and ours have failed to find the reality that there is and peace beneath the heavens though we are still wandering in fruitless quest of both that there is an fountain of loveliness and delight though we have wasted ours and is not the moon most kind most charitable that she no brings to light no defects but ever shines on leaving that that was and making that which waa not oh it is wearisome in our daily existence to see the critic s eye for ever peering through a narrow of concentrated and partial light to find out the upon the face of the sun the soil of the lily the of the butterfly upon the velvet of the rose listening with his ear sharpened to an that renders it sensible only of discord to detect the of tone and emphasis in the eloquence that shakes the world the wrong in the voice that tells of anguish the false note in the harmony of the yet this is what call wisdom a wisdom which if it fails to subdue the ignorance and prejudice of mankind at least the capacity for the beauty and perfection of the creation and the desire to bow with reverence and awe before its creator it is this wisdom which its unwelcome presence upon our daily walk rendering that walk most wearisome and the society we meet there infinitely worse than solitude but the night returns the calm and silent night and the sweet moon rising over the eastern hills goes forth upon her pathway through the heavens perchance an envious cloud advances and her form is obscured by misty but they pass away and her looks sweeter than before upon the precipice the dark impenetrable forest the restless waves of the ocean her soil and solemn light is failing whatever it shines upon marking out as with a silver pencil the majestic of the or but leaving the deep and frightful at its base still with radiant lustre the light boughs that wave and dance as il with very gladness in her welcome beams the of glittering ivy or the of the ancient tower while passing in her peaceful progress over every scene of gloom and terror she seems to cast the dark places of the i earth into yet deeper shade or turning the foam of the angry into of sparkling light the troubled track of the heaving bark into a silvery pathway and the sails that flutter in the adverse gale into the white of some messenger she kindly offers to the imaginative a picture of su for that of danger of trust for anxious of hope for murmuring and despair is not the moon also a faithful of sweet and pleasant memories we might forget in this world there is much to make us forget what we learned before our minds were by the envious struggle for pre eminence and the necessity of sordid gain or by the disappointments inevitably attending both the worldly man the keen of the city sees to call back his thoughts to the days of innocence and still less to recommend to his now mature judgment what he would call nothing better than his boyish blindness to his own best interests but the bodily frame in time wears out the city feast becomes to the sickly appetite and honours are unable to support the head they crown sleepless nights succeed to wearisome days perhaps his attendant that repose which he is unable to purchase with all his wealth to sum up the amount of his gold no longer the aching void of his heart there is a want pressing upon him even at this late hour of the day which all his possession are unequal to supply and he begins at last to question they may not have cost him more than their real lost in a world of vague and thoughts the moon in upon his meditations it is not with him as with more feeling minds that memory rushes back with one tremendous bound but with his caution and reserve he begins to the pilgrimage of past years the silent lighting him unconsciously on his way and leading him by the chain of association back to his paternal home he enters again the once familiar habitation he takes possession of the chair appropriated to the darling boy and along with it the many pure and lively feelings which the world had away he to his father s gentle and feels the affectionate pressure of his hand upon his then brow he hears his mother s voice as she sings their evening hymn and oh the man of wealth that i might be again that innocent and happy boy if he who his whole heart in the sordid of life is necessarily driven on to resign the noblest aspirations and tenderest affections of his youth the of fashion becomes if possible more heartless and more hardened in her and career it is possible from this cause that in order to act to the the artificial character she has assumed it is necessary that she should sometimes wear the semblance of feeling just in that proportion and according to that peculiar mode which may best suit the selfish purpose of the moment and this empty mockery of the best and loveliest attributes	41
become attached or in raising ourselves to a higher scale of society in obtaining and securing to ourselves the and luxuries of life or in the mental powers in looking far and deep both into the visible and the intellectual world for those principles of beauty and harmony which owe their development to an almighty hand and in the work of that hand in every thing around and within us from the simplest object of sense to the most sublime and majestic source of contemplation the question is not under which of these forms mankind is most to look for happiness but under which of these forms the happiness there in found is likely to be most to the cultivation and refinement of that part of his nature which is committed to him as a sacred trust and will have to be rendered up either elevated or for eternity i know that poetry is not religion and that a man may dwell in a region of poetical ideas yet far from his god but we learn from the holy whose whole language is that of poetry as well as by the slightest knowledge of the subject thai poetry may be intimately associated with religion and tliat far from its practical influence it may be woven duties so as to what would otherwise be repulsive to what is bitter and to what we have been accustomed to regard as or degraded it is not thus with sordid or artificial life poetry neither can nor will dwell there the atmosphere is too dense and those who it acquire a taste for its upon the same principle as that on the victim of habits more gross and vicious to love the of the bowl because it is associated with the gratification of liis brutal i am far from that all men were the poetry op rural i poets or that the practical and of education should give place to the lawless of or the impulse of feelings but i do wish that these rules and the attention they require did not occupy the whole season of youth without leaving time then to fed that they are essential i do wish that men and wo men too would sometimes pause in their hurry after mere verbal knowledge to think for themselves and turn away occasionally from the pile of fresh books which every day sees placed before them to study that which never was and never can be written the wide field of nature not only as it lies spread before their actual view but as it in their own minds teaching them by the gradual of the eternal principles of truth that we have faculties of the heart as well as of the head and that we must hereafter render an account of a moral as well as of an intellectual nature how far my impressions in favor of a country life may arise from early habit and association i am not prepared to say and i must be candid enough to grant that the state of society in remote and isolated districts does not present an aspect at all calculated to support the idea that our faculties are improved in proportion to the means we of an acquaintance with external nature but the fact that this opportunity alone is insufficient to produce the effect by no means proves that in with advantages it is not powerfully to the end desired in the country man may be as as and as incapable of every gentle or sublime emotion as in the city he may be gross selfish and insensible to the happiness and misery of others but it is no more the fault of nature when the eye has not been opened to behold her beauties than it is the fault of the when his are without the sense of hearing i speak of the enjoyment which nature is capable of affording not of that which it necessarily forces upon man whether he looks for it or not nor the fact that remote in the country have amongst a very low standard of intellectual merit prove anything against my argument since i believe it may be asserted with confidence that no poet of eminence in his art and but few intellectual characters remarkable for the best use of the highest ever who had not at some time or other of their studied nature for strong impressions from their own observation of the external world and from these impressions drawn conclusions of the utmost importance to society at large he whose mind is once deeply with poetic feeling may afterwards enter into the ordinary concerns of life and even engage in the active of the world without losing his elevated character it is only when for common sense that poetic feeling can be absurd or contemptible blended with our domestic occupations its office is to soften h and and carried along with us through the more conspicuous duties of social and public life it is well calculated to remind us that there is a higher ambition than that of wealth and that we have for intellectual happiness which maybe freely and exercised without interference with our worldly interests it is not then by merely dwelling in the country that men become poetical nor by working their way by fair and honourable means to pecuniary independence that they necessarily sacrifice the best part of their nature though it must be confessed that the ordinary routine of city life as it is generally conducted has a tendency to rather than excite poetic genius the principal reason why it does this is obvious to the candid observer the mind as well as the body is always in need of food and this necessity it naturally prefers to supply with the least possible expense of pain or labour if facts of great number and variety are continually set before us little attention will be paid to	41
principles because facts can be received with no exertion while principles must be and examined to be in any degree understood in towns the news of the day is eagerly inquired and public journals travellers and frequent meetings for the general demand a constant supply of facts while in the country even facts have to be sought for with considerable labour and industry and can only be enjoyed with long between every fresh of intelligence thus a real energetic mind to connect an number of ideas with the few facts wliich do in the country but a mind of quiet and character sinks into and one of still lower grade active only for loose or malicious purposes fills up the void in social communion with drawn thrown out and conclusions too frequently both injurious and unjust i have said that a great deal may be made of the few facts which do in the country impossible the youth learned alone in lore you only hear the news once a week and as to your facts what are they the return of the w and harvest a shower of rain or a thunder storm and is all this to the community at large i answer it is a great deal to those individuals who choose to reflect it is true we are sometimes a week later than you in learning what have been the movements of a foreign army that a cabinet minister has been dismissed and that an has token place in high life there are even similar to these which occur ever reaching us at all which is a proof that they are of as little importance to us as the building of our the scattering of our grain or the of our com to you you snatch up the morning post and read of this interesting we learn with as much interest that the has seized our favourite dove you read that a once popular has been by the strength of opposing party we hear that a former servant of our own has been dismissed from his place you read of the of we ore startled with the intelligence a few hours earlier that the fox has been making dreadful amongst our poultry what follows conclusions are at least as philosophical as yours and if you take time to reflect it is most probable they will both to this that tiie weak must be the victims of the strong all the world over that to cruelty and wrong are permitted to the glory of the earth for reasons which neither you nor we can understand and that man when he too proudly of his superiority in the creation forgets that in the most and injurious attribute of the brute he is at least his equal and then our returning our and harvest our rains and thunder storms of wliich you think so little why they supply us with inexhaustible food for deep anxiety earnest calculation ardent hope and trembling fear and sometimes with gratitude as warm as if the success which crowned our labours was visibly and bestowed immediately by the hand of the of all good we hail the birds of spring as the blessed messengers of hope the seed is scattered in faith the harvest is in joy the rains descend and we give thanks for the opening of those fountains whose source and whose seal is above the roll and we bow before the terrors of the almighty man may unquestionably enjoy the same sensations in the city surrounded by the work of human hands he may look up and bless the power which bestowed such faculties and means upon his creatures but it is a fact which few will pretend to deny that the more the mind is interested and occupied with artificial things the more it is carried away from the truth that is in nature and the greater the number of objects which between us and the great first cause of all the less fixed and are our views of heaven we know by reasoning that god is no more present in the rolling thunder than in the social meeting or the secret thought but our impressions are stronger and deeper than our reasoning and when we stand alone in the silent night and look up to the heavens when we watch the play of the or listen to the roaring blast when we gaze upon the wide expanse of heaving ocean or on the peaceful bosom of the lake in its mountain cradle at the feet of its majestic whose brows are in the sky with clouds or crowned with golden glory when we watch the silvery fall of summer s evening dew the sunset in the west or the moon s over the eastern hills we naturally look up j in the poetry of rural life d phenomena as immediately influenced by an hand and advancing one step farther penetrate within the veil and find ourselves alone with god with regard to the mere amusements of the country it is very natural for such as are accustomed to games of skill and hazard to dress parties plays and to ask in what they can possibly consist let us in tlie first place observe a group of children at play beneath the their cheeks with the rosy hue of health and their bright eyes sparkling with that inward joy which naturally the infant mind nobody can tell what they are playing at they do not know themselves they have no names or set rules by which their are restrained but when they start off from their retreat bounding over the grass like young you see at once that it is the fresh air the glowing health and above all the glorious liberty of die country which their enjoyment then they have an intimate and familiar acquaintance with every thing around them with the	41
the dust what are his feelings when he that such as this new and mighty world appears to him such it will remain when he and his with their ambitious hopes and envied honours are buried and forgotten these are sensations peculiar to the situation which words are inadequate to describe too deep utterance too powerful for language they teach a wisdom more profound than is to be acquired in all the schools of man s devise i would ask again how the wanderer on the mountain s summit has looked back to the narrow sphere of social life which he has been wont to call the world its laws conventional but arbitrary by which his past conduct has been influenced what are they here scarcely more important than those which the movements of a community of insects confined within the limits of a little mound of earth where now is the tremendous and potent voice of public opinion in tones from house to house from heart to heart upon the mountain s brow beneath the blue arch of heaven it is silent lost and forgotten where are the toils the anxieties the which the vitality of our existence in the lower region of our sordid and selfish already they have assumed a different and the the worse than of their ultimate end he to give them to tlie winds and henceforth to live for some more exalted and noble purpose there is no danger that man should too little or his maker too great if there were he would do well to confine himself to a sphere in which nothing is fo obvious as the operation of man s ingenuity and power but since we are all too much the op rural life engaged in the strife and the bustle and the eagerness which is necessary to an average of material comforts since individuality of character is too sacrificed to the arbitrary rules of polished life since by exclusively with man in an artificial state of being the generous too frequently become selfish the gentle hardened and the noble it is good to shake off occasionally the unnatural bondage by which the spirit is kept down to go forth into the woods and the and to feel though but for a day or an hour that was bom for something better than to be the slave of his own bodily wants each time that we experience this reed independence of mind we ascend one step higher in the scale of moral existence and if circumstance or dire necessity should prevent the frequent of such feelings we may at least secure a solid and lasting good by learning in this way to appreciate the mental elevation of others i am not even on this subject so blind an as to attempt to support my argument in favour of rural life on the ground of the greater appearance of vice in the town than in the country because i am one of those who that the of mind the gross bodily existence the moral which too frequently prevail amongst persons who lead an isolated life are quite as much at with the divine law as vices which are more obvious and which consequently fall under the of human if amongst multitudes we are shocked to find so much of indulgence outrage and crime of every description we are on the other hand cheered with the earnest zeal the perseverance the which are brought into exercise to these evils while in the country where men sit still and wonder alike at both extremes the average of moral good is certainly not higher because vice being less obvious the fear of its fatal consequences does not to those exertions which proceed from true christian love the country may be abused as well as the town and since the inhabitants of both for the most part fall into their stations from rather than inclination or if from inclination settle themselves at a time of life when they are incapable of judging of the privileges peculiar to either it is not to be supposed that they will always make the best use of the advantages around them and those which abound in great number and variety in the country certainly add weight to the moral of individuals as live beneath the open sky in the midst of fields and woods and gardens without exhibiting more mental energy than is displayed by their own flocks and herds remarking with regret upon the and of disposition too obvious in the country we must in common justice observe tliat where there does exist sufficient mental energy for the display of peculiar traits of character such traits have a degree of strength and originality seldom found amongst the inhabitants of the city where social institutions have a tendency to bring individuals together upon common terms and thus to render them more like each other and where the frequent contact of beings off their and wears them down to the level of ordinary men the and acquaintances of the country are formed upon a system essentially different from that which holds society together in more compact and masses the ordinary style of visiting in towns does little towards making people acquainted with each other commonplace remarks upon general topics remarks which derive no character from the lips which utter them fill up the weary hours of each succeeding visit while the same education and the same style of living are in every different of which each individual is but a part separate but not distinct but in the country where people meet more casually and with less of common purpose and feeling where they often spend a considerable time together under the same thrown entirely upon their own resources and with any general or prevailing topic of conversation they necessarily become more intimately acquainted with each other s natural character with their individual bias of disposition and	41
trains of thought the poetry of life dwelling apart from the tide of public opinion they know nothing of its influence or power and having established then own opinions formed for themselves from their personal observation their sentiments and remarks are by their originality and their affections by their depth they are in fact though less polished less artificial and less learned in mere facts than their brethren and sisters of the city infinitely more poetical because their expressions convey more meaning their sentiments are more genuine and their feelings more fresh from the heart in of the intimate knowledge of individual character which rural life affords abundant opportunities of obtaining we must not omit to mention the sum of happiness derived from this when it extends amongst our and dependent poor the master of a family in the country a httle lord and if he makes a generous use of his authority may be served as faithfully and obeyed as through love as any old english baron ever was through fear the agricultural becomes attached to the soil which he he feels as if he had a property in the fields of his master and this feeling extends not only to the produce of his toil but through many links of natural connection to the interest of his master and the general good of his family j while on the other hand his own wants and and those of his wife and children are made known through the kind of charity and soothed and relieved with a familiarity and of feeling which goes as far as towards the of the poor there can be no distrust between families that have dwelt together upon the same soil in the mutual relation of master and servant from generation to generation both parties intimately acquainted with the characters they have to deal with and each the other s worth can look upon their little with kindness and even with affection while the mutual confidence good will and dear understanding which them constitute a sure foundation for substantial and lasting comfort these advantages peculiar to rural life may appear almost too homely and to be admitted the character of poetical but in their relation to the social affections and to the principles of happiness that happiness which is rational intellectual and moral they are in themselves highly poetical and must be to with tenderness and interest at the same time that they supply the bard with subjects of pathos and pictures of delight perhaps it may better please the fanciful reader to turn to of a more imaginary and nature of which we find an endless variety in the associations afforded by rural habits pursuits and scenes we have observed in the former part of this work that scarcely a beast a bird a tree a flower or any other visible object exists without an ideal as well as a real character but we have not yet entered upon that region of poetic thought which is peopled with the imaginary beings of heathen superstition and which to the mind that is deeply impressed with the beautiful of classic lore is perpetually associated with rural scenery no sooner are the gates of opened for the admission of these ethereal beings than we behold them gliding in upon our favorite haunts now floating upon the sea of air dancing in the or re upon beds of and then rushing forth upon the destructive elements riding on the waves or the of death wandering in our fields and gardens with h ever blooming cheek and of flowers becomes our sweet companion while with her pencil dipped in the hues of heaven she tints the velvet leaves of the rose perfume over the snowy bosom of the lily or turns in playful tenderness to meet the smiles of her and wandering lover the and uncertain we penetrate into the of the forest and the across our path with her attendant while seated under the cool shadow of the leafy trees or stooping over ihe margin of the crystal stream the bind their flowing hair the harvest smiles before us with the glad promise of the year and joyfully the yellow grain is gathered in but we see the r of rural plenty with torch and crown of golden ears wandering from field to field heart stricken and alone too mortal in her too desolate i her divinity we hail the purple morning rises in her rosy car driving her snowy over the cloud mountains separating the hills from their misty and scattering flowers and dew over her fresh pathway through the valleys we turn to the glorious sun as he rises from his couch of golden waves and ask the inspiration of for the verse or for the we sail upon the ruffled sea where the sporting with the lave their shining hair or where striking his u on tlie foaming waters bids the deep be still we hear the of the stormy blast and call on to spare us or we listen to the thunder as it rolls above our heads echoing from shore to shore and tremble lest the lightning should burst forth from tlie sovereign hand of jove fanciful as these associations are almost too fanciful to us any real they unquestionably supply the poet witli images of beauty not to be found in real life and they have also an important claim upon our consideration from the place they occupy both in ancient and modem literature as well as from the effect which this system of imperfect and dangerous produced in the of art and the habits and feelings of a barbarous people it is pleasant to turn from such visionary sources of gratification to those which are more and true to the which every feeling mind believes it possible to experience in nature there is no state of feeling to wliich we may not find something in the elements	41
or in the natural so nearly corresponding as to give us the idea of in our joys and sorrows true it would be more congenial to our wishes could we find this companion hip amongst our fellow creatures but who has not asked for it in vain and turning to the woods and the winds and the blue skies has not believed for a moment there more sympathy in them than in the heart of there is scarcely any human being so selfish as to wish to feed upon joy alone and what a privilege it is separated from those who could rejoice with us that we can our happiness with nature the soaring lark the bounding deer and the lamb animated with a joy like ours become our brethren and our sisters while the same light spirit that fills our smiles upon us from the shining heavens beneath ua in the fruitful earth or whispers around us in the fresh glad of spring but imder the pressure of grief this sympathy is most perceptible and most because sorrow has a greater tendency than joy to excite the imagination and thus it its own associations by itself with every thing tliat wears the slightest shadow of gloom i will not say that the world in general is more productive of images of sadness than of pleasure but from tlie of our own faculties and the consequent tendency of our own minds we are more apt to look for such amongst the objects around us and thus in our daily observation passing over what is lovely and genial and we fix our minds upon the floods the anticipated storm the early tlie blossom the faded leaf the broken bough or the premature decay of fruit this however is no fault of nature s but our own does it prove anything against tlie argument that whether happy or miserable we may find a voice in nature to echo back our gladness and to answer to our sighs that every feeling of which we are capable in its purest and least state meet with and companionship and association in the natural world and above all that he who desires to rise out of the low cares of artificial life whose soul above the gross elements of mere bodily existence and whose highest ambition is to render up that soul rather may find in nature a congenial faithful and friend i cannot better conclude these remarks than by quoting a passage from the writings of one who possessed the art of science with and philosophy with poetic feeling nature sir never us the rocks the the streams always speak the same language a shower of snow may bide the woods in spring a storm may render the blue streams foul and turbulent but these effects are rare and transient in a few hours or at least days all the sources of beauty are and nature affords no continued trains of misfortunes and miseries such as depend upon the constitution of humanity no hopes for ever in the bud no beings full of life and promise taken from us in the prime of youth her fruits are all bright and sweet she affords none of those ones so common in the life of man and so like the apples of tlie dead sea fresh and beautiful to the sight but when tasted full of bitterness and ashes the poetry op painting in turning our attention to the poetry of painting we enter upon a subject which forms the first connecting link between the physical and the intellectual world so far as painting is a faithful representation of external nature it belongs to the sphere of the senses but as it holds intimate connection with some of the noblest efforts and affections of the human mind it is scarcely inferior to the art of poetry itself in the value it from the of poetic feeling through the countless varieties of style and character in which it is exhibited to mankind the poetry of painting is perhaps more felt and less understood than that of any other subject to which we can apply our thoughts nor is it easy to define what is the nature of the charm by which we are fascinated on beholding a picture in perfect accordance with our taste especially as this taste so much in different individuals and even in the same becomes more select m its in proportion as it is more cultivated and refined that the poetry of painting is not mainly dependent upon the choice of subjects is clear from e most simple and familiar scenes being rendered beautiful by the pencil of an able artist yet there are lines of beyond which even genius dare not venture and which cannot be without the most glaring of good taste it is where the associations are such as are not only vulgar in themselves but totally destitute of any claim upon the feelings or affections of the mind nor is it in the representation of scenes the most gross and degraded though such do little credit to the taste of the painter yet in them the violent passions which our nature are frequently most powerfully and strikingly exhibited look for example upon a representation of the lowest stage of and surely the pencil of the painter can no subject more and repulsive yet even here the associations are not necessarily such as are altogether from connection with refined intellectual speculations in contemplating such a picture we think immediately of the high of man and of the dangerous and abuse of his natural powers of the infancy of the being before us the love that watched over his youth the hopes that were in his manhood and that now lie beneath him in his fall this class of subjects then is not entirely beyond the limits of the field of poetry though it certainly requires some stretch of fancy	41
to prove them to be within it yet there is another class so decidedly and excluded that it may not be uninteresting to mark the difference between them and of these a single instance will be i remember seeing in an exhibition of paintings at a picture of a huge red brick cotton mill so well executed and so placed as to look very handsome in its way and no doubt that way was all to the owner who had a train of sweet and pleasant local associations with this picture enjoyed to himself which if they were not poetical had most probably a charm and one which he would not have exchanged for the of the surface of the picture was almost entirely covered with the brick building and by its side was the all important engine house with tall chimney the poetry of painting to the sky but alas with no purpose it was the picture of a and nothing more most probably the owner wanted nothing more there was not as there might have been a broken the rugged course of one of those streams which murmur on for what can still the voice of nature with the same melody as in its native woods before the click of rattling machinery broke in upon the harmony of man s existence there was no pale girl with darkened brow and dejected form returning to her most unnatural labours a living and sacrifice to the triumphs of national prosperity there was not even that deep and stream that dense and perpetually rising fountain of thick smoke bursting as if with indignation from the gross of its narrow first darting upwards in one compact and pillar as if from the of a and then folding and its dark volume until assuming a more ethereal character it away upon the gale and ambitious of a higher union at last with the that sail along the purer regions of the sky no there was nothing in this picture but a cotton mill and the owner with a feeling of gratitude and respect for the origin of his prosperity and distinction in the world had done his best to the object that was not only the most important but the dearest to him on earth yet notwithstanding this was in the opinion of at least one individual a picture of great merit it was unquestionably of that class to which no single idea could by any possibility be attached it is true that such a building as was here represented need not be without its intellectual associations it might give rise to some of the most profound speculations relative to trade commerce and the wealth of nations all that i maintain is that this picture could not in any way call forth the passions or affections of our nature or awaken those of the soul which constitute the very essence of poetry in order to render the poetry of painting a subject more in an and inexperienced hand it will be necessary to consider it imder its three characters portrait landscape and historical painting of these three portrait painting is decidedly the least calculated for the display of poetical feeling not only it is generally practised under the arbitrary will of who possess neither taste nor understanding in e fine arts but because there are so few subjects really worthy in themselves and these few are too frequently beyond the reach of the artist while the and wealthy citizen having grown sleek upon soup retiring with his rosy to their or prospect cottage in the of the town it a suitable and gratifying of some portion of his hard earned wealth to employ one of the first artists of the day in making of forms which a canvas is scarcely wide enough to contain and in which the expression of cent per cent and the distinctions of white and brown are the only visible characteristics while the painter is at work sacrificing all that is noble in his art to the sad necessity for sordid gain the gentleman upon a blue coat and waist coat but above all upon a gold headed cane which necessarily the picture with a bright yellow spot full in the centre this however is a trifle by comparison for the buttons help to carry off the glare of the gold and the artist himself by making the hand to the same colour it is in tempting to the august person of the lady that his skill and his taste arc put to the test with nation in his he eyes the subject before him and in the agony of despair within himself whether he cannot really afford to lose the offered reward he to with great delicacy on some particular portions of the dress but the lady is inexorable it is a dress for which she has paid the highest price and must look well money rules the day and the painter covering with double portions of red and yellow with his task upon the head of the fair is a pink with a massive gold chain a profusion of in the midst of which twinkle out two small blue eyes faintly shaded by thin the poetry of life of the yellow while cheeks that might with the deepest and a upon which is stretched almost without a fold a brilliant orange dress of costly silk make up the rest of the picture it is upon the same principle and with similar that portrait painting is generally practised in the present day but let the painter rule his subject and the case will be widely different he who is worthy of his sees at once what are its his imagination places the object before him in some appropriate situation he to it a character of which it may be wholly unconscious one to which it was by nature peculiarly adapted though circumstances may have	41
becomes much less difficult to t t in what the poetry of the art consists there are certain principles from whence our ideas of the beauty of nature are derived which the slightest sketch is capable of but which cannot be neglected without offence even to the most indifferent of these principles light and shade are the most important and conspicuous thus two objects one to receive the rays of light and another to receive the shadow of the first are sufficient to constitute a picture let one of these be the massive stem of an old tree grey with time and shattered with the storms of ages wearing round its brow a wild wreath of ivy and stretching forth one branch still clothed with dense foliage as in former years let the other be the banks of a silent river in whose clear depths the shadow of this ancient tree is reflected and we have at once a scene of sufficient interest and beauty to the eye and the imagination still much must depend even in a scene so simple as this not only upon the skilful conduct of the pencil but upon the poetical feeling of the artist perhaps the subject may be better understood by it with a case in point it was a few years ago my good fortune to receive instruction from a gentleman who whatever may be his other pretensions must be acknowledged to be one of the most poetical of the present day a fact which is sufficiently proved by the fearless and independent manner in which he can snatch up the most barren subject and invest it with a mysterious beauty of his own creating the piece which this artist first gave me to copy was a pencil sketch of a rude entrance by a little wooden bridge over a narrow stream to what might be a wood or indeed a wood of any kind for the whole picture contained nothing more than three or four trees a few of time worn timber and the banks of this stream or pool my task was performed with diligence and with no little self approbation for my friends pronounced it to be admirable and i saw myself that mr now of drawing at king a london the poetry of life the e of the oak was edged round with the most accurate precision the in the distance were out with the same economy and the that stood in the water were all tipped at the ends while my heart bounded with internal triumph i drew forth the interesting deposit from the in which i had conveyed it into the presence of my master and impatiently watched the expression of his eye as he glanced over it after looking at it for some time with less and less of what was agreeable in his countenance he at last gave utterance to a low growl of and finally pronounced it to be bad in two ways bad as a copy and bad as a drawing although i was at that moment ery much inclined to the art so often called divine i have since learned to look with feelings of interest almost like af upon that simple drawing to which my master with a few strokes from his own able and accomplished pencil gave a character at once touching beautiful and poetic what was practically the work of this pencil it would be foreign to my purpose even were i able to define it is to say that through the illusion of the eye the mind was forcibly presented with the ideas of space and atmosphere my drawing represented nothing but an even surface covered with a extended texture woven according to the pattern of oak leaves water or whatever the pencil might vainly attempt to imitate in the same picture it had received a few touches from an able hand the most eye might behold a distinct representation of a quiet day in autumn the which had been stationary and silent were now their way towards that scene at intervals with the musical and melancholy wliich at that particular time of the and especially at that particular distance turns their harsh tones to melody the passage of the wooden bridge had now become quite practicable and after looking into the bosom of the water you might enter upon that path and hear the rustling of tlie withered grass beneath your feet while high overhead were the majestic branches of old and stately trees extended by the imagination beyond what was perceptible to the eye farther and farther into the silent depth of the forest from what i then saw of the wrought upon this picture and what i have since learned by observation and experience i am inclined to think that the poetry of landscape painting is dependent in a great degree upon the idea of atmosphere being clearly conveyed to the mind that scene however laboriously or delicately executed which from its want of general harmony no such idea to the mind deserves not the name of a picture but that which draws forth the emotions of the soul by a correspondence with impressions made upon it by the sun the sky the seasons or the hour of the day may be highly and intensely poetical though simple and in itself this idea must be strongly impressed upon the memory and the imagination of the painter before he begins his task as in the natural the colour and character of every visible object is affected by the air which is invisible so in all representations of external nature there must be that perfect harmony the whole scene which is in keeping with any particular state of the atmosphere of which the artist may wish to convey an impression to others and thus through the medium of form and colour upon the eye the mind receives distinctly and forcibly the idea of that	41
which possesses neither form nor colour in itself and which no eye is capable of beholding i never saw the want of atmosphere more striking than in a picture full of it was intended to illustrate the fable of the adorned in borrowed but the was only to be found upon examination for there were three nearly as large as life crowded into a moderate sized painting and two of them having tails expanded the was literally covered with feathers these it is true were beautifully executed and had the piece been called a picture of s feathers it might have been admired but there was a total absence of some of the most essential parts of a and the eye turned away with weariness or disgust while the mind the poetry of painting formed as to the meaning of the painter with a single idea in describing this picture my mind very naturally to one in the same exhibition almost immediately opposed to it in but still more so in character it was if i recollect right by one of the and represented a sunset upon a level beach the sky was still glowing with all the gorgeous tints of evening but the sun was not visible and there was neither nor wave nor to reflect his light all was a complete flat gilded with his beams and the sea and the shore were alike but the artist acquainted with the principles of mind as well as matter had not forth this mere flat to brave the consequent contempt of mankind he had wisely given to his picture a of interest without wliich it must have been a complete blank we have before observed that whatever is beautiful or sublime does not create intense sensations of pleasure without some link of human fellowship either real or imaginary so the painter of this picture had placed in the middle distance or rather in the of his piece two human beings whose tall shadows fell behind them on uie ground they might be consulting about the tides or travellers resting by the way or poets gazing on the golden sky their dress and appearance revealed nothing nor was it of consequence that they should they were human and that was enough imagination could supply the rest and people that glowing scene with all the images familiar or fantastic that wait upon the sun s decline it was the perfect harmony of this picture which made tht charm so irresistible the illusion so complete and whenever the delight or the beauty of landscape painting is considered harmony must be acknowledged to be the basis upon which both are founded it ib that the external aspect of nature perpetual contrast both in form and but this very contrast is in harmony with the whole for our ideas of beauty are chiefly derived from the principles which the external world and amongst these we may reckon it not the least important that there can be no brilliant light deep shadow in speaking of the pleasure derived from painting i have found in necessary to make frequent use of the word a word which might unquestionably be to many other sources of human gratification but in reference to the illusion to which we willingly and necessarily submit ourselves in order to find greater pleasure in the productions of the pencil it may not be to offer a few remarks in this place those who have never studied the art of painting are not aware how much we are indebted for the pleasure we receive from it to a natural process which takes place in the mind of the the painter who has no brighter materials than red and yellow clay to work with can ro dispose them as to represent the splendour and of a summer sunset upon which we gaze till our eyes are almost dazzled with the of those burning beams in the centre of his piece he places the glowing of day smiling his brightest before he sinks to rest upon his couch of crimson clouds on either side are trees whose foliage is bathed in the same golden hues and if managed they will form a vista in excess of light while the whole is by a group of panting cattle some of them holding down their heads as if in the very of patient endurance while their tails are curled about in every possible variety of posture to show with what they are ofi the of insects whose busy and hum is almost loud enough to be heard on first asking why the little spot of yellow paint which represents the sun looks so much more brilliant in the picture than on the we are told it is the of the different of light which thus the brightness of the centre but let the same colours be placed without any regard to form in the same order on the and we behold nothing but a heap of paint upon we might gaze till without being dazzled it is because we know that that particular appearance of the sun the sky the earth the trees and the cattle is in reality the invariable accompaniment of intense heat bo on perceiving the same appearance in a picture we persuade ourselves that it i the poetry of life is there if in the same scene and with precisely the same colours the artist should represent the violence of a gale of wind or of the cattle hut in the same situation and with the same colours he should place a tree a cottage with its roof covered with snow and a miserable half starved man vainly endeavouring to fold a blanket round his shivering limbs there is no eye that would feel the same difficulty in gazing on the picture no mind either of man or woman that would be able while contemplating such a scene to undergo the process of	41
