The Sun.
London, England, 1828-09-20 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

BEAUTIES OpTHE BRITISH POETS,
,Rite INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS, ET THE REVEREND
oi
n arrest ,
C. CROIX. LONDON, 1828.
had been
~W, have perused this unassuming little vo-
:olen note' it,
'ounded on 'ne with considerable gratification, both as far
et:on.
... 4, regards its selections and its original matter.
themcitl-- itls •
d it (Mr. il a most appropriate present to put into the
h_
,4,148 of youth ; to inspire them with fitting
'Oons of taste ; to refine, exalt, and invigorate
their judgmenh The introductory observations,
Lgh brief, are pertinent and pregnant with
rtnation—those regarding Byron most par-
ttulsrly so ; and the embellishments which ac-
toNPany the different extracts, display a very re-
tetable modicum of ability.
had abc4n
eh Ir. Croly commences his selections with
id done' 2ucer, and gives a fair specimen of that fins
le prisoner 41t1 Poet's knowledge of character and strength
lea, or
et,' 4 description. Spencer follows, but we are
not expect
the üblic ,
le not to find his exquisite illustration
riso iiroent TORY,
harmony introduced ; it is one of the
convicted,' 4°4 melodious passages in the " Fairy Queen ;"
free from quaintness, and that afFecta-
'nedee'rebd°V; tifeetlY
Zrt the en c, of antiquity in which Spencer so often in-
ee pardl t'ges. Shakspeare is of course the third, but
met JaSiej 'r• Croly, we think, would have done better
I proposed to have g.
he ant"°- kt e given specimens from his poems, which
,nor taken, t, comparatively unknown, rather than from
iti4Jlays,which like the Bible, are in every one's
~, ds. There is much excellent matter for
•Igclation in his ". Venus and Adonis," (for
[dietedn f th feoirr
k ranee the description of the horse, to which
'and Choi' mt: Croly is himself indebted for a similar
t to have tilikingt passage in his " Sebastian,") not a
• ein his " Tarquin and Lucrece," and an
g a tio' Nile . . .
led Mee' Ili, natty in his Sonnets. The extracts fives,
, L ton are every way unexceptionable; Dryden,
n• 00°1 )7ever, has hardly justice done to him ; and
bleolnliea- /46°41; Pope is pretty. much in the same predica-,
the name to --pray why is that magnificent conclusion
'
, I, the Dunciad omitted ? Thompson and
sentence 'ytoting exhibit great poetical discernment ;
u
ig several licit we have too much of Akenside. Col-
of John
caul is.excellent ; Johnson the same ; and we
re lodge" vti have been satisfied with the Deserted
were not T age of that elegant mannerist Goldsmith.
ed. -•-ao has but one hymn taken from him ; Mr.
n. stealirl cr.?, o
Toperty d , Y should have extracted his fine Ode to the
%Ai t.
C") " Hail beauteous stranger of the
wood ~
°h en
which pleased Burke so much that
°uteri in Edinburgh he made a point of finding
hat the author. Sir W. Jones we could readily
Bediensed with ; and could have granted
11.,same dispensation to Miss Charlotte Smith.
gt Burns—inimitable Burns—why have we
Caunequalled " Tam O'Shanter ?" From
his
Mr. Croly is profuse in his extracts; to
thi
i 2 we cannot possibly object, for he was really
'et
moralist ; but we should like to have
'et with his fine feeling reflections suggested by
p, . distant village chimes; once read, they are
;tler forgotten. Southey shows off to great ad-
11114tage ; not so his friend and relative Coleridge,
author of " Genevieve," the finest love poem,
th the exception of Sappho's impassioned
%%lent, in this or any language. Mr. Words-
tth,)i
awriter whose influence is strongly though
~,k4l3treeptibly felt in almost all the good poetry
Ith
~ , e age, is not treated with due respect ; his
1114aodasnia," a polished and classical gem ; .his
\vtlY philosophical " Lines on revisiting the
ije ;" his sublime " Intimations of Immortality,"
°de breathing the true poetic inspiration ; his
ati
Otteta to Liberty, " Two voices are there," &c.
14 on " Westminster Abbey ;" his lyrical
Itkra" of Yarrow," and his episode of " Hap-
tke Ellen," from the cumbrous poem of " The
tit:_sison ;'' all these are passed by as if they had
111,, existed, and we are treated instead with a few
ti1:;%Ilt but by no means first rate productions of
!tottuly original author. Scott and Montgomery,
tl/4 cte and Campbell, on the contrary, have no
Ilts to complain; and of Lord Byron, the
thi ilit, ells produced exhibit a keen relish for,
trziaititimate acquaintance with, his daring and
NI tile genius. To poor Keats—a genuine
hit llg poet, who died too soon for himself and
6.1 4
iof eountry, who with many and great defects,
kilo style and conception, possessed a thou-
lii:‘ redeeming beauties—Mr. Croly has be-
-4 '(1 with a justice , and generosity that do
ek,
itt
much sense
to his head and heart. He has had
kktl uch sense to fall in with the vulgar outcry
tillie 4t him (merely because he was unfashion-
4, one of the greatest tests of his merit),
\Voittoo much discrimination to neglect him.
,hole and Mrs. Hemans close the list ; and we
clot_ have been still better pleased had that list
4441 with Mr. Croly himself, who, in his fine
ttiiiitt,4Y
ed o f Catiline (whose excellence strongly
tltt`4l t against the probabilities of its success
killge stage), his ~ Angel of the World," and
riiitlkore in his " Paris in 1815," has exhibited
eq, and striking proofs of first-rate poetic
ierle
It . e.
itah,lng thus sketched in a spirit of perfect
lu rgtialit
14, y the character of this amusing vo-
of 4:8 We have merely to add, that in the nature
out, selections the churchman too often peeps
vet) He rises on the ruins of the critic. In
, tit tliPage Mr. Croly betrays not the cloven foot,
long he cloth. Thus we are indulged with some
hereibYmns from Mr. Millman's various dramas,
bet t;: because they are clerical. As far as
trisi;' is concerned, they are vastly inferior to his
4 esand magnificent descriptions in Belshazzar
ttw 'le Fall of Jerusalem. in Dryden, Pope,
Pet) Logan, and Mrs. Hemans, the same
t
4
els Predominates, regard being had not so
tieteo the pectic as to the religious excellence
impressive writers. To this exuberant
l‘i
t(°)tyt we could not possibly have objected,
ha the title of the book led us to expect it ;
tlkwe must confess we did not altogether anti-
te that •
1, , it would have prevailed to the ex-
I •
tki.."'
flu some degree, of the professed clia-
}•vr L
ill. the work, namely, Specimens of the
44g`141 Poets. Mr. Johnstone, in his " Sacred
Serious Miscellany," has already done jus-
totthe.sOlind religious feeling of our ~ Eng-
-o.._ards." , In this respect, therefore, Mr.
tCY 3 preterit work it merely a faint echo of,
excellent and praiseworthy, publication.

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