The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-16 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE TONGUE. A Poem. By Alexander

After examining this singular production we regret to
lay it aside as altogether an iocomprehensible eccen-
tricity. Whether it be one rare joke from beginning to
end, or a rather obscure satire at the poetical rubbish
to: seed from the printing press every year; or an at-
tempt to play upon the credulity of the pubic, would
remain a matter of the most bewildering conjecture but
for the ambitious efforts of the writer, which are dis-
closed in several passages. Then, moreover, there is
the rather ostentatious appendag,e to the authei's name
upon the title-page—" Professor of Elocution." That,
we take it, is a sufficient authentication that the effusion
is a serious struggle for a poetical reputation. Mr.
Bell has totally mistaken the bias of his intellectual
powers: unaffectedly we tell him so. He has mistaken
that branch of polite literature iu which his abilities
might enable him to shine. Treating the question as
one of common sense, does he for a moment delude
himself into th© belief that such passages as the follow-
ing come under the denomination of poetry? He is
describing the first entrance of a young Member into
the House of Parliament:—

There is recorded how the tyro sped
In the deliw'ry of his maiden speech.
Thus: " Parliamentary intelligence.
" The honourable Member for Thick-Polls
" We notie'd for the first time in the [louse."
• • . •

Exulting in his noble place—himself—
His patriotic feelings—the great fame
Of having all his speeches register'd
In the short-handed, but long-mem'ried page
Of Hansard's Parliamentary Reports!—
That cloud of witnesses 'gainst renegades,
h o dread quotations as the worst of duns.
This is the very climax of delight!!
Ile knows and feels that he's the people's choice,
The tit and proper man to represent
The free constituency of Thick-Polls!
Good heav'n ! Is he within the hailow'd walls
That heard the mighty Pitt and Fox declaim?

Why these passages are nothing more than the most
trite end commonplace descriptions of prose. Write
them after the fashion of prose, and no one would ever
conjecture them to have been extracted from a so-called
metrical composition. Let us try:—
"There is recorded how the tyro sped in the de-
liv'ry of his maiden speech. Thus : Parliamentary
intelligence. The Honourable Member for Thick-Pulls
we notic'd for the first time in the House I
Exulting in his noble place—himself—his patriotic
feelings—the gr« at fume of having all his speeches
register'd in the short-handed, but long-mem'ried page
of Ilansard's Parliamentary Reports !'—that cloud of
witnesses 'gainst renegades, who dread quotations as the
worst of duns. This is the very climax of delight! He
knows and feels that he's the people's choice, the fit
awl proper man to represent the free constituency of
Thick- Polls ! Good heaven! Is he within the hallowed
walls that heard the mighty Pitt and Fox declaim ?"
If that is not the very flattest and prosiest piece of
prose, then the dogmas of Lindley Murray go
for nothing, and that is saying a great deal. Again,
does Mr. Bell imagine it to be consonant with the
dignity of verse to speak of Lord Brougham jump-
ing "gyrations of Jun Crow," or to mention "sarcastic
Charlie Fox," or to introduce such vulgarities of abre-
iiation as "free bread, free buccy, and free beer ?"
Such :.-olecisms are who:ly incompatible with poesy ;
they degenerate verse into mere balderdash. We shall
however, abstain from further comment upon the
" Tongue," uncertain whether it may not be, after all,
merely a piece of facetiousness, the drollery of which
we have &fled to discover. In conclusion, however, we
would recommend Mr. Alexander Bell to abstain from
publishing poems, and to exert his talents—of which no
doubt he possesses abundance—more suitably.

A COURSE OF LECTURES ()IV DRAMATIC
ART AND LITERATURE.—(Bohn's Standard
Library.)—By Augustus William ,Schlegel. Trans-
-I.ted by John Black, Esq.,late Editor of the "Morning
Chronicle."
To Schlegel is due the honour of having been the
most truly enlightened interpreter of Shakspere that
has ever existed. Madame de Stael in her work on
Germany thus speaks of these lectures:—
" I WAS at Vienna when W. Schlegel gave his public
course of lectures. I expected only good sense and instruc-
tion, where the object was merely to convey information: I
was astonished to hear a critic as eloquent as an orator, and
who, far from falling upon defects, which are the eternal
food of mean and little jealousy, sought only the means of
reviving a creative genius."
The admirable translation of these lectures by Mr.
Black was published many years since, and has long
been out of print. Mr. Bohn has conferred a great
obligation on all lovers of sound criticism by this well-
timed and judicious republication.