what is now commonly allied the ideas of light and heat in tlie selection of animals or individual objects thrown in from choice to a picture the landscape painter finds wide scope for tlie display of his poetic feeling the introduction of cattle is an error into which none could who was not either a in his art or an wedded to the best system of live stock and why because our associations with fat cattle whatever satisfaction they may yield in the kitchen or are decidedly too gross and vulgar in their nature to afford any gratification in a poem or a picture far be it from the writer of this chapter to the value of fat cattle or any other agricultural produce but everything has an appropriate place and there is but one kind of picture in which fat cattle would be in theirs i will leave the reader to judge how far that kind is worthy of the art let the subject be a red brick farm house with a bam extending on one side and a square plot of garden ground on the other circular com and a red pigeon house in front with fields in the distance smoothed down by constant culture and with neatly at right angles all over them fat cattle would unquestionably be well placed in tlie and the picture merely as such would possess the beauty of harmony in all its art though it might be impossible to call it poetical after an extreme case the mind by a natural effort rushes towards its opposite in search of that gratification which it has failed to find and the idea which now presents itself is that of a wild and varied landscape with distant mountains rugged deep groves green slopes foaming and wandering upon the banks of one of these beneath the shade of a wide spreading the artist places immediately in the no less a personage than while the dance before him to the music of his and winged loves and graces from rock to rock or float upon the air does the picture please no because in the first instance it is not to nature and wherever the conceit of man s imagination breaks in upon the harmony and pathos which belong to nature alone the poetical charm must in some measure be destroyed and secondly because in the picture of a landscape the ideal ot rural scenery should be distinct and which it is impossible it should be where characters so important as and the are introduced but let us still retain the landscape and see whether something better may not be made of it the artist who enters into the real spirit of poetry will place upon the broken of the mountain a few shaggy and perhaps a solitary a wanderer from the herd will be stooping over the side of the stream to lave its thirst in the cool waters of the forest the he will witli the rich colouring of innumerable wild plants woven into a gorgeous carpet which here and there gives place to a projecting rock or to the wild of a small silvery torrent that up from a gray stone fountain and filling a rude shoots forth in and then loses itself amongst the thick leaves and overhanging the little narrow bed which with the strife of ages it has worked out for its own repose beside this fountain a woman is standing not an angel or a goddess but a simple peasant woman whose dress coarse but gorgeous in its colouring with the rich and varied tints of the she has my notion of not only tke forms which n produce bat also the ud internal and as i may call it of the human mind and imagination sir the poetry op painting just filled her from the pure stream and is resting it for a moment on the side of the stone before she back her lonely way to the s cottage whose low roof may be seen half hid by the trees here is at once a picture which by awakening our calling to mind a thousand delightful recollections and giving birth to tlie most agreeable associations our attention delights our fancy and more clearly than would a volume of what it is that the poetry of painting and in this manner the most pleasing may be composed out of materials extremely simple and sometimes even barren in perhaps no one was ever more intimately acquainted with the poetry of this of the art than in all his of the savage dignity of nature may be found a perfect correspondence between the subjects which he chose and his manner of treating them everything is of a piece his rocks trees sky even to his handling have the same rude and wild character which his figures as the art of poetry may be under several different heads so that of painting has to the poetical observer many distinctions of character not laid down in the of the schools leaving the more celebrated productions of the to which there might doubtless be found corresponding specimens in the sister art i will turn to a case in point which to my mind is both striking and familiar it is the resemblance of character between s and the poems of robert it is true the artist in this instance has confined himself to a mode of conveying his ideas so simple and that the comparison hardly holds good between tlie productions of the pencil and the pen all that i maintain is the of talent of tone of mind and moral feeling displayed in their separate works we find in both the same to nature without ornament or affectation and we discover the pathos in those slight touches of which genius alone is capable with the same of fancy lawless and describing as if in very scenes the most grotesque ludicrous or familiar	41
corner melancholy when elevated vivacity and wit that the artist can immediately produce a total change in the character of tho mouth by a slight alteration in the closing line and tiiat it is by a long course of study experience and labour that he makes himself intimately acquainted not only with the natural formation of the human countenance but also with those muscular affections which accompany certain emotions of the mind that by these means he is enabled not only to perceive but to imitate the characteristic lines and features and thus to produce what is called expression on the idea of inspiration from the art of painting and acknowledging the necessity of study and experience we see that a poetical painter though elevated to the highest distinctions of genius can only have attained that eminence by a process not called education though it mayor may not have been conducted in strict rules this process may be divided into three stages first he feels the moving spring of action the ardent desire which the young artist to look abroad into the works of the creation to search out with penetrating and comprehensive vision the eternal principles of and to discover and acknowledge wherever it is to be found the essence of beauty thousands of human beings are alive to this state of feeling who from want of suitable advantages different bias short from necessity are from advancing farther in uie walks of art and therefore thousands are sensible of the poetical influence of painting who have never touched a pencil or only touched one to their own shame and disappointment but let the young artist stimulated with this burning desire this thirst for physical and moral excellence submit himself to the discipline of the schools will his energy be his genius extinguished or his enthusiasm subdued no no more than the poet in selecting suitable words as the vehicle to convey his ideas to mankind will lose the fire which gives life and splendour to his verse and just with the same facility can the painter strike off a perfect picture without to established as tiie can pour his harmonious thoughts in a language unknown to him before from the stem practice of the schools the artist in time though only to extend the sphere of his education and the field of those studies which the longest life of man is insufficient to complete this brings us to the third and last stage when the artist still animated with the same enthusiasm forth into the having become thoroughly into the use of tiie proper means he is now able to apply both the of his soul and the labour of his hand to the production of those splendid works which his mind is not able to conceive for having been made with their internal construction their peculiar distinctions and fully qualified to enter the realm of poetry he himself with the author and regarding his hero in his moral and intellectual character him with a nobility of mien and stature which if it is not true to his physical formation is true to nature because his nature was noble and the character which the historian is able to describe with the of time and the change of scene and circumstance he must impress upon the as it were with one stroke and into the space of a single moment the accumulated influence and power and majesty of a long life of glorious actions animated by the spirit stirring influence of poetic feeling he can now take captive the fallen monarch in chains which his own hand around him he can tiie deity into of his own the impassioned with a harmony of colouring like the poetry of painting i music to the eye and tinge an angel s wings with the golden hues of heaven the greatest merit of painting is that like poetry it addresses itself to those principles of intellectual enjoyment without which its greatest beauties would neither be appreciated or seen principles in the human mind and of en neither felt nor acknowledged until called forth by the works of art the pleasure we derive from painting is commonly and to be only as it is an art why then do not coloured figures in wax rank higher in the estimation of the world than the more laborious and productions of the and why do not miniature with the real elevation of hills trees and houses made of cork or clay and coloured to the hues of nature please more than the level surface on which form and distance are merely by a particular management of colour so as to represent light and sha e the fact is that in such performances however managed nothing is led for the imagination we see the thing as it really is pronounce it to be very pretty and think no more about it while those in which the alone is obvious and the means enveloped in their proper obscurity strike the witli feelings of wonder and admiration while through the medium of the senses he receives just so much information as is necessary to set the imagination afloat upon an ocean of thought let hands profane colour to the very life an or a and we should see nothing more than a fine man and a pretty woman but in contemplating them as they are we behold the eternal principles of beauty handed down to us from distant ages conceived by one nation appropriated by another and acknowledged by all with the admiration painting and next to poetry constitute the grand medium by which tlie ideas and tlie most exquisite sensations are conveyed to the human mind it is true the phenomena of nature are essentially sublime as well as beautiful but nature speaks to us in a voice wliich we do not always hear and cannot always understand it is when nature is interpreted by	41
the power of human genius that we hear most forcibly and if we do not understand we feel the eternal truths which have their in nature and their impress in the soul of man the poetry op sound amongst the organs of perception by which ideas of sensible things are conveyed to the mind it is only necessary here to notice those wliich are most important and obvious the eye and the ear painting forms the medium of between the eye and the mind language supplies the mind with ideas tl rough the medium of the ear our attention has hitherto been occupied by visible objects alone and having conducted them to the mind through one avenue it is necessary that we take up the subject of sound in order that we may make a approach by sound is perhaps of all subjects the most intimately connected vith poetic feeling not only because it within its widely extended sphere the influence of music so powerful over the passions and of our nature but because there is in poetry itself a a perceptible harmony which delights the ear while the eye remains the ear is also more subject than the eye to the influence of association just in proportion as the impressions it receives are more isolated distinct the eye a great number of objects at once or in such rapid succession that they tend to destroy the identity of each and so long as it remains continues to behold and to perceive without a moment s but the ear besides being compelled to receive sounds merely as they are to it without like the eye possessing the powers of searching selecting and for itself has its of silence which render the impressions that have been made more and which are to follow more acute wherever there is any visible object the eye and the mind through the eye may receive pleasure because light itself is beautiful and the glancing even on the walls of a prison afford to the unfortunate within associations which connect those beams with the glorious of day the skies the air a multitude of agreeable ideas which naturally present themselves but the ear is much less frequently gratified than the eye especially in towns where it is denied the negative enjoyment of silence compare the of light and sunshine appearing even on the prison wall with the occurrence of any sweet or soothing sound within those gloomy compare the beautiful specimens of art the appearance of order regularity and magnificence to be the city with the perpetual tumult and din by which the ear is distressed and annoyed compare the endless variety of charms presented to the eye by external nature with the frequent silence which in the country and we shall perceive at once that the ear is an organ less active and less occupied than the eye and thus we may account for its impressions being so intense as well as so peculiarly with associations the most affecting to the mind why certain sounds should be agreeable or disagreeable to the ear may be best understood by examining the principles of music which for more reasons than one it would be unwise to introduce into the present work the established fact that the ear is gratified by harmony and pained by discord is quite sufficient for my present purpose but why under certain circumstances we are delighted with sounds which are m and separate from association the most intolerable discord may very properly form a subject of serious consideration here one of the most striking as well as most familiar instances of this kind is the of the when this bird is taken captive and brought into your room nothing can well be more offensive to the ear more harsh or than its voice and yet the same voice heard in certain situations in the open air is musical heard as a number of these and sagacious inhabitants of the woods are their slow and solemn flight while their shadows over the richly cultivated landscape and approaching the of man they wheel round and round in graceful circles returning homeward with the same speed the same desire and the same end in view the language of the whole reminding the listener of the voices of wearied but contented travellers well pleased to return from their journey while they congratulate each other upon the peace the comfort and the security which them in their dwellings though the language of the is extremely limited and to those who know little of rural scenes or rural pleasures extremely monotonous it is capable of varying that language by a of expression both familiar and interesting to the privileged class of beings who draw upon the inexhaustible resources of nature for their amusement and delight in the spring when the first begin to be busy with their nests their language like their feelings and occupations is cheerful bustling and tumultuous it is perfect discord but heard in the distance it to the mind innumerable pleasing associations with that delightful season of the year and the universal alacrity and joy with which the animal creation resume their preparations for a new and happy life but it is in the when the bustle of the spring and summer has subsided that the language of the is most poetical there is then a melancholy in its voice heard slowly and at intervals which is in perfect with the general aspect of nature nor is it to suppose that this sagacious bird perched upon the bough of some venerable tree is making observations upon the external world and in the universal tendency to decay exhibited in the scattered fruit the faded foliage and the withered grass of the same description of sound is the of the lamb which in itself is as entirely devoid of sweetness and melody as the of the yet the voice of the lamb has been	41
so long and so intimately connected in idea with the season of spring with green fields and sunny slopes with scented yellow rich meadows and wandering as well as with plenty and innocence and peace that the poetry of sound our best poets have deemed it no of the laws to which genius is to mingle the of the lamb with the sweetest harmony of nature one more instance of the same kind will suffice the of the which the other two in the and with which it strikes upon the ear and yet how perfectly harmonious is the of the when it echoes amongst the rocky heights of the mountain or rising from the rugged of the shore with the hollow and tumultuous roar of the ever restless ocean the voices of the singing birds which people our gardens fields and groves filling the air with one perpetual melody are well known to every listening ear and feeling mind both in their natural music and in their poetical associations from the sweet plaintive notes of the robin to the rich full of the and they are in themselves and separate from all relative ideas most delightful to the ear under almost all imaginable circumstances except one and that is when heard through the bars of the solitary prison to which the wild of nature sure too condemned the two most melancholy sounds in the world are die song of tlie bird and the voice of the street it makes the he that has been accustomed to the wild joyous of nature to hear either suspended in his narrow cage and excluded by an outer prison from all in the fresh and genial air or hung without these walls in the and din and of the crowded city perhaps the little prisoner feels a gleam of sunshine fall upon his wing and in an instant the fire of nature is kindled in his bosom he may know nothing of the fields let us hope he possesses not the faculty of remembering what once he was but in his bounding breast instinct supplies the place of memory and imagination and he pines for he knows not what animated with the energy of a wild free life he his light wings with a quick and fairy motion almost spiritual in its grace and oh how in the perpetual of its to flee away and be at rest still the life of its soul is and it out its longest notes even there as if in defiance of the power of man or to prove that there is a power in nature a power of and vitality beyond the reach of his and hand there is a scene exhibited every day throughout the summer months in the outskirts of london which it is possible to contemplate until the mind is filled with and we learn to and our own species in fields remote from the city to admit of their being the resort of birds men are accustomed to station themselves with a trap and in order to obtain a supply of singing birds for the london the trap is a large net so contrived that it can be drawn up in a moment the is a little bird tied fast to the end of a stick which with the flutter of its wings and thus the bird alternately rising and sinking has something the appearance of dancing at will upon the light and spray the man the monarch of creation all the while on the ground to watch his prey and when one little has by its struggles so well the movements of a joyous flight as to its fellow victims into the the fatal knot is drawn the man chooses out from the number the sweetest and them separately in an immense number of little brought with him for the purpose they are conveyed to the market purchased and made miserable during the rest of their lives for the of london ears and the benefit of society in general i know not whether it was die of my own fancy or that such was really the fact but the men whom i have seen employed in this business looked to me uncommonly large that is personally large there was so strange a contrast between their magnitude and that of the little fragile beings they were with upon such unequal terms between the frantic fluttering of the bird and the joyous flight of the free ones between this system of deception and cruelty and the open and manly performance of that the poetry of life duty which teaches us to deal even with the meanest of god s that i have always considered this scene as amongst the most melancholy of those incident to a mass of human beings in an imperfect state of moral cultivation but to return from this to the immense number and variety of sounds made to the of poetry amongst which that of the wind is perhaps the most productive of poetical associations strike out this master from the harp of nature and the music of tlie would be harmony no more upon the bosom of the sea in the wide desert where the sand or in more domestic and scenes when the sky is concealed behind a dense mass of motionless cloud when the flowers no longer tremble on their slender stems and even the leaves are still a voice is wanting to remind us of the and of one mighty element and we feel as if the great spirit of nature were either sleeping or dead the least perceptible movement in the air the slightest sound of the passing breeze as it per through the leafy boughs of the forest fills up the dreary void an all intelligence again lives around us and the imaginative mind holds ideal intercourse with invisible beings whose home is in the wilderness and whose companionship is the language	41
voice of nature may have without expression wearisome and void but let the music of our early days be again and tlie of memory are opened creation the of its colouring the melody of sound is restored and the soul her folded wings once again up to her natural element of long forgotten happiness we have said that the song of the bird and that of the street are both sad and yet how many millions pass on their daily walk hearing without regarding either it is because music addresses itself to the most exquisite sensations of which we are capable that its vulgar is so distressing it is because of its own purity and refinement and to delicate feelings and high sentiments that we grieve over its to low purposes it is because it is properly the language of or woe that we cannot bear to hear it sold filthy pence out or stiu more denied we hear at intervals amidst all the dust and tumult of the city the sound of distant music with the accompaniment of a voice that might once have been sweet we listen to a lively strain that should have echoed through stately halls amongst marble pillars and wreaths of flowers the voice of the is strained beyond its natural pitch but no ear will listen it is but no heart is charmed the discord of city sounds the rattle of wheels and the busy tread of many feet carry away the sound and the sweetness is lost a plaintive lay comes next but it is alike in moving the multitude and the wretched wander on a living of the of music performed without appropriate feeling persisted in without fitting of time and place and poured upon ungrateful and ears the cultivation of music as a science dearly marks the progress of national civilization in all countries on the face of the earth however simple or barbarous the state of their inhabitants humble attempts to produce something like music have been detected which proves beyond a doubt that there is a natural faculty or feeling in the human mind that pines for this peculiar enjoyment as the eye is gratified with tlie of different colours so is tlie ear with the harmony of differ ent sounds the general aspect of the external world and the wonderful construction of the organ of sight show how admirably they are adapted to each other yet much is to the ingenuity of man that he may exercise his faculties in carrying on the same principle of intellectual enjoyment derived from nature and it through the region of art as relates to the eye this is most accomplished by painting as relates to the ear by music they each constitute links of the same degree of relative connection between the organs of sense and the operations of the mind painting is generally considered more intellectual than music because it remains and to criticism while music is more and more in its effect upon the feelings but they have both worked their way as an accompaniment in tlie progress of civilization and general refinement they have both occupied the lives of many able men requiring the exercise of much patience and much intellect to bring them to their present state of perfection and they both afford pleasure upon principles which form an important part of our nature and are inseparable from it it is true there are human beings so constituted that deficient in no other faculty they yet declare themselves incapable of being charmed by music but rather than them at once to the well known against the man that has not music in his soul i have sometimes fancied that these individuals were influenced by prejudice or early bias against music in some particular that they might probably each have their favourite song bird and that if they could once be convinced that the music to which they professed themselves insensible was only a different arrangement of the same notes they were accustomed to listen to with delight from a bird they would no the poetry of life longer turn away with indifference from the music of the harp or the there ia one kind of music which above all others i would make the test of their the music of the voices of children if they remain unmoved by that the case would be fully proved against them and there would appear no reason why sentence should not be immediately pronounced by declaring them fit for treason s and there is no sound that us in our daily and familiar walk more affecting than the voice of infancy in its happiest moods it reminds us with its fairy tones of silvery music at once of what we are and what we might have been of all that we have lost in losing our innocence of the flowers that still linger upon tiie path of life of the sweetness that may yet be extracted from affection and from tenderness and truth and of die choir that sing around the eternal throne the poetry of village sounds when heard by the evening wanderer scarcely needs description here the clap of tlie distant gate the bark of the watch dog the of the folded sheep the faintly distinguished shout of some victorious in the village game the cry of the child under the evening discipline and the hum of many voices telling of the toils of the past or of the coming day are all poetical when they come floating upon the air though each in itself is and such as we should a nearer acquaintance with yet such is their intimate and powerful association with the of evening s hour the close of labor and the refreshment of repose that heard in the distance they are into music and thus become of happiness and peace as if to our sources of enjoyment and the mind onward from sensible	41
to q things echo seems to have assumed her mysterious place in the great plan of creation as shadow in the visible world is more productive of poetical associations than objects which possess the qualities of substance light and colour so is echo in the region of sound it speaks to us in a language faithful yet so airy and spiritual in its tones that we willingly adopt the fanciful conception of the poet as the most natural and satisfactory manner of for the existence of a being so sensitive and ethereal as to be perpetually speaking in the language of the woods and y t never seen even for a moment in the depth of the cool forest listening to the melody of the winds or stooping over the side of the crystal fountain to catch the silvery fall of its liquid music how could a being of intelligence be made so faithful but by love or so timid but by suffering and from these two common circumstances of love and sorrow the poet has drawn materials for that beautiful and fantastic story of echo sighing herself away until her whole existence became embodied in a sound a sound of such exquisite but mysterious sweetness wandering like a intelligence from hill to hill from cave to mountain from to that he must be destitute indeed of all to poetic feeling who can listen to the voice of echo without connecting it in idea with the language of unseen spirits as in the material world every visible object has its and every sound its echo in accordance with tlie great harmonious system of creation no single idea is presented to the mind without its immediate and connection with others nor are we capable of any sensation either painful or that does not owe half its weight and power to sympathy such is the vital character of the principle of poetry that touch but the simplest flower which in our fields or our meadows and the life giving spell on every side including in its charmed circle the and the winds light form and loveliness the changes of the seasons and an endless variety of associations each having its own circle also and extending for ever without bound or strike but a of music and the sound is echoed and re echoed bearing the mind along with it far far away into the regions of space examine but one extracted from the abyss of past time apply it to the torch of poetry and a flame is kindled which lights up the past the present and the future as with the golden the poetry of language radiance of an eternal and fire to of the poetry of one particular thing is consequently like upon the v of a single note of music it i is the combination and variety of these notes that charm the ear just as it is the spirit of poetry the natural world sweetness and beauty with the rapidity of thought the power of intelligence and the energy of truth which the poetry of life the poetry of language language as the medium of has the same relation to the e ur and the mind as painting has to the mind and the eye the poetry of language like that of painting consists in producing upon the organs of sense such impressions as are most intimately connected with refined and intellectual ideas and it is to language that we appeal for the most forcible and obvious proofs that all our poetic feelings owe their existence to association the great principle therefore to be kept in view by the poet is e scale or the tone as the popular phrase now is of his associations and this is of importance not only as regards his subjects but his words for let the theme of his muse be the highest which the human mind is capable of and the general style of his tender graceful or sublime the occasional occurrence of an ill chosen word may so arrest the interest of the reader by the sudden of a different and inferior set of associations as entirely to destroy the charm of the whole without noticing words we are scarcely aware how much of their sense is derived from the relative ideas which custom has attached to them take for example the word chariot and supply its place in any poetical passage with a one horse chaise or even a coach and six and the hero who had been followed by the of a wondering people immediately to the level of a common man even while he travels more dean swift has a on tlie art of sinking in poetry to which curious additions might be made by striking out any appropriate expression from a fine passage and without materially the sense supplying its place with some vulgar familiar or otherwise ill chosen word for example come forth sweet spirit thy cave come our but hark through the flashing lightning of war what of the desert flies frantic what of the desert note afar we shall hold in the air a communion divine we shall hold in the air divine my ivy d porch shall spring each fragrant flower that drinks the dew each fragrant flower that the dew to s i bore with trembling care her form she bow d to taste the wave and died she d to the wave we thought as we his narrow bed and smooth d down his lonely that the foe and the stranger would tread o er his head and we far away on the we thought as we his and dug out his lonely pillow that the foe and the stranger would o er his head be strong as the ocean that stems a thousand wild waves on the shore nine hundred wild waves on the shore this life is all with pleasures and woes this life is	41
all there can scarcely be a more beautiful and appropriate arrangement of words than in the following from the sails were d and the light winds blew as glad to him om his native home and the white rocks faded ft om his view and soon were lost in and then it may be of his wish to repented he but in his mn slept the silent thought nor from his lips did come one word of wail whilst others and wept and to the reckless moaning kept without committing a crime so as that of entirely this verse it is easy to it so as to bring it down to the level of ordinary composition and thus we may illustrate the essential difference between poetry and mere the were trimmed and fair the light winds as glad force him from his native home and the white rocks from his view and soon were lost ike foam the poetry of life and then perchance of hit fond un h to m repented he but in hit bosom slept the nor from his lips did one mournful whilst others sat and wept and to heedless breeze their moaning kept it is impossible not to be struck with the harmony of the original words as they are placed in this the very sound is graceful as well as musical like the motion of the winds and waves blended with the majestic movement of a gallant ship the sails were filled no association with the work of man but substitute the word trimmed and you see the busy sailors at once the word follows in perfect with the whole of the preceding line and the invisible agency of the light winds while the word glad before it gives an idea of their power as an unseen intelligence fading is also a happy expression to the gradual obscurity and of the white rocks but the foam is perhaps the most poetical expression of the whole and such as could scarcely have proceeded from a low or ordinary mind it is however to this minute examination of particular words it may be more amusing to the reader to see how a poet and that of no mean order can murder his own to bt from a single cloud the lightning flashes whilst a are d around earthquake is one city to ashes but thy than the lightning s glare and thy step than the earthquake s tramp thou the rage of the ocean thy makes blind the the images called up before the mind by this of earthquake in the act of and liberty staring are sufficiently absurd to destroy the of the poem to music when soft die in the memory when sweet the sense they ere the through heaven once more has rolled the in her heart win have made their nest and the be in her golden hair and if i think my thoughts come i mix the present with the past and each seems than the to thou heart of men which ever naked beneath the eye of heaven i the same fault as it applies to rather than to single words is still more frequently found in poetry because the ear the judgment in its choice of words but is left entirely to the imagination the same poet rich as he is in passages of beauty must still supply ua with examples a thou art the whose is all m we can desire o love i a vision op t m the terror of tempest the of the sail are flickering in ribbons within the gale from the night of the dim is driven and when lightning is uke a heaven she the black trunks of the m and bend as if heaven was in thb in the court of the beside the pale like a blood hound well beaten the bridegroom stands eaten by shame for but to see her were to read the tale woven by some bard to make hard away in wisdom working grief her with boat on thb our boat is asleep on the s its sails are folded like thoughts in a dream the elm idly hither and thither the has brought the mist and the oar and the sails but tis sleeping like a a vulgar proverb tells us that seeing is believing f and it is quite necessary to see in order to believe that the same poet who wrote that exquisite line its are folded like thoughts in a dream should go on to tell us in the language of poetry that the ht the and that the boat itself u is sleeping li te a beast unconscious of its the same poet has addressed himself to night in language seldom surpassed for and grace but even here he calls up one image which spoils the whole wrap thy form in a mantle grey star bind with thine hair the eyes of day her the be out then wander o er city and sea and land touching all with thine come long sought ow thb op op na and thou still mother earth t u warming old o er the embers and cold of that most spirit when it fled it ib an task to busy one s fingers in turning over the pages of our best writers for the purpose of finding out their faults or rather instances of their forgetfulness yet if any thing of this kind can assist the young poet in his pursuit of excellence it ought not to be withheld especially as it can in no way affect the decided merits of those who have so few in their title to our admiration what behold i says a wilderness of wonders burning round where larger higher perhaps the of descending gods nor halt i here my toil is but begun tis but the threshold of the deity	41
into an ideal scene all is confusion because the mind no sooner forms one picture than other objects differently coloured are forced upon it and the whole is indefinite and obscure again in the song of a spirit and as a in which i walk through i have wrought mountains seas and waves and and lastly light whose dark of air milton is by no means free from this fault witness his frequent crowding together of which even the most learned readers must pause before they can properly apply as well as passages like the following with which his works abound the poetry of language there let him victor as hath firom thia new world retiring by hit own doom and henceforth with thee divide of all things parted by the hu from thy or try thee now more to hia throne but of all our poets young is perhaps the most liberal in upon his readers examples of this kind his ideas are absolutely ponderous his associations crowd upon us in such masses that we are and fatigued instead of being refreshed and delighted with his otherwise sublime and always imaginative style the poetry of language consists therefore not only of words which are musical harmonious and agreeable in themselves but of appropriate words so arranged as that their relative ideas shall flow into the mind without more exertion of its own than results from a gentle and natural that quality in poetry which is most essentially to this effect is simplicity and perhaps the humble ideas we attach to the word simplicity is too much despised by those who are with its real power and value yet is there nothing more obvious upon reflection than the simplicity of the language of some of our best poets we feel that it is only from not having been the first to think of it that we have not used precisely the same language ourselves it contains nothing apparently our own reach and compass the words which the lines seem to have fallen naturally and without design into their proper places and the flows in like e consequence of an impulse rather than an simplicity in poetry when the subject is well and managed like order in architecture where the materials and are good a complete whole which never fails to please not only the scientific observer but even those who are least acquainted with the from which their gratification arises our business thus far has been to point out what is not poetical in language and so far as it serves to establish the fact that the poetry of language as well as that of feeling arises from association the task can scarcely be altogether uninteresting but that which now lies before us is one of a much more grateful character we are told by that it is an essential part of the harmony and consequently of the c ry of language that a particular resemblance should be maintained between the object described and the sounds employed in describing it and of this we give practical illustrations in our common conversation when we speak of the whistling of winds the and hum of insects the hiss of the crash of timber and many other instances where the word has been plainly framed upon the sound it represents pope also tells us in his poetical essay on criticism not oo offence the sound must seem an echo to the soft ia the when gently and the stream hi numbers but when loud lash the sounding shore the hoarse rough should like the torrent roar and faithful to his own he thus describes the of trees in a forest loud sounds the air stroke on strokes on all sides round the forest her oaks headlong deep echoing groan the brown then rustling thunder down the words gone no more adapted by their sound to the lengthened and melancholy with which they are generally uttered and quick lively fun are equally expressive of what they describe of the same character are the examples of the of the c scarce t the knows his time with to shake the sounding marsh he takes the at draughts and with wide nostrils the ware the tempest its burden oo the wind the d roar m deepening mingling peal on peal crush d horrible and earth down comes a of hail or prone the poetry of life on at last the d ap roaring down it c tumbling rocks abrupt i hear the far ofl sound oyer some wide water d swinging slow with sullen roar the clouds with have you not made an universal shout that trembled underneath his to hear the of your sounds made in his shores but above all our poets he who in darkness most deeply felt and studied the harmony of his shut out from the visible world his very so il seemed wrapped in music and confined to that one medium of intelligence through it he received as well as imparted the most exquisite delight witness his own expression to feed on thoughts that voluntary move harmonious numbers the multitude of angels with a loud as firom numbers without number the harp had work and rested not the solemn pipe and all organs of sweet stop all sounds on fret by string or golden wire temper d soft the contrast between the two following passages to great advantage the poet s art on a sudden open fly with impetuous and th infernal doors and on their hinges grate harsh thunder heaven opened wide her ever during gates on golden hinges turning and again when the merry bells ring round and the sound to many a youth and many a maid dancing in the d shade fountains and ye that as ye flow melodious murmurs tune praise now gentle their wings dispense native and whisper whence they stole those	41
spoils ebb that stole soft toward the deep tc listen where thou art sitting under the cool wave at last a soft and solemn breathing sound rose like a steam of rich up n the air that even silence was took ere he was ware and wished she might deny her nature and be never more to be so how sweetly did they float upon the wings of silence through the empty night at every foil the down of darkness it midnight shout and dance and the sun to me is dark and silent as the moon when she deserts the night hid in her vacant cave milton the measure of the following two lines is remarkably descriptive of the of our first parents when they passed for the last time through the gates of paradise they hand in hand with wandering steps aad through took their solitary way how bright and is the following description how the the brook rolling on pearl and sands of gold with error under shades the following specimens from different authors are all of the harmony of numbers how is night a fills the silent air no mist nor cloud nor speck breaks the serene of heaven in d glory yonder moon divine rolls through the dark blue depths beneath her steady ray the desert circle like a round ocean with the sky how is night from peak to peak the rattling among leaps the live thunder and first one universal shriek there rush d louder than the loud ocean like a crash of echoing thunder and then all was hush d save the wild wind and the of but at intervals there d accompanied with a splash a solitary shriek the cry of some strong in his agony and dashing soft rocks around join d the sound that oi d maiden with white fire laden whom mortals call the moon glimmering o er my like floor by the midnight breezes strewn sad on the solitude of night the sound as in the stream he d was heard around the poetry op language til was the wave wit no more tim rf ter swept e aa before the d the and peace o er the h k gray is scarcely inferior to milton in his indeed so much less important are the subjects of his muse and consequently so much more easily woven in with soft and musical words that as regards mere he stands in the literature of our country now the rich ef and that o er that crown th deep that cool eyed hot o er her am thai thai fair ha the mom and the while proudly riding o er the realm in trim the gilded on at the of the a away d in grim hia prey bright and bearing aa wares in the eye of her d now the to the loom of hell prepare of in the air now my weary i te me leave me to repose nothing can be more expressive of than the simple words which compose these two lines we could scarcely find in our hearts to detain the who them more than once even were she capable of to our grasp the imaginary dominion of a world the written in a country churchyard is altogether the most perfect specimen of poetical harmony which our language bat like some other good things it been by vulgar abuse and many who have been compelled to learn them verses for a task at school retain in life a clear recollection of their without any idea of their sense or any of their beauty still this many and one in particular to which the ear must be insensible indeed if it can listen without delight tht cab ff e mom the from the shed the cock s or the echoing horn mo more shall them from their lowly bed amongst our modem poets there is not one who possesses a more exquisite sense of the of sound and than his charmed numbers flow on like the free current of a melodious stream whose associations are with the and the shadows the leafy bought the song of the forest birds the dew upon the bank and all things sweet and genial and delightful whose influence is around us in our happiest moments and whose essence is the wealth that lies in the treasury of nature reading the poetry of our attention is never arrested by one particular word his are like notes of music each parts of an harmonious whole and the interest they excite divided between the ear and the mind is a continued tide of gratification gently but poured in upon tne soul there is scarcely a line of his that would not gratify us by its sound even were we ignorant of sense but the perfect correspondence between both is what the soul felt music of his it would be as useless to select passages from what is altogether harmonious as to point out particular parts in a chain of beauty whose every link is perfect but from an almost remembrance of the delight with which they first struck upon my youthful ear i am tempted to quote a few examples powerfully of the poetry of language oh i had we bright little isle of onr in a blue ar off and alone ef as cm i saw from the beach when the morning was shining a bark o er the waters more on i came when the o er that beach was declining bark was still there but the waters were gone there s a bower of roses by s stream and the sings round it all the day long in the time of my childhood twas like a sweet dream to sit in the roses and hear the bird s song what a picture of innocent enjoyment is	41
