Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1850-12-07
NO.. 80.

the faculty of speech more fully developed than
that of thought, seemed coIorless and empty To
one with whom natural object and grandeurs
were always present in such Overpowering force.
Excluded by his social position from taking
active part IN the public events Of the day, and
repelled by the emptiness of the then fashion
able literature, he turned to private ami humble
life as possessing at least a reality. But he
thus withheld himself from the contemplation
OF those great mental excitenIents which only
great public struggles can awaken. He con-
tracfed habit of exaggeraling the importance
OF every day incidents and emotions: He ac-
cu>tomed himself to see i'm men and in social
relations only what he was predetermined to
see there, and 10 inpute To- them value AMI
importance derived mainly from his own self
will. Even his natural good taste contributed
TO confirm HIM IN his error. The two prevail
ing schools of literature in England at that time
were the trashy and mouthiDg writer's who ad-
opted the sounding language of Johnson and
Darwin, unenlIvened by the vigorous though, of
either; and the " dead apes " of that inflated
sentimental, revolutionary style which Diderot
had unconsciously originated, and Korzebue car
ried beyond the verge of caricature. The right
feeling and manly thought Of w ordsw orth were
diseusted by these shallow rd-mongers, and
he flew TO the other extreme. Under the influ-
ence-repusive and attractive-we have thus
attempted to Indicate, he adopted the theory thar
as much of grandeur and prOfhnd emotion was
to be found in mere domestic incidents and feel
Ings, as on the more conspicuous stage Of public
life and that bald and naked simplicity of
language was the perfection Of style. SinguIarly
enough he was confirmed in these notions by the
very writer of the day " hose own natural genius
more than any of his coteinporaries, impeled
hum TO riot in great, wild, supernatural coDcep-
tiOns; and to give uterance 10 rhein in gorgeous
language. Coleridge perhaps the only CO.
temporary from whom Wordsworth ever took
an opinion; and that he did so from him was
mainly attributable to the fact that Coleridge did
little more than reproduce TO him his own no
tions, sometimes rectified by a subter logic, but
always rendered more attractive by new and daz-
Zling illustrations.
Fortunately il is out of the power of the most
peryerse theory to spoil the true poet. The poems
OF w OrdswOrth must continue TO charm and ele-
vate mankind, in defiance of his crocheis, Just
as Luther, Henri Quatre, and other living i'm
presentations of poetry do. despite of all quaint
peculiarites of the attire, the customs, or the
opinions of their respective ages, with which
they are Imbued. The spirit of truth and poetry
redeems, enobles, hallows, every external form
in which it may he lodged. We may "pshaw "
and "pooh" at {" Harry Gill - and the "Idiot
Boy" but the deep and tremulous tenderness
OF sentiment, and the strong winged flight of
fancy, the excellng and unvarying purity, which
pervade all the writings of Wordsworth, and
the exquisite melody of his lyrical poems. must
ever continue to attract and purify the mind
The very excesses into which his one sided the
ory betrayed him, acted as useful counter
agent to the prevailing bad taste of his time.
The " Prelude - may take permanent place
as one of the most perfect of w ordsworrh's COM
positions. 1t has much Of the fearless felicity
of youth; and its imagery has the sharp and
vivid outline of ideas fresh from the BRAIN The
subJect-the developement Of his own great
powers-rases him above that wlful dalIying
with frivialites which repels us in some of his
other works. And there is real vitality in the
theme, both from our anxiety TO know the course
of such mind, and from the effect Of an absorb
ing interest in himself, excluding that Ianguor
which sometimes seized him in bis efforts to i'm
part or attribute interest to themes possessing
little or none in themselves. Its mere narrative
though often very homely, and dealing in too
many words, is often characterised also by ele-
vated Imagination, and always by eloquence.
The busIle ofLondon life; the prosaic uncouth-
ness Of its exterior, the earnest heart that beats
beneath it, the details even Of It's commonest
amusements, from Bartholomew Fair TO Sader's
Wells, are portrayed with simple force, and
delicate discrimination, and for the most part
skillfully contrasted with the rural life Of the
poets native home. There are some truthful
and powerful sketches of French character, and
life in the early revolutionary era. But above
all, as might have been anticipated, Words
worth's heart revels in the elementary beauty
and grandeur Of his mountain theme: while his
own simple history is traced with minne fidelity,
and is full Of unfagging INTEREST," London
Examiner