The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-25 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

POEMS CHIEFLY OF EARLY AND,•aI '
YEARS. By W. WORDS WORTH*:
Moron, London, 1842. , - ~,' ,e tr
To calm and contemplative natures, such asi,Sing
speculate on humanity in a philosophic spiriti'rirthe
aloof from the stir and turmoil of: the creviang
poems of 'Wordsworth will afford a. never
source of delight, for none are better 'calcoE-411 •
nourish, quicken, and open up new veins of theN,
none are more fully informed with sentimenteer2the
gest more striking and original reflections: -to
homely, familiar common-places of life. .)3)(001
readers of a shrewd, knowing, worldly turn of.:' A oro
they will afford little satisfaction. Such peoplesALll- tlit
necessarily more conversant with the material, tzw-ssi
spiritual, part of our common nature, whose taste"
oil
habits prevent them from going out of themselOSlAit
were, or thinking deeply on any subjects but Sat7.,ir
appeal to their own self-interests, or lie in theit-°4O
nary course of study, will be sure to misinteld
the spirit of Wordsworth's poetry; to discovers,
but insipidity in his repose, and nothing but 1'..4,
ness in his strength, because that strength ii. 5,511
companied by the spasm and convulsion whim' OP
have been accustomed to regard as energy, piaWordsworth, who is strict even to austerity
poetic notions, sternly rejects all the trickery 0,
art ; he deals in no sounding common-plii.t4
popular themes ; avoids everything in the s!r;g4H
tawdry, rhetorical diction ; is sparing of. iiirr,_ .0
and so careful, and even fastidious, in the allegiv
epithets, as to select none but such as shall ie..,
rectly to throw light upon the thought which he. 0
to develope. Thus in describing the aspe4'w.b,
clouds at sunset, when a storm is passing of 4 -1 0
gives him the idea of magnificent castleS4
palaces piled up confusedly in air, he :-Ie ti
of their " restless battlements," which, it lrtt€4
observed, is the epithet of all others bests
to convey the notion of the quick shiftings and 0
AN44
ings of :.the clouds. Again, in his sonnet teolti
Abbotsford on a summer evening, when Sir "40
Scott's death was hourly expected, he alluded.te-.0
setting sun's pathetic light"—an expresSion exiltr,ty
beautiful and appropriate, and which we adnu?
more, because we entertain a notion, amountnol
all the force of a moral conviction, that' it islhtto
Mr. Wakley's comprehension. Those who desk 41
get an insight into the true character of WordsiTift,
genius, will do well to peruse with attentiMecti
Sergeant Talfourd's masterly essay on the.s:4!toollil
which appeared some years since in the New.
..„'OO
Magazine, and has lately, together with his otnek, 47,1
criticisms, been republished in America, as iN'e :,-.00
the New York journals. This essay, whiohig
searching, analytical nature, and g blends sonn4lli
ment with vigorous eloquence in a yerf- t'
degree, may be fairly said to exha.' [fat
subject, and has materially assisted to ext4' i
admiration of Wordsworth's poetry. ula titei
now so general both here and in the United. But it is time to turn to the volume before,' iplitejal
11,110
consists of poems written chiefly in the autha.'',i- it
youth and his declining age ; but what prinaiP! 0'
duces us to notice it is, that it contains a f6rhiTi ist°
act tragedy. A tragedy from the pen 4,`T- Y
Wordsworth! We should as soon have e*./ir, flOo
have seen one from the pen of INIr. *tT4Ol
reviewer ! Yet, strange to say, 00 -.'•eaatir
athnodupgh-hilposroopcieleiceclininiLts'roomf
thoteleagoef, the rees means ii ~
is by no 1.,
edireanntmitni c tpassion,otcles
tilt. Its great defect is its 'construction, whi?
no living aISO
aasnldiroexshuirbpiatssseodecia)ys,ionally such
dramatic
uniformly feeble, and violates probability- 4 e- $
step. Men come and go without a . wilY(34
a wherefore; incidents are strung togetheto
no conceivable purpose ; and the most ' °_,iet
preparations are made for catastrophes ,that.l,7o
arrive. We subjoin a portion of one of the:Or mix,
pressive scenes, in justification of our asser!lt?.. ,
0
the author occasionally exhibits true dramatic..eie
and feeling. Marmaduke, a Scottish border-010(16r
has, it seems, undertaken to murder a blind old-'lOO
lish baron, who has lately returned in disguise...
