The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-16 00:00:00

LlTliii AI vat:

Lays of the War. By Michael Joseph Barry.
Cork : Bradford and Co.
A little volume of pure sound poetry, and truly
refreshing to light on amidst the torrents of spas-
modic bardism poured out of late upon the land.
Cork is honoured in the production of Mr. Barry's
" Lays of the War," but we must certainly demand
of him a London edition. Otherwise, and we say
it with the utmost respect towards our Hibernian
friends, he will be guilty, to some extent, of hiding
his talents under a bushel. How pretentious has
been many a production without half the merit of
the few sterling pages before us, to which the
modesty of the author has given as yet an unjustly
circumscribed publicity. The Lays, which are
heralded by an introduction in the Speuseriau
measure, are five in number :—" A Lay of the
Alma," "The Charge of Balaklava," " A Ballad of
Inkerman," " Sebastopol is Won," and, best
of all, " A Requiem for the Brave." The
merit of fidelity in the descriptive
inci-
dents Of the commemorated events cannot be
refused to an author who largely and avowedly
takes his materials from the world-famed corre-i-
-pondent of the Times ; and with consummate skill
has he reared the superstructure of his song. Each
lay, as we read on, we liked still better than the
ono preceding, and laid down the little treasure
with the verdict—" This is true Poetry 1" A few
extracts will serve to substantiate our opinion. The
octo-syllabic metre, so spirit-stirring when em-
ployed on warlike themes by a poet with the gra-
phic vigour and ringing rythm of Walter Scott, is
made use of by Mr. Barry in his vivid picture of
that magnificent exploit of heroism, when Cardi-
gan's immortal squadrons—

" Six hundred men—for statues fit
Impatient, in their saddles sit ;
Whose pawing chargers champ the bit ;
And sniff the sulphurous air—"
rushed on their dauntless death-race against the
serried legions of the Czar.
On, on, with thinned, but closing ranks,
That keep their line, like rampart banks,
While shot and shell, from front and flanks,
Crash through them as they go ! -
On, on, their bloody path is spread,
Each step, with dying and with dead ;
Bat each proud rider's manly head
Tarns, fearless, towards the foe !
In " A Ballad of Inkerman" the details of the
memorable conflict of the sth of November are por-
trayed with great poetic power. The opening is
admirable, a strain of solemn melody :
The dull November morning is creeping, chill and damp,
O'er the leaguered Russian city, and the tented allied camp,
Not a camp-fire shows its glimmer, o'er the broad and
rugged steep,
Ind the cold and weary sentinels start, momently, from
sleep ;
The mist hangs, thick and heavy, on mountain and on
plain,
And, through the deep and dark ravines, sweep sullen
gusts of rain :
Along the gorge of Inkerman the British pickets lie ,
How gloomily each watcher feels those morning hours go
by !
And listen to the spirited strain of vaunt with
which this ballad concludes

Ay ! there ye go, in fall retreat, proud legions of the
Czar !
This blood-bought field of Inkerman your glittering pride
will mar !
Ye tole upon us, in the dark, like wolves—a countless
pack—
Bat know that 'twas the lion slept—and scamper wolf-like
back !
•You roused that lion from his sleep—and paid your rash-
ness dear,
And now the lordly eagle swoops upon your hurrying
rear.
How crash the cannon through your ranks I—Rise mists
and shroud the sun !
There's blood enough on earth to-day ; and Inkerman is
won !
"Sebastopol is Won " is a poem of victory, pealing
like a grand triumphal chorus :
Ay ! peal it out with triumph !—Ay ! peal it out with
pride !
Not vainly, on these sacred heights, our bravest brothers

Not vainly, in the Alma's tide—swept down by shot and
shell—
And up its cannon-crested steep, our dauntless children
fell !--
Not vainly, through the iron hail, in front, to left, to
right,
Our heroes dash'd to grapple death, on Balaklava's height !
Not vainly, in the treacherous niikt, that hid the foeinan'a
wiles,
'Gainst fearful odds they, falling, fought, in Inkerman's
defiles;
Nor vainly have their comrades died, whose lot 'twas
harder strife—
Tiainst sickness, want, and cold, to strive, through weary
months, for life :
Had they not played their part so well—so gloriously
begun,
We should not raise the shout to-day—Sebastopol is won!
A. graceful and truthful tribute is paid by the Irish
Campbell to the late British Commander—that
mirror of conrteeus chivalry
To die as Riiglau
The soldier's duty nobly done, without the soldier's pride.
No pomp of battle on his brow, its glorious lustre shed ;
But calumny and falsehood hung above his dying bed—
Yet murmured not the brave old man, and, from his house
of clay,
His hero soul serenely passed—Oh ! were he here to-day
He should have lived to see the end of what he had
begun,
And heard those thrilling triumph words—Sebastepol is
won !

