Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

on, without the lights which geology and physiology, and the study of temperatures and rain maps, and ocean currents and botanical geography, only can afford. And the reader of books will be surprised that men could pretend to run through such works as the Kosmos of Humboldt,' the Physical Geography ' of Mrs. Sommerville,' or the 'Botanical Lectures of Schleiden'*, without having before them a Physical Atlas and its well constructed maps. The time may come when such an Atlas will be as much a part of an ordinary library as a common Geographical Atlas is at the present day.

[ocr errors]

ART. III. The Eve of the Conquest, and other Poems. By HENRY TAYLOR.

6

if

THE admirers of every poet whose enterprise, genius, and fortune have succeeded in producing that rare phænomenon, a long poem of sustained interest and sterling worth, are generally as ardent in their affection for his minor poems, as in their reverence for his more elaborate and more distinguished work. A volume of Milton will most probably open of itself somewhere near the Allegro or the Lycidas; and while Petrarca's Africa' (his magnum opus') reposes in oblivion, his sonnets, mere relaxations, so trivial that the good Canonico saw no reason for not writing them in the vulgar tongue, live in the hearts of thousands, or at least in the more cordial part of their fancy. It is not surprising that it should be so. A long poem, conducted with a genius equal to the theme, has indeed its advantages, especially those of comprehending a larger sphere of interest, employing a greater number of the poetic faculties, and including more various elements in a richer harmony and ampler keeping. On the other hand, it is seldom conceived, as a whole, with the completeness which belongs to the design of a short poem; and that portion of it which did not enter into the original conception, is in danger of hanging about it with an awkwardness which betrays a prosaic origin. Again, no amount of executive skill can wholly atone for defects in the subject matter; and the subject of a composition of any length is apt to reveal, at the last moment, some inherent defect, as provoking as the black spot which sometimes comes out in the marble, when the statue is all but finished.

There are other advantages which belong exclusively to a short poem. It is rendered buoyant by a fuller infusion of that

* Die Pflanze und ihr Leben. Leipzig, 1848.

essential poetry which pervades, rather as the regulating mind. than the vivifying soul, a body of larger dimensions. The particular beauty which results from symmetry is most deeply felt, when the piece lies within so small a compass, that the grace of proportion is recognised by an immediate consciousness, and not merely detected by patient and progressive survey. In the case, too, of pieces, consisting of a few lines only, though they may not treat directly of a passage of human life, they, for the most part, will have been suggested by something experienced or observed, and thus touching nature at many points, will draw strength from frequent contact with its native soil; whereas a longer work, even though not abstract in its subject, joins thought on to thought and image to image, without remanding the poet to the common ground of reality; and being thus carved out of 'the carver's brain,' is apt, if not of first-rate excellence, to meet with a cold response from men whose associations are different from those of the poet. It may be added, that short poems bring us more near to the poet: And to impart and elicit sympathy is among the chief functions of those who may be called the brother-confessors of mankind. For, however devoid of egotism he may be, he must unavoidably present more aspects of his own many-sided being, when expatiating on many themes, and in many moods, than when engrossed by a single task. Their brevity also makes them more minutely known, and more familiarly remembered. They are small enough to be embraced: and if we cannot repose beneath them as under a tree, we can bear them in our breast like flowers.

[ocr errors]

Mr. Taylor's short poems are characterised by the same qualities which distinguish Philip Van Artevelde' and 'Edwin the Fair. That robust strength which belongs to truth, and that noble grace which flows from strength when combined with poetic beauty, are exhibited in them not less distinctly than in the larger works by which his reputation has been established. Their subjects, as well as their limits, for the most part, exclude Passion in its specific tragic form; but, on the other hand, they are wrought out with a more discriminating touch than his dramas. There is in them a majestic tenderness ennobled by severity; and, at the same time, a sweetness and mellowness, which are often missed in the best youthful poetry; and which come not till age has seasoned the instrument, as well as perfected the musician's skill. While not less faithful to nature, they have more affinities with art than their predecessors. Retaining the same peculiar temperament, light, firm, and vigorous, (for true poetry has ever a cognisable temperament, as well as its

VOL. LXXXIX. NO. CLXXX.

A A

special intellectual constitution,) their moral sympathies are both loftier and wider, and respire a softer clime. To this we should add, that their structure is uniformly based upon those ethical qualities, simplicity, distinct purpose, and faith in man's better nature, which are not less essential than any intellectual gifts to excellence in poetry. The present volume, we regret to say, is but a small one. It includes, however, many different sorts of poetry; and the specimens of each are such finished compositions, that we think they must have been selected from a larger number. The longest is one of the Narrative sort. There is also a singularly beautiful specimen of the Elegiac; two poems, the Lago Varese' and the Lago Lugano,' which, from their union of picturesque description with human interest, we should refer to that philosophical Idyl, so characteristic an offspring of modern times; a Dramatic scene, or rather a philosophic disquisition, interwoven with a personal interest, and felicitously cast in the dramatic form; and an Ode-for the lines, written soon after the return of Sir Henry Pottinger from China, 1845,' have far more pretension to the title than many poems to which it is conceded. We will begin with the second of those we have now mentioned, Lines written in remembrance of the Hon. Edward Ernest Villiers.' It is so short as to admit of being quoted as a whole:

