The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-10-03
THE NATIONAL ERA WAS |NGToN, d. c., OCTOBER 8, 1850.

character-bringing strength aid healing from
the primal fountains Of life TO whosoever VIII
drink
The tribute to his noble sistel is one OF the ie"
glimpses which the poet has given us Of his home
relations and affections-and perhaps, for that
reason especially charming. Bat it is fine poetry,
as we'll as gentle and touching sntiment'
AUTUMN THouGHrs, from "Margaret Smiths
Journal, /" is quaint mournful and most musicai
poem, which chimes on one's ears like dstsnt
vesper.bells
ELLIOTT AND IcHABoD form most striking con-
trast as they stand together in this volume. Both
are elegiac poems but that on elliott is terrihc
outburst Of indignant grief, If fierce and merry
sorrow, which is more defaIce than lament
and which peals out, and riugsand rattles like
discharge of musketry over the grave oil the Corn
Law Poet; while the IcHARoD a low and solemn
dirge, wailing for shrouded h'nor and persisted
faith, and the broken promise Of lost manhood
There are strange and awful notesin the requiem
which tell you that the death was suicidal.
This wonderful poem, throughout the slow
march Of its subdued and solemn thought, teach
es us the great truth, that genius however lofty,
unsurrounded and unsustained by rich and be-
ne6cent life, is but cold, and hard, and heaven
defying attribats>. :s& pil,az ir s8Sssr,~cSee;e2
@'y'ae no sbHl:1Y arS eee'i"" Bile Shade rally
ing point for tsShPosse suG a mark for the light
ming.
A bold and strong poem is that entitled THE
Men OF OtD OF like character is The PEACE
CONVENTION AT BRUSSELS Then follows The
WISH OF To Day, which once read must hymn
on in the heart and brain ever after. And yet
it is the simplest of pOems-gentle and serious
sorrowful, yet earnest-the yearning of weary
heart for the peace which the world cannot give,
the pleading of contrite spirit-the conservation
of life There seem tears upon the page, and
low signs breathe along the lines. We hear only
the meek voice of resignation, unquestionng and
unconditional. We see no longer the man strug-
Cling and resolving, butthe submissive child, yield
ing his will wholly and forever and hiding his
fearful face in the bosom of his Father.
EVENING IN BURMAH is q thoughtful and touch
ing poem, suggested by passage in one of the
letters of Henry Martyr, the heroic young mis-
siOnary. The opening stanza is truly grand:
Il Night of wonder! pliea AFR
With ebon feet and crests of snow,
ike Hmalsya's peaks, which bar
The sunset and the sunsets star
a." From half the Swallowed vale below,
Volumed and the dense clouds lie
And over them and down the sky,
Paied ia the moon, tie AgAi'.i,g's eye"
SEED TINE AND HARVEST, brief and simple as
it is, is one of those poems the writing of which
is Gods worship for it embodies that spirit of
grateful service" and cheerful faith which is
most acceptable to Him.
The last poem in the volume, some lines to a
friend, On RECEIVING A BASKET OF SEA-MossEs, is
one of great beauty and suggestive thought. 1t
is musical, and light in form, graceful and fanc-
full yet through this, as through the stronger and
graver poems preceding, flows the reverent, re.
lgious soul Of the poet-that soul which is never
so Swallowed by the mysteries of life or so rough
ened by its tempests, that it may not reflect
heaven, and bear its eternal truths, like stars
upon it's bosom.
And now, if our readers will indulge US in a
few more brief comments we will leave this
volume to their own consideration. They will
find it, for collection of miscellaneous poems, a
singularly continuous and compact volume. Yet
it is not genius violently projected in one only
directon-there are various channels, but one
ocean to his thoughts. Here are changes and
varieties and phases of feeling, but certain con-
scientious earnestness pervades and permeates
the entire work. There is in it little of the poe
try Of fancy, none Of passion except it be NOR
al passion, and in no instance is strength or
purpose sacrificed to the mere - 0' 'he
beautiful. Indeed, beauty seems rather to find
expression incidentally and unavoidably, than
to be the aim and intention of the poet Mr.
Whittier has hearty detestation of all cant and
sentimentalism and his poetry is refresbingly
free from the mist and mysticism of the tran.
scendental school, and the sublime guess. work Of
metaphysics. We are mistaken if he ever makes
extensive explorations into the spiritual world.
he is no seer Of visions, or dreamer of dreams,
and his prophecies are given more as interpreta-
tions Of the will of Heaven, and clear expostions
of the immutable laws of God, than as new and
special revelations. Nor does he pass into and
search through the human soul, with the lamp of
his luminous thought but rather stands before
| ~ anu Shiio VI ito PoWcro anu dsplrutfOuS 10
come forth, "as one having authority II may
be that in his firm grasp on the real, our poet
too often suffers to escape him, the ETHEREAL and
heetng forms of the ideal In his verse the in
tellect is always felt, in strong vigorous strokes
the heart beats through tit has blood and bone
and muscle but the divine and wondrous mysteries
of the spirit find in it more unfrequent and i'm
perfect expression 1t leads us into garden
green and pleasant with the foliage and flowers
and fruits of nature, and bright with clear
morning sunlight rather than gives US torch-light
glimpses ofspirtual abysses, of caverns hung with
strange gems, half in deepest night and half in
tolerable brightness 1t is not poetry for the
few-the learned and refined alone nor are we
called by it as by ancient song to recline on the
mount of the gods, and partake their delicate and
intoxicating food On a holier mount and fol-
lowing diviner example, stands the Christian
poet, the poet of the people and breaks the bread
of the poor, and feeds the furnishing multitude
HOW Is 1T!
The North Pennsylvania, the Anti-Wim pa
1 l.. ID.