but it is hard to say as much for his prose. His writings have a good moral tone, and tend to promote a sense of honor, and a manly dignity of character. ous. 105. Lord Byron (George Gordon) (1788–1824). Byron was one of the most gifted of poets. When his productions began to appear, they startled the world. Scott, on being asked why he did not write any more poems, said, "Byron beats me." The ease, gracefulness, and power, with which he wrote, seemed marvelHis dignity and naturalness of style can hardly be overpraised; and few have portrayed scenes and character so vividly. But running through nearly all his poems, is a morbid self-consciousness, painful to some readers and injurious to others. He had a way of parading his own unhealthy and misanthropic reflections, of posing as the martyr of an unpropitious fate, the victim of unprecedented woes. In truth, his loneliness arose from the haughtiness of his pride, his sorrows from the thwarting of an ungoverned will. He plucked the rose, then cursed the fates because it withered in his hand. His unhappiness was, without doubt, real, and moves us to pity, even while we censure him. Some of his writings contain allusions unfit for perusal, and unworthy the mind of a poet. When he chose a right theme, no one could write better. Most of his shorter poems are excellent, as well as considerable portions of his longer productions. Here and there are passages that shine with a luster all their own. As a whole, however, the writings of this great genius are unsafe reading for youth, and unprofitable at any time of life. A 106. Charles Lamb (1775-1834). The writings of this peculiar and very original author are much admired by poets and other men of genius. He imparts a certain grace and beauty to the most common objects, because he sees in them so many interesting features undiscovered by others until pointed out by him. He was a close observer. Nothing escaped his notice. Thus he perceived relations, and received suggestions, which, when told in his quaint way, interested as much by their novelty as by their genuineness. critic has said that one reason why Lamb wrote so charmingly was because he wrote directly from his own feelings. He did not have to go far for his subjects: he found them in the common walks of life. When placed in the alembic of his mind, ordinary objects, scenes, and events showed qualities, and assumed properties, unknown before. Though of a poetical temperament, his prose is more delightful than his verse. Condemned for the most part to live a solitary life, he yet wrote for children in a very interesting style. He was acquainted with the Lake Poets, was on intimate terms with Coleridge, and was highly prized by a choice circle of friends. 107. Percy Bysshe Shelley (1702-1822).—— Although Shelley was a skeptic, so great a poet cannot be passed by unnoticed. His poetical genius was of the highest order. Macaulay ranked his gifts among those of the "great ancient masters.” He had an exalted idea of the poetical art. In one of his essays he says, Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds." But Shelley's flights of fancy are too ethereal for general reading. To most minds a great share of his poetry seems vague and intangible. It is like a dissolving view, brilliant, but evanescent. Yet the beauty of his style was such that, next to Wordsworth, he is thought to have had the greatest influence on the poets who immediately succeeded those of his time. As a man, he was temperate in habits, gentle, affectionate, and generous in his disposition, sincere in his opinions, and benevolent in his intentions. He was driven into skepticism by the injustice and cruelty practised upon him at school, and countenanced-or at least allowedby those who made a high profession of Christianity. His writings contain lofty conceptions of purity and beauty; but while we love the spirit of one who held such kindly feelings to all mankind, we must admit that his misconceptions of truth have marred his poetry in some parts, and made it advisable to read only judicious selections from his works. 108. John Keats (1795-1821).- This promising young poet died before he was twenty-six years of age. He died of consumption; but his death was undoubtedly hastened by the unjust and cruel criticisms on his longest poem Endymion." The contemptuous tone of an article in The Quarterly Review was what affected young Keats so seriously. Viewed in the light of the present day, it is the criticism itself that appears contemptible. There is in parts of " Endymion a vagueness and a want of sequence; the ornamentation is sometimes profuse, if not extravagant; there may be passages too intense; but, taken as a whole, it leaves a delightful impression. It seems almost incredible that one SO young could write so well. The reader who cannot discover the pulse-beats of poetical genius in the lines of Keats, is certainly not to be envied. In the unfinished poem "Hyperion" are grander passages and stronger imagery than can be found in "Endymion." Byron regarded it as sublime. One thing, however, is a source of constant regret,that so many of these poets should have wasted their heaven-born gifts on subjects so unworthy. Why should they, or we, worship at the shrine of those old myths and fables the dim shadows of a twilight age — when so much grander themes present themselves in the clearer light of the present, and in our contemplation of the future? Why should we forever be turning our eyes backward? There are grander issues before us than can be found in the dusky records of the past. The airy castles which fancy builds upon foundations of obscurity and mystery may create a wide-eyed wonder in children, or serve to scothe the restless pulse of an overworked brain; but they should not absorb the working hours, or divert the thought, of a vigorous mind. 109. Bishop Heber (1783-1826).- Dr. Reginald Heber was cut off by death at the age of forty-two. Although he was a scholar and a poet, he did not devote his life to literary pursuits. His missionary spirit was so ardent that he was appointed Bishop of Calcutta. He devoted all his energies to the task before him, but did not long endure his labors. He was found one morning dead in his bath, from a stroke of apoplexy. 66 Before leaving school he wrote prize poems, and one of them, Palestine," is considered the best ever produced at his university. His sentiments will live forever in the well-known missionary hymn beginning with From Greenland's icy mountains, From India's coral strand. The following lines are from his poem on Palestine: - Reft of thy sons, amid thy foes forlorn, Mourn, widowed queen! forgotten Sion, mourn! No suppliant nations in thy temple wait; No prophet-bards, the glittering courts among, Folds his dank wing beneath the ivy shade. 110. Charles Wolfe (1791-1823).- Wolfe was born in Dublin. Though a humble curate, and not a professional poet, he made himself forever famous by one short poem of only thirty-two lines. He probably did not dream that he was doing anything great; but, to use the words of an able critic, the lines are written "with such taste, pathos, and even sublimity, that his poem has obtained an imperishable place in our literature." |