The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-13 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Poems before Congress. By Elisabeth Barrett
Browning. One vol. pp. 65. Chapman and
Hall.
This hastily written and prematurely printed
volume will now, that it is unhappily published,
add nothing to Mrs. Browning's reputation. Far
worse than that, however, it will militate seriously
against the fair fame won by the abundant beau-
ties of our poet's last and most ambitious effort,
" Aurora Leigh." To begin with, the book is a
misnomer. Nothing :can be said to be before (in
point of time) what is absolutely non-existent. So
is it—with these " Poems" (so-called upon the title
page ?) Before—what never was or apparently
will be, namely—" Congress." As a literary pro-
duction—(That we should have had this to say of
any book from the hand of Mrs. Browning !")-0.1
a literary production the volume is really unworthy
of notice, it is beneath contempt, it is vile, vulgar,
and worthless. Imagine any songstress with such
-ar for nu.
" vice on" and—'n`;eY in rhymu as to couple thus--
turret" and " hur-
ried"—" Modena" and " in a"—" open" and
" agrope in"—bprne in" and" morning"—" summer"
and " come here"—" cascine" and " green way"—
and, over and over again, in two lines by them-
selves, as if she were proud of the Cockney reson-
ance of the sounds, as a very rare discovery in
rhyming—(we wince in the mere quotation of it!)—
“ Emperor
Evermore !"
Fancy any one talking as Mrs. Browning actually'
does here—vide page 24—of the blue sky over head
" swooning with passion," of the mountains around
" heaving mighty hearts," the said mountains at
the same time " sighing a rapture in a shadow"—
and all this to the end that they might—[though
how they could possibly manage to do it we can't
imagine—for there was no earthquake at the time
helping them to any such absurd proceedings)—all
in order that they might
CC
And touch the holy stone where Dante sate."
For these and countless other reasons squandered over
65 pages of—we will call it versification—the book
is really worthless, to say the least of it, as a lite-
rary production. Then, viewing it in its political
significance, what shall we say to the absurd anti-
climax of the " annexation" following hard upon
the issue from the press of the following rhapsodi-
cal ejaculations :
Shout for Franca and Savoy
Shout for the helper and doer.
Shout for the good sword's ring,
Shout for the thought still truer.
Shout for the spirits at large
Who passed for the dead this spring,
Whose living glory is sure.
Shout for France and Savoy !
Shout for the couicil and charge I
Shout for the head of Cavour ;
And shout for the heart of a King
That's great with a nation's joy.
Shout for France and Savoy
This is from the first of the Eight Poems—the one
entitled," Napoleon 111. in Italy." It is the very
poem in which the authoress shouts (we beg her
pardon ; it is her own word) " shouts " with the
blatant roar of a Cockney Catnach broadsheet,
over and over and over again—
" Emperor
Evermore !"
As at the close of the:following clever little photo-
graphic glimpse of Napoleon M.'s triumphal entry
into Milan :
Ay, it is He,
Who rides at the King's right hand !
Leave room to his horse and draw to the side,
Nor press too near in the ecstasy
Of a newly delivered impassioned land ;
He is moved, you see,
He who has done it all.
They call it a cold stern face ;
But this is Italy
'Who rises up to her place !
For this he fought in his youth,
Of this ho dreamed in the past ;
The lines of the resolute mouth
Tremble a little at last.
Cry, he has done it all I
"Emperor
Evermore."
Here is Mrs. Browning's explanation of the
Emperor's reason for the Treaty of Villafranca, that
lamentable bathos to the sublimity of the Milan
Proclamation —justifying anew the Great Na-
poleon's witty phrase that there is really but one
step from the sublime to the ridiculous. Here,
we say, is Mrs. Browning's clue to the heart of
that labyrinthine mystery of Villafranca. She
writes :
But He stood sad before the sun,
(The peoples felt their fate).
" The world is many,—l am one ;
My great Deed was too great.
God's fruit of justice ripens slow :
Men's souls are narrow ; let them grow.
My brothers, we must wait."
Enough, however—we fling the book aside—We
apologise to our readers for tarrying so long over
anything so valueless either politically or poeti-
cally—and we rest satisfied that in the end Mrs.
Browning will, if she cannot do so already, lament
sincerely as we do ourselves, being amongst tile
number of her sincere admirers, that tkese unfor-
tunate " Poems before Congress " should ever have
seen the light of day in the form of a substantial
publication.

11118 DAY'S MARKETS.

CORN EXCHANGE.

Only a limited supply of wheat came fresh to hand tod
day, both from Essex and Kent, in but middling condition.
For good and fine samples there was a fair demand at quite
Monday's currency, but low and damp parcels met a dull
inquiry. In prices, however, no change took place.
The imports of foreign wheat aro 4,060 qrs., and there
was a better show of samples. The business done wee
much restricted. However, late rates were well supported
in every instance.

Floating cargoes of grain were hold at full quotations, but
the demand for them by no means active.
Barley, though in somewhat increased supply, moved off
steadily at full prices.
We had a dull sale for malt on former terms.
The oat trade was firm, and extreme rates wore realised
in every instance.
Ilans, peas, and flour were unaltered in value.