[ocr errors]

'A grace though melancholy, manly too,
Moulded his being pensive, grave, serene,
O'er his habitual bearing and his mien
Unceasing pain, by patience tempered, threw
A shade of sweet austerity. But seen
In happier hours and by the friendly few,
That curtain of the spirit was withdrawn,
And fancy light and playful as a fawn,
And reason imped with inquisition keen,
Knowledge long sought with ardour ever new,
And wit love-kindled, show'd in colours true
What genial joys with sufferings can consist.
Then did all sternness melt as melts a mist
Touched by the brightness of the golden dawn,
Aerial heights disclosing, valleys green,
And sunlights thrown the woodland tufts between,
And flowers and spangles of the dewy lawn.

'And even the stranger, though he saw not these,
Saw what would not be willingly passed by.
In his deportment, even when cold and shy,
Was seen a clear collectedness and ease,
A simple grace, and gentle dignity,

That failed not at the first accost to please;
And as reserve relented by degrees,

So winning was his aspect and address,
His smile so rich in sad felicities,

Accordant to a voice which charmed no less,
That who but saw him once remembered long;
And some in whom such images are strong
Have hoarded the impression in their heart,
Fancy's fond dreams and memory's joys among,
Like some loved relic of romantic song,
Or cherished masterpiece of ancient art.

'His life was private; safely led, aloof

[ocr errors]

From the loud world, — which yet he understood
Largely and wisely, as no worldling could.
For he by privilege of his nature proof
Against false glitter, from beneath the roof
Of privacy, as from a cave, surveyed

With stedfast eye its flickering light and shade,
And gently judged for evil and for good.
But whilst he mixed not for his own behoof
In public strife, his spirit glowed with zeal,
Not shorn of action, for the public weal,
For truth and justice as its warp and woof,
For freedom as its signature and seal.
His life thus sacred from the world, discharged
From vain ambition and inordinate care,

In virtue exercised, by reverence rare
Lifted, and by humility enlarged,

Became a temple and a place of

prayer.

[ocr errors]

In latter years he walked not singly there;
For one was with him, ready at all hours
His griefs, his joys, his inmost thoughts to share,
Who buoyantly his burthens helped to bear,
And decked his altars daily with fresh flowers.

'But farther may we pass not; for the ground
Is holier than the Muse herself may tread;
Nor would I it should echo to a sound
Less solemn than the service for the dead.
Mine is inferior matter, my own loss,
The loss of dear delights for ever fled,

Of reason's converse by affection fed,

Of wisdom, counsel, solace, that across

Life's dreariest tracts a tender radiance shed.

Friend of my youth! though younger yet my guide,
How much by thy unerring insight clear

I shaped my way of life for many a year,
What thoughtful friendship on thy deathbed died!
Friend of my youth, whilst thou wast by my side

Autumnal days still breathed a vernal breath;
How like a charm thy life to me supplied
All waste and injury of time and tide,

How like a disenchantment was thy death!'

The longest poem in the collection is that which has given the volume its name. 6 The Eve of the Conquest' is an impassioned narrative of those events in King Harold's life which connected themselves with the Norman invasion. So adapted to the purposes of song, both from its poetical and its historical interest, is the fall of the last of England's Saxon kings, that few literary accidents are more singular than that it should not have been before now worthily recorded in verse. With the present poem we have one fault to find: the scale on which it is written is not large enough to allow of this noble theme being treated in that ampler manner, to which the narrative powers here exhibited are evidently adequate. The event described, paramount as it was in political importance, was but proportionate to the characters of the two men who at that great crisis stood opposed to each other, not only as the heads of hostile armies, but as the representatives of contrasted principles and contending races. The character of Harold was one of heroic material and heroic dimensions; and, with one exception, it was without stain. Of that fatal error, his engagement to William, -imposed upon him, it is true, iniquitously, but sacrilegiously violated, Harold, as here described, is deeply sensible, although he is no penitent. A great character, with one great flaw in it, appears to present us with the truest tragic effects; for without such a flaw no place is reserved for poetic justice. A saintly character would be strong enough for tragic purposes; but its strength is that spiritual strength which disowns itself, and is 'hidden' in a might greater than its own. This is doubtless one of the reasons why martyrdoms have been so seldom chosen for the source of dramatic interest. Tragic strength must be based upon exclusive self-reliance. Now exclusive selfreliance is the spirit that goes before a fall; and it is one of the functions of tragedy to illustrate, by the confutation of a fatal reverse, the insufficiency of such merely human strength, and the madness latent in such pride. The chief events of The Eve of the Conquest' are of historical fame. Those of our readers who are least acquainted with history will have learned them from the Harold of Sir E. Bulwer Lytton - which, as well as his Last of the Barons,' is truly an epic in prose: - it is needless, therefore, to recount them here. We are introduced to Harold in his tent the night before the battle. Inly disturbed, he seeks repose in vain; and at midnight sends for his daughter,

[ocr errors]

-

« AnteriorContinua »