here a picture whose and beauty are recalled in life as light and colouring only whose reality is gone with the innocence which gave it birth the poetry of life n in the poet s farewell to his harp the last two lines are exquisitely poetical if the of the or hare d at our lay thy glory aa the over and au the i thy own r a few more passages quoted at random and without comment will sufficiently illustrate what is meant by in appropriate words which are purely poetical fiercely in and eye war d planet in a who with heart and could walk where liberty had been nor me the foot of her deity but ill according with the pomp and and that and hie up to like wave on ware succeeding in smooth when are laid still nearer on the come dream awhile they dance before him then divide breaking like rosy clouds at around the rich of the tm moonlight s sen her banks of pearl and in the night beam and lier waters sleep in to watch the moonlight on the wings of the white that break the calm of lake when the west opens her golden of our rocks are rough but smiling th wares her yellow hair lonely and sweet nor lot d the for flowing in a our sands are rude but down their the silvery footed as and gaily springs as o er the marble courts of kings nor is the prose of this bard less musical than his verse the very of his sentences would charm us independent of their meaning were it possible to listen without understanding but his choice of words is such that their mere sound no small portion of their sense seldom indeed had witnessed such a scene the ground that formed the original site of the garden had time to time received continual additions and the whole extent was laid out with that perfect taste which knows how to nature with art without her to the walks ing through of shade and opening as if to a play ground for the sunshine i temples rising on the very spots where imagination herself would haye called them up and and lakes in alternate motion and repose either the or calmly sleeping in its embrace such was the variety of feature that these gardens and animated as they were on this sion by the living wit and of it a scene such as my own rich as it was then in images of luxury and beauty could hardly have anticipated for shut out as i was by my creed a life and having no hope beyond the narrow horizon of this every minute of delight assumed a in my eyes and like the the y grew but more luxuriant from the neighbourhood of death every where new pleasures new interests awaited me and though melancholy as usual stood always near her shadow fell but half way over my path and left the rest more brilliant from the contrast through a range of the of the tomb are out on each generation that them with the same and features they wore centuries ago every plant and tree that ia to deaths to the ite or to place and the only that ite eternal calm ia the low humming the at prayer when a new ia added to the the activity of the morning was visible every where flights of and were fluttering among the leaves and the white which had been all ni ht in some date tree now stood its wings on the green bank or floated like over the flood the flowers too both of land and water looked meet of a the had with the the wave and waa now holding up her draught of hie light to attempt to repeat in her own words the simple story which she now related to me would be like endeavouring to note down some strain of music with those graces those of the moment which no art can restore as they met the ear the only living thing i saw a swallow whose wings were ot the hue of the grey over which he flattered why thought i may not the mind like this bird take the of the desert and in ity p it would scarcely be possible to exchange any one word in the writings of for another more fitting or appropriate nor can the young poet be too reminded that it is rather than uniform elevation of which he has to keep in view there are certain kinds of to which peculiar expressions are adapted expressions which even if the subject were the same would be extremely out of place elsewhere and here again is for e skill with which he the poetry op language if we may bo call it the proportions of his verse by keeping the familiar and playful language with which he sports like a child with his rainbow tinted always in their proper degree of so that they never break in upon the pathos of a sentiment or check the flow of elevated thought lines on the burial of sir m re afford a beautiful instance of what may be called tact in the choice and application of words it is not the splendour of an excited imagination flashing upon us as we read these lines which their fascination but the entire of the words and the to the scene described simple as these verses are throughout simple almost as the language of a child and therefore to be felt and understood by the meanest capacity they yet convey ideas of silence and power such as especially belong to the hour of night the awful nature of death and the indignant spirit of the warrior beyond the mere of words poetical language a deeper interest in those rapid of and	41
shakespeare in examples of this kind in no one instance more touching or powerful than in the lament of af er the french long tells her she is as fond of grief as of her child the room np of my child lies in his walks np and down im on his pretty looks his words remembers me of all his gracious parts out his vacant garments with his then have i reason to be fond of grief the following example from is remarkable for its elegance and beauty alluding to the and the orange the boast of and he says they peep the polished foliage at tho and seem to smile at what they need not the next figure of speech noticed by is of immense importance to the poet because if for one moment he loses the chain of association an image wholly out of place is introduced the charm of his is destroyed and his verse becomes contemptible from lord whose writings abound in beauties of this kind has selected one example of perfect the writer is describing the behaviour of charles the to his parliament in a word says he about a month after meeting he dissolved t the poetry op language them and as soon as he had dissolved them he repented but he repented too late of his well might he repent f the was now full and this last drop made the of bitterness the works of abound with beautiful and correct such as that on a hero in peace thou art the gate of spring in war the mountain storm or this on woman she was covered with the light of beauty but her heart was the house of pride young in speaking of old age says it should walk on the solemn shore or that ocean it mast sail so soon in the following lines prior gives us an example of which may be regarded as continued did i bat to with thee on the of a summer s sea while blow with and s the swelling sails bat would the ship and make the when the winds whistle and the roar v beyond these figures of speech there yet remain comparison and a variety of others which the young poet would do well to study and which are described in books expressly devoted to the purpose i shall therefore pass on to the language of the irish the simple genuine irish which has always appeared to me particularly imaginative powerful and pathetic but unfortunately for the writer it is only heard in moments of excitement of which the feelings alone keep a record and this record being one of impressions rather than words it is difficult to recall the precise expressions which striking the of sympathy produce a momentary echo to the music of the soul mrs c hall in an irish story of the strong and language of the irish makes this observation proceed from the mouth of a poor man who had listened to the recital of e misfortunes of one who was brave just and virtuous the the even to bleeding and the to grow its own way it is to the of traits and stories of the irish that we are chiefly indebted for our knowledge of what is peculiarly national and characteristic in his native language he gives us a spirited and amusing chapter upon irish swearing by no means confined to those wishes which it would be a task to but which as they issue from the impassioned lips of the have something of that sentimental nature though far deeper in its character triumphantly displayed by acres before his friend may the grass grow before your door a striking picture of desolation and ruin a ay you melt ofi die earth uke the snow off the ditch is another figure of the same description if positive good had the power to evil we might comfort ourselves in reading such expressions as these with what the author goes on to tell us that the irish have a superstitious dread of the curse of the pilgrim or idiot and of the widow and the orphan and so high is his idea of the duty he owes to these that his heart is ever open to their complaint and his hand ready to assist them thus it is not uncommon for them to say of a man whose do not prosper he has had some poor body s curse and a woman who unexpectedly receives a guest welcome in no way except that she was a stranger and a wanderer without a home is described as exclaiming the blessing o goodness upon you woman the frequent of the word heart in its unlimited capacity gives a warmth and to their expressions of or sorrow the beloved fair boy of my heart father son of my heart thou art dead from me heavy and black was his heart the world s goodness is in your heart light of my eyes and of my heart but above all the of my heart is most expressive of that deep toned which the heart alone can understand what can exceed the following words for refined yet genuine and fervent such as those who have been intimately acquainted with suffering alone can feel and hence it m that the irish derive their pathos for what strain of human misery can be the poetry of life touched to which own experience has not an echo hunger and sickness and may come upon you when you ll be far from your own and from them that love you or he s far from his own the the pretty yoimg boy my sweet darling is expressive of great tenderness my father the heavens be his bed when uttered with has both solemnity and pathos in their good wishes the irish are most ingenious may every hair of	41
your honour s head become a mould candle to light you into glory may you live a hundred years and a day longer which last words seem to be added from a sudden impulse to throw another weight into the scale or to heap another blessing into the measure already overflowing there is also a great deal of imagination in the manner in which they account for what they do not or will not understand always referring directly to the principles of good or evil thus a hard and unjust steward who wore his ears fed with wool was said to have adopted this custom that be might not hear the cries of the widow and the orphan in reply to that were to prove his constancy a peasant my soul is within you a mother thus regrets her son s approaching marriage you re going to break the ring about your father s hearth and mine a mother my soul to glory but my child s i in a note by in his fairy legends he remarks the irish like the as observed by mr rose in his interesting letters from the north of italy are extremely in their language thus they constantly use the word dark as s with blind and a blind beggar will you to look down with pi on a poor dark man it may be observed here that the irish like the scotch by a very beautiful and tender call a lady of rank in ireland the of her neighbourhood was one day asking a man about a poor ah my lady said he the poor creature is sadly with innocence and another peculiarity in the of the irish is their k ness for using what mr would term instead of the common english very extremely d c thus an will say its a cruel cold morning or there s a power of ivy growing on the old church there is a peculiarity of constitution both mental and bodily in the irish people for which it is difficult to account one of their most amiable characteristics is the absence of satire it would be more correct to say for the irish are quick to see the ridiculous but they can see without it with that medium between what them and what excite their passions that medium which an fills up with every variety and degree of contempt they pass immediately from laughter to and thus amongst the least civilized classes of the irish the social meeting too in the deadly madame de in speaking of the makes the same observation with regard to the absence of contemptuous satire from their national character and it is to this amiable trait in connection with great natural enthusiasm that we may reasonably attribute the poetical constitution of both people it is impossible to imagine that those combined of music and verse which italy has been celebrated and which have unquestionably given a poetical tone to the character of her people that those bursts of impassioned feeling finding at the same time a language and a voice should ever have flourished under the of john bull or that he should have sat by aud witnessed with delight those of and and splendid and flashes of wit and of passionate eloquence for which irish has been distinguished no there is nothing more destructive to enthusiasm and poetry indeed to genius in its most unlimited sense than contempt it is true the calm judgment of the is necessary to restrain e of ned im who himself upon able to down with a sneer whatever is unnecessary in feeling and in taste and im ought to feel bound to supply with something equally to happiness the void which this practice must occasion in the highest range of intellectual gratification if other evidence were necessary beyond what is afforded by the nature of the human mind to prove that poetry may not only be mingled with but all that we enjoy and admire we have this evidence in the bible as it does in every variety of poetical language which it has entered into the mind of man to conceive a slight examination of the different attached to words of common and familiar will sufficiently illustrate the high tone of imaginative interest flowing through the whole the words i have selected are hand wing foot head mind heart and soul of which hand is perhaps the most unlimited in its band his hand will be every and man i ef and the children of went oat with m h the day of their calamity la at the made au that he did to prosper in hia hand the of the lord ia npon ua for he put his hi and the as soon as the was in hia l will set hia hand in the sea and hia right hand in the rivers in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me we had died hy the hand of the lord the hand of the lord la gone o t me the hand of the lord waa upon me if wilt the left hand then i will go to the right or if depart to the right hand then i will go fo the let not thy left hand know what thy right i remember the years of the right hand of the moat high a wise man at his right hand let my right hand her cunning is there not a ue in my right hand if thy right hand thee cut it off they gate to me and the right hand of here we find the word is not only used for the instrument of performing maintaining and possessing but that it supplies the place of power in all its different of action and suffering aa om that are left have i gathered	41
all the earth and there waa none that moved the te have what i have done unto the and how i bore yon oa v m b brought you a reward be given thee of the lord ood at wider m l i a art come to and he rode upon a and did fly yea he did fly npon the of the wind ob that i had like a then i fly away and be at hide me under the shadow of thy take the of the morning and dwell in the parts of the riches make wo to the land with the wind hath bound her up in her the sun of shall arise with healing in his the word wing is here used not only as the instrument of conveying or away but as the means of and protecting from the two different associations which we have with the flight of a bird and the brooding of its young foot be win keep the of hia and the wicked shall be silent in darkness he my feat like feet he that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease i waa eyes to the blind and waa i to the lame he shall subdue the people under ua and the nations under our ee not our feet to be moved my feet were almost gone lift up thy feet unto the perpetual her go down to death how beautiful upon the are ihe feet of him that good tidings thou hast put all things in under his no man lifted up his foot in all the land the flood out the even the waters forgotten of the foot they are dried up they are gone away from men we see by these passages that oo is used in a very unlimited sense as a foundation and a stay as well as a means of establishing moving and destroying head yet within three lift up thine head and thee unto thy place thou heat kept me to be the head of the heathen thy blood shall be npon thine own though hia mount up into the and hia head reach the mine are gone over mine are upon the head of the thou heap coals of npon hia mine la with dew thou hast thy high places at every head of the way thy dream and the of thy upon thy bed for this ought the woman to have power on her of the we find used here as it is in our ordinary language not only as the chief portion of any whole and the centre from whence our ideas flow but as a figure it is most frequently made to stand the highest part of man s nature that which is most capable of being exalted or most calculated for as well as degradation i mind and they put him in ward that the mind of the lord might be them bring it again to mind o ye wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind ia stayed on thee sitting clothed and in his right mi the mind is enmity against gk d let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind even their mind and conscience is be all of one mind it was in my mind to build an to do good or bad of mine own mind i the of your up the of comfort the feeble f ii a double minded man ia un stable in all his here we see that in the language of scripture precisely the same license is used as in that of our poets the word mind represents an ideal centre from whence flow and relates almost exclusively to the understanding the memory and wiu heart and god saw that every imagination of the thoughts of man s heart was only evil continually and jacob s heart for he believed them s heart was hardened lay up these my words in your heart my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people for the divisions of there were great of heart and it was so that when he had turned his back to go samuel god gave him another david s heart smote him his heart died within him and god gave solomon wisdom and un exceeding much and of heart even as the sand that ia on uie sea shore turned away his i caused the widow s heart to sing for joy a broken and heart o god wilt not despise by sorrow ot heart is the spirit broken i am pained at my very heart weep for thee with bitterness of heart of the heart proceed evil where your is there will your be also did not our heart burn within us while he talked by the way love the lord thy god with all thy the between heart and mind is here apparent heart the understanding and the affections but has nothing to do with either memory or will except as the affections may be considered as the moving cause of impressions upon the memory and operations upon the will while mind confined to the sphere of the has nothing to do with the affections and man a et to ine lord the law of the lord la the soul he the longing and the with goodness fear not them which the body but are not able to kill the sou bat rather him which la able to both and body in hen he hath poured out hit unto	41
death my end la weary of my thee o lord do i lift up my we were to have imparted yon not the of god only bat our own ye were dear unto us in patience ye he that is wise thou fool this night shall thy be required of thee take heed to and keep thy diligently lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen why art thou cast down o my and why art within as the after the water ao my after thee o god my shall be in the lord save me o god for the waters are come la unto my the lord had l een my help my had almost dwelt in silence my for thy my ia even aa a i shall go softly all years in the of my the lord is my portion my doth the lord we now find that every attribute both of the mind and the heart are comprehended in the meaning of the word not only is the soul capable of willing acting and suffering but also of loving and when we pursue the idea of love through all its down to simple preference we shall have traversed a region every impulse by which our nature is capable of being influenced but in addition to the most extensive pf mind and hearty soul a character more dignified and profound from being associated with the principle of life with man s moral responsibility and with eternity in examining these few words we are struck with the idea of how much they would lose in beauty and interest by being confined to their literal and absolute and just in the same would our intellectual and pursuits be robbed of their ornament and charm by being separated from the poetry of life the poetry of love on entering upon the poetry of the mind the passions naturally present themselves as a proper subject of interesting because as poetry belongs not so much to the sphere of intellect as to that of feeling we must look to the passions as to the living principle which gives intensity to perception and to thought all mankind who are with common sense are capable of writing verses but all cannot feel and still less can all write in order to do this it is necessary to feel deeply by the exercise of intellectual power the poetry of love we may learn what are the parts of a flower but this alone will never of its beauty the same power may collect and the truths most important to the well being of society but it cannot enforce their reception in short though it may instruct improve and supply the mind with a perpetual fund of information intellectual power alone can never make a poet nor excite that love of poetry that ardent desire in the soul for what it on which gives to the poetic mind a refinement an energy and a sense of happiness unknown to that which merely upon knowledge hence we may fairly conclude that the man who is wholly himself and who has neither observed nor studied the nature of passion in others can never be a poet any more than the artist who has never felt the of joy nor witnessed its effects can represent in or marble a of delight to examine the passions would be a work of time and patience or rather of impatience we will therefore dismiss those which are or injurious to the peace of society for though rage envy malice jealousy and above ail the master passion of revenge may supply the poet with images of and horror which give to the productions of his genius a character of and power yet as those to which we are about to turn our attention are so much more congenial to the peaceful spirit of the muse we will devote our time solely to the consideration of the poetry of love and grief first then we begin with love a subject trampled in the dust and yet rising from with fresh life and fresh vigour to claim in spite of the perpetual of familiarity the best and tribute of the poet s lay by i do not mean that moderate but toned attachment which may be under the general head of affection of this hereafter for the present i am daring enough to speak in prose and even in this enlightened day of the love of may day queens and village of the love of and of the love which speaks in the place of sighs and as well as of that which never told its tale of the love which milton thought worthy of being described in its purest character and of the love which lives and in the pages of every poet from milton down to and that all who have touched the poet s mar pen have at one time or other of their lives made love their theme and that they have bestowed upon this theme their highest powers is proof sufficient to establish the fact that love is of all the passions the most poetical a fact in no way contradicted or affected by the vulgar to which this theme more than any other has been subjected all human beings are not capable of ambition of envy of hate or indeed of any other passion but all are capable of love in a greater or less degree according to certain it therefore as a necessary consequence that love should form a favourite and familiar theme with multitudes who know nothing of its and high the universal tendency of love to its object is a fact which at once gives it importance dignity and refinement importance because of its amongst mankind dignity because whatever raises the tone of feeling and towards	41
kindly thoughts of our fellow creatures must be to the good of society and refinement because it enters into the secrets of social intercourse and delights in nothing so much as communicating the happiness it from all that is most admirable in art and nature if that is a contemptible or insignificant passion under whose influence more has been dared and done and suffered than under any other then is the human mind itself contemptible and the name of may very properly be applied to all those impulses of human nature which have given rise to the of past ages and the most conspicuous events which mark the history of the world it seems to me that love in a mixture of admiration and pity without some feeling of no being could first begin to love and without some touch of pity love would be deficient in its character of tenderness and that m the poetry of life desire to serve the object which im to the most extraordinary acts of and devotion i grant that love has once taken possession of the heart it becomes a sort of instinct and can then maintain an existence too miserable and degraded for a name long admiration and even pity have become extinct but in the first instance there must be some quality we admire to attract our attention and win our favour there must be some deficiency in the happiness of this object wliich we think we can supply or we should never dream of ourselves to it it may be asked since love sometimes itself upon an inferior object degraded below the possession of dignity or virtue where then can be the admiration i answer that in such cases the mind that loves must be degraded too and consequently it is subject to call evil good and may discover qualities admirable to its vision which a more eye would turn from with disgust again it is still more reasonable to ask when love is fixed upon an object apparently the centre of happiness to which prosperity in every shape is where then can be the pity we all know that the appearance of happiness is and we all suspect that even under the most flattering aspect there is a mingled in the web of life which renders the experience of others like our own a mixture of joy and sorrow but if a being can be found in whose happiness is no broken link no who has no false friend no flattering enemy no threatening of infirmity no flaw in worldly comfort and security i would answer the question by asking is human happiness of so firm and a nature that once established it remains no the summit of felicity is one of such perilous that the nearer we see one approaching it the more we long to protect them from the danger to come to stretch out our arms and if we cannot prevent at least to break their fail we feel towards such an one that the day will come when they may want a real friend a firm support a true and we hasten the bond that our fate with theirs that we may be ready in the days of trial and wo if admiration did not form a competent part of our love we should not feel so ardent a desire as is generally evinced to obtain for the object beloved the admiration of others we long for others to behold them with our eyes that they may in our feelings and do what we consider justice to the of our imagination and though this can seldom be the case to the extent of our wishes we know that to listen to the well praises of those we love is at least to women the most intense enjoyment this world can to purchase this gratification what anxiety we endure what study we bestow what ardent desire we experience that they may commit no errors to the world s eye but an open honourable upright course may defy the scrutiny of envious eyes and claim as their due from society at large that tribute of admiration which we are ever ready to bestow but the unspeakable anguish with which we behold any departure from this honourable course of conduct is perhaps the strongest proof how intimately our sense of ail that is admirable in the human character is with our affections i do not pretend to say that we are all so influenced by right feeling or so well assured of the precise line of between good and evil as to lament over the errors of those we love exactly in proportion to their moral far from it but let that which all hearts can feel let the of the world s disgrace fall upon let it at the same time be voluntarily incurred and richly and ye who tell us of the loss of friends or fortune of poverty or sickness or death match the agony of this conviction if you can no it has neither companion nor in the wide range of human calamity there is not one that bears any proportion to this it may be said of pity also that there are cases in which we are scarcely aware of its forming any part of our love but is not our love at such times languid and sooner does sickness or misfortune the object of our regard than it a new life and all that was dear before becomes doubly valuable beneath the pressure of affliction or on the brink of the grave how has pity brought to light the poetry of love a love whose existence we were unconscious of before and those whom we should once have deemed it impossible to regard with tenderness have become under the shadow of misfortune the objects of our most devoted affection the power which love possesses of our is of itself	41
sufficient to this sentiment to a high place amongst those that are most influential in their operations upon the human mind i appeal to the young or rather to the old who have not forgotten their youth whether love has not at some period of their existence given a life and to the aspect of creation a music to sound and an intensity to au their of simple and natural delight which while the enchantment lasted seemed to raise the pleasures of earth above sphere though in remembrance it claims nothing but a passing smile or perhaps a faint sigh of regret that we have lost so much of what the life of our early existence we smile because we have lived to awake from our delusion to know that the sunshine which then appeared to us a flood of radiance pouring its golden streams over hill and grove and the principle of happiness through an the secret mysteries of nature was but the ordinary light of day liable to be obscured by mists and hid from us by the of dense gloomy clouds we smile because the brook that murmured at our feet with such continuous and unbroken melody to our young pure and clear and vivid like the secret springs of feeling since then has wearied us with the constant monotony of its sound seeming to tell of little else pebbles and clear water we smile because the song of at least half the birds whose voices were then all music has into a mere but most of all we smile because that bright being whose brow was with a glory at whose feet we would have laid the accumulated treasures of the whole world had we possessed them the idol whom we had placed upon the high altar of the soul has stepped down from that exalted and passing forth into the world endowed with the customary functions of humanity has mixed in the common of life and become an eating drinking bargain man or if after such a perchance we sigh it is not so much with any positive regret as with a vague sense of some indefinite loss a mere illusion a false colouring a tone an charm which owed its existence to the of the mind and yet we sigh because not the longest period of man s natural life not the rapid and entire success of all our schemes not the riches of prosperity poured into our lap around our feet and even beyond the circle of our hopes can restore what is lost to us when we are driven to the conviction that we can love no more it was an idle we tell ourselves in after life and we join in the ridicule that this foolish passion but would we not give all that time and tears have purchased for us to sit again in the bright sunshine to look round upon the fields and the woods to listen to the singing of the birds and without the excitement of art or the aid of borrowed attributes to feel each individual moment sufficient in its fulness of felicity to lull the memory of the past and soothe down the anxieties of the future into one point of present time all that we spend years in search of and without purchase and without sacrifice in one single isolated of experience the happiness for which countless are in vain it is a strong proof of the poetical character of love that all the contempt and all the ridicule it meets with in the world are unable to deprive it of the legitimate place which it holds in the popular works of our best authors is the only novel that occurs to me in which the interest of the story is in no way connected with love the author has supplied this deficiency by conducting the reader through his pages with an intensity of anxiety scarcely equalled elsewhere but well as this story is we arrive in the end at the unsatisfactory conviction that we have been reading an hard bad book the whole tenor of which is in direct opposition to the good providence of it may be remarked in the poetry op life with the same fact that sir walter scott after he had spell bound the public by the easy natural flow of his first poems tried his skill upon the battle of and produced one which it is difficult to read though the same master hand is there e has since for this want of to the tender passion by the most delicate and judicious distribution of it through the whole of his novels where we find enough and what is saying a great deal for the writer never too much at the same time however that love forms an essential part in our popular works of fiction it seems to be with the genius of the english nation to make it the entire or even the leading any particular work approaches the nearest to this extreme but his novels are more remarkable in this day for presenting minute descriptions of human character of the social habits and customs of the times in which he lived than as upon love miss porter kind as she is in all her characters and marching them off the stage in couples gives us battles innumerable with lively of patriotism and various other passions good and evil among which her love scenes form a very small and certainly a very inferior part and miss the great who love with more tact and often with exquisite pathos it always with due to that substantial sound moral which to the honour of her sex and the benefit of her fellow creatures she makes the chief object of her clear well regulated and comprehensive mind we have no work in our language which bears any resemblance to the sorrows of	41
compass come love not with his brief and weeks but bears it out even to the edge of doom it would be wholly at with nature were the poet to make his characters speak in and with classical allusions and periods of the passion whose powerful influence was then upon them no man ever yet could speak or write for any length of time of the love he was then thus it is only by occasional touches of feeling that burst upon us in all their genuine intensity that the depth of the sentiment is discovered our language may be forcible and but it is impossible that it should be elaborate when we ere feeling and there is a certain identity with self an giving some ing like to the sensations which belong to love that renders an open full exposure of it repulsive even in the pages of the poet it is this which above all other things the poetry of love those who imder its influence possess so long as that influence lasts a secret treasure and betray by their the poetry of life i expressions and by a speaking smile that they believe themselves to be enjoying an inward source of satisfaction which their companions know not of imagination with a peculiar importance and a mysterious charm all the of life as it is connected with one individual being and tlie mind over its own private and particular of joy with a constant and jealousy lest the world that fell should break in and even if it had no inclination or ability to steal under the influence of love we are suspicious even of ourselves we shrink from making it the common topic of conversation it is a feeling which admits of no we would not if we could make any farther than our admiration extends and as there is no sympathy to be obtained by communication no one at all acquainted with the world or with the principles of human nature would ever tell their love were it not for the power which this passion possesses to the rational faculties to blind perception and to silence experience holding the wise man captive in the leading strings of second childhood and drawing him on from one folly to another until at last he from his dream and feels like the unfortunate that he is wearing an ass s head no sooner is the spell dissolved than he turns upon his fellow creatures the weapons of ridicule dipped in the of his pride he laughs the more in order that he may appear to make light of his recent bonds and thus himself for his own mortification those who are wise enough to profit by ihe experience of others learn to keep silence on this theme but it their thoughts and feelings not the less it is present with them in the morning when they awake and in the evening when they seek repose it is in the bosom of the scented rose and rocked upon the waves of the sea it speaks to them in the wind and forth in the fountain of the desert it is clothed in the golden majesty of the sun and m the silver radiance of tlie moon it is the soul of their world the life of their sweet and chosen thoughts the centre of their existence which in all their hopes and desires here they ex the one point and make that the altar which all the faculties of the soul their perpetual incense who has written of love yet with more simplicity of ness than any other of our poets the of this sent in itself with our amusements and there no object in nature which he did not f possible to compare or contrast wit queen of his bu memory of one above all others he hi in strains as touching and as ever flowed from a tion a warm imagination and a too heart the lines beginning lingering with ray are or ought to be too familiar to reader of taste and sensibility to need n tion here as well as those to ry equally expressive of ardent and po feeling a feeling which all the rough ui of the world were unable to deprive tenderness and which au the vice and folly were unable to purity in glancing over the pages o genuine bard of we are every ment struck with the particular pathos which he speaks of love read as i the following lines so unlike any that we meet with in the the present day had w n lor d ne blindly had w never d kindly never met or never parted we had ne er been broken hearted fare thee first and fare the thou best and dearest thine be joy and treasure peace enjoyment love and pleasure ae and then we ae alas for ever deep in heart wrung tears pledge sighs and groans fu thee or not the bee upon the in the pride o sunny noon not the little fairy all beneath the summer moon i the poetry of love not tbe in moment on hit e e the tho rapture thy to me or again be mine even hope is denied tie sweeter for thee despairing than aught in the world beside and where in the records of feeling can we find a more affectionate of love and poverty against each other than in the following song the first and last of which i shall quote for the benefit of those who are too wise to think of love who are too happy to have ever been compelled to take poverty into their calculations and who are consequently with the fact that both together straggling for mastery over the wishes and the will create a warfare as fearful and as any which the human heart is capable of enduring o and restless lore te wreck my peace	41
her lamented husband there is only thia to be recorded that never was there a more ardent and he loved her better than his life with and had a most high obliging of her yet considered honour religion and above her nor ever the intrusion of such a aa should blind him from marking her these he looked upon with an indulgent which did not hia love and ot her while it hia care to blot out all which might make her lease worthy of that respect he her and thus indeed h soon made her more to him than he found her for she was a very mirror reflecting truly though but dimly his own upon him so long as ho present but she that waa nothing before hia inspection gave her a when he waa removed was only filled with a and never could again take in any object nor return any the greatest she had waa the power of aad the of loving hia aa hia waited on him every where tin he waa taken into that region of light which of none and then into nothing not her that he loved her honour and her were hia and these like s of his own making for he polished and gave form to what he found with ah the of the about it bat meeting with a for his own wise government he found aa much as he gave and never had occasion to number his marriage among hia this beautiful illustration of love all that is essential to the most ardent as well as the most sentiment and wants nothing but to it to a high place in the scale of poetical merit there remains one important to be made on the subject of love that it marks the progress of national civilization and tlie improvement or the of public morals love above all other passions is capable of producing the greatest happiness or the greatest misery of being the most refined or the most degraded it j the poetry of love may be associated with the highest virtue or made the companion of the lowest vice where a nation or a community is the love is the least respected where deference is paid to moral laws and religious duties love is regarded as the bond of domestic union the charm which a secret but holy influence over our domestic in times when men were dispersed over the face of the earth in separate families or tribes love dwelt among them like a patient to their private comfort but wholly in directing their important movements in the days of chivalry when men following the standard of false glory maintained their possessions by force of arms sacrificed ease honesty or life to the laws of honour and the adventures of knight love was worshipped as a goddess whose inspiration endowed her with power and whose protection was a shield of and thus through the different changes of national character and customs love itself to all in the indulgence of artificial life or sharing the of toil even in individuals it is not going too far to say that low notions of the nature and attributes of love a mind and show like the trail of the serpent in the garden of that the principle of evil has been there there is in its elevated nature a character of constancy truth and which the essence of its being and no pure eye can behold it robbed of without sorrow and indignation it is this faculty of to all and states of being which renders love so entirely to the purposes of the poet because it takes the tone of the times as well as that of individual character and in good or evil calls forth these opposing principles in all their power besides the love here spoken of poetry in descriptions of that which the sober garb of friendship and which is perhaps of all others the most substantial support to the human mind through the difficulties and temptations necessarily in the journey of life a friend well chosen is the greatest treasure we can possess we have in such a friend the addition of another mind whose strength supplies our weakness and whose virtues render us ambitious of the same we see frequent instances that men alone in the world unknown and will commit errors we might say vices from which the well timed warning of a friend would have restrained them and stain their character with follies for which if a friend had blushed they too would have been ashamed all the associations which our pleasures or console us under affliction are in the name of friend when the stroke of falls upon us the sympathy of a true friend takes away half its when the world our meaning and attributes bad motives to what are only ill judged actions we think with what those who have experienced the feeling alone can tell that there is one who knows us better when good fortune comes unexpectedly upon us in a tide too sudden and too full for enjoyment we hasten to our friend who shares the and leaves us happy when doubtfully we tread the dangerous path of life by our passions and bewildered by our fears wo look for the hand of friendship to point out the safe footing from whence we all bless our guide when wounded and cast back into the distance by those whose favor we had sought to win we exclaim in the midst of our disappointments there is one who loves me still p and when wearied with the warfare of the world and sick of its harsh sounds and sights we return to the communion of friendship as we rest after a laborious journey in a safe sweet garden of refreshment and peace there is unquestionably much to be done in the way of this garden and maintaining	41
