The Sun.
London, England, 1839-12-20 00:00:00

LITERATURE:

SHELLEY'S ESSAYS, LETTERS FROM
ABROAD, 6.e. 2 Vois.
Moron, London: 1839.
These volumes comprise the whole of Shelley's
prose works, which we must confess we prefer to
his poetry, for the latter we can understand, while,
as regards the former, we can only now and then,
at long intervals, get a glimpse of the author's
meaning. Had Shelley confined himself to prose—
though it cannot be denied that he had the ele-
ments of a great poet in his nature—we think he
might have become one of the most popular writers
of his day. Nothing can exceed the musical flow
of his style, which is chaste, eloquent, lucid as the
fountain of Tempe, and singular happy in the se-
lection of epithet. The English language has few
finer essays to boast of than Shelley's " Defence
of Poetry," whether as respects its pure and lofty
turn of thought, or the manner in which such en-
nobling reflections are expressed. His " Letters"
are interesting, chiefly by virtue of the glimpses
they give us of certain characters who have long
held a prominent station in the world's eye. They
have little wit or vivacity—nothing of that acute
and ready observation which gives such a charm
to epistolary correspondence ; they are the produc-
tions, however, of a gentleman and a scholar, and
furnish us with one or two curious particulars re-
specting Lord Byron ; and, more particularly, John
Keates, whose last moments are thus described :
" I hasten to communicate to you what I know about
the latter period and closing scene of the pilgrimage of
the original poet from whose works, hitherto unseen by
me, you have favoured me with such a beautiful quota-
tion. Almost despairing of his case, he left his native
shores by sea, in a merchant vessel, for Naples, where
he arrived, having received no benefit during the passage,
and brooding over the most melancholy and mortifying
reflections ; and nursing a deeply-rooted disgust to life
and to the world, owing to having been infamously
treated by the very persons whom his generosity had
rescued from want and woe. He journeyed from Naples
to Rome, and occupied, at the latter place, lodgings
which I had, on former occasions, more than once in-
habited. Here he soon took to his bed, from which he
never rose more. His passions were always violent, and
his sensibility most keen. It is extraordinary that, pro-
portionally as his strength of body declined, these ac-
quired fresh vigour ; and his temper at length became
so outrageously violent, as to injure himself, and annoy
every one around him. He eagerly wished for death.
After leaving England, I believe that he seldom courted
the muse. He was accompanied by a friend of mine,
Mr. Severn, a young painter, who will, I think, one day
be the Corypha3us of the English school. He left all,
and sacrificed every prospect, to accompany and watch
over his friend Keats. For many weeks previous to his
death, he would see no one but Mr. Severn, who had
almost risked his own life, by unwearied attendance upon
his friend, who rendered his situation doubly unpleasant
by the violence of his passions exhibited even towards
him, so much, that he might be judged insane. His
intervals of remorse, too, were poignantly bitter. I be-
lieve that Mr. Severn, the heir of what little Keats left
behind him at Rome, has only come into possession of
very few manuscripts of his friend. You will be
pleased with the information that the poetical volume,
which was the inseparable companion of Keats, and which
he took for his most darling model in composition, was,
the Minor Poems of Shakspeare."

PALMYRA. Chambers, Edinburgh, 1839.
A republication of a tale originally published in
America, and which was brought out soon after, in
two volumes, by, if we remember rightly, Mr. Col-
burn. The present republication forms one Num-
ber of Chambers's " People's Edition," and is
singularly cheap in point of price.

SONGS OF AZRAEL,
Southgate, London, 1839.
There are some pleasing specimens of versifica-
tion in this collection, which is introduced by a
short preface, wherein the author speaks modestly
enough of her poetical productions, observing,
" the following little pieces have been written
during brief intervals, snatched from the precarious
labours of the pencil ; but never should I have ven-
tured to publish, had the giants of the land been
been still walking bodily on the earth. In the ab-
sence of fairer and brighter flowers, the daisy of
the field may be sometimes thought worth the
gathering." Two or three of the ballads in this
little volume—more particularly that entitled " The
Village Home"—are worthy to vie with some of
the best of the late Haynes Bayley.

HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP.
Moxon, London, 1839.
A light, amusing essay, which may be consulted
with advantage by those who ate anxious to become
acquainted with the mysteries of horsemanship.
The author, as he styles himself in the title page,
is an officer of the household brigade of cavalry,
and of course an unimpeachable authority on eques-
trian matters.