The Sun.
London, England, 1848-07-13 00:00:00

A LOVER'S FANCIES.

" What sounds like pewter," said my Rose, in play—
" The fall of earth upon a coffin lid."

" Like tin?"—" The cock-crow heralding the day,
Or infant wailing that its mother chid."
" Like steel?"—" The quick sharp twitter on the spray
Of numerous sparrows in the foliage hid."
" Like gold?"—" The strong wind over forests borne,
Or full bass singer chanting prayer and creed."
" Like brass?"—" The neighing of a frightened steed,
Or roar of people clamouring for corn."
" Like iron?"—" Thunder-claps suddenly woken,
Startling the city in the summer night."
"Like silver?"—" Thy sweet voice that speaks delight,
And breathes Love's prornio, never to be broken."
As a mere rhythmical eccentricity, the " Water
Tarantella " is curious ; and the chaunt of " The
Mowers " has about it an awful solemnity. For his
"Town Lyrics," as well as for his " Voices," Charles
Mackay has our benison.

SHAKS PERE. A Romance. By Henry Curling. 3 Vols.
Our first sentiment on taking up this work was
one of surprise at its author's audacity—an audacity
which had attempted to pourtray Shakspere as he
might iizzve been, when his own pen has so empha-
tically demonstrated what he was. Mr. Curling's
attempt was an adacious one, and his task suffi-
ciently difficult. The iesult, however, has been suc-
cessful ; he has overcome, or evaded, the difficulties
which beset him, and the attractive character of his
accomplished work incline us to forgive the audacity
which initiated it. Were we to judge this work only
as a novel we should find in it much to commend and
also some things to censure. But we do not propose to
weigh " Shakspere" by the ordinary standard : our chief
object of interest in turning over the pages was to see
how the immortal bard had been pourtrayed, and our
comment now shall be confined to that particular
feature. Mr. Curling's portrait of Shakspere is, WO
are inclined to think, a happy one. In pourtray2
his ideal Shakspere, Mr. Curling has evident ly b
guided not so much by the brief record ofnheiss
ahni sdtsoerny ,
with which we are acquainted, as by the
attemptsce in this
timents represented in his plays..
respect has been somewhat shimtilar to the chemical
process of resolution, by w.hicthe dissolved.. particles
of a body are reduced again to their primitive sub-
stance. The soul of our author :becomes, as it were,
diffused in his writings, his individual character and
adventures are partially represented by the creations
of his fancy. Those who knew Shakspere when
living would doubtless have recognised him in the
spirit
of his plays—but Mr. Curling s has been a more
difficult task. Knowing Shakspere, it were easy t;
ln-
understand his plays, but Mr. Curling, understanding
his plays, has wished from them to know Shakspere.
In these volumes the gentle Willie appears to us
suppose to
mixing in those scenes which we may
have been the prototypes of his plays.
the lonely
we find him musing in woods
dreamingov r the
a
For example,
character of the melancholy Jaques,Ay or
dream of a Midsummer night. we see him
in the midst of a jovial band of degeari-ns:tealers, before
Sir Thomas Lucy had missed the deer from Charle-
cote, leading the hunting " What shall he
n
have who slew the deer 25 chorus
of these boon-com-
panions representing the oriogineal of Falstaff. We
watch the vicissitudes of his i
naginary career as a lover,