But the most perfect gem of the entire collection
is "A Requiem for the Brave," in which
" The sound of sadder music follows soon the exultant lay."
In sentiment and expression this is a chef d'amvre
d)f poetry, and would, more than all the rest, stamp
Mr. Barry's name with lasting popularity were he
never to write another line. What a fine manly
picture is the following

The strong, swarthy smith is brandishing his massive
sledge in air,
And he flings it on the anvil, with his brawny arms all
bare,
And he pauses for a moment, and resumes his toil again,
With the brief and pithy sentence—" Well, they did their
work like men
And the lines immediately succeeding constitute,
to our thinking, in their exquisite simplicity, one
of the most genuinely beautiful stanzas in the whole
range of modern poetry.
The old man, with hair of silver, as he gladdens in the
glee
Of the golden-headed grandchild that sits laughing on his
knee—
Lays his hand upon the baby-brow, and says, with aspect
grave—
" God grant, my little darling, you may one day prove as
brave."
If the deeds of our heroic soldiers on the Euxine
shores have been recorded in prose that the world
will not willingly let die—non carent vate sacro—
a kindred spirit has been found to celebrate them
in undying verse. William Russell and Michael
Joseph Barry are the historian and the poet of
the Crimean War.

Conversations on Harmony. By the Author of
" Conversations on Botany." Published by
Longman and Co., London.
The present publication, evidently from the pen
of a highly-gifted person, - will be welcomed by all
who desire to please the ear, and through the ear
to afford delight to the mind. It is at once clear,
simple, and easy of comprehension, and better
adapted than any work we have yet seen to the
attainment of its object, which is, we cannot ex-
press it better than in the words of the author
—" to explain the Rules of Harmony, in so simple
a manner, as to bring their practical application
within the reach of young students, and also to in-
crease the pleasure of men-lovers of music, by en-
abling them to understand in some degree the
theory of sweet sounds. Instruction in this volume
is conveyed in the form of dialogue between teacher
and pupil, a method eminently successful in
awakening the interest, fixing the attention, and
lessening the difficulties of youthful learners. Every
needless difficulty which has hitherto rendered the
path to musical knowledge rugged and toilsome
has been cleared, things really plain and simple
in themselves have been divested of their air of
mystery, and the great principles andleading rules
of the art, which, when clearly explained, may be
easily understood, have been rescued from a mass
of useless technicalities. The author has shown
us that there is no royal road to mu
sic any more
than to mathematics, and that skill in its practice
is to be gained only by a clear understanding of its
principles, and that these principles may be di-
vested of unnecessary obscurity, and .;the rules of
practice presented in their simplest and most
comprehensive form. The musical artiste,
whether as a composer, a performer, or a teacher,
will find his labours lessened and his pains amply
rewarded by a careful study of the present work ;
and the youngmusical student, by its assistance,
will mount easily and cheerfully from the first step
of the scale to the highest point of his ambition—
musical composition,his
path being carefully cleared
from all the obscurity that has hitherto impeded
his progress. The approbation of this work by a
name so eminent as Cipriani Potter, Principal of
the Royal Academy of Music, stamps it as one of
sterling merit ; and we trust that it may have a
circulation as extensive as its utility. As a speci-
men of musical typography this volume does great
honour to the house of Novello.
,or-

r
DISCOVE RY OF Roarart. COINS.—A large number of
small brass Roman coins wer.t found a short time since at
Nunktrnb.ulur, in the East Riding of the countyof York.
'Rey bavo passed into the hat,ds of Lord Mune:rater,
who prop•Dges to cede them to Lord Londesborougb, the
Lord of the Manor. Lord Londesborough hag signified
his intention of placing them in the hands of Mr. Roach
ETON CoLLEGE.—Tis day (Wednesday) the " lower Smith, to lbe catalogued and applied to the benefit of
boys" return to Etoo, after the Christmaq vacation. The the numismatic world. The finder will be recompensed
Efth form and upper division return on Thursday ; and accordin64 to the value of the treasure-trove ; and the
on Friday and Saturday the sixth form return, when coins will ultimately be assigned to the cabinets of the
the whole.sellOol will have assembled. • chief county museums.