The Sun.
London, England, 1840-08-31 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION.

LITERATURE

POEMS, by SIR F. H. DOYLE, Bart.
Saunders and Otley, London, 1840.
Whatever may have been the case formerly,
Nhen Grub-street was in all its glory, none can
_ll.ow say that poetry is a despised or pleheianvoca-
!,l°n• The poet no longer confines himself, as in
the days of Otway, Savage, and Chatterton, to the
solitude of a back attic in some blind alley ; or
creeps abroad with a lank, lean visage, and a coat
out at the elbows, wistfully sniffing up the fragrant
odours of a cook-shop, or looking sharply about hire
at every turn, lest some unimaginative bailiff—
fhat foe to genius!---might pounce upon him un-
awares ;—the poet is no longer, as a matter of
Course, this neglected, destitute creature, but,
quite as often as not, is a rich, well-connected per-
son, who versifies in a splendid study ; sports a
coast of the best and newest cut ; is familiar with the
salons of fashion ; has a good account at his
banker's; and can meet his tailor in the street with-
outl,, any nervous apprehension of consequences.
‘vhere once he was pitied, he is now envied.
Where once he starved like Lazarus, he now feasts
like Dives- He wears the Sergeant's coif, and the
Peer's coronet ; affixes Bart. and ALP. to his
name
country ; is now a beneficed clergyman, and now a
gentleman of ancient descent. But of all
strangech metamorphoses, who would ever have
\\rune(' of seeincr the poet transformed—Mr.
b. ordsworth would say, degenerated—into a Ca-
in 'net Minister, and taking up his quarters in Down-
street ? Yet there he is, and evidently as
'much at home as he once used to be in his Grub-
street, attic. Downing-street, indeed, may now
altlY be called a nest of nightingales—an aviary of
tinging-birds—for all our Ministers are, or have
been, poets. Some men have talked, and others
fought, but the Melbourne Administration have
'Zmanng, their way to promotion ! Lords J. Russell,
c. or, -
br, and IVlonteagle—glorious poetic trium-
rate !---Messrs. Sheil, Hobhouse, and Macaulay
t."-nay, the very Premier himself, have all been no-
4°doug for their flirtation with the Muse. The
v4ttorney-General is the only Member of the Go-
trninent who has escaped the infection ; at least
fully
charge of perpetrating poesy has never been
tiullY Proved against him ; but we can hardly won-
der at this exception, for the habit of drawing
3-rd ex-officio informations has generally been con-
-tereddetrimental to the exercise of the imagination.
We suppose it is the example of these illustrious
their
of Downing street, combined with that of
fashionable contemporaries, Scott and Byron,
twat
has set half the existing peerage and baronet-
agt chirping like so many sky-larks. It was but
the other day that we noticed the poems of two
small Z.ords and one Baronet ; and now we have
to notice those of another Baronet, Sir Francis
castingsi Doyle. And these last, seriously speak-
are 1.1":ehly creditable specimens of talent.
t. hey consist of original compositions, and transla-
tions from the Greek ; are polished with the utmost
:frre, yet without betraying an appearance of
; are distinguished by an evenness and se-
lenity of tone ; and are flushed all over with the
tempered lights of fancy. The author is
'evidently an ardent admirer of Coleridge and
,Wordswortli, on whom he has in some degree mo-
delled himself; and we trace in his " Comet"
much of that eloquent mysticism, in which the former
was so ar, to shroud his meaning. But from
the study of Wordsworth he has derived nought
unt good ; and it is not too much to say, that his
Poems entitled the " Catholic," " Platonist,"
(` Manichean," and " Lady Agnes," are the legi-
timate development of certain thoughts arid senti-
ments suggested and glanced at in the Lyrical
ellads." To show the calm, energetic power
with which our author writes, we quote his
`` Circassian War Song," which is as spirited a
martial lyric as the present age can show.
Though Russia, cheating, crushing, yet
Her web of ruin twines,
Along Caucasian hills, unset
The star of Freedom shines.
The Czar upon his marshy plains,
Mu count and drill his men ;
More must be done, before he gains
The mountain lion's den.
War is to him a science cold
Of numbers and array—
Enough of lead, enough of gold,
Enough of food and pay ;
As' if men's hearts that sink and swell,
~ike wooden chessmen were ;
As the strength of central hell
Could shake a brave despair.
We'll teach this monarch of machines,
What living souls can do,
'When noble ends, and noble means,
Conspire to bring them through.
Yes! when bi,ood-red the firinc, glares
Through floods of smoke, and' thunder,
When ever, ravecing echo tears
The trembling crags in sunder ;
When warlike pomp of fife and drum,
At,'d columns clustering deep,
Mere rottenness and dust become,
Against God's mountain-steep ;
The planuieg, marching, numbering Czar,
Among his tools, may find
That something else is strong in war,—
vr, The Spirit of mankind.
ne cannot say much for our author's transla-
tions from the Gretk, though from the pains he has
taken tc render his versions as literal as possible, it
°Oil appear that he piqued himself on their cor-
eetness- Our chief objection to them is, not that
, they are tamely or inelegantly versified, but that
t
etleY are not faithful to the original. Those from
omer, in particular, are sadly lax and ineffective,
t-tand iu some places give any thing but the poet's
Zteaning- For instance, in the well-known dispute
"ween Achilles anal Agamemnon, Sir Francis
°Yle translates the words of reproach, "
„...''7.4kg," by " abandoned wretch," when they
mean' ,
esa,' at most, " you very impudent fellow
NiE7.32.0;,;;," he renders by "
ho-
nouring t`hy b'rother," whereas it should be, " seek-
ng retribu.'ion for thy brother."
14Ev Toi 7g- Ca EXW yEiOCS, 07:1:07! AX2IOI
0:0(1,F/0% 'T:7O XIEOVV,
"1r author tiatisaces as follows :
" And yet my ne'er equals thine,
Whene'er the G'reeks destroy,
And plunder of ti:`e wealth it holds,
Some peopled town of Troy."
The word " some"
of the original text, completely alters the sense
which refers exclusively to the
4snd not to any other
great town of Troy itself,
in the possession of ti:e Trojans, as Sir
Francis Doyle, chiming in wiat the opinion of
'radarstr Dacier, supposes. The literal meaning of
pass ace is, " I never have a reward equal to
Y°ll---tkat is, to yours,—nor do I demand an equal
7-etvard" (the words here marked in Italics must be
~ -onsiaered as understood, for Homer frequently ex-
presses hi mse)f in this elliptical manner) " when the
n
"'creeks shall have destroyed the well-inhabited, city
Troy,," Aeain, "o Ex.rope avOppovoio' our
'author in terprei.s by " man-quelling Hector," in-
ttead of " man-slaying Hector," which is in-
,' 1.
t-Itely stronger. We have urged these objections
,a.e.„ in
no unfriendly spirit to‘vaids Sir Francis Doyle,
,wh°se poetic genius we cordially admire, but simply
oecieuse we would desire to be not less frank in our
strictures on, than we have been in our commenda-
ticnis of, his volume. We shall be glad to meet
with him again ; but we think, in future, he will do
veil to leave Horner to Magian,
whose specimens
of translation, published some few years since in
" Fraser's
Ma.eaeine," are the most faithful and
spirited that have yet appeared in print.

