The Sun.
London, England, 1835-11-27 00:00:00

The public, we trust, will pardon us if, on this occa-
sion, we content ourselves with pointing out a few of
the author's beauties, without attempting to follow him
in the order of his Poem. The truth is, that we are ut-
terly unknown to Master Willis, or any of the leaders
of fashion at Almac's ; and having seen the heroine
of the tale at the door, we should be. under the neces-
sity of adjourning to a hotel to await her egress. Then
again, a voyage to Richmond at this season of the
year would be the death of us—especially as we should
he under the necessity of walking round the hill in
the twilight, listening to lovers' sighs, without having
previously fortified our stomachs at the Star and Gar-
ter. But we procrastinate.
We shall " begin with the beginning." Thus runs
the first stanza :
" It is the hour when human woes
Should find oblivion in repose—
When human toil should cease,
And aching hearts, and weary heads
Should seek their own delightful beds,'
And rest awhile in peace."
That is to say, in plain vulgar prose, it is night. The
pomp with which the author introduces the announce-
ment of a fact so momentous is, we consider, proof
positive of his having been a favourite with
Master Willis." The quotation of " own delight-
ful beds," is probably derived from the same classic
source, as we have never before been so fortunate as
to meet with it in the course of our reading. The
author's " shoulds" betray a lurking suspicion in his
mind that all is not yet right Li the world. In fact,
he very plainly insinuates that there are people who
do not keep regular hours ; and others whose health
would be improved did they sleep better. The idea
is altogether so happily expressed, that had the Poem
been published a few years earlier, the " discerning
few " would have discovered that Southey borrowed it
as a commencement for his romance of " Thalaba the
Destroyer." Nevertheless we cannot divest ourselves
of the belief that the laurcat, in some way or other,
must have filched the idea, in the first instance, from
Harry Chester.. Of course we know not by what
conceivable process such a fraud could be committed
—we only state our belief as to the fact.
The second stanza is fully equal to the first. We
give it : _ _ .

" But what can Lady Ellen know
Of human toil, or care, or woe ?
And why should curtained sleep
Be woo'd to close the laughing eyes
Of her whose bosom never sighs,
Who hath no cause to weep ?"
Answer these questions who can. For our part
we are left without a word. Why people choose to
sleep, who, like babies, do not cry themselves to rest,
is more than we can determine. As to the lady's
knowledge of human affairs, we must refer our readers
to some members of her family. Her governess, or
maid, we presume to think, may know something on
the subject of her acquirements in this way ; but for
our part we protest we have not been honoured with
her confidence, and are entirely unacquainted with her
means of acquiring such kind of knowledge.
The heroine dresses for a ball at Almac's. Having
made her toilet, she salutes her looking-glass, upon
which the author philosophically observes :
" I said, her steps were stay'd awhile,
And if upon her lips a smile
Of pride and maiden glee
Salute that mirror'd image bright,
What wonder that so fair a sight
Should thus saluted be?'
No wonder in the world i'faith ; on the contrary, it
would be a great wonder had the " mirror'd image,"
whether bright, blue, or yellow, been allowed to pass
unobserved. As to the author's politeness in repeating
a fact so important, we cannot speak of it in terms
sufficiently expressive of the warmth of our approba-
tion. We must here do him the justice to mention,
that his re-sayings are almost as numerous as his
sayings—in fact, we find by a reference to the Poem
that they are much more so. Readers troubled with
defective memories will find this a great advantage.
But we must hurry on, as the lady is waiting. Of
course we do not purpose to accompany her farther
than to hand her into her carriage :
" The portals of the lordly hall
Unclosed, arrest the passer by ;
And gilden roof and glittering wall
Flash on the night's astonished eye."
Or, in homelier phrase, the opening of the street
door threw the moon fairly into fits. This might have
led to a dreadful catastrophe, especially as the hand-
maidens of her Majesty of the Night do not carry
hartshorn along with them, when peering into the
lordly. halls" of Berkeley-square. The departure of
the carriage which conveys the lady is thus graphi-
cally described :
" Away ! away ! the carriage glides ;
With ready skill the coachman guides
His coursers' rapid feet ;
Like meteors rushing through the air,
They dash, 0 Berkley, through thy square,
And up thy hilly street.'
We doubt whether in the list of living bards there