our right to possess it but it us for the price and when we have exercised forbearance and kind offices and spoken and borne to hear the truth and been faith ful and gentle and sincere we find a k in our own as well as in affections of our friend there are yet other of e such as that which the jf the poetry op life domestic union the love of brothers and sisters and lastly and most to be as the foundation of family and social happiness we might almost say of moral feeling tlie love which between parents and children on one hand the impressions we have received with the first lessons we have learned on the other the warmest affection with the responsibility the weakness and the of a child watched over by parental love directed by parental care and by parental authority are so frequently alluded to in the when describing the condition of man in reference to his maker and in themselves so entirely with that relation that we use the name of heavenly father j not only in obedience to authority but because we comprehend in these holy words the highest object of our love our gratitude and our veneration we cannot better conclude this chapter than with the following appropriate lines by they tin who tell as love can with life all other fly all are but vanity tn heaven ambition cannot dwell nor in the depths of hell earthly these passions as of earth they perish where they have their birth but love is its holy flame ever from heaven it came to heaven too oft on earth a troubled guest at times deceived at times oppressed it here is tried and and hath in heaven its perfect rest it here with toil and care but the harvest time of love is there oh i when a mother meets on high the she lost in infancy hath she not then pains and the day of wo the anxious night from all her sorrows all ber tears an over payment of delight i the poetry op grief the poetry of grief is exhibited under so great a variety of forms all capable of so wide a difference in character and degree that it will be necessary to speak of the sentiment of grief first under that mild and softened aspect which the name of sadness or and then as a gloomy passion absorbing every faculty ol the soul of all the characters assumed by grief from simple sadness to wild despair melancholy is the most poetical because while it as a to the imagination its influence is so gentle as to leave all the other intellectual powers at full liberty to exercise their particular functions speaks of melancholy as strange as the and the faculties of the mind and lord scarcely less intimate than this quaint old writer with the different mental to which our nature is describes the glance of melancholy as a fearful gift what is it but the of which the distance of its and brings life near in utter making the cold reality too real v when melancholy takes possession of the soul we lose as it were the perspective of our mental vision we forget the relative proportions of things and the small for the great or the distant for the near their importance examine their particular parts and fill our with their nature and essence this is in fact making the cold too real for though there is much of truth in the vivid ef melancholy it is truth truth with the wise man has little to do but which ministers powerfully to the wretchedness of tlie mind being in our nature as to pain as we are susceptible of pleasure and by the neglect of our privileges and abuse of our faculties subjected to the experience of even greater suffering than enjoyment it necessarily follows that those views of the condition of man which are with the sombre hues of melancholy should be regarded as the most natural as well as the most interesting there is little poetry in mirth or even in perfect happiness except as it is contrasted with misery and thus all attempts to describe the perfection of heavenly fail to interest our feelings the joys of heaven are according to the writers who have ventured upon these de the poetry of grief chiefly made up of luxuries which in this world money alone can purchase and money is connected in our ideas with toil and strife with envy and jealousy and never ending vexation or they consist of fountains always pure flowers that never fade and skies which no cloud has ever obscured things which we find it to conceive or of perpetual praises sung by an innumerable host of saints an employment which we are not yet able to separate from ideas of monotony and weariness far more touching and more descriptive of that state to which the experienced soul to as to its greatest bliss are those descriptions and allusions in the holy and particularly in the book of revelations where a great multitude which no man could number are seen standing around the throne arrayed in white robes and with palms in their hands and when the question is asked who are these and whence came they it is answered these are they which came out of great they shall hunger no more neither thirst any more neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters and god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes here the allusion to the and wants of our moral nature is continued throughout forming that natural and necessary contrast with perfect happiness which is the very essence of poetry such expressions as	41
these come home to the heart that has known and therefore can conceive the of eternal repose which has known the anguish of mortal sorrow and therefore can appreciate the healing of the heavenly everything that deeply interests our feelings has some with our own condition or some accordance with our own tastes au who experience a healthy state of mind have a keen relish for happiness but all are not so free from envy or as fully to enjoy the happiness of others and that which falls to our own hare is so absorbing in its nature that we feel little inclination to pour it forth in poetical descriptions at least while its influence lasts and when it is over it can only be alluded to with a certain degree of sadness and regret it has been justly observed that it requires a more amiable temper of mind to laugh with those who laugh than to weep with those who weep and experience must have taught all who have made the experiment that it is less difficult to excite interest by our sorrows than our joys our friends weep with us but themselves and perhaps at the bottom of their hearts are not grieved to find that they do not suffer alone but when we fly to them full of our own individual hopes and joys they unconsciously throw some damp upon our emotions or coldly turn away us selfish and to have wholly forgotten their situation in the enjoyment of our own lord the most melancholy of all our poets found a home in every heart the love maiden fed upon his pages well pleased to read expressions which described a passion hopeless and as her own the disappointed and the discovered there the language of a sympathy which they sought in vain of the giddy world around them but above all the curled his lip and in having found a high and bard who scorned mankind as he did it would be difficult to point out the productions of any light and joyous poet which have been equally popular and equally penetrating to the soul of the reader some there are which have been great with the public but such for the most part have been recommended by the force of their satire and the their rather than for the pure stream of rational happiness flowing through their strains it is scarcely necessary to repeat that poetry in order to meet with a welcome in the world must address itself to the feelings of mankind as they are not as they should be it may be and unquestionably has been the means of raising in the soul a high tone of moral feeling of what is gross and what is harsh but this can only be effected by establishing a chain of between our low wants and wishes and that which is high and pure and holy happiness therefore hap the poetry of life without can never be a suitable theme for the muse until we enter upon a state of existence where it shall more frequently be our experience but melancholy towards which all our feelings have some tendency either immediate or remote will add a charm to the language of poetry so long as it is understood and felt by all descriptions of life without its cares and sorrows would appear to us little less wearisome and unnatural than without shadow but those which are varied by the sombre colouring borrowed by experience from the hand of grief exhibit the principles of harmony and the essential characteristics of truth it has been wisely ordered by the author of our being that we should be stimulated to action by certain wishes and wants arising within ourselves had man constituted as he now is been placed in a situation of perfect enjoyment it must necessarily have been one of and in which his mental powers would have experienced no exercise and consequently no improvement thus when we look with regret upon the daily wants of mankind and feel disposed to regard them as a defect in his nature or an error in his morals we do not reflect that they are parts of a powerful machine so constructed and designed as to awaken and man s highest yet so liable to and abuse as to be frequently converted by his ignorance or want of care into the engine of his own destruction it was the want of some medium of which first led to the use of certain sounds as signs of our ideas and it was the same want which produced such an of these sounds as to constitute a copious language it was the want of some sweet influence to soothe the of pain and labour and fatigue which prompted the cultivation of music it was the want of some visible and substantial of their own ideas of beauty and grandeur which upon the genius of the first artists and produced those massive but sublime attempts at which arose among the and were improved upon by the more refined inhabitants of ancient greece and it was the want of a higher tone of language suited to the most elevated of the human mind which first the refreshing stream of poetry over the world gave the charm of melody to the hymns of s king inspired the father of ancient verse with those heroic strains which still delight the world found a language and a voice for the impassioned soul of fired the us of and which still continues though unknown and to tune to harmony the poet s secret thoughts upon the springs of sympathy and love like the that touch unseen the of the harp but above all it is under the influence of sorrow that this want is felt joy is of itself the soul receives it and is satisfied but sorrow is and the soul would gladly throw it	41
off and because it cannot give what no one is willing to receive would cast it upon the winds or it through creation s space the mind that is under the influence of melancholy knows no rest it is wearied with an incessant craving for something beyond itself it seeks for sympathy but never finds enough it is dissatisfied with present things and because the beings around it are too gross or too familiar to offer that refined i communion for which it ever pines it forth in poetic strains the of its own sorrows trusting tliat the world contains other at least half as wretched as itself who will read with a pity too distant to offend descriptions of a fate more lamentable than their own there needs no greater proof that melancholy is poetical than the effect it produces upon the imagination everything into its own bitter food under the influence of melancholy the voice of friendship and always when it speaks the truth the looks of gladness worn by others are proofs of their want of consideration for ourselves acts of kindness are instances of pity and pity under such circumstances always appears accompanied with contempt love is apt to attack those who are victims of melancholy but it is always in some forbidden shape and religion which is or ought to be the sovereign for all mental ap the poetry of grief to them like a sacred drawn around a chosen few from which they are shut out if they read the bible they turn to the of or the book of job and seated on a cushion of ease in the full enjoyment of health and and luxury of every kind they believe themselves to be as severely tried as miserable and perhaps aa patient as the heroic sufferer if they go forth into the fields the flowers either look wan and sickly or mock them with their gorgeous hues the tree spread around a gloomy shade the streams murmur as everything on earth has a right to do the and the insects that flutter in the sunshine are poor victims of sporting away their short lived joy the clouds which vary the aspect of the landscape and the calm blue heavens are of the palpable obscure in which their own fate is involved and if the sun shines forth in his glory it is to remind them that no sun will ever more rise to the darkness of their souls instead of indulging in those wide and views which the perfection and beauty of the universe they fix their attention upon objects single and minute choosing out such as may most easily be connected with gloomy associations in the gorgeous hues of the foliage the eye of melancholy can distinguish nothing but the faded leaves just separated from the bough and flickering downwards on the reckless wind with those dizzy and movements which are wont to an fall amongst the cheerful of the grove it oat the bird with wounded wing it the nest and knows by the scattered that the has been there throughout the wilderness of the fields or the gorgeous bloom of the cultivated garden it sees only the blossom the broken stem or the fatal of the worm in the heavens it only the setting sun the moon or the feeble star that in a world of gloom in the animal kingdom it those species which prey upon each other and turns from the of the lamb to the that over the brood or the tiger and the cat that torture ere they their victims in the city it is sensible only of poverty disease and accumulated crime and in the social circle it sees only the lip of scorn the pale cheek or the averted eye over the of marriages and deaths the melancholy hold themselves peculiarly privileged to mourn because in the first instance another and responsible being is added to the dark catalogue of those who come into the world to sin and in the second an additional proof is about to be exhibited before the world of the of human hopes and the disappointment which inevitably our pursuit of earthly happiness and the third is an awful evidence of that fatal doom to which we are all hastening in short there is nothing natural or familiar sweet or soothing good or great which does not set the gloomy and morbid imagination afloat upon a sea of troubles and it is this of fancy this range of thought tliis of the mind in producing objects of mournful associations which the poetry of melancholy l hare of late hamlet wherefore i know not all my mirth all of ex and indeed it g lo with my that goodly the earth seems to me a this most excellent the air look yon this overhanging this roof with golden fire why it appears no other thing to me than a and congregation of what a piece of work is man i how noble in reason how in i in and ing how express and admirable i in action how like an angel in apprehension how like a god the beauty of the world the of animals and yet to me what is this of man delights not nor woman neither we now come to the consideration of grief as a passion under which character there is one peculiarity to be remarked tending powerfully to invest it with the poetical charm it unquestionably possesses it is the peculiar force and of some of our while the mind is under the immediate influence of grief it is true we cannot reason nor calculate nor detect the weakness of because the mind in this state is incapable of action the only faculty awakened in it is that of receiving impressions a power considerably heightened and increased by the total of its active operations but it is to trifles alone that this	41
power is applied to things of no importance and such as hold no relative with the cause of grief thus the criminal at the bar though wholly for taking into consideration the nature of the laws by which he is tried looks round upon the judge the witnesses and the whole court and with an and of perception which seem actually to be the means of forcing every unwelcome object upon his sight he the breathless and expectant multitude around him from amongst whom he is able to distinguish and single out particular faces which if he is happy enough to escape the dreaded doom will remain impressed upon his memory till his latest day the messenger who brings us evil tidings is for any thought or interest that we bestow upon him a mere intelligence a voice a breath of and yet we find afterwards that we have involuntary noted down in characters never to be bis countenance his his manner and the tones in which his errand was delivered we watch by the bedside of the dying our very souls absorbed by the near prospect of that fearful dissolution which is about to deprive us of a child a parent a friend or a brother unconscious that our thoughts have wandered for one moment from what was most important or impressive in that awful scene yet in life even when the heavy wheels of time have rolled over us laden with other accidents and other we are able to recall with a distinctness almost incredible to those who have never known it tlie particular aspect of that sick chamber the folded curtains the pillow without rest the wild wanderings the countenance of the nurse the voice of the physician and all the other of that mournful scene it is with the tide of feeling as with a swollen river the violent and overwhelming force of the torrent bears along with it innumerable fragments from the shore while the stream rushes on swollen and tumultuous these fragments are scarcely amongst the and and roaring falls but when it and again calmly within its natural boundaries they rise to the surface and afford clear and palpable evidence of the tremendous strength and violence of the overwhelming flood lord has described with his power and pathos this of the mind when under the influence of grief in that most affecting i might almost say most beautiful of his poems the dream in the melancholy scene so forcibly exhibiting the deep but silent anguish of the hand without the heart how naturally do the thoughts of the gloomy being he has chosen to represent rush back to the season of his first his only love and settle upon the last moment of separation which life has now no power to equal by any future suffering a minor poet or a less experienced would have ad the recollections of the heart stricken bridegroom in the person of the lady herself but lord who could at his own pleasure make use of expressions as delicate as poetical as poetical as true colouring the whole scene with those ethereal tints which belong to the test genius merely to the sacred object of such deep and fervent and thoughts as a destiny while he gives us the minor parts of the picture clear and distinct as they would be in the me of one who could feel and suffer like himself he could not that which was but that which should i bat the remembered chamber and the place the day the hour the and the all things to that place and and her who was his destiny came and thrust between him and the what business had they there at such an v we might add to what already been said of grief the pleasure which it is supposed to afford in recollection a subject much sung and celebrated by the poets but one to which i confess myself too ignorant or too to be able to do justice still we all know there are those who can linger over the grave recently closed over their heart s treasure who love to scenes of former suffering and dwell in lengthened detail upon the sorrows they have endured and i am inclined to believe that such are the individuals best qualified to describe the poetry of grief rather than those who shrink from all of their own experience the poetry of grief i i and hurry on through life to find in the future what has failed them in the past we turn from this subject to the consideration of grief under that peculiar character which appears to claim more than its due share of interest and which by the world is grief the first grief generally arises from disappointment in love death of parents change of fortune or neglect of friends all sufficient causes of sorrow yet by no means so powerful or in their effects as the accumulated cares crosses and which beset us in af er life this grief is comparatively without association and therefore though and pathetic in the extreme because it falls upon the young and upon the beautiful cannot in the experience of the be to those in which are combined the accumulated sufferings that arise from memory and anticipation the recollection of happiness that never can return the fear of future evil yet more intolerable than the present the first grief is unquestionably a fertile subject for the poet because it supplies all the interest arising from strong contrast as a sudden falling upon the luxurious vegetation of a productive soil affords more matter for and melancholy description than the desert stretched out in its perpetual beneath a burning sun the first grief comes to the young heart like the rough wind to the blossom like the early frost to the full blown flower	41
like the gathering to the smiling sun like the dark cloud to the silver moon like the storm to the summer sea like the sudden influence of all those fatal accidents which tlie lovely and aspect of nature not like that dull monotony of constant care which experience proves to be far more intolerable but which the poet for its very weariness the tears which dim the eye of youthful beauty are wholesome natural and refreshing compared with those which wear away the sight when youthful beauty what heart so as not to be touched with pity what benevolence so limited as not to extend to the fair the consolation of love and the comfort of protection there is something in our very nature which makes us with peculiar tenderness over those who mourn for their first grief they have never troubled us with their complaints before we have been wont to see them light and joyous bounding forth upon their mortal race but no v their speed is checked the wished for goal has vanished from their sight the is withdrawn and either to pause or to their rapid way they begin to feel that the long dull path before them must be trod by many a weary step we have learned this truth ourselves we know that all who live must learn it and yet to spare those who are in life s harsh discipline though but for another year a day an hour of innocent enjoyment we would almost be willing to bear a fresh stroke of the axe to which we have already become accustomed the loss of another branch the of another bough it is this tenderness felt and by all which gives the charm of ideal loveliness to the tears of the young which the interests of those tliat are but a faint type of what life has yet in store and which in fact the poetry of the first grief another and perhaps the most legitimate cause of grief is death a calamity common to all but not felt the less for being alike to the young and the old the good and the evil the rich and the poor the noble and the abject under all other we may school ourselves into the belief that some hope of remedy or yet remains but our reflections upon this fatal catastrophe are uniformly stamped with that word of awful and import never never more shall we listen to the voice whose familiar tones were like the madame de h remarked upon the no that both in and they are more de of melancholy meaning than any other iu our language if not before these at second in the would place the single word and next to this i hate heard of a poor who her life in singing or word three times repeated in a composed of six different notes of music and it might afford matter of interesting speculation to the poet to ask what was the nature of her grief that could of her loss that could never be restored the poetry of life memory of sweet music heard in childhood never shall the beaming eye whose language was better understood than words light up the secrets of our souls again never shall the parental hand be laid upon our own with the earnestness of experience and the warmth of love never shall the innocent of those lips now sealed in death awaken us from our morning never shall the counsel of that tried friend guide us again through the paths of life we might have lived and perhaps we have without their actual presence seas might have rolled between us and wide countries separated their home and ours but to believe in their existence was enough to think that they looked upon the same world with ourselves that the same sun rose to them and to us that we gazed upon the same moon and that the same wind which breathed its spiritual intelligence into our ears might in its wild and lawless wanderings have sighed around their distant dwelling but above all that the time might come when we should yet meet to recognize the same features though changed by time the same altered in its language and the same love though long yet never totally extinguished we must now satisfy ourselves that this can never be and not from any cause which the power and ingenuity of man can remedy or the of after events but simply because the vital principle which never can be revived is extinct the functions of humanity are destroyed and the friend of our bosom is no more it is true that religion points to the ethereal essence existing in a happier sphere the n of the to the soul and on his hope to an eternal union but we have earthly feelings too frequently the place where religion ought to reign and love that is strong as death turns away from the heavenly and will not be consoled love holds a faithful record of the past from which half the interest and half the must now be struck out rendering the future barren waste and void love keeps an of its secret treasures where it notes down things of which the higher faculties of the soul take no the smiles the tones of mutual happiness the glowing cheek the sunny hair the gentle hand the well known step and all that fills up and makes perfect the evidence of long cherished affection exchanged for what for the motionless and marble stillness of death and the cold unnatural gloom of that deep which what even love itself has become willing to resign for the sad return to the desolate home the silent chamber	41
the absent voice the window without its light the familiar name the relics the harp untouched the task the blank at the table up the garden walks the flowers the favourite books closed up as with a seal in short the total away of that sweet without which the once harmonious strains of social intercourse are musical no more the effect produced upon the mind by the contemplation of death is of a character peculiarly refined and gentle we necessarily forgive the dead even though they may have been our enemies and if our we remember their virtues alone they have lost the power to offend again and therefore their faults are forgotten it is true there are associations with the bodily part of death which scarcely come under the of refined but from these our nature even the common nurse her last sad office in silence and delicacy in everlasting the mortal remains of the deceased it is the task of the poet to record their noble actions their benevolence their patient suffering their their self denial and while he this sacred duty his bosom with enthusiasm to imitate the virtues he the loss of fortune is another cause of grief not less severely felt for being of common occurrence those who have never tasted the real bitterness of poverty tell us in the language of philosophy that the loss of fortune is a very insufficient cause for the grief of a wise man that our nature is not degraded when our bodies are clad in i homely garments and that the friends j the poetry op grief whose esteem is worthy of our regard will follow us as willingly to the clay cottage as to the courts of kings this might be all very true did reason alone govern the but we have another law the law of feeling more potent in its influence upon the of mankind and in this law the poet is much better instructed than the philosopher the poet knows that to attempt to remove the pressure of the of life by reasoning however upon their transient or trifling nature is not in effect to speak the language of common sense because it does not itself to the feelings of those to whom it is addressed so as to render it available or even intelligible as well might we tell the victim of raging fever that it is absurd to thirst again because he has but lately his lips as endeavour to persuade him who suffers from the loss of worldly wealth to be comforted because it is vain to grieve the poet s sphere being one of feeling he has within himself so quick and clear an apprehension of all the sources of human pain or pleasure that he sees and at once why the change of fortune the of accustomed privileges and and the gradual sinking to a lower rank in social life should occasion the deepest sorrow and regret were reason the sole of our passions and we never grieve because we arc taught by the experience of every day that good may arise out of what we have blindly called evil and because we are assured upon the highest evidence that our even when darkest and most perplexed are the government of a gracious and providence but the experience of every day teaches us also these important truths have not their proper weight in human calculations who for instance can meet with the attacks of suspicious whose claims he knows he is unable to supply who can bear the mute appeals of those who have been dependent upon his and protection when he has no longer the power to either the looks of former friends for friendship in the world is not what it is to be in books but will sometimes from the i rule of scripture by showing respect unto the persons of men the reproaches covert and open which always fall upon those whose success has not been equal to their as if the of this life were so regulated that to succeed in obtaining money were the highest proof of the gradual owing to the taking away of on every side when most needed into a lower grade of society where intellectual refinement is uttle valued and to be maintained the signs of envious triumph exhibited by those who in our better days would have been our enemies if they had dared who can endure all these and an endless variety of other causes of suffering incident to fallen fortune and yet so his soul by sage reasoning that it shall feel no anguish no the poet knows what is in nature and in man and therefore he finds a fruitful theme of interest in the fountain of his own feelings which through the medium of poetic language is so conducted as to mix and and with those of others a well known cause of grief and one familiar to every poetic mind is loneliness in one sense it may be said that the poet is never alone but let us ask how it is that he to make him of with the and the of the to hold perhaps there never was a poet who had not first sought to find in his own species that real sympathy for which he becomes afterwards satisfied to substitute the ideal it is impossible but that the elevated and finely constituted mind should find itself alone and if morbid and too sensitive as such minds generally are it must be always so in the common of human kind the poet who can be satisfied with nothing less than entire communion and sympathy of soul is alone in the crowded ity where amidst the rush of thousands of busy feet not one is found to pause because he is near	41
alone in the garden s paths where there is no eye to look for beauty and delight in the same objects with his alone beneath the of i the poetry of life heaven where none will join his midnight alone at the altar where his peculiar faith is liable to be alone in the season of alone in the hour of joy alone in all those emotions which give the power of life and action to the highest faculties of our nature raising it above the common level of ordinary existence alone in those moments of weakness and dependence when the soul is after tiiat intellectual which never yet was found in the selfish or sordid of life for the of a higher sympathy than the world affords and ready to lean upon the reed for its support to feel all this without the power either of communicating or receiving what is most intimately connected with the soul is true loneliness and therefore the poet escaping from the contact of minds flies to his own peculiar home in the bosom of nature where if the intercourse he meets with be ideal it is sufficient to satisfy a mind like his especially as it from that of the world in being such as will neither mock nor mar the harmony of his own breast but this is not in ideal the author of our being has so constructed the world and that there are laws of sympathy and association by the of beings which connect the different and to us apparently parts of the universe so as to form an entire and perfect whole we read of a solitary prisoner within the bare walls of a who tamed a spider and even loved it because the principle of love was strong within him and he had no other object for his affections love is but one of the many that urge us on to seek through the world for objects on which these affections can be and situations in which they may be indulged and if deprived of the power of gratifying our tastes and wishes by change of scene or circumstance imagination will do her utmost to what is in itself into an object of tenderness interest or admiration for such are the bounds which connect our intellectual nature with the material world that the mind must lay hold of something to with i ate or destroy it cannot exist alone and separate from association as it is the nature of all to awaken suggestions of their own remedy so the poet deeply the grief arising from loneliness to satisfy his soul in its after a spiritual communion with all that is pure and lovely and sublime by an ideal with nature having foimd the objects of his search but seldom or where they existed but faintly revealed amongst the children of men he returns with fresh and renewed desire to the solitude of the valley the heights of the mountain or the echoing shores of the ever restless sea not because he believes what his muse sometimes describes that of happy spirits walk the air unseen delivering their earthly errand to his privileged and attentive ear but because there exists in his bosom an love of what is sweet and calm and soothing which he finds in the freshness and repose of nature an intense enjoyment of what is elevated and majestic which crowns his labour in climbing to the mountain s brow a deep sense of power and grandeur and magnificence which leads him to the ocean s brink to pour his soul forth in its native element the true sublime the last character under which we attempt to describe the poetical nature of grief is that of pity a sentiment so admirably adapted to the relief of the wants and sufferings of humanity that we regard it as one of our greatest blessings because we owe to pity half the kind offices of life never feeling the pain it in ourselves without feeling also impulse and seldom witnessing the signs of it in others without them as of good indeed so powerful is the influence of pity that it is the first refuge of innocence the last of guilt and when would win from feeling what it wants merit to obtain from discretion it never fails to appeal to pity with an exaggerated history of suffering and distress but for the gentle of pity die couch of suffering would be desolate indeed pain and want and weakness would be left to water the earth with tears and the poetry op grief ill m solitude the harvest of despair the prisoner in his silent cell would listen in vain for the step of his last earthly friend and the the world s dread in wretchedness and ruin would find no faithful hand to lift the pall of public disgrace and the lost one from a h death but more than all without pity we should want the bright opening in the heavens through which the radiance of returning peace shines forth upon the tears of we should want the ark of shelter when the waters of the were gathering us we should want the cloud by day and the of fire by night to guide our wanderings through the wilderness the grief arising from pity is the only disinterested grief we are capable of and therefore it carries a along with it which something of enjoyment to the excitement it but for its of sensation we have the warrant of the deep workings of more violent passions which pity has not the power to overcome history affords no stronger proof of this than when yielded to the tears of his mother and the of rome what he had to the entreaties of his friends and the claims of his country but if pity with the power	41
to her but she to that which her imagination has invested and still with all the attributes of a celestial being until at last it falls before her a hopeless and ruin and then ai er vainly struggling to hide its degradation she goes forth into the wilderness alone for the poetry of her character woman is chiefly indebted to her of feeling extended beyond the possibility of calculation by her naturally vivid imagination yet she unquestionably possesses other mental faculties by no means in the scale of moral and intelligent beings those who woman of her title to intellectual capacity would her wholly to the sphere of passion and affection and those who on the opposite side are perpetually about her equality with man and over the inferior station in society which she is doomed to fill are equally prejudiced in their view of the subject superficial in their reasoning upon it and absurd in their conclusions in her intellectual capacity i am inclined to believe that woman is equal to man but in her intellectual power she is greatly his inferior because from the succession of circumstances which occur to interrupt the train of her thoughts it is seldom that she is able to the forces of her mind and to continue their operations upon one given point so a b work out any of those splendid results i from the more i fixed and designs of man to woman belong all the minor duties of life she is therefore incapable of commanding o time or even her own thoughts in her sphere of action the trifling events of the moment the principles of good and evil which instantly strike upon her lively and acute become of the utmost importance and each of these duties with its train of relative bearing directly upon the delicate of her mind so organized as to render it liable to the extremes of pain or pleasure arising out of every occurrence she is consequently unable so to her feelings as to leave the course of her intellectual suppose for instance a woman is studying when she hears the cry of her child in an instant she into the centre of her domestic cares and is forgotten suppose another for such things have been deeply engaged in the dry routine of classic lore when suddenly the fair student sees something in the eye of her or hears something in his voice which puts to flight the roman and the queen to weep away her wrongs and alone suppose a woman admitted within the of a and listening with the mute attention of a to his learned upon his favourite science when behold her watchful eye is fixed upon the care brow and haggard cheek of the philosopher and she to lead him away from his and into the green fields or home to the quiet comforts of her own fire side where she would rather cherish old age with warm clothing and generous diet than upon the scientific truths he has been to into her mind suppose another the course of the stars when by one of those involuntary impulses by which thoughts are let into the mind we know not how the form of her departed friend rushes back upon her memory and suddenly beneath that heavenly host whose her soul had been almost she stands alone a weak and trembling woman and asks no more the glistening stars than some faint of her earthly some glimmering of hope that she may yet be permitted to shelter herself beneath the of domestic and social love suppose a woman mentally absorbed in the history of past times pondering upon the rise and fall of nations the principles of government and the march of civilization over the peopled globe when suddenly there is placed in her a letter one of those mute messengers which sometimes change in a moment the whole colouring of a woman s life not only clothing in shade or sunshine the immediate aspect of nature and surrounding things but the expanse of her imaginary future a letter to a woman is not a mere casual to be read like a newspaper its arrival is an event of of hope and fear and often seems to arrest in a moment the natural current of her blood sending it by a sudden to circle in a backward course through all her veins in the instance we have supposed the letter may convey the sad intelligence of the sickness of a friend or relative who requires the immediate attention of a faithful and devoted nurse the book is closed the quiet hours of reading and study are exchanged for the wearisome d y the watchful night the soothing of and the of comfort and kind while the heroes of ancient greece are forgotten and the and the are consigned to an tomb it is owing to circumstances such as these daily and even that women are for great literary and every impartial judge will freely acknowledge that it is not her want of capacity to understand the truths of science and philosophy but her utter inability from circumstance and situation diligently to pursue the investigation of such truths and when clearly ascertained to store up and apply them to the highest intellectual purposes which the between the mental faculties of woman and those of a nobler sex nor let the call this a defect in woman s nature that alone can be a defect by which anything is from answering the purpose for which it was designed the poetry of life man is appointed to hold the reins of government to make laws to support systems to penetrate with patient labour and perseverance into the mysteries of science and to work out the great principles of truth for such purposes he would be ill qualified were he to he diverted from his object by the quickness of his perception of external things	41
by the impulse of his own feelings or by the claims of others upon his or sensibility but woman s sphere being one of feeling rather than of intellect all her peculiar characteristics are such as essentially her for that station in society which she is designed to fill and which she never without a sacrifice of good taste i might almost say of good principle weak indeed is the reasoning of those who would render her dissatisfied with this by persuading her that the station which it ought to be her pride to ornament is one too insignificant or degraded for the full exercise of her mental powers can that be an unimportant to which peculiarly belong the means of happiness and misery can that be a degraded sphere which not only admits of but requires the full of moral feeling is it a task too trifling for an intellectual woman to watch and guard and the growth of reason in the infant mind is it a sacrifice too small to practice the art of to all the different characters met with in ordinary life so as to influence and give a right direction to their tastes and pursuits is it a duty too easy faithfully and constantly to hold up an example of self government and zeal for that which our highest good to be nothing or anything that is not evil as the necessities of may require to wait with patience to endure with fortitude to by gentleness to soothe by sympathy applied to be quick in understanding prompt in action and what is perhaps more difficult all yet firm in lastly through a life of perplexity trial and temptation to maintain the calm dignity of a pure and elevated character earthly in nothing but its and refined almost to in the of its love its and its devotion the same causes which operate against the intellectual of woman unfit her for arbitrary rule queen elizabeth one of the most distinguished of female sovereigns was womanly in nothing but her vanity and she was ready at any time to sacrifice her lover to her love of power and those said to be of the heart which rendered her in old age were nothing better than founded upon personal selfishness and caprice but deficient in the nobler characteristics of generous feeling in enthusiasm and she was the better qualified to maintain her dignity and to pursue those deep laid schemes of and ambition which raised her to a level with the greatest of europe while her ill rival mary of scotland a very very woman who with the richest of head and might as a wife have proved a blessing to any who had the good feeling to appreciate her worth raised to the throne became the of her empire and as a queen was eventually the most unfortunate that ever let in and rebellion upon her state or brought down disgrace and destruction ix on herself it is only in her proper and natural sphere that woman is poetical s as a sovereign or a she wants all her attributes that which alone firmly and without support can never supply the mind with so many interesting and poetical associations as that which has a relative existence and is linked in with the chain of creation by the sympathies or of its own nature a single barren hill in the midst of a desert without sunshine without shade without or any perceptible variety in its surface would uttle to interest the feelings of the poet it might serve as a to the bewildered traveller but without the light of the sun or the shadow of intervening clouds upon its summit without the garment of or the varieties of rock and precipice and deep around its sloping sides and above all without its mighty shadow in a weary land it could not be an object upon which the eye would linger with delight or the faculty of imagination find food and exercise the bird that its wing upon the bough or its native wood tes wild up to the clear expanse heaven s ethereal blue the plant its arms around the supporting stem its prodigal sweets upon the morning air or scattering its faded leaves upon the of the wilderness the faintest cloud that sails before the face of the moon for a moment in her smile wearing her silver livery and then her forehead in fantastic folds of mist and before it away and void into the dark abyss of night are objects in themselves in their attributes relations and associations infinitely more poetical than the single mountain and it is precisely upon the same principle that woman with her boundless her weakness her her quick her inexhaustible energies in all that the very essence of her character is more poetical than man yet notwithstanding all this in the art of writing poetry women prove themselves decidedly inferior to the sex for the same causes which progress in the more laborious walk of science are equally forcible here a very limited extent woman is concentrated fixed and attention we have many instances that she can as it were out of the momentary fulness of her own heart discourse most eloquent music but she is unequal to any of those lasting productions of poetic genius which continue from age to age to delight the world i am unwilling however even in this instance to attribute to her mental inferiority what appears to me as more probably owing to influence of her imagination the faculty most essential to the poet which women possess in so great a degree that its very of growth prevents the of those rich fruits of which its profusion of early blossom gives promise the imagination of woman may be compared to a quick growing plant which shoots out so many slender twigs and that the main stem is	41
