Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1829-05-11

mept. and not make an assertion without PROOF,
and in a place, TOO, where it could be OF no
earthly advantage 10 any one. But we must
talk his poetry, as we'll as Of his Ill judged
religious enthusiasm.
We have seen many favorable notices OF Mr.
Brooks fugitive production but, we must
confess, have seen little to deserve them. we
had been anticipating much pleasure from this
volume; bur, at least with the latter hall, have
been disappointed.
There is, however, good deal Of poetry in
it, which verifes our schooldays' axiom, that
" E1cep,io probat regulam."
In the poem on Genius there are some
aashes of beautiful poetry, and one short pas
sage which we cannot help extracting:
Or seek the child of Genius at the Sour
When the mad tempest WaAs abroad in power
When the storm.spirt shrieks upon the wind'
And elements in conflict fierce are joined
What spirit lights that animated form
Which holds such high connerion 10Th me Storm
The lightnngs leap round that unc 'vered heaa'
And the air irembks with the thunder "ead,-
Yet look and see the child of Genius there
His soul partaking efMs tempss's fight,
And glowing proudly with a fierce delight.
These scenes are his-
We observed that his imagination partook OF
the gloomiuess of Byron's; and we would haz'
ard the conjecture, that many passages were
,critfen after recent perusai OF the mighty bard
Whom does this extract not remind oil the
highly wrought description of storm, in the
third can,o of Chlde HAROLD
'Time,'' To the Dying Year. Genius and
Joy Lines written after viewing the corpse
of Miss W 'IreIand,' and the Sketches, are
the bes, poems in The collection. We will give
a few extracts:
From Time:
Undying glory twined the laurel wreath,
Round the lone cypress that oershades the grave,
Memorial Of the who slept beneath,
of him whose ifeblood poured forth like the wave
From Ireland:
Yes, desolate land thou shalt wake
To the proud march of glory again
The storm thy vengeance shall break
Like the hurricanes wrath DER the main
Then when battle is rendng the sky,
And tyranny quakes on the throne,
The day-star of Freedom shall brighten the sky,
And triumph and fame be thy own.
There Is mach poetry elsewhere, Of which
We will give examples:
lie loved; aye, and he beloved
With womsn's fond sncerity.-
But ruin darkly overspread
Its ivy on loves wreath Of bloom,
Until its freshness all had led
1t seemed chaplet for the tomb.
Like the angel that rides the tempest Of night,
His arm is outstretched to destroy.
When on the mighty thunder storm,
The bow of promise bent its span
Like mercy, bending DER the form
OF erring, but repentant man
And wresthed its belt around the air,
Where the black tempest hung his shroud,
Glowing in mingled colors there
The Almighty 5 banner IN the cloud
From Greece
Yet, Ida, yet upon thy hn
glory shines Of ages fed;
And Fame her light is pouring still,
Not on the living, but the dead
But tits the di m seprchral light.
Which sheds faint AMI feeble ray,
Asmoonbeams on the broad ofnght,
When tempcsts sweep upon their way.
We may not have chosen the finest perhaps,
but these must suffice. He is as fond Of using
SMILES from the rainbow, as Mrs. Brooks is of
'gushes,' &C.; we meet with ore, every half
dozen pages almost. He has a little egotism.
In his verses to G. G. V. r, speaking Of Fame,
he says:
We ,piN reach It hate and guile
Will beset us fierce and long, &c.
An instance Of bad grammar:
Who watched above his Graded rest
And ever as she watched, she sung.
We have given as much attention to this vo-
lume as it merits. Mr.. Brooks, by care and
study, proper selection of subjects, and taking
other images, and barp;ng less on the tomb,
may, in time, be ranked among the poets Of
our country: NOEL.
Mn. SNowpEN: 1t is not in the nature Of my
d;sooe;t,op IN or ~ cot for,I IN Jol,