the Holy Land, and who, having been long aul7::.010
dead, has lost his patrimony, which has' PAsseujotel
the hands of others. The reasons of Mara Lor
hatred to the Baron Herbert are, first, that he. mil
ceives him to be an impostor; and secondly, thiof toe
led to believe, by the artful suggestions' eird
other borderer, Oswald," that he is des,d
to sell his daughter Idonea—with whom galcie,
duke is in love—to a profligate English ri,ofe
mss, Lord Clitford. Impressed with this ,two iS
belief, the_ young man decoys the old Baron, I.o.thj
travelling about the country with his daugliter'lol
disguise of a mendicant, into the dungeon of 11.140
ruined castle, under the pretext of turnishilllit
with shelter for the night ; and when he is,'
enters the cell in order to perpetrate the act of Sliae.
nation, but is so struck with the old man's reseridoioe.
to his child, Idonea, that he cannot find it in D
_.,. - oft,
to become his murderer. lie therefore rusa9o
again, the deed uncompleted, when the folloWill:',0!
place between him and his insidious tempters "j i
wald:—
MARMADUKE re-enters from the dungeon.
i A.
OSWALD. - : -1, I.'s
It is all over then ;—your foolish fears .. t'
Axe hushed to sleep, by your own act tind'tleetit;,o-.
Made quiet as he is. - - '"' ;,li:
„4c
MARMADUKE." ' '''' : •:t' ',
Why came you dowii ?'"'":
.'')"
And when I felt your hand upon my arm - . ' ..,', lif
And spike to you, why did you give no answe!`!-;elf, •
Feared you to waken him ? he must have. beeni:: OP
In a deep sleep. I whispered to him thrice. :,- i'''.ll:
There are the strangest echoes in that place! - '. ~..0
OSWALD. i I
. '
Tut ! let them gabble till the day of doom. •c 4 -l0e ,
• •''. 'fo.
MARMADUKE. ~ , 1
• • 1
Scarcely, by groping, had I reached the Spot, ' •YI,I
When round my wrist I felt a cord drawn tigol,;,:tlP,',
As if the blind Man's dog were pulling at it. `'4l 4,',J
OSWALD.
) `
41
. • j'4
MARMADUKE. _4O it.
The features of Idonea • '''°l);,(A.
Lurked in his face— . :!1° isi
°,l)
OSWALD. • . ' ' 3,4 r.,
Pslia ! Never. to t.4o t''
Will retribution show itself again • : .ict-, l'`'')9‘l
With aspect so inviting: Why forbid.J4e, :,sa,'s:oiti
To share your triumph ? ' - .nolo • 9iviie
0 if
MARMADUKE. • 'r-,-, fy....,,fav-1
Yes, her very 1044;1;13 ?,tor 4 i
Smiling in sleep— • I -00
OSWALD. • il .
21 t --
A 1,1
A pretty feat ofFancs-A,
3IARMADUKE. -30,...0
Though but a glimpse, it sent me to my prayer.i:R)t 1 .201'
OSWALD. ;.; 1. fr .
Is he alive ?
..)iiill'ilkt
MARMADUKE. , jp) •
What mean you ? who alive /. .".;g:5 .
OSWALD. • l'w:;1
Herbert ! since you will have it, Baron Herbert ;,,,,,g
He who will gain his Seignory when Idonea : '',,o
Hath become Clifford's harlot—is he living ? i' ,i
MARMADUKE.
t.. 4
The old Man in that dungeon is alive.
OSWALD.
Henceforth. then, will I never in camp or field • . al, ,
Obey you more. Your weakness, to the Bana'he,a4!"
Shall be proclaimed : brave Men, they all shall "' • ~,'
You a protector of humanity !
Avenger you of outraged innocence
m A RMAD UKE. . ~
..j,
"fwas dark—dark as the eTavi.: ; yet did I see, 0 thr.)
Saw him—his face turned toward we ; and Ite :i'.
Idonea's filial countenance was there . ..
To gaily. nw—it pin Inc to my prayers. .:'
Upwards 1 east my eyes, and, tiwough a crevice, ',..
Belt& 0 star ttrina nil above my head,
...l • le'
id, by the God, I opth 01l a
l not do it.
~ 4 Le'f,
The abrupt allusions to the "strange eel-94111V
dungeon, and to the smiling features of the lis
tin Ave
as seen in her sleeping father—a. trait of 1 cbev-01
the bye, suggested by Shakspeare's Lady 3,-`arosillicei
the incident of the conscience-smitten 33a."01 ji
being suddenly sent to his prayers, at the /the iO,,
limit when he was meditating his crime, by tlivelogi
mentary glimpse of a single star shining 11,00,04
the crevice ; and above all, the disturbed, s° itAbe. of;;,
tone which he is made to preserve through 11n'; eltv.i:
logue ;—these, we think, are touches of feell.,j,o9.iii‘.
tially dramatic, and. such as we should neve'ri' ot'-110!
petted to have met with in any produetio •00 -e
Wordsworth. But there is no speculatli4perver'
works of men of genius, who seem to take ''

But after that ?