weakened and the whole plant unable to raise itself from the earth continues to bud and blossom and send forth innumerable shoots which altogether form a beautiful group of flowers and but nothing more while the imagination of man a stately tree whose firm and continuous stem exactly to the si port and nourishment of the numerous branches in their subordinate place the majesty the utility and the beauty of the whole the imagination of woman is sufficiently vivid to take in the range of poetical but unfortunately it meets with so many in that range and so from its proper object to waste itself upon others of minor importance that it seldom any end or any lasting it is impossible for those who have merely studied the nature of woman s mind to comprehend the rapidity of her thoughts and the of her feelings touch but one sensitive and her imagination takes flight upon the wings of the butterfly over the garden of earth up into mid air beyond the lark that sweetest of joy higher still higher through space ascending to the regions of peace and glory and passing through the everlasting gates into the communion of saints and blessed spirits whose feet with immortality trace the green margin of the river of eternal life would that the imagination of woman had always this upward tendency but alas it is not satisfied even with the of happiness it cannot rest even in the bosom of repose it is not sufficiently refreshed even by that stream whose waters make glad the celestial city the light of some loved perchance is wanting there and the spirit late soaring on delighted wing now downward amongst the elements of earth while on by the irresistible power of sympathy it chooses rather to follow the or the lost through all the of sin and sorrow than to rise to glory with such an imagination startled ex the poetry of life and diverted from its object not only by every sight or sound in earth or air but by every impulse of the affections and the will it is impossible that woman in her intellectual should ever equal man nor is it necessary for her usefulness her happiness or the perfection of her character that she should as she is in the world it is one of her greatest charms that she is willing to trust rather than anxious to investigate while she does this she will be feminine and while she is feminine she must be poetical the power of is another quality which next to imagination is strikingly conspicuous in woman and without whidi she would lose half her loveliness and half her value there is no possible event in life which she is unable not only to understand but to understand and no imaginable character except the gross or the vile with which she cannot immediately identify herself it is considered a mere duty too common for observation too necessary for praise when a woman forgets her own sorrows to smile with the gay or lays aside her own secret joys to weep with the sad but let man make the experiment for one half hour and he will then be better acquainted with this system of self sacrifice which woman in every station of society the palace to the cottage through the whole of her life with little and with no reward except that which is attached to every effort of ted virtue it is thought much of and forth to the world when the victim at the stake no sign of pain but does it fortitude for the victim of care to give no outward evidence of the of a soul to go forth arrayed in smiles when burning ashes are upon the heart to meet as a woman can meet with a never welcome the very cause of all her suffering and to back with the sweetness of her love him who knows neither constancy nor truth it is unquestionably the exercise of this faculty of which to woman s character the of she has no power to command therefore to attain her purpose she can only win and in order to win she must in some measure herself to the feelings of those who hold the object of her wishes in their keeping but for one instance in which this is done to serve a selfish purpose we might a thousand where it is done for pure s and love and of where she to the disappointment of her dearest hopes without attempting even in this humble manner to what she desires women can not only themselves to the habits and of others they can actually with them enter into their very being and penetrate the deep recesses of their souls thus they are no less interesting in themselves than n interested in what they hear and see in society they have the character of being l ut are they not good listeners also and where they do not actually listen they can pretend to do so which answers the purpose of the speaker just as well a truly agreeable knows how to give a quick and delicate turn to conversation so as to avoid an unpleasant or produce a pleasing effect she knows how and to whom to address her good things and never them upon the wrong person she the secret bias of the character and the same way or so gently that resistance an agreeable amusement she reads the eye and in the language of the heart and she allows herself caprice enough to the monotony of life but not to create tumult or confusion without so deep as to be lost she over the surface of things and makes herself acquainted with their nature and their importance in the of life she can enter into the different elements of human nature and assuming every variety of form of wliich	41
it is capable can endure every change of time and place and circumstance and what is most retain her own identity in each ah this she can do with httle of the borrowed aid of ornament the charm is within herself and like the great of the she it to everything around her for want of the power which is in nature our writers of romance are compelled to make all their beautiful to place them upon or beds of to them over with pearls and them to the whiteness of snow to wreath them with roses and scatter flowers beneath their feet to them with all languages and all gifts of music and eloquence pouring forth the wisdom of the sage from the lips of the but it is not so in common life there is a in nature which it is impossible for art to attain and a truly charming woman clad in weeds her husband s stockings and be charming still yet after all it is not by the examination of any particular talent faculty or that we become acquainted with the true poetry of woman s character for such is her to be by every change of circumstance and such her capacity for receiving pain pleasure that we must always speak of her in reference to her state of feeling rather than her of mind her thoughts for the most part are of indistinct ideas which flow together in a tide too rapid too impetuous and too generally directed by her to admit of the strict government of right reason she not only the present and the palpable but the contrast and the around her the past and the future are spread before her like pictures whose colouring with the tone and temper of her own mind in one moment the vivid glow of happiness is over the scene and in the next the sombre shadow of despair in the acquisition of some unexpected joy what a glad free spirit is that of soaring without bound or far beyond the reach of fear and at the apprehension of future pain under the pressure of affliction how sad how low how utterly cast down bursting forth upon the wings of hope the soul of woman knows no impossibility is no barrier to its course it sees that which is without form hears voices in the depth of silence and lays hold of things which have no all this may be called absurd and so it would be if the allusions of the mind were not permitted to lift us occasionally above the and of life without this mysterious power to create food for its own felicity the mind of would sink beneath its burdens and instead of a being ever the first to welcome sunshine the last to yield to gloom woman would be alike wearisome as a companion feeble as a and impotent as a all this would be absurd too if the sphere of woman were the same as that of man but as a woman i am well convinced that those peculiarities for which she is too frequently and despised arise either from the excess or the abuse of natural qualities which under proper discipline might have been made to her own and other s happiness the want of and depth is perceptible only in woman s intellectual pursuits in all that belongs to her and her social duties she is faithful sincere and firm it is true she is called but as has been remarked by an amiable and writer her is of the head rather than of the heart believing what she hopes she takes her friends upon trust and loving must necessarily be often deceived but it does not follow that if the object of her could retain the character with which her own fancy invested it she would not still love with the same constancy and love for ever from the varied and nature of woman s feelings as well as from their power their and their depth it is impossible to say what she is or what she might be because the ordinary routine of life particularly of polished life admits of development of the passion and it is only in cases of trial that she proves herself and therefore all writers who have drawn from nature in attempting to the character of woman have done it by a few impressive strokes rather than by general amongst numerous instances of this kind in the works of i shall point out one which bears most author of woman in her social and character m the impress of a master hand it is the last speech of in the horrible scene of her murder her attendant hears her dying voice and beginning to suspect there has been foul play o who hath done this deed nobody i to my kind lord q is answered by the wretched victim who can read these lines without acknowledging the writer s profound and intimate acquaintance with the heart of woman first answers nobody from the impulse of a sudden to clear her husband from suspicion but immediately that this wiu not be sufficient she adds and then to complete the whole to give the climax to her devotion she continues commend me to my kind lord to that very lord whose hand was just from its fatal hold and who stood beside her neither penitent nor triumphant but with the magnitude and the horror of the deed which yet he had not the power to behold as a crime another instance of a and more pleasing character occurs in as translated by where the princess the death of claims the tenderest office of friendship from her faithful companion now gentle show me the affection which thou has promised my own true and fellow pilgrim thia night we away aw and whither whither	41
then i but one place in ike where he buried r in these few words we see the magnitude of woman s love and the absorbing nature of her grief herself and the whole universe sink into nothing ia comparison with that point of space she is surprised that her friend should ask whither and almost reproaches her for not remembering there is now ut one place in the lord has in many instances proved both his talent and his taste by giving us the true poetry of woman s in a few touching words i shall select one remarkable for its simplicity and pathos it occurs in the of the first murder where the has received the of one parent and been driven out by the other whose character is beautifully and justly drawn throughout remains with him the others have departed and addresses him in these words as ah then hast heard we must go forth i am ready bo shall our children be i will bear and thou his sister ere the sun let us depart nor walk the under the cloud of night nay speak to me to thine own me i wh and then f dost not to dwell with one who hath done nothing except to thee as shrink the deed which leaves thee i must not speak of this if ie between thee and the great ood there be no stronger bond to a firm and faithful woman than that all have le f the object of her love feels this and no other reason besides which she no reproach enough has already been said and like a pure spirit descending upon earth for purposes of love and mercy she with her husband beneath his degradation and though shrinking m the fatal deed meekly and it solely between him and the great god in order to define with greater precision what it is that the poetry of woman s character we must enter yet more closely into her individual feelings and for this purpose it is to trace her experience the different stages of ex the poetry of woman in we behold her as a girl a maiden a wife a and an old wo it is difficult to say which is least important in the scale beings a little girl or an old woman but certainly the former us with a kind of tenderness which is too rarely bestowed upon the latter so as the sphere of her childish is by affliction especially by that heaviest of all domestic the loss of a kind and judicious mother the existence of a young girl is happy as it is innocent with her day af r day dances on in the perpetual sunshine of domestic love and night only comes to remind her of the shelter of the maternal wing directed by the impulse of her feelings towards those duties which are to be her portion in life she her flowers her pet lamb or nurses the wounded bird and true to the of nature her feeble strength her earnest thoughts and her ardent wishes to the happiness of others if from the administration of domestic discipline she should become selfish her sole gratification continues to be derived from surrounding things and she never seeks it in the centre of her own but remains dependent still it may be that she is sometimes unreasonable in requiring more than she but the perfect with which she throws herself upon the good will and generosity of others ought at least to claim their protection if it fails to their esteem but let us suppose any of the dark of sin and sorrow to fall upon the domestic scene it is then that the rosy girl is called in from her play to watch and wait to bear the harsh rebuke to know the innocent wish denied to with the grief to cultivate a premature acquaintance with the outward signs of inward wo and to feel what it is to have the wings of childhood with the cares of age perhaps the maternal voice is hushed and the hand that used to smooth her nightly cold in the grave who then is left to pity the little as silently and unobserved she passes on through life seeking for what the whole world is too poor to bestow a second mother time passes and the impulse of with the dawn of re on her are limited to the regular routine of education while her passions are free and thus her feelings become while her talents remain in the bondage of infancy if the page of history is held up before her she sees it not as it is but in the vivid colouring of her own imagination she will not learn the truth because it not with her hopes and ardent wishes which have already taken of her knowledge she cannot listen to the lore of past ages because she is busy present disappointment and just beginning to feel that her efforts are in vain for the voice of experience louder that that of instruction rises above the light of joy and will be heard her spirit as easily as it is ted in exultation or sinks in despair and with its of pain and pleasure those hours which ought to be devoted to the cultivation of the intellectual powers thrown by her natural dependence upon the esteem and affection of those around her woman to regard the smile of approbation as the charmed spell by which the gates of happiness are opened and to look for the frown of contempt as the signal of her darkest doom trembling between these two extremes there can be no wonder that she should study every means to attain the one and avoid the other and this is what the world calls vanity while it is in fact an ardent and in some measure a desire to	41
do and to be that which is most agreeable to others purely because it is gratifying not to herself but to them and an shrinking from all which can disgust or in any way offend because to be the source of dissatisfaction to give pain or to excite uneasiness is most to the natural delicacy and generosity of her own mind it is on uie verge of womanhood that we see the female character in its greatest variety and beauty while the rich colouring of fresh bom the warm of genuine and the high aspirations of ambitious youth are yet by the tyranny of custom or forced back into the bursting heart by the cold hand of the poetry of ufe woman fresh as it were from the garden of while the loveliness of her first creation is still lingering around her blended with the melancholy of her fall in her character and attributes her beauty her and her to danger and suffering is that the poet can desire to inspire his happiest lays it is in this stage of her while love most enemy folding his rosy wings lies hi the bottom of her heart ready to rush forth on his impetuous flight towards the highest point of happiness or the lowest depth of wo that woman lays hold of friendship as her greatest solace and her mind is agitated with a world of indefinite thoughts and feelings which she is unable to communicate because she not understand them while they are confined within her own bosom i feels like one with an immense and load and therefore she seeks the society of those whose sympathy arising firom a of feeling supplies the want of a common medium of communication desiring to find in her friend all those qualities which she most and prone by nature to believe whatever she desires she pauses not to whether the choice she makes is not ra er the result of her own than a tribute justly paid to virtue and thus two friends and in need of each other trust most to the strength and of attachment d happy is it for those to whom experience does not teach the of what the calls i do not say because that be which us with enjoyment for the and wisdom for the future let the world be quarrelled with because its do not always last formed out of the warm feelings of youth feelings which it would be impossible to carry on with us through life it is but reasonable that we should lose our as we journey or at retaining them their character and mode of exhibition should be wholly changed because we cease in some measure to feel the want of them and therefore they can no longer repay tis for the of time and thought aod which in their original they required we have other objects in pursuit different aims and hopes and wishes we have become more ia our feelings and less disposition to give out the love in a tide too rapid and to be restrained but let as pause and ask have we found anything ta compare in the genuine and happiness it affords i the social hours of the truth the tears the affections which belonged to the of our early youth i am far from from asserting that we may not have friends true and zealous friends who would protect our reputation as their own through every stage of life but they are for the most part such as having lost th ir enthusiasm are become keenly observant of our faults and strict to correct them rather than tender and faithful in our virtue such as wearied with our peculiarities vainly endeavour to make us submit to the common rule and finding their ineffectual grown in their charitable allowance for our not such as looked kindly on our because they made a part of us and if we were better that not love us more such as freely enter into oar views and feelings when in full accordance with their own established notions of what is and prudent not such as are the last to step forward and tell us we have been in error purely because they would be the last to give us pain such friends as these we should do wisely to keep along with us even to the end of life they are in fact the only friends because they are true to our best interests but oh they are not the friends who loved us in our early youth to return to woman in her girlish days how beautifully has our own fair whose lays mournful as they are musical remind us of the melody of he dying swan described the particular yearning of the heart with which the experienced observer regards the tender years of woman the poetry of woman m h r is on to w f and to w ar i and from deep to broken wasted shower i and to make and to find them clay ad to chat pray i her lot ia on to he d the o by the of pain with a pa cheek and yet n brow d with a heart of hope hope be to bear to cheer decay aod oh to lore all therefore pray i trace her experience to the next stage of her and is more poetical still because so long ai her youth and beauty inspire admiration ao long at there is any thing to be gained by her she is subjected to the of man whom she is naturally desirous to please not only as her superior guide but as he holds the reins of government can therefore deprive her of all or most of her pleasures as a girl she was deceived only by her own heart she is	41
now deceived by the general aspect of way is made for her to walk forth as a queen and when bow b fo e her no wonder that they should assume the di ty of one and learn to love the i ed for a moment of mockery in her feeble hand trusting and sincere herself he not of falsehood and when told that she is beautiful she looks in the mirror and believes it true finding that beauty is the only title to the of that sex which it is her wish and her interest to please she her personal charms as her richest and if she smiles not from the of a glad heart but because are lovely to produce effect or sighs to excite a momentary interest it is because she has learned in her intercourse with society that she must be personally lovely to be beloved and ally interesting to avoid contempt when we of the falsehood practised towards women at that season of life when their minds are most capable of receiving impressions and when their intellectual powers just arriving at maturity are most liable to serious and important bias we can only wonder that there should be any substantial virtue found amongst but aa there is a time to sleep and a time to awake so there comes to almost all women a time when their eyes are opened to truth when their beauty charms not and their step is heard without a welcome when they tune the harp without an audience and speak en they smile without happiness and frown when others step forward to receive the once offered to them while they are thrust down from by the very hands which supported them in their ascent compelled o descend though sometimes gradually from the state of ideal exaltation to which she has been raised woman weak woman catches at every slender hold that may break her fall to the last voice that speaks she with an which subjects her to the ridicule of the world while to the last hand that is held out to her she with a despairing energy an ardent gratitude which permit her not to perceive iti hence follow the she is blamed than pitied and the rash sacrifice of lor which she meets with little mercy m the world but the woman should be a woman herself to know what it is to have in that of falsehood flattery and which a young and female and then to pass away into the sullen calm of neglect to have in the warm and genial atmosphere of real or pretended and en ip bide the of tha pitiless storm with which envy never to her whose of loving has her charms to have listened to the voice of breathing her praises like a perpetual concert all around her and then to nothing but the cold dull language of truth exaggerated into or sharpened into to have a charmed life under the of man s love in the very centre of ail that ideal happiness to on every hand and feeding like the butterfly upon the flowers of life without a wish a thought or a tear and then upon the s bleak desert to stand alone i repeat that the of should be j the poetry op life a woman a woman who has been admired and then neglected we have here spoken only of women whose personal charms recommend them to general admiration because it is of these alone that the poet delights to sing yet such is the influence of personal admiration in checking the growth of moral and intellectual beauty and selfishness and vanity that we are inclined to believe the deep pathos of the feminine heart is to be found in the greatest perfection concealed behind the countenance that has seldom attracted the public gaze it is in such hearts whose best are rarely estimated according to their real value that disinterested affection in all its natural warmth lives and for the benefit of the suffering or the beloved that enthusiasm and zeal tempered down by humility are ever ready for the performance of the duties of life and that ambition if it exists at all is directed to the and of more lasting happiness than mere beauty can afford in capacity of a wife we next observe the character of woman and it is here if ever that she the truth what is in her own heart and what are her duties to herself and others not that she all this through the gentle of affection but by the moral process of experience which if less congenial to her taste is more forcible in its convictions and more lasting in its effects in assuming this new title woman is generally removed to a new and of en to a distant sphere where she has to take her stand in society upon common ground none the circle to which she is at once admitted know precisely what she has and therefore every eye is open to see what she is all the little and peculiarities up with her bodily growth in the bosom of her own family not only forgiven there but indulged from the fond consideration that it was always her way or that she was always thus now stand forth for the discussion and impartial inspection of the many who seeing no just reason why such should have been her way and no plausible pretext for her being always thus soon contrive means to convince her if not by personal information by the unanimous opinion of society that the more entirely she aside such of the more she will be respected and valued nor is this all she has perhaps a stronger within her own household her husband begins to see with the eyes of the world his vision no longer dazzled by	41
her beauty or his judgment cheated by her c he involuntarily and often without sufficient delicacy points out faults which he neither saw nor believed her capable of possessing before why did i marry is the question which every woman not previously asks of herself under such circumstances why did i marry if not to be loved and cherished as i was in my father s house such are her words for she has not yet learned to understand her own heart but she means in fact why did i marry if not to be flattered and admired as in the days of courtship when the competition for my favour excited in all who sought to win it and who because they knew my vanity and weakness sou t to win it by these means alone the answer is an obvious because it is not good for us to go to our graves and therefore merciful means have been designed as various as appropriate to compel us to open our reluctant eyes upon the truth and woman as a wife does open her eyes at last from the dream in which her senses have been while with the tide of conviction as it rushes in upon her newly awakened mind come thoughts and earnest calculations and deeper anxieties with higher hopes and nobler aims and better regulated affections to them as a mother we next behold woman in her character as the nurse of innocence as the of the first principles of mind as the guardian of an immortal being who will write upon the records of eternity how faithfully she has fulfilled her trust and let it be observed that in assuming this new and important she does not necessarily lose any of the charms which have her character before she can stiu be tender lovely refined and cheerful as when a girl devoted to the happiness of those around her the poetry of woman judicious dignified and intellectual as when a wife only while this new love deep as the very wells of life with the current of her thoughts and feelings giving warmth and intensity to all without the force or the purity of any yet while her attributes remain the same her being is absorbed in the existence of her child now more than ever she forgets herself nothing impossible which has reference to her own and its good neither time nor space nor in the single consideration of its happiness regarding neither labour watching nor weariness as worthy of a thought in comparison with its slumber or its pain if the love o a mother be considered as an instinct which all animated nature it is not the less beautiful when exhibited in the human character for being diffused throughout creation because it proves that the of our being knew that the attributes of humanity would be insufficient to support the mother through her anxieties and cares he knew that reason would be making distinctions between the worthy and the unworthy and the supposed to ruin that fancy would make and upon one while it neglected another that caprice would destroy the bond of domestic union and that intellectual pursuits would often take of domestic duties and therefore he poured into woman s heart the same instinct which the timid bird to risk the last extremity of danger for her helpless young nor let any one think contemptuously of this peculiar of loving because under the extinct it is shared with the brute it is not a sufficient recommendation to our respect that it comes immediately from the hand of our creator that we have no power to control or subdue it that it is strong as death and lastly that it the mind of the mother with equal tenderness for her or or child as for him who gives early promise of personal as well as mental beauty but for this wonderful provision in human nature what would become of te the the or the perverse who would be found to fulfil the hard duties of serving the ungrateful to the dissatisfied and watching over the hopeless no there is no instance in which the care of our heavenly father is more beautifully exhibited than m that of a mother s love winding its silken alike every natural object whether worthy or unworthy it a bond which cannot break it the wanderer without weariness and the feeble without fainting appalled by danger nor by difficulty it can labour without reward and without hope many waters cannot it and when the glory has vanished from the brow of the beloved one when summer friends have turned away and guilt and misery and disgrace have their place it into the soul of the outcast like the within the cell of the prisoner the of the heart bringing along with it fond recollections of past happiness and back to fresh in the light and the gladness that still remain for the broken and spirit if the situation of a wife brings woman to a right understanding of her own character that of a mother leads to a strict knowledge of her own principles scarcely is any one so as to teach her child what she believes to be wrong and yet each it she must for its clear pure eyes are fixed upon hers to learn their meaning and its infant accents are inquiring out the first principles of good and evil how with such a picture before her would any woman dare to teach what she did not as well as and from mature examination believe to be true in a few days hours nay moments that child may be a in the courts of heaven what if a stain should have been upon its wings and that stain the impress of a mother s hand or if its earthly life should be prolonged it is	41
tlie foundation of the important future that the mother lays other in after years may take upon themselves the of her child and lead him through the paths of lore but the early bias the bent of the i the poetry op life moral character the first principles of life will be hers and hers the lasting glory or the lasting shame there is no scene throughout the whole range of our observation more strikingly of intellectual moral and even physical beauty than that presented by a domestic circle where a mother holds her proper place as the source of tenderness the centre of the bond of social union the founder of each plan the in all the general fountain of cheerfulness hope and consolation it is to clear up the unjust suspicion that such a mother forward to ward ofi the blow to defend the wounded spirit from the injury to which it would sullenly submit to encourage the hopeless when thrown back in the competition of talent to point out to those who have been defeated other aims in which they may yet succeed to stand between the timid and the danger they dread and on behalf of each and all to make their peace with offended authority promising hoping and believing that they will never willingly commit the same fault again even amongst her boys those of nature s the mother may if she acts be both valuable and dear for wild and impetuous as they are when they first burst forth from the of childhood and rush on regardless of every and wholesome check as if to attain in the shortest space of time the greatest possible distance from dependence and they are apt to meet with crosses and disappointments which plunge them suddenly back into the weakness they have been struggling to overcome or rather to conceal and it is then that a mother s love supplies the which their wounded feelings and provided they can mingle respect with their affection they are not ashamed to their dependence upon it still it may here be observed how much depends upon the word when the boy respects his mother she is associated with his highest aspirations and therefore he has pride as well as pleasure in her love but he will not respect her merely because she has nursed him when an infant no he must find as he gains experience a perfect accordance between the principles of virtue the instruction he first heard from his mother s lips as well as the rules by which her own conduct is regulated it is this respect mingled with natural affection that the strongest and most bond which is woven in with the life string of the heart that draws back the wanderer to his home and is the last the very last which the casts in turning from the contemplation of a mother in the midst of her family to that of a mere old woman we make a melancholy descent from important usefulness to neglected perhaps we have been dwelling too much upon what ought to be but the bare mention of sin old brings us down at once to what is to inquire why it should be thus belongs more to the writer on morals on poetry yet so it is that woman who has been cherished in her and in her youth who has been exalted to the most honourable station which her sex can fill and who has spent the of her life in and anxieties for the good of others becomes in old age a mere proverb and a by a warning to the young and the gay of what they must expect a for all that is feeble and contemptible evidence of the destructive power of time a living emblem of decay it is true the mother is a mother still and greatly is it to be feared that where she sinks into a state of total neglect it is firom the absence of all feeling of respect in the minds of her children nor are there wanting instances to prove this fact instances in which the want of youthful beauty has been more than supplied by the loveliness of a mind at peace with all the world and with its god where the weakness of old age has been dignified by the services of a well spent life and where the wants and wishes of second childhood have been soothed by affection whose vital principle is gratitude and whose foundation is esteem but we speak of the world and the things of the world as we find them and we find old women so frequently neglected and despised that it becomes a duty as well as a pleasure to show that though of every the poetry of woman other they may still be poetical poetical in their recollections beyond what human nature can be in any other state or stage of its existence it is an unkind that many writers have to make old women through the of their passions them into and monsters of the most repulsive description and that not so much to point a moral as to adorn a tale but in such instances the writer is indebted to their recollections for all the interest which his unnatural excite to flashes of former tenderness shooting through the gloom of despair to bright and glowing associations following in the wake of madness and to once familiar images of love and beauty re animated by a strange at the touch of the o death and bending in all their early loveliness over the brink of the grave infinite indeed beyond the of calculation must be the recollections and of her whose long life from its earliest to its latest period has been a life of feeling whose experience has been that of impressions rather than events	41
and whose son goes down amidst the varied and innumerable tints which these impressions have given to its atmosphere with an inexhaustible power of relative ideas how melancholy must be the situation of her who was once beloved and cherished now despised and forsaken who in her turn loved and cherished others and is now neglected if she be a mother one of those fond mothers who expect that mere indulgence is to win the lasting regard of their what sad thoughts must crowd upon her at every fresh instance of and every additional proof that she has fallen away from what she was both in her own and others estimation over the brow that now upon her she perhaps has watched with unutterable tenderness through the long night when every eye but hers was sleeping the lips that now speak to her coldly or answer her with silence when he speaks she has bathed with the welcome draught when they were and burning with fever the scorn with which her humble pretensions are looked down upon arises in the hearts of those for whose higher intellectual she has made every sacrifice and exerted every faculty and what if she be in the of modem times she understands deeply and the springs of and tenderness and sorrow she knows from what source flow the bitterest tears and how than a serpent tooth it is to have a child she sees the yoimg glad creatures of another gen tion sporting around her and her thoughts go back to the of her childhood some reduced to ie lowest state of helplessness or some dead and some forgotten she hears the reluctant answer when she asks a kindness of one of the merry group and she thinks of the time when kindness was more freely granted her though far less needed than now she starts at the loud laugh but cannot understand the jest and no one explains it to her listening ear she loses the thread of earnest conversation and no one the clue she sits within the social circle but forms no link in the of social union her thoughts and cannot with those of her companions and she feels in all its bitterness that least tolerable portion of human experience what it is to be desolate in the midst of society by kindred and friends and yet alone in looking at the situation of woman merely as regards this life we are struck with the system of unfair dealing by which her weak and dependent nature is subjected to an infinite variety of and we are ready to exclaim that of all earthly creatures she is the most pitiable and so unquestionably she is when by those higher views which lead her hopes away from the disappointments of the present world to the anticipated promised to the in the world to come but the whole life of woman when studied with reference to eternity presents a view of the great plan of moral discipline designed to assist her right conduct through the trials and temptations which surround her path in childhood she is necessarily instructed in what belongs to social and domestic duty and here she the difficult but important task of and of making her own gratification give place to that of others in youth she is plunged into a sphere of greater temptations and of more intense where her experience embracing the extremes of pain and pleasure teaches her a the different means to be made use of in avoiding or the one and the other as a wife and a mo er she has an opportunity of acting um n the knowledge thus acquired and if her practice does honour to her theory it is here that she an importance and a satisfaction which might be dangerous even to a mind did not age steal on and his sombre colouring over the pleasant pictures to which her affections had given too warm a glow and which her happiness had persuaded her to be satisfied with contemplating but cold blank medium intervening between life and eternity between beauty and ashes between love and death comes to warn her that all she has been desiring is but as the scattering of the harvest to be in heaven that all she has been trusting in is but typical of that which for ever and that all she has been enjoying is but a of eternal felicity let then the aged woman be no longer an object of contempt she is helpless as a child but a child she may be learning the last awful lesson from her heavenly father her feeble step is trembling on the brink of the grave but her hopes may be firmly planted on the better shore which lies beyond her eye is dim with suffering and tears but her spiritual vision may be contemplating the gradual of the gates of eternal rest beauty has faded from her form but angels in the world of light may be weaving a wreath of glory for her brow her lip is silent but it may be only waiting to pour forth celestial strains of gratitude and praise lowly and fallen and sad she sits amongst the living but exalted and happy she may arise from the dead then turn if thou wilt from the aged woman in her loneliness but remember she is not forsaken of her god the poetry op the bible in tracing the of poetry with subjects most frequently and naturally presented to our contemplation we observe how it may be associated with our so as to give interest to what is familiar to what is material and to what is sublime we now open the and find that poetry as a e of enjoyment derived from association is also diffused through every page of the sacred volume and so that the simplest child as well	41
as the sage may feel its presence this in fact is the great merit of poetry a merit which in no other volume but the bible can be foimd in perfection that it addresses itself so immediately to the principles of feeling inherent in our nature as to be intelligible to those who have made but little progress in the paths of learning at the same time that it presents a source of the highest gratification to the scholar and the philosopher let us refer as an example to the first chapter of in the god created tlie aad the earth and the earth was without and aad dark was upon the of the deep and the spirit of god upon the of the waters and god said let there be light and there was a child but just grown familiar with the words contained in these verses not only their meaning here but feels something of their of the power and the majesty of the who could create is wonderful whose spirit moved n t face waters an who d let there be ht and en was light while learned men of all ages have agreed that no possible of words could express more and powerfully than these the the first operations of power of mankind have any record we have more than once observed that poetry must have some reference either uniformly or partially to our own circumstances situation or experience as well as to the more remote and varied of the imagination and in the the poetry op the bible find this fact fully illustrated witness the frequent of these simple md god we are not told that the tes of almighty power issued forth from the heavens but simply that god mm a mode of speech familiar to the least cultivated understanding yet in no danger of losing its as used here because immediately after follow those of universal sub tion which give us the most forcible idea ot the of divine again after the of our first parents when they beard the of the lord god walking in the garden in the cool of the day and adam and hie hid om the of the lord god the of the garden and the lord god called unto adam and mid him where art and he said i heard thy in the garden and i was afraid i was naked and i hid myself what description of shame and can be more true to human nature than this but the character of affords the earliest the most consistent and perhaps the most powerful of affections and desires from their original purity d j f w l e se nd who breathed e newly cr ted e th felt of envy and jealousy precisely as we feel them at this day and he talked with his brother and it came to when they were in the field that rose up against his brother and him a d the lord said is thy brother and he said i know not am i my brother s keeper and he said what hast the of thy brother s blood me the ground and now art thou the earth which hath opened her month to thy brother s blood thy hand the it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength a and a be in the earth and the lord my is greater than i can bear behold hast me oat this day from the of the earth and thy bee shall i be hid and i shall be a and a in the earth and it to that one that me shall l and the lord said therefore be taken on him and he lord set a mark upon lest any finding him him and went oat tha of tha lord am i my brother s keeper is a question with which we are too apt to answer the reproaches of conscience when we have the most important trust or neglected the duties which ought to be the dearest in life and what sufferer under the first of consequent upon his own has not given to the expressive language my is greater than i can bear thus far this striking passage contains what is familiar and natural to every human being but beyond this yet at the same time connected with it it has great power and even in no instance more s than where it is said that went out from the presence i the peculiarly emphatic manner in which the lord promises to bless saying i will bless them that bless thee and him that thee and in thee shall all the of the earth be blessed as well as afterwards when the lord came in a saying fear not i am thy shield and thy exceeding great is comprehensive and full of meaning beyond what more elaborate language could possibly convey and also after the from lot where the lord said unto lift np now thine eyes and look the place where thou art northward and southward and eastward and westward for all the land which thou to thee will i it and to thy seed for and i will make thy seed aa the dust of the earth so that if a man can the dust of the earth then thy seed also be numbered arise walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it for i will it unto thee then his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of which is in and built there an altar to the lord here the act of stretching the sight to the and southward and and westward and walking through the land in the length of it and in the breadth presents to the mind ideas of space and distance at once simple and sublime and when we read that whenever the faithful found rest	41
for the third and last time the power of man against his maker he leads to e top of mount where the same gives the sanction of truth and the majesty of power to the words of the prophet and here it is that he forth for the last time a blessing still richer and more than before beginning with the beautiful and poetic language how goodly are thy tents o jacob and thy o as the valleys are they spread as gardens by the side aa the trees of which the lord hath and as trees the waters to those are best acquainted with poetry of the heart the sad history of and his daughter affords particular interest told as it is in language never yet exceeded for simplicity and genuine beauty by any of the numerous writers who have given us both in prose and imaginary details of this melancholy story aad a tow the lord and said if thou shalt without ml the children of into mine hands then it shall be that forth of the doors of my to meet me when i return in peace from the children of be the lord a and i will it up for a burnt offering passed the children of to fight against them and the lord them into his hands and he smote them from till thou to even twenty cities and the plain of the with a great slaughter thus the children of were subdued before the children of and came to unto his house and behold his daughter came out to meet with and with dances and she was his only child beside her he had neither son nor daughter and it came to pass when he saw her that he his clothes and said alas my daughter thou hast brought me very low and thou art one of them that trouble me for i hare opened my month unto the lord and i cannot go back and she said unto him my if hast opened thy month unto the lord do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy month aa the lord hath taken for thee of thine enemies even of the children of the of in a powerful that combination of strength and weakness which too frequently produces the most fatal and ruin it is a character well worthy of our greatest poet yet one to the interest of which his genius could add nothing and what is saying much could upon without taking anything away we first behold as the man before whom the trembled after the lion and scattering thousands with a single arm stooping to the of a false and worthless woman three times deceived and deceived yet trusting her at last with the secret of his strength next betrayed into the hands of his we find him in at the mill with and lastly as if this punishment were not he is led forth and placed between the pillars in the public hall of entertainment to make sport at the festival of his enemies rejoicing in his weakness and his bonds where the indignation of his soul finally nerves him for that tremendous act of vengeance by which the death of is the story of is familiar in its touching pathos to every feeling heart as well as beautiful to every poetic mind what for instance can exceed the the poetry op life of the separation of the sisters when their mother them to leave her and they lifted op their and wept again and her mother in law but her and said behold thy in ii gone back her people and her after thy in and said entreat me not to thee or to return ft om after thee ft r whither thou i will go and where thou i will lodge thy people shall be my people and thy god my god where thou will i die and there be buried the lord do so to me and more also if aught but death part thee and me in speaking of poetry as it relates to the passions and to the minor impulses and finer of human nature as well as to the scenes and circumstances most calculated for their we have no hesitation in pointing out the life and character of as one perhaps more than any other in the with poetical interest the book of job is one of poetry itself yet the character of the sublime sufferer does not afford the variety exhibited in that of prostrate in the dust of the earth and still holding communion with the deity we behold him as an isolated being struck out from the lot and set apart for a particular whose severity was sufficient to fill a more human heart with bitterness but the experience of is that of a more ordinary man with whom we can fully as we go along with him those great national and social changes by which men of common mould are placed before the world in a point of view so striking and important as to them to the name of great we recognize in the king of the same motives and feelings by which men in all ages have been influenced yet while we speak of him as a less extraordinary character than job it is only bo far as the features of his character are more intelligible and familiar to our observation and experience for every thing recorded of him in his history a mind at the same time with power and and a soul capable of the extremes both of good and evil we behold him first a simple youth a choice young man and a goodly so unconscious of the high honour which awaited him that when samuel emphatically asks is not the desire of the people on thee and on thy father s house he answers with	41