OBJECT lONS TO VOTERS.—We understand
that the overseers of Manchester have been served with no
less than a thousand and tu, o objections to persons on the
list of voters for the borough, being S 9 more than last
fear, This applies to the iconship of Manchester only,
;4
and we belive the number in 'he other townships corn-
prigod within the borough is also great, but we cannot
state the precise number. Numerous, however, as are the
objections ja Manchester, they are exceeded in Salford,
where we untlerstand the number for the Thole borough is
something llke 2,000. The number of objecti‘:ns to county
voters in the townsip of Manchester is also lavget being
491, and 104 overseer7,' objections.-211anchester Guardian.
GALLERY OF PRACTICAL SCIENCE.. An
interesting converzatioAe took place at this institution, On
Thursday night, the leading subject being the vibration of
rtOlwLys, and its consequ,",nces. The subject was started
by Mr. G. \V. Buck, engineer to the Manchester and
Birmingham Railway. This conversation led to a discus-
sion on the merits of the six-wheel railway carriage, and
its greater security and power for swift travelling. Mr.
Fairbairn, Mr. llawkshaw, Mr. Richard Roberts, Mr.
Eaton lio(igiinson, and other scientific men took part in
the conversv,icn. We understand that the institution
11,;ve it in contemplation to present a medal, cn which will
be a bust of Watt, to the ingenious man who furnished the
beauti...'il specimens of carving, representing a partridge, a
bunch or' grapes, and vine leaf. ":he exhibition has been
well att. deg during the week, and tht: lucid explanation
given to the viAitors of the different objects ocf.'cience which
attract attention, cannot fail to create an inereatCl inter-
est in it......Monchester Times.