Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1817-11-13


try, All art as difficult "a il is enchanting,
has made himself master by application
and study Of the meehari al process, and
in whom, we believe, frequent excrtlonS
uDon new works awaken aud stimulate
that genius which might DC crampcd and
rendered tame by long and minute attcn.
ton to finish to the highest possible de-
gee any one Of he number. five look
at our poetical library we shall find, &C.
morally speaking, the aost distinguished
roets have 5eeni the mos volumiEoas,
and those who, like Cray, limited their
productions to a few poems, aryiously
aad s. iulously corrected and revised,
have given them stiff and artificial cha
racter; which, far from disarmi'g crlt!-
cism, has rather emb;t.ercd its violence,
while the Aristarch, ike Achilles assai.-
ing Hector, medtates dealing the mortal
blow through some unguarded C esice Of
the supposed impenetrable armor, with
which the cautious bard has vainly in
vested himself. Our opinion must be ne
ccssarily qualified by the caution, that as
10 human invention can be infinitely fer.
tile, as even the richest senius may be, in
agricultural phrase, cropped out, and rem
dered sterile, and as each author must
necessarily have particular style in
which he is supposed 10 excel, and mast,
therefore, be more or less a mauncrist;
no one can with prudence psrseyere in
forcing himself before the public, when,
from failure in invention, or from having
rendered the Pcculialities of hi, style
over trite ard familiar, d" The veteran lags
superluous on The stage" a sighted mute
in those dramas where he was once the
principal parsonage. To this humiliation
vanity frequently exposes genius, and it
is no doubt true that coP'ous power OF
diction, joiny TO hahitual cnrelessness
in composition, has frequently conduced
to il. We would, therefore, be UNDER
stood to recommend 70 authors, while a
CONSCIOUSNESS Of the possession Of vigoT.
Gus powers, carefully cultivated, unitcs
with the favor of the public.,to descend
into the Arena, and continue their Efforts
vigorously while their hopes are hish,
their spirits active, and the public pro-
pitiau,, in order that, on the s!i.htes
failure Of nerves or breath, they NAV be
able 10 withdraw themselves honOrably
from tie contest, with grace, giving way
to other candidates for fame, and cult
va,irg studies more suitable TO 4 tagging
ina .;nation thar the iervid art OF pit etiy.
Til. however, is the affair Of the authors
Themselves: should they neglect thi.
prud~ut,u! course, the public viii, no
iruh, have more indifferent books on
Their table than would otherwise have
loaded IL; aod as the world always seiz-
cs the f;rsr opportunity OF recalling the
applause il has bestowed, the former
wreath OF the writer's will tor time, be
bhshtea By their immediate failure. But
the.e evils are greatly oveIbalanccd by
tirnid caution. which bids genius suppress
its efforts until they shall be refined into
unattaina'!e perfection. And We repeat
our conviction that poetry being, in its
higher classes, an art which has tor its
elements sabIimity and unaffected beau
~, is more liable than any other to suffer
f ON the Tabor of polishing, or from the
elaborate and composite style Of orna-
ment. and alernat' affectation OF sImp'i-
city and artifice which characterize the
wo, k,, even of the FIRST poets, when they
have been over anxious to secure applause
by reiterated correction. We cannot
| consider over anxious correction as like
| ly to be employed with advantage upon
poems, which, like those Of lord Byron.
have for thei~ object to rouse the una
giua,ion and awaken the passions.
| ITO he continued