perfect humility and of heart am not i a of the of the tribes of and my the least of all the families of the tribe of wherefore then thou ao to yet it waa ao that when he had hia back to go samuel god gave him another we have no reason to suppose an ambitious heart but rather a heart enlarged with a conception of the favour of the almighty and filled with the spirit of prophecy and with all aspirations so that under a sense of the responsibility of sending forth as a king an among his people he built an altar unto the lord and asked counsel of god before he went down the thus far we find him obedient as a man and faithful as a sovereign for his heart was yet by the temptations which a throne but the power of leading and governing others soon produced its natural and frequent consequence a disposition to be guided by his own inclination and to all higher authority thus when commanded to go and the and utterly to both men and women infant and ox and sheep and ass he spared and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the and of the and all that was good and would not utterly destroy them thereby the great law no less necessary for the right government of an infant mind than for an infant world the law of obedience then came the word of the lord saying it me that i have set ap to be king for he is turned back ft m following me and not performed my and it grieved samuel and he cried unto the lord all night and when samuel rose up early to t in the morning it was told samuel saying came up to and behold he set him up a place is about and passed on and gone down to and samuel came to and said unto him blessed be thou of the lord i have the of the lord and samuel said what of the poetry op the bible in mine ears the of the oxen which and said they have brought them the for the people spared the best of the and of the oxen to unto the lord thy god and the rest we have utterly destroyed then said unto buy and i will tell thee what the lord hath said to me this night and he said on and samuel said when thou little in thine own sight thou not made the head of the tribes of and the lord thee over and the lord sent thee on a journey and said go and destroy the of the and fight against them until they be consumed wherefore then thou not obey the of the lord bat upon the spoil and in the sight of the lord t this reproof from samuel again to justify himself by proving that the he had made was solely for the purpose of sacrificing to the lord when the prophet emphatically asks hath the lord as great delight in burnt and as in obeying the voice of the lord behold to obey it better than sacrifice and to than the to samuel who seems hitherto to have stood in the capacity of an between him and the divine majesty dow himself and that he will pardon his sin and turn again with him that he may worship the lord and when still rejected he himself yet more and rs oh how naturally that at least the prophet will honor him before the people that the world may not witness his degradation and now samuel but we are told soon that he came no more to see until the day of his death never he mourned for him and the lord repented that he had made king over and the spirit of the lord departed from and an evil spirit from the lord him how descriptive is passage of this gradual falling away from divine favour which sometimes and down the soul it with gloomy thoughts and sad long before the melancholy change is perceptible in the outward character and how does it illustrate the hidden and to us mysterious workings of the great plan of providence that the future king of already secretly appointed by divine commission should be ihe chosen to come and charm away with the melody of hi harp the evil spirit from the mind of his in and that should arise relieved and refreshed by the music of the instrument of his future torment for it is not long before envy enters into his heart adding its to the anguish he is already enduring he hears the song of the dancing women as they meet him with and with joy answering one another and saying that hath slain his thousands and david his of thousands and he asks what can david have mare hut the kingdom yet this he promises him his daughter in marriage but quickly him of the honour her upon another again hoping she may be a to him he offers him his second daughter and then we are told that he saw and knew that the lord was with david and that his daughter loved him and was yet the more afraid of david and he became his continually yet once more at the earnest of to receive david again into presence and called david and him all those things and brought david to and he was in his presence as in times past and there was war again and david went out and fought with the and them with a great slaughter and they from him and the evil spirit from the lord was upon as he sat in his house with his in his hand and david played with his hand and sought to david even to the wall with the but he	41
slipped away out of s presence and he smote the into the wall and and escaped that night the struggle was now passed the early tendency of the soul of the king to seek and to do good was finally subdued and he went forth to pursue the chosen of the lord as an open and enemy yet to justify himself by proving that t had first risen up against him he appeals to his servants and fully conscious that his cause would not stand the test of impartial examination he appeals to their interest and to their compassion rather than to their judgment hear now ye win the son of give every one of you fields and and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds that all of yon have against me and there r the poetry op life me that my with th mn of and there ia none of yoa that ia for me or unto me that my hath my me to lie in wait aa at filled with and jealousy heightened by the rising fame and influence of david him to the wilderness of where we meet with a remarkable instance of forbearance on the part of a persecuted man with the skirt of the long s robe in his hand david shows him tiiat he had advanced so near his person as to have been able with the same facility to destroy his life but that he spared him from reverence for the lord s when struck at once with a sense of his own recent danger with the honourable dealing of one whom he believed to be an enemy with the sight of the man he had once loved loved in the days when his heart was not as now with tlie worst of passions and perhaps touched more than all with the tones of the voice which in those happier days had been his music is this thy voice my son david and then he lifted up his voice md this burst of his heart is opened to express the full sense he had of david s superiority and the strong feeling ever present to his mind that he should one day be to resign the of government into his hands and he to art more than rewarded me food i rewarded thee e ril and now behold i know well that thou be king and that the kingdom of be in thine hand a second instance of a similar kind occurs in which appears to be struck though less forcibly with the generosity of david whom he still addresses as his son and of whom he again that he shall do great things and stiu but these transient of former feeling pass away the gathering influence of david and himself to seek consolation imder his falling fortunes from the last miserable and barren resource of the utterly destitute in soul samuel is dead and though the king had from the impulse of his better judgment put away all who had familiar spirits and out of the land he to disguise himself and to go at midnight to cast his forlorn hopes upon the of the witch of and he to the woman i pray thee me by a and bring ap him whom i name thee and the woman him behold then what hath done how he hath cat that hare and the oat of the land fore then a for my lift to me ta and aware to her by the lord aa the lord there no happen to thee for thia thing then the woman whom bring np and he bring me up and when the woman cried with a load and the woman to why for art and the king unto her be not for what thou and the woman i gods out of the earth and he unto her what form ia he ofl and a d an old man up and he ia with a mantle and that it waa and he with hia to the ground and t owed and said to why thou me to bring me np and i am for the make war me and god ia departed me and me no more neither by nor by therefore i have called thee that make known me what i do then samuel wherefore then thou ask of me seeing the lord is departed thee and ia thine enemy and the lord hath done to him aa he by me for the lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand and it to thy neighbour to thou not the of the lord hia fierce wrath upon therefore hath the lord done this thing unto thee this day the lord wiu also with thee into the hand of the and to morrow shall thou and thy be with me the lord the host of into the hand of the then all along on the earth aid was of the of and there waa no in him for he had eaten no b all the day nor an the night how is this picture of the abject state of a fallen king fallen not so much from earthly honour as from ihe countenance and protection of the of kings even the envious of his successor becomes an object of compassion when he answers to the question of samuel why hast ll ou me because i am sore distressed and when it is s d that he stooped with his face to the and finally fed all along upon the earth there can scarcely be a stronger description of total of soul under a deep sense of the overwhelming might of as well as of a melancholy of the entire of all that he had trusted and in yet trusted in for lie had greatly feared the thing which was about to come upon him and which the awful voice	41
being highly poetical for deeply as this subject has occupied tlie heart of the writer it must be confessed that in pursuing it through the holy and tracing its with the revelation of those sacred truths on which depend our hopes of eternity the consideration of poetry loses much of its importance by comparison and the task of the writer becomes like that of one who with adventurous hand the flowers that grow around the fountain of life this view of the subject would of itself be sufficient to prevent any near approach to the parts of the whose strictly spiritual import though still in language both and poetical in the extreme places them above the reach of ordinary discussion in a sphere exclusively appropriated to of infinitely greater importance some further progress may however be in the course we hope we have hitherto pursued without is pure or what is sacred and we consequently pause at that passage in the book of kings in which the prophet is described as escaping from his enemies into the solitude of the wilderness where casting himself upon the ground he it is enough now o lord take away my life for i am not better than my fathers such were the human feelings for the empire of his mind that he was almost weary of the service of his divine master accompanied as it was with disappointment hatred and persecution how simple and yet how admirably adapted to his peculiar state are the means here adopted to bring him again to a sense of the care and love of his heavenly father and as he lay and slept under a behold then an angel touched him and said unto arise and eat and he looked and behold there was a cake w the coals and a of water at his head and he did eat and drink and down again and the angel of the lord came again a time and touched him and arise and eat the journey is too great for thee and he arose and did eat and drink and went hi the strength of that meat forty days and forty the mount of god and he came thither a cave and lodged there and behold the word of the lord came kin what here and he said i have been jealous for the lord god of hosts for the children of have thy thrown down thine and slain thy with the and i even i only am left and they seek my life to take it away and he said go forth and stand upon the before the lord and behold the lord passed by and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and bi pieces the rocks before the lord but the lord was not in the wind and after the wind an earthquake but the lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake a fire but the lord was not in the fire and after the are a still small voice and it was so when heard it that he wrapped his in his mantle and went out and stood in the ea in of the cave and behold there came a unto him and said what dost thou here through the wide range of modem literature can we find a passage to be compared with this for the and sim i thb poetry op the bible i i i with which ideas the most and elevated are conveyed into the mind the prophet had been looking perhaps impatiently for some striking exhibition of almighty power amongst the children of men forgetful of the secret springs of action and action itself being the control of when his faith and his confidence are by witnessing one of those tremendous and awful of the elements by which forests arc and rocks accompanied with tlie internal conviction tliat the immediate presence of the lord was not there again an shakes the world but the lord is not in the earthquake after tlie earthquake a fire but the lord is not in the fire no though such are the open of his power by which he makes the nations tremble yet the prophet was convinced that the war of the elements might exist and the destruction of the earth without that presence of the almighty for the want of which his soul was fainting at last after the fire there came a still small voice and felt that the lord was near that he was not forsaken and that independent of the outward of power the creator of the world is able to carry on his operations in the mind of man by the desire of the heart the silent thought or the secret impulse directed towards the accomplishment of his inscrutable designs a great proportion of the holy is not only poetical but real poetry under this head the song of moses and the children of is the first instance that occurs in this song the passage of the children of through the red sea the overthrow of s host and the wonderful dealing of the lord with his chosen people are in language highly and sublime tim lord is my strength and song and he is become mj he is my god and i will prepare him an my s god and i will him thy right hand o lord is become in power thy right hand o lord hath dashed in pieces the enemy and in the greatness or thy hast thou over thrown them that rose up against thee forth thy wrath which consumed them as and with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered the floods stood upright as an heap ami depths were in the heart of the who is like unto thee o lord among the who is like thee in in praises doing wonders thou out thy right hand the earth swallowed them thou in thy mercy	41
hast led forth the people which thou hast thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation thou shalt bring them in and plant them in the tain or thine inheritance in the place o lord which thou hast made for thee to dwell in in the o lord which thy hands have established the lord shall reign for ever and ever when moses forth before the people his last public testimony to the mercy the might and the vengeance of the almighty it is in the same powerful strain of i ear o ye and i will speak and hear o earth the words of my mouth do ye thus the lord o people and unwise is not he that hath brought hath he not made thee and thee remember the days of old consider the years of many generations ask thy and he will thee thy elders and they will tell thee when the most high to the nations their inheritance when he separated the sons of adam he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of for the lord s portion is his people jacob is the lot of his inheritance he found him in a desert land and in the waste howling wilderness he led him about he instructed him he kept him as the apple or his eye as an eagle up her nest over her young abroad her wings them them on her wings bo the lord alone did lead him and there waa no strange god with him to me vengeance and their foot shall slide in due time for the day of their calamity is at hand and the things that shall come upon them make haste for the lord shall judge people and repent himself for his servants when he that their power is gone and there is none shut up or left and he shall say where are their gods rock hi whom they trusted and again the last blessing of moses is delivered in language full of poetry and he said the lord came firom and rose up v om unto them he forth mount l and he came with ten thousands of saints v om his right hand went a law unto them and of joseph he said blessed of the lord be his land for the precious things of heaven for the dew and for the deep that beneath and for the precious v brought forth by the son and for the precious things put forth by the moon and for the chief of the ancient mountains and for the precious things of the lasting hills there is none like unto the god of who upon the heaven in thy help and in his on the sky the eternal ood is and are the arms and he thai out the enemy before thee and shall say destroy them then shall dwell in ty alone the fountain of jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine also his shall drop down dew happy art thou o who is like unto thee o people by the lord the shield of thy help and who is the sword of thy t and thine enemies shall be found unto thee and thou shalt tread upon their high places these two examples are however inferior to the song of and for the high tone of ornament tlie whole of that specimen of poetical which immediately strikes us with the idea of its having been the of some of the finest passages in as well as the original from which many of our own notions of the beauty and melody of language are derived praise ye the lord for the of when the people willingly hear o ye king give ear o ye princes i i will sing unto the lord i will sing praise to the lord god of lord when thou out of when thou out of the field of the earth trembled and the heavens dropped the clouds also dropped water the mountains melted before the lord even that before the lord god of and the princes of were with even and also he was sent on foot into the valley for the divisions of there were great thoughts of heart why thou among the to hear the of the flocks for the divisions of there were great of heart abode beyond and why did dan remain in ships continued on the sea shore and abode in his and were a people that their lives unto the death in the high places of the field the kings came and fought then fought the kings of in by the waters of they took no gain of money they fought from heaven the stars in their courses fought against the river of swept them away that ancient river the river o my soul thou hast trodden down strength ye mid the angel of the lord curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof because they came not to the help of the lord to the help of the lord against the mighty blessed above women shall the of the be shall she be above women in the tent she put her hand to the nail and her right hand to the workman s hammer and with the hammer she smote she smote off his head when she had pierced and stricken through his temples at her feet he bowed he foil he lay down at her feet he bowed he foil where he bowed there he foil down dead i the mother of looked out at a window aad cried through the why is his chariot so long in coming why the wheels of his her wise ladies answered her yea she returned to herself have they not sped have they not divided the prey to every man a or two to a prey of divers colours a prey of divers colours of needle	41
excluded from the unlimited scope of and of sympathy comprehended in the language and the spirit of the bible how gracious then how wonderful and harmonious is that majestic plan by which one ethereal principle like an electric chain of light and life extends through the very the poetry op life elements of our existence giving music to language elevation to thought vitality to feeling and intensity and power and beauty and happiness to the exercise of every faculty of the human soul the poetry of religion nor are the holy tlie utmost bound of tlie sphere through which poetry extends with that religion which is the essence of the bible it may also be associated the power of human intellect has never yet worked out from the principles of thought and feeling a subject more sublime than that of an being over a universe of his own creating there have been adventurous spirits who have dared to sing the wonders of a world without a god but as a proof how much they felt the want of this higher range of poetical interest they have referred the creation and government of the external world to an ideal spirit of nature a mysterious intelligence single or multiplied smiling in the sunshine and in the storm with the mock majesty of again of our nature the low hopes and fears that the human heart when solely in what is material without connection with or reference to eternal mind as subjects for the genius of the poet are robbed of half their interest and all their refinement but when the feelings which form the sum of our experience are regarded as the impress of the hand of our creator when the motives which lead us on to action are considered as their and strength from power and when e great chain of circumstances and events which influence our lives are linked in with the designs of a providence they assume a character at once poetical and sacred a colouring which the light of heaven with the shades of earth and an importance which raises them from what is ordinary and familiar to what is astonishing and sublime the most serious objection ever advanced against poetry is that of its not necessarily any part of our religion and being in no way essential to our spiritual progress upon precisely the same principles it might be argued that beauty does not necessarily form any part of utility and that happiness is not essential to the moral constitution of man the same answer will apply in both cases and it is one which ought to be sufficient for creatures of limited like ourselves it has seemed meet lo the author of our existence so to our mental and bodily functions that we shall derive pleasure from the principle of beauty diffused throughout the external world and that we shall be on by a perpetual thirst for enjoyment to that which is our only true and lasting happiness as well as so to constitute our and feelings that poetry shall be one of our chief sources of intellectual gratification at the same time that it is intimately blended with the highest objects of our desire so that in the pursuit of ultimate and eternal good we have no need to resign the society of this friend whose companionship is a constant refreshment and delight i would humbly refer both these subjects to the unlimited goodness tf a gracious god if the beauty and magnificence of the visible creation is not essential to practical utility let us look upon it as a free offered for the promotion of our happiness and if poetry does not appear to our views to be in reality a part of religion let us consider how they are associated and gratefully acknowledge their rather than attempt to separate what the principles of our nature teach us to unite we will first speak of the poetry of religion as it is exhibited to the world in some of the various modes of worship which mark the civil and religious history of man under the terrific rule of tyranny and superstition religion has ever been the first to and the last to yield and whether we contemplate the martyr at the stake singing his triumphant hymns amongst the flames or pursue the silent to the secret recesses of the mountain or the wilderness where the bond of christian brotherhood is strengthened and confirmed by the horrors of an impending fate the poetry of which to leave tliat bond alone unbroken of all that have and supported life we see and feel that the might of mortal suffering gives even to the most humble victims of cruelty and oppression a dignity which them to the highest place in the of poetical interest so far as poetry is connected with the exercise of fortitude resignation and ardent zeal it is exhibited by the martyr in its character suffering even to death and such a death yet suffering triumphantly that the glory of may shine with additional brightness before the eyes of men and that may behold the majesty and the power of the faith for which he dies nor has it been always the man of iron mould of nerve and resolve who has died at the stake creatures of delicate and gentle form have been led forth from the hall and the bower and they too have raised the cry of exultation that they were deemed worthy to set the seal of suffering to the cause they loved eyes that have never dwelt save on the fairest page of human life have gleamed out from amidst the lurid flames and looked up in calmness and in confidence to the mercy that lies hid beyond the skies hands whose office had been the constant of tenderness and charity have been clasped in fervent prayer until they mingled with the ashes of the sinking	41
pile brows around the locks of youth were woven have borne the fatal ordeal and betrayed no sign of shrinking from the fiery blast and voices whose sweet tones were once the natural of happiness and love have been ib to herself the writer mast here in of the poetry of religion how forcibly she is with what some would call the of the task she has undertaken because this subject necessarily brings under serious observation the all important for which we ought to be either to live or die as duty may require and before which all considerations even that of poetry itself vanish into she would however hope that her task may be pursued without and that she may point out the poetry of religion with a feeling of its and more essential in the same way that a may upon the architecture of a cathedral without reference to the for which the building was originally and to which it la still appropriated heard above the embers and the shouts of brutal to heaven the pure melodious strains of a joy fresh from the of domestic peace young innocent have been torn to and in the centre of the fire and trembling with the last of mortal agony have borne their testimony to the of their faith the cry of an parent bursting from the surrounding throng may have reached the sufferer in the flames the eye that was once the of his hopes may have glanced upon him through the dense and smoke and thoughts dear as the memory of early love may have rushed upon his soul even there bathing it in the tenderness of childhood and melting down his high resolve which but for that and zeal would yet have sent him forth a worthless wreck upon the troubled ocean of life after the promised haven had been in sight the pilot near and the anchor of eternal hope ready to be cast for ever into the foundation which no storms can shake yet even here his faith remains and he shakes off the lingering weakness of humanity his joyful spirit already the unbounded of its promised felicity let us contemplate the scene one moment longer the excitement has subsided the cry of the merciless spectators is heard no more the smoking pile becomes one universal ruin and the living form so lately quivering with the intensity of quickened and sensation is mingled with the silent dust are there not footsteps lingering near that fatal spot are there not looks too wild for tears still fixed upon the white ashes with which tlie idle breezes are at play are there not hearts whose inmost depths are filled with bitterness and thoughts of vengeance and dreams of daring and fierce bold scrutiny of the ways of providence and questioning if these are the tender of the most high yes such has ever been the effect of persecution upon the mind and never is the so firmly fortified against conviction as when he the wrongs and the wretch the poetry op life which man with a blind and superstitious zeal his brother we turn from this scene of horrors to the aspect presented by religion under a form of persecution or rather under one whose influence is more remote and we follow a httle company cf faithful to their m tne where their is the sky and their altar the rude rocks of the wilderness ij on the summit of a precipice a keeps watch and while he looks to the sombre woods the hollow or the dim and distant heights if he may discern the movements of an enemy hymns of praise and adoration are heard from the congregation in the valley as echoing from to the deep full of devotion rises on the evening breeze then the devout and prayer is up that the true shepherd will to look down upon and visit the scattered remnant of his flock that his voice may yet call them into safe pastures and that he will pour out the waters of eternal life for the support of the feeble the refreshment of the weary and the consolation of the sore distressed it is in such scenes and circumstances that the followers of a persecuted faith become indeed brethren in the fellowship of christ in a common cause the same danger and led on by one purpose the vital bond of the society extends and lives through all its members discord enters not their communion for the world is against them and they can stand imder its cruelty and oppression by no other compact than that of christian love jealousy not its into their hearts for they are hoping to attain a felicity in which all are ambition not the seeds of selfishness amongst them for their reward is one that admits of no of which all may partake without the portion of any and this pure and simple worship how sacred how fervent is the farewell of the brethren on separating for their distant home some have to trace the sands of the sea beaten shore some the lonely sheep track on the mountains and some the hollow bed of the wintry torrent whose thundering waters have worked out themselves a rugged pathway down the hills but all are accompanied by the same deep sense of danger and internal peace all have the same bright to light them on their silent way and the same spiritual help to support their weary steps they know not but the homes they are seeking may have become a heap of ruins but they have learned to look for an everlasting habitation where the may not come they know not but the sword of persecution may have severed the chain of their domestic but they feel that every link of that chain can be in a world of peace they know not but the of destruction may have fallen	41
upon all that and cheered their earthly path but they are to a better land and they have only to press onward in the simplicity of humble christians and the gates of the celestial city will soon be won religion with the world s contempt and hunted from the earth by the powerful of public authority is ever the religion of the heart and the were it otherwise it could not stand its ground but dignity and disgrace and even life and death become as nothing in comparison with that righteous cause which men feel themselves called upon faithfully to before a people for the glory of god and the benefit of their fellow creatures if it be a test of the love which a man bears for his brother that he will lay down his life for him the test of must also apply to his and pure and devoted must be the love of him who holds himself at all times in a state of readiness to lay down the last and dearest sacrifice upon the altar of his faith yes that must be love indeed which all earthly and natural which the mother from her weeping child the husband from his wife of yesterday the friends who had been wont to take sweet counsel together and last but not least which tears away the fond thoughts of promised happiness from the heart around which they cling when it beats with the of youth the poetry op religion fill hope and in the anticipated sunshine of bright days to come in which the lovely and the loved may dwell together in peace and safety even upon earth it is not a light or love that can thus the strongest ties of life and the soul not only to endure all that our nature from but to resign all that our nature teaches us to hold dear from the worship of e heart we turn to that of the from religion robbed of its external attributes restrained and per and driven inward to the centre of and sealed up in the fountains of spiritual life to that which powerful nations combine to support before which bow and which supreme above the sends forth its awful and imperious through distant regions of the peopled world we enter the magnificent and stately edifice consecrated to the worship of a no longer partially acknowledged or at the risk of life and we mark the pomp and the designed to that worship to the general acceptance of mankind through the richly windows bright beams of golden splendor are glancing on the marble floor and lighting up the of departed worth deeds of heroic virtue long since but for that faithful record are dimly out upon the and the forms that bend in silent beauty over the unbroken of the dead point with an awful warning to the inevitable doom of man above around and beneath us are the pages on which human labour has inscribed the memorial of its power the raised by art against the of time the upon stone which the intellectual progress of past ages we gaze up i on the aisle with alternate and shadow where the stately i columns in the solemn arch rise hke tall palm trees in the desert plain i whose graceful branches meet in stately grandeur above the head of the i r while he pauses to bless their come shade and thinks how lovely are the green spots of in the wilderness the fertile islands that a waste and t troubled sea we listen and the measured tread of sober feet is the only sound that the silence of that sacred place we listen till the beating of our own hearts becomes audible and we almost fear that a stir a should break the of the dead we listen and suddenly the tremendous peal of the deep toned organ bursts upon our ear and sweet yoimg voices like a of pure spirits join the heavenly as it rises in a louder strain of harmony and echoes though every arch of the pile the ceases and the of prayer from a thousand hearts as formed as the lips from whence that prayer proceeds yet all in the worship of one god all acknowledging his right to reign and rule with sway perhaps it is the hour of evening worship and instead of the bright glancing through the many tinted windows and penetrating into the distant recesses of the cathedral pile artificial lights of inferior lustre gleam out here and there like stars in the midnight sky making the intervening darkness more palpable and profound it is the hour when every soft and solemn influence is poured most upon the prostrate soul when the sordid and cares of the day are over and religion like an angel of peace upon the troubled spirit that knows no other resting place than her ho other shelter than her brooding wing it is the hour when all our warmest purest and forth like of sweetness and refreshment watering the of the path of life and producing fresh loveliness and renewed delight it is the hour when prayer is the natural language of the devoted soul and here the humble penitent is kneeling to the pardon promised to the broken and heart there the parent devoutly asks a blessing upon his family and his household upon the wife of his bosom and the children of his love here the poor his pale brow before the eye of heaven and stands without a blush in that presence to which wealth is no and from which poverty no plea for there the rich of law humbly the poetry op life i his knee and that without the sanction of divine authority the judgment of man must be vain and his sentence void here the miserable outcast from society	41
unnoticed along the silent aisle and bending beneath the shadow of a marble column her hollow cheek with tears whose sincerity is here there the gaily admired and cherished idol of the same society folds her white hands upon her bosom and feels the deep aching void which religion alone is i sufficient to supply here the rosy lips of infancy the words of prayer more felt than comprehended amidst the awful grandeur of that solemn scene and there the wrinkled brow of age is illuminated with the brightness of anticipated joy while feeble accents broken by the of infirmity and pain tell of the gladness of life it is this variety of sight and sound mingled together into one scene and united in the same holy purpose which a harmony so true to the principles of human nature as well as to the character and attributes of the divine being and the relation between him and his lowly and creatures that we cannot contemplate such worship without to partake in its reality we cannot feel its reality t being raised higher in the scale of spiritual enjoyment if retiring from this scene we follow the penitent to his secret cell we behold him his bleeding limbs and out what he believes to be the demon of his natural heart or we watch him through the tedious hours of solitary musing when the sun is shining upon the walls of his upon the green valley where it stands and upon the glancing waters of a river whose pure fresh streams glide on with a perpetual melody through woods and groves the beauty of whose look like the chosen walks of wandering angels the bright sun is shining upon a scene the pale sits brooding over the of his youth and counting a never varying circle of dull beads or stooping his cold forehead to the stony floor he every avenue of rational enjoyment and believing this of bis nature is the sacrifice his god requires himself to the same the same penance and the same through all the long years of his life it is not most assuredly to the nature of such worship that we would accord the of poetical merit but to the earnestness the sincerity the total of heart which its display and which might sometimes bring a blush of shame upon the less devoted followers of a more enlightened faith nor is the simplicity of a less form of worship inferior in its accordance with the true spirit of poetry there is not much to fix the gaze of the in the quiet congregation of a village church or in the little band of lowly who bend the knee within the walls of the and listen to the impassioned eloquence bursting in from the lips of the humble the whose reward is not the of sordid gain but the soul consciousness of walking in the ways of truth and yielding the tribute of obedience where simply to obey is to enjoy there is not much to interest the mere spectator in a scene but there is much to cheer spirit of the in the contemplation of the earnest zeal the strict integrity and the which this to what conscience points out as a better way than that established by former ages supported by national authority and in by thousands from a blind partiality for old customs and familiar forms far be it from the writer of these pages to draw between one creed and another or to join the public voice which makes destruction rather than the object of its tumultuous whatever is the subject of popular belief or the common ground on which mankind their energies and hopes it the proper exercise of moral feeling when those who from such belief have the courage and integrity to that in the face of a the poetry op when those who depart from such ground do bo in christian love and charity and with full purpose of heart it ia when entertaining these views of that we behold with peculiar interest a congregation of and even if we cannot join in the peculiar form of their duties we can at least rejoice that there are independent minds ready to shake off the bonds of established opinion and freely and folly to acknowledge whatever they to be the truth making the testimony of their own faith supreme above the authorities of this world and preferring the service of god before the gracious countenance of men there are cases too when this system of worship comes home to the affections of the people for by the established religion of the land there are obscure and isolated beings dwelling in remote or peopled districts by the sound of the sabbath bell is seldom heard and to whom the welcome of a christian would scarcely be known but for the pilgrim preacher who not only into the solitary cottage of the on the mountain but into the lowest of savage life where instead of the simplicity of innocence he finds the of rustic vice nor must we judge of the announcement of a village prayer meeting or the appearance of an preacher by what we ourselves should feel if compelled to listen to his wild eloquence stirring up the mind to enthusiasm if not to pure devotion we must picture poor and destitute old man and helpless with pain and trembling on the brink of the grave weary of life yet the darkness and the uncertainty of death his anguish never soothed by the voice of kindness nor his heart enlightened by the words of comfort or instruction we must picture him day after day and night after night the sleepless restless victim of and without a thought beyond the narrow bounds of his miserable or a feeling separate from the pangs that torture his frame to such an one perhaps the wandering minister the sanguine hope that	41
his own soul when suddenly the couch of suffering is converted into one of triumph he who cannot read can fed the words of life and he his trembling hands in full assurance of an immortality from whose inexhaustible happiness the poor the despised and the are not shut out or we turn to the cottage of the lonely widow who has lost the sole of her declining years whose children are distant or dead who sit from mom till night in the silence of her desolate home pursuing the same monotonous range of limited and painful thought alternately from her narrow upon the wide bare surface of the distant or back again to the white ashes that lie upon her silent hearth it is to such a being and there are many whose existence is a little more by mental or spiritual excitement that the social prayer meeting becomes an object of intense and enjoyment the communion of fellow christians a living and lasting consolation and the record of divine truth the source of vital interest and delight there are in the darkest and most degraded walks of life coarse blind of mere animal gratification from the pale of intellectual as well as moral fellowship gross bodily creatures who sink the character of man beneath the level of the brute men whose haunts are the of guilt and shame whose feelings are with the brand of public and whose souls are with the of lawless thoughts and purposes and passions by such men the paths that lead to the house of prayer are more despised than the gates of hell and rather than seek the pardon of an offended god they y defy his power but at the same time that they are of their and making an open parade of the of their souls the worm that not has begun its irresistible operation upon their hearts and the darkness and horror which surrounded them in their solitary hours assume a gloom they hear of religion and tliey hate the name but with their hate is mingled a secret trust in the poetry of life its to remove the intolerable burden under which they groan they to join the congregation of openly though but to hear the nature of religion explained but without themselves they can go forth into the open fields to listen to and mock the less pouring his eloquence upon the wondering ears of thousands who would not have listened to his voice elsewhere and such are the means by which the hardened sinner is not awakened from his gross and brutal sleep the from the society drawn back within the wholesome of a decent life and the from the dangerous error of his ways nor let the more enlightened christian despise such humble means whose chief merit is their extent added to their to extreme cases and whose proved by the observation o every day is a warrant for their with the too frequent abuse of these means poetry holds no connection but it is their least recommendation to say that poetry is intimately associated with their power to awaken the energies of the mind to penetrate the heart and mingle with the affections and to let in the glorious l of immortality upon the soul of all the public of our religion that which one day in seven for a season of rest is perhaps the most productive of poetical association and as such has ever been a favourite theme with the imaginative bard in a world such as we and with a bodily and mental like ours it is natural that rest should become especially in advanced age the object of our continual desire and that regarding it as it appears to us in the midst of the cares and of ordinary life we should learn to speak of it as our chief good although it is probable that in a purer sphere and endowed with powers of action and perception we should find that constant activity was more productive of enjoyment even here the word rest is one of comparative for those who have an opportunity of making the experiment more weary of continued repose than of continued exertion still the of the heart is ever some portion of natural and necessary rest and the sabbath where it is regarded with right feelings affords a beautiful and perfect of the provision made by our heavenly father to meet the wants and the wishes of humanity those pitiable beings whose mental existence is supported by a perpetual succession of are wholly incapable of what the sabbath is to the the or even to the man of business whose heart is with his while his head and hands are occupied in the daily traffic of affairs to such a man the sabbath is indeed a day of refreshment as well as rest a day in which he can listen to the of his almost unknown children and look into their opening minds and cultivate a short alas too short acquaintance with the sources of domestic happiness it is a day on which he can enter into the free of his own fireside and feeling that he has a possession in the esteem and the approbation of those around him in the moral rights of man in the institutions of religion and in the of an immortal creature he to a higher and more intellectual state of being than that absorbed in the continual pursuit of wealth if then he loves the sabbath it is not merely because it him from the necessity of laborious exertion but because it makes him a wiser and a better man the has the same reason and the same right to welcome this day indeed it seems to be the peculiar privilege of those who spend their intervening hours in toil and trouble to appreciate the of the sabbath so far as it affords	41
looks of health and happiness a respect for the sabbath and a in its universal calm it is after the contemplation of scenes like these that we return to our homes more happy in the thought that the young have serious moments the widely separated their time of meeting the ignorant their seasons of instruction the old their consolation and the weary their day of rest it is not however to the public offices of religion that its poetical interest is confined if we look into the private walks of life we behold this powerful principle working the most important in the moral character of man if into the midst of families we find it or the links of natural giving solemnity to the sad parting over the glad meeting long separation a holy joy reverence to the attributes of age purity and happiness to the cheerful smiles of childhood and with its influence over all the offices of duty and charity and love or if we look into the human heart it is here that religion is seen the fiery passions of youth the stubborn will down the of nature and mingling with the springs of earthly feeling the pure inexhaustible waters of eternal life how would the fond mother endure with fortitude the sad farewell that the son of her hopes from the genial atmosphere of domestic peace if she did not in her heart him to the more care of his heavenly father or how would she send him forth alone to trace his distant and pathway through the wilderness of life but for her faith in the guiding hand which she to direct him through its manifold temptations to lead him safely through its dangers and bring him back to her yearning bosom from he it is the internal support derived religion that nerves her for the trial and her to the hours of and care when she may look in vain for tidings from the wanderer and calculate with fruitless anticipation upon the hour of his return it is the same feeling of religion not excited to enthusiasm that tears away tiie youthful from all the joys of nature and the of domestic love clothing her fair forehead in the mournful of gloom and the young cheek from which the last rose has faded with the pall of a premature and living death it is religion too that upon the soul of the student and him him away from the haunts of mirth from the excitement of the flowing bowl and from the ambition of the sordid or the gay to devote the highest powers and energies of his mind to the of his fellow creatures and the spring time of his existence to the service of his it is this support which keeps alive the hope of the heart stricken wife as she her husband through the dark of his sinful course him back with her gentleness to the comforts of his home watching over him in his moments with the of christian consolation ever ready for his hour of need and with incessant prayers that a stronger arm than hers may be stretched out to arrest the progress of his steps without this active and living principle upon the various dispositions of mankind we should never witness those instances of self denial in the cause of virtue which afford the strongest evidence of the all of religion how for instance would the compassionate maiden find strength to reject her worthless because the stain of guilt was upon his brow and because his spirit refused to bow down and worship at the altar of her god if the claims of duty were not to those of affection and yet such things have been and warm young hearts whose of happiness were rent asunder by the fierce ana fiery trial have chosen for themselves a solitary lot separate and distinct from the sphere of their long cherished and have dwelt in peace and the guiding influence of the one divine light by which all others whence they had ever derived hope or gladness were extinguished yes and the man of strong affections downward tendency in the career of occupation had reduced a tender wife and helpless children to the last extreme of poverty and wretchedness has been visited powerful temptation in his hour of weakness his of t and wrong were so confused with bodily and mental that the of moral good seemed to be yielding to the of evil when the wants of his starving family were bursting fi in audible and heart appeals for which he had no answer when the shadows of despair fell around him and misery his cold hearth and he too has stood his ground strong in the confidence that real good or lasting happiness never yet was purchased by the sacrifice of but if we measure the strength of the principle by the weakness of the agent it we would point out above all other instances of its power that in which a child looks boldly in the face of and daring the judgment which must inevitably follow openly and i freely the sometimes a single falsehood or a mere would save the little from the pain of public from the fury of a tyrant master and from the punishment that even in anticipation the warm current of his youthful blood and sends a shivering thrill through every nerve and fibre of his trembling frame but he has been instructed by parents whose word he cannot doubt to believe that there is a good and gracious god looking down upon the children of earth caring for their listening to their prayers teaching them his holy law and encouraging them to regard the performance of it above all the afforded by the world and knowing that a strict to the truth is one of the essential points of that law the penitent	41
child even with the tears of anguish on his cheek the decisive word of truth which his sentence upon earth the word which rejoicing angels bear to the courts of heaven as the richest tribute humanity can lay before the throne of its creator these are but single instances chosen out from a mass of evidence clearly proving that religion in its influence upon the affections in its intimate with those important scenes and circumstances of life from which we derive the greatest pain or pleasure in short in its supreme dominion over the human heart is above all other subjects that which possesses the highest claim to the regard of ths poet not only as being most productive of gratification but most worthy of him who to the right exercise of the attributes of mind a superficial view of religion may lead to the popular and vulgar notion that its practical duties are with true refinement of feeling and elevation of thought but is not that the most genuine refinement which into the distant relations of things and by mental association the visible and material tlie familiar or the gross with powerful impressions of moral excellence and beauty and happiness i is not that the most elevated range of thought which the practical and affairs of men with the eternal p upon which the world is established and governed we know of nothing that can so fully and beautifully adorn the ordinary path of life as religion because it a spiritual essence to all our customary actions and pursuits in which the slightest portion of good and evil is involved we can imagine nothing to exceed in tenderness the merciful dealing of our heavenly father with his and rebellious creatures and as there is nothing to equal the perfection of the divine character so there is no to that of his nature nor is this all we have said that poetry must come home to our own in order to be truly felt and religion teaches us that we have a portion in everlasting life an inheritance in eternity that the hopes and the fears which our actions the powers and the energies with which we are endowed arc not merely given us for the brief purposes of to play their little part upon this stage to frail creatures that must perish in the tomb but as links woven in with the great chain of being to be unfolded in a sphere without in a world without end we would not the and the fulness of the benefits of religion by saying that the poet has a in their delights beyond that enjoyed by others because we reverently believe the nature of religion to be such as to it to every understanding render it available in every condition of humanity and and to every heart but we have no hesitation in it impossible for the poet to reach the same intellectual without the aid of religion as when he on angels wings up to the gates of heaven to touch the strings of human feeling so powerfully as when his hand is bathed in the pure fountains of eternal truth how for instance would he upon beauty or excellence if they had no in heaven how would he describe die which tear up the root of do peace and tlie tortured bosom if neither prayer nor appeal were wrung out by such wretchedness and directed to a power by whom the calamity might be averted how would he the vow or seal the blessing or the curse without the sanction of divine authority or how might his soul to the sublime without its wings in the regions of eternity no there is nothing which the poet need reject in the religion of the bible or the religion of the heart but rather let him seek its and inspiring influence as a light to his genius a to his imagination a guide to his taste a fire to his an to his power and a thrown open to his enjoyment impression hitherto we have bestowed our attention upon what essentially belongs to poetry as a medium for receiving and the highest intellectual enjoyment we now come to the for poetry the characteristics of the poet all persons of cultivated understanding endowed with an ordinary share of sensibility are more or less capable of feeling what is poetical but that all even amongst those who attempt it are not equal to poetry is owing to their deficiency in some or all of the following capacity of receiving deep impressions imagination power and taste these we shall now consider separately beginning with the first which for want of a term i have called impression we have already seen how poetry its existence from the association of ideas as well as how such associations must arise out of impressions and it follows as a natural consequence that if this be necessary to enable a man to feel poetry a is still more so to him for writing it impressions are in fact the secret fund from whence the poet his most brilliant thoughts the with which he works the colouring in which he his pencil when he the inexhaustible fountain to which he applies for the of nature and e force of truth we have before observed that it is im impression to trace a great pro of our associations to their original source because we cannot recall the impressions made upon our mind in infancy but we know that in that early stage of life when we were most alive to sensation all the impressions which we did receive must have been connected with pain or pleasure and that hence arise preference and hope and fear love and hatred we have the authority of dr johnson a well as that of our own observation for asserting that children	41
and absurd pleasing and terrible to introduce into the mind before the mind is prepared for receiving it and hence follow the unworthy the language and the low attributes by which the majesty of the divine being s too frequently insulted if we might so speak without presumption we should say that god jealous of his own honour had chosen in this instance sometimes to the ingenuity of man by first throwing open to the human mind the contemplation of his attributes and then by his own appointed means inscrutable to our them all in one sublime and thought which flashes through the brain hke a fire and bursts upon the soul with the light of life i would still be understood to speak i know that there are modes of reasoning by which men of sound understanding must almost necessarily arrive at a in the existence of a god but rational evidence and the evidence of sensation are two things we assent to facts of which we do not feel the truth and it is this feeling as it gives vitality to belief that i would call the impression from which we derive the most lasting and distinct idea of a god yet at the same time that i speak of such impressions as evidence which the divine being to give us of his own existence i speak of them only as evidence following that of reason and of no sort of value where they directly contradict it separate from the mental process by which the idea is first conceived this evidence rather to the state of the mind as a and such impressions as are here spoken of may therefore exist independent of rational conviction without such conviction however they are liable to lead to the most and fatal errors but with it they establish truth and render it it is of much less importance to the poet than to the philosopher whether of this abstract nature arise out the immediate operation of divine power or from a combination of conclusions previously drawn which the mind is able to make use of without being aware of their existing in any rational or definite form and which we can never fully understand unless the study of the human mind should be reduced to a practical science the poet l impression may use expressions which accord with the former notion just as he would describe the hand of covering the mountains with eternal snow but let us hope that he is wise enough seriously to entertain the latter and if sometimes he makes a sudden transition from effects to causes without regarding the space let us do him the justice to believe that it is from the very of his own genius which not to take of but rather in searching out the principles of sensation thought and action at once into the fountain of life and immediately to the great first cause thus the full and entire conviction of the being of a god may come upon us precisely as god pleases and force itself upon our hearts in the way which he sees meet to is said to have received this impression from unexpectedly meeting in his solitary walks with a human skeleton and just as easily may the be from his ignorance by any other means adapted to the peculiar tone and temper of his own mind by the of a hymn or the of rolling thunder by the prayer of an innocent child or the destruction of a powerful nation by the gathering of the harvest or the desolation of the burning desert by the faded beauty of a falling leaf or the splendour of the heavens by the secret anguish of the broken spirit or by accumulated honours and enjoyment by the blessings of the poor or the of the powerful by the of divine love or by the terrors of eternal judgment in short by the natural sensations of pain or pleasure arising from any of the causes immediate or remote by which the attributes of deity may be forced upon the of the soul and concentrated in the idea of one and being subsequent to the idea of a god arise distinct of moral of what we owe to him as the creator and of the world as well as the founder of the laws by which our lives ought to be regulated we have before observed that immediate self gratification is the motive upon which we act but we now become sensible that this motive must give place to others of a more remote and abstract nature with the first impressions of pain and pleasure we learned to separate evil from good we now that there is a deeper evil to which pleasure is frequently the and a higher good which can sometimes only be attained by passing through a medium of pain our first strong impressions of a moral nature are of beauty and excellence we should call beauty merely physical did it not comprehend what belongs to fitness and harmony as well as to colour and form in all that is exquisite in art we are struck with the idea of beauty in with others as with all that is magnificent in nature we combine with the same idea those of motion or sound form or colour or shade splendour or majesty or power but we are perhaps never more impressed with mere beauty than when contemplating a gorgeous in its colour as the heavens pure in its whiteness as the winter s snow the eye that can gaze without admiration upon a flower deserves to be dim for what is there on earth more intensely beautiful and yet how frail so that scarcely does the breath of praise pass over it than its begin to and its stem that once stood proudly in the field or the garden beneath	41
the fading glory which it bears yet the same flower supported by the hand of nature and sheltered beneath her maternal wing burst forth in the wilderness where we are too delicate to tread opened its gentle eye full underneath the from which we turn away rested on the thorns which us at every step poured forth its upon the blast ti om which we shrink drank in the which chill our natures endured the darkness of the solitary night from which we fly with terror and derived its nourishment from the common earth which we until we learn to value the latest friend whose arms are open to receive us excellence uke beauty is of kinds so various and degrees so numerous that it is only by a combination of impressions that we arrive at the idea of excellence in its abstract nature but when once formed it the poetry of life the point of reference and the of all that we admire and love and therefore it is of the utmost importance to the poet that his standard of excellence should not only be acknowledged as such by the enlightened portion of mankind but that it should be as high as the human mind can reach and at the same time so deeply upon his own heart that neither ambition hope nor fear nor any other passion or affection to which he is liable can the impression or it by another all our ideas of intellectual as weu as moral good are of a complex nature arising not bo much out of impressions made by things themselves as by their relations associations and general fitness or one to another hence it follows that the mind must be naturally qualified for receiving decided impressions of simple ideas so as afterwards to make use of them in drawing clear by comparing them one with another and them together how for instance would the poet describe the general influence of evening twilight if he had never really felt its power as it extends over the external world and reaches even to the heart or how would he be able to convey a clear idea of the virtue of gratitude if he had never known the of generous feeling the ardent hope of happiness and the disappointment of finding that happiness or received with contempt that there are men of common who travel from dan to saying that all is barren and that there are men of more than ordinary talent who deficient neither in imagination power nor taste are yet unable to write poetry is evidently owing to their want of for receiving lively impressions for wherever such impressions exist with sufficient imagination to arrange and combine them so as to create fresh images with power to them in forcible words and taste to render those words appropriate and pure either poetry itself or highly poetical prose must be the natural language of such a mind we should say that opportunity for agreeable impressions as well as for receiving them deeply was essential to the poet were it possible that any human being even of understanding commanding the use of language and acquainted the principles of taste should have been so entirely excluded from all contemplation of what is admirable both in the external world and in hum m nature as to have conceived no idea either of physical or moral beauty it is however of immense importance to the poet that he should have formed an and intimate acquaintance with subjects regarded as poetical by the unanimous opinion of mankind that he should have gazed upon the sunset until his very soul was in the blaze of its golden glory that he should have lived in the quiet smile of the placid moon and looked up to the stars of night until he forgot hid own identity and became like a world of light amongst the shining host that he should have watched the silvery flow of murmuring water until his anxious thoughts of present things were to rest and the tide of memory rolled on pure and clear and harmonious as the stream that he should have listened to the glad voices of the birds of spring until his own was mingled with the universal melody of nature and strains of gratitude and joy burst forth from his overflowing heart that he should have seen the woods in their summer of varied green and felt how beautiful is the garment of that he should have found the nest of the timid bird and observed how tender its love and how wonderful is the instinct with which the creatures are endowed that he should have stood by the wave beaten shore when a with full sails swept along the foaming tide and impressed upon the of his heart a perfect picture of majesty and grace that he should have witnessed the tear of agony exchanged for the smile of hope and acknowledged acknowledged how blessed are the tender offices of mercy that he should have heard the cry of ite oppressed and seen the breaking of their chains with the inmost of his heart s best feelings thrilling at the shout of liberty that he should have trembled beneath the storm and hailed the opening in the which the mild radiance of returning peace looked down that ho should have bent over the infant until hie imagination wandered from the innocence of earth to the purity of heaven that he i should have contemplated female beauty in j its loveliest form and then by a slight transition passed in amongst the an choir and his harp to its praise where beauty is the least of the attributes of excellence in fine that he should have bathed in the of nature and tasted of the springs of feeling at their different sources choosing out the sweetest the	41
purest and the most e delight of mankind and the perpetual refreshment of his own soul as in society it is impossible to know whether any particular language has been learned until we hear it spoken so it would be difficult to single out individual instances of the existence or the of deep impressions because a mind may be fully endowed with this first principle of poetry and yet without the proper for making il perceptible to others we may consequently never be of the presence of such a even where it does exist it will however eminently the possessor for feeling and admiring poetry and thus it hi but fair to suppose that there are many individuals in the multitude who possess this faculty in the same degree as the most celebrated poet but who for want of some or all of the three remaining have never been able to bring their faculty to light where amongst the four for writing poetry this is wanting however highly cultivated the mind of the writer may be and however mature his judgment this single deficiency will have the effect of rendering his poetry monotonous and even where it is speaking from faults because it is impossible that he should be able to convey to others clear or forcible ideas of what he has never felt clearly or forcibly himself dr johnson was a poet of this description and on the other hand instead of pointing out instances we have no hesitation ih asserting that every man who has written powerfully and with good taste has been possessed in an eminent degree of the of receiving and remembering impressions imagination imagination is the next essential in the poetic art as a imagination is called because it forms new images out of materials with which impression has stored the mind and such images to an endless variety by from them some of their qualities and adding others of a different nature but that imagination does not actually create original and simple ideas is clear from the fact that no man by the utmost stretch of his rational faculties by intense thought or by study can imagine a new sense a new passion or a new creature imagination therefore holds the same relation to impression as the finished picture does to the separate colours with which the artist works blended these colours produce all the different forms and tints in the visible world and by arranging and ideas previously impressed upon the mind and out such into distinct characters imagination produces all the splendid by which the poet delights and mankind when he describes an object new to his readers it is seldom new to himself or if new as a whole it is familiar in its separate parts if for instance he sings the praises of maternal love he to the memory of his own mother and the strong impression upon his mind by her solicitude and watchful care if the song of the he the long summer nights ere forgetfulness had become a blessing when to listen was more happy than to sleep if the northern wind he hears again the hollow roar amongst the boughs that was wont to draw in the domestic circle around his father s hearth if the music of the winding stream he knows its liquid voice by the in which he bathed his infant if the tender offices of friendship he has enjoyed them too to their influence upon the or if the of the broken heart who has not the of sorrow written even on the earliest page of life these are instances in which the poet draws immediately from experience and where his task is only to to others the impression made upon his own mind but there are other cases where the idea conveyed is derived from a combination of impressions and this is more exclusively the work of imagination the poet who has never seen a lion may use the image of one in his verses with almost as much precision as the poet who has because he knows that its attributes are courage ferocity and power and he has been impressed with ideas of these attributes in other objects he knows that its roar is loud and deep and terrific and he has distinct impressions of the meaning of these words also its colour form and general habits he becomes acquainted with by the same means and thus he makes bold to use the name and the character of the lion to ornament his verse in the same manner he describes the sandy desert and with yet greater precision because he has only to add to the sands of the sea shore with which he is perfectly familiar the two qualities of extent and burning heat and he sees before him at once the wide and of solitude or if the human countenance be the subject of his muse and he to invent one that be new to himself as well as to his readers it is by different features from faces which have left their impress on his mind and upon the same principle he proceeds through all that mental process which is called creating images and which gives to the works of the highly imaginative the character of originality because from the wide scope and variety of their impressions they are able to select such materials that when combined we only see them as a whole without being aware of any previous acquaintance with their particular parts where distinct impressions power and taste are present in full force and imagination alone out of the four is wanting we speak of the poet as one who from the thoughts of others or one whose images are ordinary and common place to interest the reader because either limited by the nature of his own mind to a narrow range of ideas or indolent in the search of	41
materials necessary for his work he has laid hold of such as fell most readily within his grasp and these being few and familiar and arranged we recognise at once the gross elements of the compound and see from whence they have been obtained deficiency of imagination is the reason why some who would otherwise have been our best poets are it is they may be so from partiality almost to affection for some peculiar character or style of writing but that they are blindly to this fault is more frequently owing to their want of to conceive any other mode of conveying their ideas lord was unquestionably a writer of the former class from the variety of style the splendour of his and the brilliant thoughts that burst upon us as we read his charmed lines it is to believe that his imagination was incapable of any scope of any height or any depth to which it might be directed by inclination but in the characters he he may justly be called a because he evidently preferred the uniformly dark and melancholy and chose out from the varied impressions of his own life that sombre hue so deeply with majesty and which he spread over every object in nature like the lowering thunder clouds above the landscape varying at times the wide waste of brooding darkness with but brilliant flashes of sensibility and wit and lively feeling like the lurid streaks that shoot the sky lighting up the world for one brief moment with brightness and then leaving it to deeper more impenetrable night as instances of arising n the actual want of imagination we might bring forward a long list of minor poets as well as inferior writers of every description without however descending so low as to those who have not of mind sufficient for maintaining any particular imagination s of t or style of composition yet of imagination as weu as impression we are unable to say decidedly that it does not exist because like impression it only becomes perceptible to us through the medium of words and as all individuals are not able to use this medium with force and we lose many of the brilliant of those us we may however assert as an fact that poetry of the highest order was never yet produced without the powerful exercise of the faculty of imagination as a wonderful instance of the force and of imagination as well as of impression power and taste we might single mt milton were it not that power is more essentially the characteristic of his he has equals in the other of a poet while in power he stands but supreme in the region of imagination is our shakespeare and that he is is perhaps the greatest proof of the perfection of his imaginative powers the heroes of have been multiplied through so many copies that we have grown weary of the original but who can imitate the characters of shakespeare and yet bow perfectly human is every individual of the multitude which he has placed before so human as to be liked and disliked according to the peculiar cast of mind in the persons who pronounce upon them just in the same manner as characters in ordinary life attract or t with whom they come in contact every one forms the same opinion of the because he has a few qualities by which he is known and copied while no two individuals agree upon the character of hamlet a character of all others perhaps least capable of yet let us ask is hamlet less natural than the reverse if ever the poet s mind conceived a perfectly man it is hamlet in whose mysterious nature is displayed the most astonishing effort of imagination and yet so true is the picture to the principles of human nature that we perceive at once the representation of a creature formed after the of ourselves the fact is that though as a whole it stands alone even in the world of fiction in all its parts it consists of the ordinary and familiar features of humanity and in thinking of this and us b ing whose accumulated wrongs and miseries have almost his energies whose melancholy natural or induced has converted the brave o into a congregation of we feel with him in all his weakness as with a man and for him with all his faults as for a brother in memory too how distinct is hamlet from all the of inferior minds he seems to occupy a place in history rather than in fiction and in searching out the principles of human feeling we refer to him as to one whose existence was real rather than ideal this may be said of all shakespeare s characters and so powerful is the evidence of truth impressed upon them that where he chooses to depart from our to him in preference to less imaginative perhaps the most remarkable fact in connection with the genius of this wonderful writer is the immense variety of his characters in almost all other writings we recognize the same hero appearing in different forms sometimes seated on an throne and sometimes over the rude of an indian while the same heroine figures in the stole of a or in the borrowed o of a s bride but the people of shakespeare amongst whom we seem to live are in no way to situation or costume for appearing to be what they really are they have an actual identity an individuality that would be distinctly perceptible in any other circumstances or under any other disguise one of the favorite painters of our day or rather of yesterday has but three which serve all his purposes an man with white hair and flowing beard a female and a semi roman hero and in the same way many of our writers make of three or more	41
distinctions of a hero and a heroine a secondary hero to their loves a secondary heroine to assist either one party or the other to play at cross purposes with her mistress or her friend and a fool or the poetry op ufe who least of all to rush n the stage when more important personages are likely to be reduced to a but in shakespeare even the fools are as as the garb they wear and the women who with other writers vary only from the tender to the heroic are of all ages and of all distinctions of character and feeling while amongst the immense number of men whom he to our acquaintance there is no single instance of greater resemblance than we find in real life perhaps the nearest approach to is in the of of the peace or country a class of people with whom if ancient tales say true it is probable the poet may have been brought into no very pleasing kind of contact and hence arises the vein of satire which flows through every description of their conduct and conversation beyond this there is another striking proof of the wonderful extent of shakespeare s imaginative powers throughout the whole of his plays we never recognize the man himself in the works of almost every other writer the author appears before us and we become in some measure acquainted with his peculiar tone of mind and individual cast of character but shakespeare is equally at home with the gloomy or the gay the or the devout the sublime or the familiar the terrific or the lovely we never detect him ring himself either with the characters or the sentiments of others and though we wonder and upon the mind that could thus play with all the feelings of humanity shakespeare himself remains invisible and unknown like a master the machinery at the same time his own person and the world the tempest is generally considered the most imaginative of shakespeare s plays and certainly it contains little in scenery or circumstance that can be associated with ordinary life in the character of we are forcibly struck with the originality of the conception because it what is not to be found elsewhere the of a with the dignity of a man of honour and integrity and when he lays down his magic the spell and the mantle of enchantment he stands before us not and powerless but full of the native majesty of a nobleman and a prince to his daughter the pure and spiritual one of our most yet most feminine writers has so lately done perhaps more than justice that nothing can be added to her own exquisitely poetical description of the island who has sprung up into beauty beneath the eye of her father the her companions the rocks and woods the many many tinted clouds and the silent stars her the ocean that stoop their and run rippling to kiss her feet of the delicate arid that most ethereal essence that ever assumed the form of beauty in the glowing visions of imagination what can we say so entirely and purely spiritual is this being that we know not whether to speak of him as calling up spirits from the deep rolling the thunder clouds along the stormy heavens the helpless in the foaming and dashing their goodly bark upon the echoing rocks or if her gentle willing and obedient hastening on ready service at a moment s bidding and asking for the love as well as the approbation of the island lord we know of nothing within the range of ordinary thought from which the character of can be borrowed and certainly it is the nearest in approach to a perfectly original conception of any which in our literature the page of fiction of too monstrous for a for a beast it may also be said that he is entirely the creature of imagination and indeed throughout the whole of this astonishing drama the mind of the author seems to have taken the possible range of which human genius is capable the very existence of these beings upon a solitary island isolated and shut out from human fellowship in as strange as to ordinary powers the usual course of thought and action and renders it infinitely more to mrs imagination w our prejudices that in such a situation with the and the quick of the universe should hold his how beautiful amidst all the complicated machinery of her father s magic is the delicate simplicity of she wonders not at the around her because her trust and her love are in her father and she believes him to have power to as well as to enforce the spell yet why he should exercise this power for any other than humane and gracious purposes she is at a loss to conceive and therefore she to call his attention to the wreck of a brave which she has first seen dashed amongst the rocks and then she adds had i been any god of power i would i hare the sea within the earth or e er it the good ship hare d and the within her finding the natural disposition to wonder and inquire just dawning in her mind thinks it time to explain the mystery of their situation and then follows that and beautiful description of their former life their wrongs and sufferings which occasionally interrupted by the jealousy of the lest the of his child should wander and by her simple of wonder and concern is for its imaginative charm and for its accordance with the principles of nature for instance when is questioned by her father whether she can remember a time before she came into that cell and whether she can recall such by any other house or person or image she i a off and rather like	41
a dream than an that my remembrance had i not four or five women once tliat tended and more but how ie it this in thy what thou else in the dark backward and of time if remember st aught ere thou st here how thou st here thou may st bat that i do not years since thy father was the duke of and a prince of power a sir are not you my again when describes the horrors of their situation afloat upon the sea how natural and feminine is her ly and his bow full of tender and yet noble feeling in few they hurried us on board a bark bore us some to sea where they d a rotten of a boat not d nor tackle sail nor mast the very rats had quit it there they ua to cry to the sea that roar d to us to sigh to the winds whose pity sighing back again did us but loving wrong i what trouble was i then to yon i o i a thou that did preserve me i thou with a fortitude from heaven when i have deck d the sea with mi salt s description of the tempest raised by the command of is such as none but the imagination could have inspired au hail great master i grave sir hail i i to answer thy best pleasure be t to fly to swim to into the to ride on the curl d clouds to thy strong bidding task and all his quality o hast thou spirit performed to point the tempest that i bade to every article i the king s ship now on the now on the waste the deck in every cabin i d amazement sometimes i d divide and bum in many places on the top mast the and bolt would i flame distinctly then meet and join jove s the o the dreadful thunder clap more momentary and sight were not the and of roaring the most mighty d to and his bold waves tremble yea his dread shake after all this the imperative requires yet farther service when in language true to a nature more human than his own meekly reminds his master of the the poetry of life promised freedom for which his spirit is ever i pray remember i hare done thee worthy told thee no made no d without or grudge or thou to me a year from what a torment i did vo thou and think at it much to tread the of the salt deep to run npon the sharp wind of the north to do me in the of the when it is d with there is certainly too much of and contempt to suit our feelings in the language which addresses to his spirit but yet sometimes when asks of the execution of his master s mission was t not well done and receives a gracious answer full of approbation when the turns away from natures to welcome with smiles his invincible messenger in the and especially when at last he him with my thia ia thy charge then to the be free and fare thou well breaking his bondage with the gentleness of affection we have only to extend our thoughts a little farther beyond the sphere of common life and we feel that a spirit gentle and pure and elastic uke that of would be more than soothed by a single word or look of kindness more than rewarded with all it could desire in the glorious blessing of liberty even the monster has also an imagination amongst all his or how could he thus describe the influence of the magic spell by which his being was surrounded be not d the is t iu of noises and sweet airs that give and hurt not a thousand will hum mine ears and sometimes voices that if i then had d after long will make me sleep and then in dreaming the clouds would open an show riches to drop upon me that when i i cried to dream the following passage well known tc every reader can never become too familiar or lose its poetic and highly imaginative charm by repetition these our actors aa i you were all and are melted into air into thin air and like the fabric of this the towers the gorgeous the the yea all which it inherit and like this leave not a behind we are aa are made on and oar is rounded with a sleep how beautiful and still imaginative is ae scene in which the heart of the begins to melt for the sufferings of those he has been with justice say my spirit how the king and hia together in the aa yon la just aa you led them all prisoners air in the lime grove which your they cannot till your tha king his brother and abide all three and the remainder mourning over them brim of sorrow and dismay but him that yon term d the good old lord his tears run down his beard like winter of your charm so ly works em that if you now them your would become tender think ao spirit mine would air ware human and mine thou which art but air a touch n of their and shall not one of their kind that relish all aa passion d as they be d than art t though with their high wrongs i am to the quick yet with my nobler reason my do i take part the action is in virtue than in vengeance they being penitent the sole of my purpose doth extend not a go release them i my charms i ll break their i ll and they shall be themselves fetch them sir ye of hills standing and and ye that on the sands with	41
exist where there is little or no facility in the use of appropriate words were ii possible that powerful language could proceed from an mind the effect would be that of ponderous words and images so as to extend and confusion without rendering any single thought impressive that the force of our ideas must depend in great measure upon the strength of our impressions is as clear as that the of a picture must depend upon the colours in which it is painted but in addition to impression there is a tide o feeling which flows through the mind of man in different degrees of and depth awakening his imagination his energies and supporting him under every intellectual effort this tide of natural feeling the character of enthusiasm or power according to the with which it if connected with great sensibility and of imagination without clear sound judgment or habits of deep reasoning it is with strict called enthusiasm and as such works wonders mankind indeed we are indebted to enthusiasm for a great proportion of what is new in theory and in practice as well as for most of the astonishing instances of and zeal with which the page of history is and adorned but enthusiasm while it of the nature of power in its first impulse is essentially different in its operation enthusiasm in action aims at one point of ardent desire and regards neither time nor space nor difficulty nor absurdity in it while true mental power ia strict alliance with the highest faculties of the mind is the which forces them into action so as to accomplish its purpose by the concentrated strength of human directed to an object when this principle is through the medium of language it a portion of its own nature commanding conviction and rousing determined action or bursting upon the poetic soul like sunshine through the clouds of morning it opens the book of nature and a new world of light and loveliness and glory it not only conviction and approval but actual sensation and the awakened feelings like those tremendous of physical force which by the combined agency of different elements produce the most wonderful nd sometimes tlie most results were it possible that in any human mind its faculties could have a complete and evident existence and yet lie we should say of such a mind that power alone was wanting but since there must be some power to the slightest voluntary power act we must speak of this faculty as being always present and existing in a greater or a less degree persons deficient in this faculty and no other are always content to imitate and as a proof that they possess the other for successful exertion they sometimes imitate with great ability and while they shrink from the very thought of attempting any without a model from an internal consciousness of inability that many venture to strike out into new paths without any thing uke excellence is owing to the want of some other mental quality and that some continue to pursue such paths to their own shame and the annoyance of their fellow creatures arises from their enthusiasm not from their power yet while many wander on in this eccentric course without ever being aware of their to succeed we believe that no man ever yet voluntarily commenced a deliberate undertaking without some internal evidence of power where it really did exist a sudden effort is no test because time is not allowed for the mind to examine its own resources but the man who has this evidence will work out his determined way though all the world should pronounce him and exclaim at his absurdity it may be asked if this evidence always the possession of power how is it that certain individuals have not been aware of its existence until circumstances have called forth their energies i answer it is the test alone which brings this confidence to light but even these individuals for any thing which history tells us to the contrary may have had in their private walk precisely the same sensations on any trifling undertaking as accompanied their more public and splendid career we are not told with what energy or skill cultivated his farm but we have no proof that he did not feel the same consciousness of power in conducting his agricultural pursuits as in the affairs of the of rome still it would be absurd to maintain that power always exists in the same mind in an equal degree there are physical as well as other causes why this should not be the case there must to every individual liable to human weakness and infirmity be seasons when merely to think requires an effort when desire fails and the becomes a burden but when the poet speaks of the moment of inspiration we suppose it to be that in which all his highest faculties are in agreeable exercise at the same time that the operations of mental power are amongst our poets those who display tlie greatest power of mind are milton pope and young had possessed the requisite of taste he would perhaps have even milton in power but such is his choice of images and words that by the frequent and sudden introduction of and inferior ideas he what would otherwise be sublime and by breaking the chain of association strikes out as it were the key stone of the arch nor is this all the ponderous magnitude of his images heaped together without room for in the mind les rather the of loose masses of granite than the majestic mountain of which ch separate portion helps to constitute a mighty whole still we must acknowledge of this immortal poet that his path was in the heavens and that his soul was suited to the celestial sphere in which it seemed to live and as in its native element we can feel no doubt that	41
his own were magnificent as the stars amongst which his spirit wandered and had his mode of conveying these to the minds of others been equal to their own original he would have stood pre eminent amongst our poets in the region of power in order to prove that the poetry of young is too massive and complex in its to be within the compass of natural and ordinary association it is unnecessary to quote many instances those who are most familiar with his writings even his greatest admirers must acknowledge that in one line of his works they meet with matter which if diffused and enlarged upon would fill pages better calculated to please as well as to instruct i the poetry of life how poor how rich how how august how how is i how wonder he who made him d in our make extremes t from natures mix d exquisite of different worlds d link in being s endless chain from nothing to the deity thus far the mind may keep pace with the writer and especially by the last two lines must be impressed with ideas at once clear imaginative and sublime those which immediately follow are less happy a beam ethereal and d though and d still dim miniature of greatness absolute an heir of glory i a frail child of dust i helpless immortal insect infinite a worm a god i tremble at myself and in myself am lost one instance more and we turn to passages of a different character blush at terror for a death which gives thee to repose in where sparkle angels minister and more than angels share and raise and crown and the birth bloom bursts of bliss it is really a relief to pass on from this laborious collection of ideas to instances of more perfect which also abound in the works of the same poet what can exceed in power and beauty his first address to night night goddess from her throne in ray less majesty now stretches forth her leaden o er a ring world how dread and darkness how profound nor eye nor listening ear an object finds creation sleeps tis as the general pulse of life stood still and nature made a pause an pause prophetic of her end again his appeal to the divine of his solemn thoughts is majesty and power man s author end law and judge thine all day thine and thine this gloomy night with all her wealth and all her radiant worlds what night eternal but a frown from what heaven s glory but thy smile and shall not praise be thine not human praise while heaven s high host in live o may i breathe no longer than breathe my soul in praise to him who gave my soul and all her infinite of prospect through the shades of hell great love by thee o moat moat d where shall that praise begin which ne er should end where er turn what claim on all applause how is night s mantle o er how richly wrought with attributes divine what wisdom shines what love this midnight pomp this gorgeous arch with golden words built with divine ambition to thee for others this thou apart above beyond o tell me mighty blind where art thou shall i into the deep call to the sun or ask the roaring winds for their creator shall i question loud the thunder if in that the almighty dwells or holds he storms in d and bids fierce wheel his rapid car t the he whose nod is nature s birth and nature s shield the shadow of his hand her dissolution his suspended smile the great last d high he in darkness from splendour borne by gods unseen un ess through lustre his glory to created glory bright as that to central horrors he on all that and young s description of truth is also strongly by power bee from her as from aa humble truth radiant goddess on my soul and puts delusion s dusky train to flight the mist our passions raise from objects low and and shows the real estimate of which no man ever off the veil from virtue s rising temptation in a thousand lies truth bids me look on men as autumn and all they for as the summer s driven by the lighted by her i my horizon gain new powers bee things invisible feel things remote am present with think to man so foreign as the joys d so much his as those beyond the grave all it is not so much in extended passages as in distinct thoughts and single expressions that we feel and acknowledge the power of this dignified and majestic writer silence and darkness sisters is a striking illustration of how great an extent of may be embodied in a few simple and well chosen words and it is unquestionably to beauties of this description that young is indebted for his high rank amongst our poets the same faculty of mind is exhibited under a different character in the writings of pope power as an impulse is less apparent here but in its mode of operation it is more uniform and efficient pope is less an than young and therefore he pays more regard to means whilst the agency by which these means are brought power to bear upon their object seems to be in silent pomp the genius of young gives us the idea of continued extraordinary and sometimes ineffectual effort even in the dead of night counting the stars with darkness and grasping at while we imagine tliat of pope seated on a ne of majesty collecting and the elements of mind by authority rather than by direct force the power of young that of a an earthquake or a storm of thunder that of pope is like the flow of a broad and potent	41
he brings and round about him nor hell one step no more than ft om himself can fly by change of place now conscience wakes despair that wakes the bitter memory of what he was what is and what must be worse of worse deeds worse must sometimes towards which now in his view lay pleasant his grieved look he sad sometimes heaven and the blazing ann which now sat high in his tower me miserable which way shall i fly infinite wrath and infinite despair which way i fly is hell myself am hall and in the lowest deep a lower deep sun to ma opens to which the hell i a heaven oh then at last is there no place left for repentance none for pardon left none left but my submission and that word disdain me and my dread of shame among the spirits beneath whom i with other promises and other than to submit i could the ah me they little know how dearly i abide that boast so vain under what inwardly i groan while they me on the throne of hell with and high advanced the lower still i fall only supreme in misery such joy ambition finds i we now change the subject and see how the same can ascend from the lowest of hell to the highest regions ty and bliss his harp to strains that with both no sooner had the almighty but all the multitude of angels with a shout loud as from numbers without number sweet as a om blessed voices uttering joy heaven rung with and loud filled the eternal regions immortal a flower which in paradise fast by the tree of life began to bloom but soon fur man s to heaven removed where first it grew there grows and flowers aloft the of life and where the river of bliss through midst of heaven rolls o er flowers her stream with those that never the spirits elect bind their locks in with beams now in loose thick thrown oft the bright pavement that like a sea of stone with celestial roses smiled then crowned again their golden they took ever that glittering by their side like hung and with sweet of charming they introduce their sacred song and high no voice no voice but well could j an part such is in heaven so the and his grave rebuke severe in beauty added grace invincible abashed the devil stood and felt how f goodness is and saw virtue in her shape how lovely saw and hu loss hall holy light of heaven bom or of the eternal co eternal beam may i express thee since ood la light and never but in light dwelt eternity dwelt then in bright of bright essence or hear st thou rather pure ethereal stream whose fountain who shall tell before the before the heavens thou and at tha of god as with a mantle invest the rising world of waters dark and deep won n and aad o spirit that dost prefer before all temples he upright heart pure me for know thou from the first present and with mighty wings e sat st brooding on the abyss and mad st it what in me is dark what is low raise and support that to the height of this great argument i may eternal providence and justify the ways of ood to men learn that to obey is best and love with fear the only god to walk a in his presence ever to observe his providence and on him sole depend merciful over all his works with good evil and by small accomplished great things by things deemed weak worldly strong and worldly wise by simply meek that suffering for truth s sake la fortitude to highest victory and to the death the gate of li taught this by his whom i now acknowledge my ever blessed if power be the faculty which presents us most clearly and forcibly with ideas that lie beyond the scope of ordinary thought there is then a power in beauty as well as in a power in the language of the affections to awaken their echo in the human heart and in pure and holy aspirations to call us back to all the good we have forsaken and to lead us forward to all that yet may be attained that beautiful and majestic hymn in which milton describes our first parents as calling upon the creation upon every bright and glorious creature to join in the solemn praises of their universal creator all that we can imagine both of the harmony of verse and the force of mental power widely as we may have wandered from the purity and the innocence of the first inhabitants of paradise this morning hymn seems to burst upon us like the dawn of a brighter day when gratitude and love shall again become the natural language of the re soul we see us even now the same attributes of divinity the sun the eye of this great world the moon that meets the sun and the fixed stars we feel the winds that from four quarters blow we hear the flow of the fountains the birds singing up to heaven s gate ascend we behold the of ana moving life creatures that in waters glide dr stately tread the earth or lowly creep and we acknowledge them to be the work and the care of an almighty hand but where is the fresh impulse of will to worship that almighty father will it return with the n of his attributes and us to a more faithful service or inspire a love we are not among those who would limit the means appointed by for winning back the wanderer from the fold and we have no hesitation in saying that it is impossible to examine and	41
or grave hath passion or in all the changes of that which is called fortune from without or the or of man s ft om within all these things with a solid and to point out and describe teaching over the whole book of and all the of example with delight to those especially of soft and temper who will not so much as look upon truth herself they see her dressed that the paths of and good life appear now rugged and though they be indeed easy and pleasant they will then appear to all men easy and pleasant though they were rugged and difficult indeed a work not to be raised the heat of or the of wine like that which flows at waste the pen of some vulgar or the of a nor to be obtained by the of dame memory and her daughters but by devout prayer to that eternal spirit who can with all utterance and knowledge and sends out his with the fire of hia altar to touch and the lips of whom he it this is indeed quoting at great length but the temptation is great also to support with the highest what has been asserted that true mental power is always accompanied with the consciousness of its and that the noblest exercise of this power is to promote the intellectual happiness as well as the moral good of the human family and to justify the ways of god to man we know not that our language power ing in poetic and ity and power to the solemn appeal divine being with which milton book on the after ng up a list of evils present and to he adds i do dow feel myself on the nd i those and of and thou bu that which way to get out or which end i know not unless i turn mine eyes and it help lift up my hands to that eternal and pro where nothing is than grace and the of mortal and it to leave these serious thoughts less heathen were wont to conclude their ea i that in light and glory le parent of and men i next thee i king of that lost remnant thou assume and and thou the third of divine spirit the joy and solace of created one look upon this thy i almost spent and church leave her a prey to these wolves that wait k long till they thy tender flock its that have broke into thy and left of their hoofs on the of thy let them not bring about their damned d now at the entrance of the pit ex he to open and let out those and to us in that infernal darkness where we shall never more an of thy again never hope for the never more hear the bird of morning sing d with pity at the afflicted state of this our that now lies r her ind against the of more u that the impetuous rage of five bloody ma and the succeeding sword of war he land in her own pity the sad and revolution of our swift and thick coming we were quite breathless out of thy free let motion peace and terms of with have first well nigh us from build up this empire to a i height with her daughter stay us in this felicity let not the obstinacy obedience and will worship bring forth that that years hath been lo eat through the of our peace but m her without the danger of and throbbing kingdom that we may still r in our solemn how for the ocean even to the frozen was scattered proud of the spanish and of and made to give up destruction ere she could vent it in that damned blast n then goes on with somewhat too r the of a to the enemies of the church but language is so perfectly t we have attempted to describe as mental power that we conclude only with the end of the chapter of those whom he has been he says let them take counsel together and let it come to let them decree and do thou it let them gather themselves and be scattered let them themselves and be broken let them and be broken thou art with us then amidst the hymns and of saints some one may perhaps be heard ring at high strains in new and measures to sing and thy divine aud marvellous in this throughout all ages whereby this great and warlike nation instructed and to the fervent and continual practice of truth and and casting far f om her the rags or her old vices may press on hard to high and happy to be found the wisest and most christian people at that day when thou the eternal and shortly expected king open the clouds to judge the several of the world and national honours and rewards to religious and just shall put an end to all earthly thy universal and mild through heaven and earth where they undoubtedly that by their labours counsels and prayers have been earnest for the common good of religion and their country shall receive above the inferior orders of the blessed the legal addition of and into their glorious titles and in of vision the and circle of eternity shall clasp inseparable hands with joy and bliss in for ever but they contrary that by the and of the true the aud of their country to high dignity rule and promotion here alter a shameful end in this life shall be thrown down into the darkest aud deepest gulf of hell where under the control the and of all the other damned that iu the anguish of their torture shall have no other e than to exercise a and tyranny over them as their and they shall remain in that for ever the the	41
most dejected most and trodden of taste taste the last mentioned of the four for writing poetry is by no m an the least important because its sphere of operation belongs so much lo medium through which poetical ideas are conveyed that even where impression imagination and power exist we may lose by the absence of taste all the sensible effect of their presence as well as all t ie pleasure naturally arising from their combined influence we speak of taste as belonging chiefly to the medium of the poet s ideas because in tlie choice and arrangement of his subjects he the poetry op life uses a higher faculty or rather a higher and more profound exercise of the same the faculty of judgment in its nature so nearly allied to ta te that we are inclined to describe taste as a superficial application of judgment both are faculties whose office it is to take note of the fitness of things the one by casual observation of them the other by mature consideration of their nature taste applies chiefly to those qualities which immediately strike our attention without much exercise of thought such as beauty and harmony while judgment admits within its compass the considerations of present utility and ultimate good if for example we say of a lady that she dresses with taste we mean with due regard to beauty of form harmony of colours and general to her appearance if witli judgment we mean with regard to her pecuniary means her character and station in life but the operation of the mind in the exercise of taste and judgment is the same only in the subjects to which it is applied in cases we draw conclusions from the general nature of the subjects considered those of which taste takes being superficial and evident to the senses its conclusions are prompt and immediate and thus it the character of an power directing tlie choice at once to what is most suitable or best in the arrangement of a group of flowers we are apt to suppose it is an instinctive impulse by which they are so placed before us as to display their beauties to the greatest advantage and produce the most agreeable effect but it is in fact upon conclusions previously drawn from the principles of pleasure that the mind in the colours so as to make one brilliancy of another and the whole group so as to render not only colour but form and character to the beauty of the whole if taste and judgment differ only in being exercised upon different subjects it may be asked why are not the individuals best skilled in the arrangement of flowers able and profound it is because there are many minds possessed of the faculty o judgment yet wholly incapable of taking into consideration the nature relation and application of the laws which public action and private thought but if such individuals could be made to understand these laws there is no reason why they should not judge as correctly of their effect as of that of a group of flowers in order to compose a it is only necessary that we should have clear of and colour in order to invent laws for the government of nations or the thoughts and of man s heart we must have distinct ideas of physical force and moral good of action and motive of power and integrity it is a but not the less important and comprehensive fact that every thing has a proper place and the faculty which us to ascertain by perception what is or is not the proper place of any object is taste that by which we ascertain the same fact by conviction is judgment we admire and derive pleasure from the operation of the former we reverence and derive benefit from that of the latter our looks words movements and trifling pursuits come under tlie of taste nor let its superficial character lessen the value of this universal test of beauty and harmony which are the two grand sources of our enjoyment it is not the profound nature of the cases in which it acts but their frequent in the ordinary walks of life as well as their immense variety and number which renders the influence of taste so important to our happiness if from the causes upon which it we are to receive pain or pleasure every moment of our lives the cultivation of this faculty must indeed be of no weight in the of human affairs yet how to cultivate it so as ultimately to produce the greatest good is a delicate and difficult question refined to the most acute perception of all the degrees which lie between the remote extremes of beauty and of pleasure and taste is any thing but a blessing unless where there is judgment to go deeper into the essential qualities of things and to discover a moral good beneath a physical evil because the outward aspect of our world even with all its loveliness and the external j taste character of our with all our are such as to present pictures repulsive and to more delicate than deep but the cultivation of taste when confined as it ought to be to its proper place and limited to its proper degree is eminently to our happiness and eventually to our good taste should even rule itself and set bounds to its own existence for its laws are as much when we are too sublime for useful service and too delicate for duty as when we descend to the use of vulgar and the of our as a proof of the immediate application of taste we seldom wholly approve of the language and customs of past ages that die same astonishing productions of art which adorned the most enlightened of history should remain to be models of excellence at the present day is b cause	41
of their relation to the senses whose power in assisting the judgment is limited to a degree of cultivation but language and social customs having more immediate relation to the intellectual and moral constitution of man are continually or without any perceptible to their of improvement we cannot look back to ihe literature of the past century and pay our just tribute to its superiority in force of expression without at the same time being struck with words and phrases which to say the least of them arrest our attention and by the difference of their associations our perception of their sense and application indeed so wide is this difference that many minds endowed with fine taste and sensibility are now incapable of the beauties of shakespeare though we own there is some cause to suspect of such minds that they are deficient both in imagination and power or they would unquestionably be lifted above what appear to us now the of this extraordinary writer by the splendour of his mighty genius insensible to the of a great which a world of glory these fastidious critics take the light of their tiny into partial spots of shade and from ence the rank or the wandering weed cry out that by their own delicacy they have made this discovery better would it an elevated soul to pass on and leave such unnoticed or to prove its just and noble admiration of true genius rather than its of discovering petty faults where the poet is with judgment and not with taste he is compelled to at every verse and while he the merit of his subject his ideas and new models his expressions the warmth of his poetic is expended and that which ought to appear to us as if it flowed from a natural and irrepressible impulse becomes painful and laborious both to himself and to his readers but he who is ed with a high degree of taste calls in the aid of this important faculty the lively exercise of whose immediate power him to the choice of expressions in which to clothe his ideas striking out what is and selecting what is appropriate with the rapidity of an impulse one kind of admits of a array of words another of expressions and gay one of abrupt and broken another of smooth and flowing sentences one subject requires a correspondence of solemn or melancholy sound another of the rapid movements which belong to lively joy one scene calls forth the glowing ornament of eastern another the cold majesty of the frozen north for the description of one passion the poet must adorn his muse with the attributes of love and beauty for another he must place in her hand the lighted brand of fury and destruction all this is the work of taste and when no law either intellectual or moral has been when the customs and of society have been consulted and no feeling or prejudice when propriety and order and harmony have ruled the poet s theme and verse and when supreme regard has been paid to beauty both in its physical and intellectual character we may confidently pronounce the writer to have a more than common share of taste on this subject we may go yet farther we may say of the faculty of taste that it makes the nearest approach to what we are in the habit of calling inspiration because it is the direct rule of propriety in action the poetry of life and were the of man so quick and clear as to carry the same principle along with him through all the transactions of his life lie would always act rightly but beyond the surface of things man is unable to judge at sight reflection requires time and more of both than he is willing to bestow and even when he is willing the right period of action is lost before he has decided upon the right means by contemplating the character and operation of taste we arrive at a dim and distant perception of one of the attributes of the divine nature and even this imperfect view a world of wonder in which imagination is bewildered and understanding lost we know the rapidity of thought with which we decide in a moment even during an movement which is the most graceful the most effective or the best mode of acting and it may not perhaps be from the supreme majesty to suppose that the same effort of mind created out of chaos a universe of worlds not only their form and their movements in the centre of i ty but also and their internal constitution down to the slightest impulse of an infant s will the meanest weed that tne forest or the insect that along the surface of the summer lake the power of judging when limited to a narrow sphere of operation the superiority of man above the brutes the power of judging and belongs to god alone we have said and we repeat it with reverence that the faculty of taste in the single consideration of its mode of bears an humble relation to what we conceive of because its are so prompt as to apply to immediate action and so extended as to comprehend all relative circumstances or else it does not exist for let a sound be harsh where it should be soil or soil where it should be harsh let a movement be quick or slow as circumstances do not warrant let a shadow or a gleam of light break in upon the sphere of beauty let a word be found or a thought ill timed in short let any single thread in general be broken and taste is sacrificed as our mental and material world is constituted the of taste must extend over a very limited and narrow sphere the difference of taste to be found amongst mankind and the want of a universal	41
standard of reference have excited almost as many arguments in the sphere of poetry and the arts as the difference of in the religious world this subject seems to be most satisfactorily decided by to the majority the same importance in taste as m politics the exercise of taste being to find the medium between all objectionable extremes the centre of it follows of that whatever is admired by the greatest number must possess the greatest share of excellence but here as in other cases it is highly important to make a distinction between mere numbers and numbers qualified to judge for how should that judgment be a test of merit to which merit is neither apparent nor intelligible the gallery in a theatre may be well qualified to pronounce upon the height the breadth the complexion or the of a favourite actor but who would appeal to them to know whether he had exhibited to the the workings of deep or entered into the mental mysteries of an intellectual character when therefore we speak of the majority of opinions being the strongest proof of the presence of good taste we would confine those opinions not merely to a few learned men the established critics and of the day but to the whole of the enlightened public who constitute a community too numerous for long continued prejudice and too intelligent for error why it may be asked does a false sometimes prevail even amongst tliis community as in the case of whose poetry so powerfully affected men s as to behind it a for all a false taste may exist amongst the few partial impressions and local the of s style lead writer to or hit poetry in a manner nay at appear remark of only apply to the extremes unworthy of so a mind to which his eccentric descended i but a false taste can only exist amongst the many from the ty of the same impressions false to the principles of nature and the same prejudices opposed to the principles of good sense a phenomenon which it is not our misfortune to behold and i should account for the extraordinary bias given to the public taste by the works of as arising from the power of his genius rather than the peculiarity of his style and the of readers not giving trouble to make the distinction they are still for the same style in the vain hope of finding it connected with the same genius happy would it be for mankind for public taste and public morals if the same mind from all could return again to earth to prove to the that the same power may be directed to higher purposes without losing its influence and the same beauty and the same harmony be touched by a hand more true to the principles of eternal happiness in looking for instances of the display of taste in poetry it is necessary to confine our observation to the present times for as we have before remarked that which was in strict accordance with good taste a century ago is not so now because the different customs and manners of mankind have introduced associations and expressions which conveyed none but elevated and refined ideas are now connected with those of a totally different nature we are inclined to think that the works of milton would have afforded the finest example of taste as well as power in the age in which he lived because in cases where the senses have dominion the accordance of sense with sound for instance he is but the language of milton is sometimes too quaint for modem ears and in his pages we occasionally meet with single words that us with associations foreign to what is now considered as poetical we cannot quote a more perfect example of taste in modem language than the writings of our poet in which his pleasures of hope if would be difficult to find an ill chosen word or an idea not in strict accordance with the principles of harmony and the presence of taste being however except by the absence of faults it is difficult to bring forward instances in particular passages of the influence of this powerful but still charm the following lines familiar to every reader or rather every admirer of poetry are remarkable for their of language and harmony of sound hope the when man end mourn d their first decay when every form of death and every wo shot m malignant stars to earth below when murder d her arm and war the red of her iron car when peace and mercy banished from the plain sprung on the winds to heaven again all all the guilty mind but hope the lingered still behind and in the description of the fate of the hardy how perfectly does the sound of each line correspond with its sense flowing on like a continued stream of melody without from any word or idea not purely poetical and such thy strength inspiring aid that bore the hardy to his native shore in horrid where s sweep tumultuous murmurs o er the troubled deep twas his to mourn misfortune s shock d by the winds and on the rock to wake each mom and search again the d haunts of solitary men whose race as their native storm know not a trace of nature but the form yet at thy call the hardy ur pursued pale but sad but pierced the deep woods and from the moon s pale planet and the northern star paused at each dreary cry unheard before in the wild and on the shore till led by thee o er many a sublime he a warmer world a a home to rest a shelter to defend peace and repose a and a friend the idea conveyed in the following lines is well worthy of a poetic mind others seem to have	41
felt the same but none have done more ample justice to the feeling than the elegant bard from whom we quote who that would ask a heart to wed the calm the slumber of the dead no the wild bliss of nature needs and fear and sorrow the fire of joy i and without hopes without our without the home that love without the smile partial beauty won oh i what were world s i the poetry of life ana when the poet very joy to glimmer on my bat oh f the light of hope i what though my winged hour of have been like angel visits few and far between we feel that to such a mind hope would come as a blessed messenger whose tidings would be of things sublime and pure and elevated above the low wants and wishes of a material existence we know of but one word in the whole of tliis beautiful poem which is at with good taste and we quote the line not from the pleasure of pointing out a single t in the midst of a thousand merits but for the purpose of showing how forcibly an error in taste strikes upon the attention and the feelings of the reader the living lumber of hia kindred earth we are ready to imagine from this line that the author has scarcely been aware of the high degree of beauty and refinement which his work lumber in the poetical writings of pope might have occurred without any breach of taste because his and forcible style is more by power than elegance and lumber might therefore have been in keeping with the general tone of his expressions but here where all is music to the ear and harmony to the mind this uncouth word is decidedly out of place and while longing to exchange it for another we can only wonder that there should be but one small in so many fair and beautiful pages of genuine poetry adorned throughout with the most tender refined and elevated thoughts of is another poem strikingly of the influence of taste in the death song of the indian chief we observe how the poet has the indignant spirit of an injured man with the strong affections wild and visions of that interesting and dignified people and i could weep th chief his wildly began but that i may not stain with grief the death song of my other s son i or bow this head in wo for by my wrongs and by my wrath i to morrow s breath that fires yon heaven with storms and death shall light us to the and w than share my boy i the s blood the s joy but hark the to morrow than in glory s shall dry thy tears even firom the land of shadows now my s ghost appears amidst the clouds that round roll he bids my soul for battle he bids me dry the he the only tears that ever burst from s soul because i may not stain with grief the death song of an indian chief lines on leaving a scene in full of the deep pathos of feeling afford one of the most splendid instances of the power of that faculty can strike with the rapidity of thought the of true harmony and the genuine music of the soul die echo of its deep but secret passions we cannot read these lines without feeling that there is a language for the wounded spirit a voice amidst the of that unknown whose melancholy is in with the feelings which we may not dare not and we inwardly bless the mournful for the wild sweet melody of bis most harmonious were we to attempt to quote passages from these lines the temptation would extend to the whole of this poem we can only recommend it to the reader ns one of the finest specimens of poetic taste as well as poetic feeling which our language all that has been said on the subject we feel that taste is something to be felt rather than defined yet of such importance to the poet that wanting this requisite he may sing for ever and yet sing in vain as well might the expect to charm his audience by playing what he them is the finest music on a broken or instrument as the poet hope to please without making himself thoroughly acquainted with the of taste perhaps we should say with what is or is not in accordance with its rules for as a principle taste has not yet arrived ai a definite state of existence and if the young poet should read the pleasures of hope with reference to this subject and not feel in his very soul the conclusion presence and the power of taste he might bid adieu to the worship of the and devote genius to objects less elevated and sublime conclusion we have now examined the for writing poetry to none of which it would be wise to a station of because they are equally necessary to the success of the s art impression to furnish lasting ideas imagination to create images from such ideas power to strike them out with emphasis and truth and taste to recommend such as are worthy of approbation and to dismiss such as are not we have also been daring to maintain that poetry as a principle all nature and if the fact be acknowledged that poetry is neither written with that nor read with that delight which an earlier era in our history it becomes an important and interesting inquiry the cause that imagination should be exhausted is a moral impossibility because the creation of a thousand images in no way for the creation of a thousand more any one quality extracted from a former image and added to the whole or a part	41
of being sufficient for the creation of one that shall appear to the world entirely original or new that power should be expended is no less an absurdity in thought because that being the vital principle by which thoughts are man can only cease to think when he ceases to feel and only cease to feel when he ceases to exist and that taste should have lost its influence over the human mind is equally at with common sense because with increased facility in collecting and comparing evidence for the establishment of true excellence taste must become more definite in its nature and more in its operations beyond this we may ask is any in the customs occupations or mode of education the present day which the exercise of imagination we should rather say that its sphere of action is to an extent is there any thing that the mind or its native power no the habits of the present race of men are distinguished by industry and general application and regulated by those laws of strict and discipline which are universally acknowledged to strengthen the understanding and the mental faculties is there any thing to the public taste and establish a false standard of merit never since the world began were mankind more penetrating and at the same time more extensive in their observations more universally free from the of t and superstition as well as from all uniformly prevailing prejudice than now it is clear then that the deficiency in our poetical arises from a want of the due proportion of clear and deep impressions we have not stored up the necessary materials for imagination power and taste to work with and therefore the machinery of the mind so far as relates to poetry remains we possess not the key to its secret and therefore the language of poetry is unintelligible to our ears the silence of our poets and the want of any leading or distinguished poem to fill up the present in our literature sufficiently prove the fact to which we allude the last popular work of this kind that issued from our press was the course of time but its popularity rather resembled an than a steady and lasting light it forced its way in the flush of the moment to every respectable library in the kingdom was read closed with satisfaction and what is very remarkable no since this time we have had none to awaken a general interest we see many noticed by the kindly and noticed and we doubt not their title to such approbation but we do not deny ourselves one ordinary indulgence that we may buy them or when they are bought look upon them as a solid mass of substantial happiness set apart for our private and enjoyment we do not reverence the authors i the poetry of life of our felicity as if they were beings of a order endowed with a capacity of penetrating souls of men we do not listen when they tell us of our own secret passions as if we heard the music of an inspired nor when they sing of the of time as if a potent and voice dealt out the destiny of mankind either we have grown indifferent and heedless and almost deaf to the language of poetry or the spirit of the art has ceased to operate in producing harmonious numbers that were wont to charm the world yet when the for acquiring knowledge are n every day when it has become almost as to remain as to learn when the infant mind is trained up to the continual application of its faculties in all the different branches of art and science when the memory is stored with a fund of information which at one time would have been deemed incredible when not only the ordinary and beaten track of learning is thrown open to the multitude but and paths are devised to and and charm into the of lore is it possible there can be any defect or disadvantage in the general system upon which youth is trained if it be the ultimate aim of mankind to of what materials the world is made and out of these materials to new for bodily enjoyment that we may eat more move more rapidly repose more softly clothe more and in short live more from mental as well as bodily exertion i should answer that the present system of education and the general tone of thought and conversation was the best that could possibly be devised but in looking at the means we are too apt to disregard the end in our to the of knowledge to forget the of wisdom and take credit to ourselves for having spent an active life when it has been wholly of any increase in the means of happiness except what mere activity affords we know thai nature is no less capable of producing poetical ideas than it was when gifted men were inspired by the cool shade the glowing sunshine or the radiance of the moon we have attempted to prove that the same beauty and the same with refined and elevated thought may still be found in the external world and that the j soul of man is still animated by the same passions and affections as when genius kindled the fire of poetry and lighting up the charms and the wonders of creation stimulated the enthusiasm of him who i himself creation s heir it follows then as a necessary consequence that the between man and nature is not i the same that he holds no longer the spiritual converse with all things sweet and lovely solemn and sublime in the external world that was wont to fill his soul with admiration and love and to instruct his heart in the feeling of the presence of an invisible intelligence connected with his own being by the i	41
i bond of sympathy real or imaginary man now studies nature as a m i rather than a picture with reference to locality rather than beauty he sees the whole but he studies only the separate parts and to his mind the vegetable animal and are distinct subjects of consideration scarcely to be thought of in the same day he looks around him with eye and if his attention upon the rich and varied foliage of the ancient forest it is to single out particular specimens of trees and plants and to class them according to while from the musical inhabitants of these woods he his victims and applies the same minute examination to the organs from whence the sweetest melody of nature flows the idle butterfly fluttering above his path or resting upon the of the delicate wild rose has neither charm nor beauty in his eye unless he counts the spots upon its wing the mountain rises in the distance and he to examine the of which it is composed the roll beneath him and he upon the means of their production the stars are shining above in all the majesty of night and he counts the number and the distance of the of light all these we freely grant are right and fitting occupations or a rational and intellectual being but when of this conclusion m i land instead of the end to which they ea are made the sole of man s life the natural consequence must be to render him indeed with nature but familiar on such terms that he is in danger of his reverence for the creator and losing sight of the between the material and the moral world we are not so blindly wedded to the of imagination as to speak of this thirst for definite knowledge as an evil far from it but when the or the mind becomes with this fever of acquisition when the philosopher is merely talking about what he ought to feel when the artist no sooner a tree than he thinks it necessary to sketch it when the student of nature tears in pieces every bird and insect that falls within his grasp when books without number are eagerly inquired for looked into laid aside and never understood when the finished and fully educated young lady her knowledge of the of foreign languages and her ignorance of the spirit of her own when the youthful upon the nature and laws of mind ind matter and hears with total of understanding that there is a moral law we cannot help feeling something is wanting of the ultimate end of education and that the mind may be stored with knowledge and yet be too ignorant of the right means of applying that knowledge to render its possessor wise the man of comprehensive mind capable of all things according to their real value will cultivate this knowledge of things for the sake of the truths which it and the consequences to which it leads and will no content himself with this examination of external nature than the will rest satisfied with having discovered the block of marble oat of which his figure is to be formed if the question might be asked without an ignorant and stupid want of reverence for knowledge in general we should propose for the consideration of those who regret the absence of poetry from the world of letters whether the defect so obvious in the literature of the present day may not arise in the first place from the competition and the consequent labour that is now actually necessary to secure the means of and in the second from the public mind being too fully occupied with the acquisition of mere knowledge to allow time for receiving deep impressions without which it is impossible either to write or to feel if for instance in the cases already the attention be wholly occupied in the precise form of a leaf will be the impression of the majestic beauty of the forest if in the organs of sense what general idea can be formed of the melody of sound if in examining the wing of the butterfly what observation can be made upon its airy and fantastic flight if in discovering the parts of a cloud how should the graceful of the cloud be seen if in out minute fragments from the side of the mountain how should a deep sense of its grandeur the soul or if in merely counting the stars as separate spots of light where will be the lasting impress of their glory the modern observer having had little time and less inclination for the relative ideas which the contemplation of such objects to the poetic mind they pass away from his thoughts as soon as his practical purpose has been and never are recalled as links in the chain of association connecting the material with the ideal world when the wild winds of autumn sweep the many tinted leaves from the forest like the of a less physical calamity the fair pictures of spiritual beauty the summer of green and golden foliage lives no longer in remembrance the breathes no more and the living voice that answered the universal language of nature from the fields the groves and the silvery is forgotten the butterfly that lately fluttered round him like a winged flower escaped from s a spotted specimen of a particular tribe according to its name lies before him faded and lifeless and of its beauty the memory of its ed with its transient and joyous life the cloud has passed and all its graceful and thb op life fantastic wreaths of mingled mist and light floating upon the pure ocean of celestial blue like a spirit half earthly half divine wandering on its upward journey to the of bliss have vanished with the that gave a short lived glory to its existence the and majestic mountain	41

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