Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1854-02-11
RICHMOND wHIG.
Literature In England.
corrsspondsnse OF The N. Y. Tribune.


'hA' rose 90 large and bsliau, the pue,eenh cen.
tuIy, have crossed the zenith Of our sky and .o,.
down. Only few Of all that host are with Va now.
and they hang trembling on the horizons yerg. ,bou,
70 iai. and We watch them anIiousiy, fearing lest
each gimmer should be the last, Shelley and E.,,.
were earliest taken from u.s. as though they were the
best beloved Of the god and by one the rest have
gone from Byron 70 Scott-from Scott to Words or,i
'"e mower OF our era, In politics, oratory and poetry
and now6the band dwindes two OF ,lre. De ou;,.
ey, Leigh Hunt, Lindor, and John Wilson. being the
ehei OF those who remain. Glorious old Chri,,opbs,
North lies there in Scotland with the hand of death
Gu bin, and the cold, solemn shadow of m. ,,,vc
stealing over him. What merry bouts of wi, no b,v.
had with hun. aud what ambrvissl nights We have
peh. ,0ge,he, but the song is ended the laughter is
nuened aud the lord o The least takes his deparute
lie has run his Career and that magnificent nre,snc.
| VI ms Is now wreck. The mountain that we used
up 10 with such expectancy, is c, ID and dark
ahu "hi .nl' no more flashes nf Wit, or passion ~,
pathos. wilson - one Of those spirits who start in
e race with the oftiest aspirations aud boldst prog
armed at every point, and mighty to over
come lhey loom upon US With such large proporton.
and such lush Of glory clngs about them ,hey secm
ike me early gods looming upon through the dawn.
"sH. u 'he. But somehow they do reach the goal
oi our prophecy The flower Of their premise die. ou,
Out the irnt does not follow The wondrous impression
oil their powers which they produce upon their mmedi
ate circle friends and admirers does get stamped
O nhor
North bears no comparison that estimate of his gn
en'ertsned by bis lovers and worshpers They are ao,
to speak OF what he might have DONE We have to
what ne has actually accomplished They stand ON the
summit Of their admiration and sneak of a land or 80
Use we cannot ee and their report US seems exasser,
TED John son has lived his e rather than written
IL n'e'y endowed, be has A'ished his precious gifts in
20 many ways rather than concentrate them in one and no
man can be tie perfect ALL lie il not Sco,l.nd
greatest son, but next to Burns where shall we find h
peers " u "'
And here is Walter Savage Laudor with bimr,,
FRUIT oil an old Tree, who in the lourufuest words tell
suoVe with none, for none worth my strife,
Nature loved, and next to nature art:
rdT1Hrd both hLndI Jrfore the IRE otIfe
III sinks, aud 1 am ready TO depart
nu we trust this s not the last Fruit; the Tree that bore
en una! oe oid out must have vigorous sap running in
IT, aud tuddng capabilities STILL This fruit il sound rd
ripe, hhd wears as rich bloom that was gathered
YEAR ago. such hale old have another cood
p ~ r. byron had his sneer at the author OF ..Gebir
in the 'English Bards and Scotch Reyev.rsn - hn, -.
thk Landor may calmly abide the question of posts,
Win the poet peer The reputation of Lando Lss heen
OF SO" growth as most OF things that are built for
immortality lie is not all well known or widely road IN
England, perhaps much as in Amerc, vbioh :;
The case with several OF best living writers ineInd
Dc Quincy, the Brownings, aud Tenu son. bat ne has
glorious imagination, and Teeess originality He i,
like one OF the old Greeks working in modem EnS.h
such Is the ideal grace the piercing purity and the
suenGh OF his "riing- Our modern style of writing ia
essentially of the Pictorial School and MANY WIN
IN marble are cOoriss But Landor's style is ,b 60,
esque calm and grand and doubtless the more eternal,
uue' Lahuor has always been sienced down in high
mere exists an insupeIabe objection to hun
thsr'. his politics 90 against him. all his tendencies and
sympathies being republican. But he has superb and
careless scorn for popularity There is no man who 40
Iueh emnGs US o brave John Milton, Walter Savage
Lahuor-John Milton, as he walked amidst a world Of
foes, hating no ot Of heart hope hemmed in b, row
asG OUT republican sti Landor still grip bis pen
as though were the dagger that should strike des5o,
down, aud ling such words these abroad.
The Americans have declared their sentiments f,s.i,
ieuGy, widely consistently, against the violence ard
peihuy oi Russia and Austria They must do greatly
more They must ofier asylum TO whoever rising mn
against oppression, shall in the absence of Law and me
tice have slan those who caused IT, Conspiraces vii,
never more exist 1.-TWO persons preferably onel will un
deriake the glorious task which not ouy ant1pi,v n
pauied, but which has been appaud.d wear ,1,crxa-
generation alter generation, century ater century in the
ecnson OF colleges, aud raised ihe first tuuuit in the
boysh heart" " "
comfortable doctrine that for his Kpoutsbn of R,.
ss and that sleek young dabber blood the murderer
Of Hungary and the hope OF his country"
There are no signs ofthe speedy publication =,
work on the Life and Times Of Frederick the (;,e., IL
has Lot had the best health of late but Is betsr
His mother died on Christmas day Thomas Csrl,s and
hls oroher pr Carlyle, one Of the tranators Of Dante
were at the funeral. N'
Tenuyson Is silent, or sings darkliug in his Twjck.n
nam retreat lie occasionally gives evidence TO Sc
eel nehus mat we shan one day have his king Ar
thur an epic poem, but Tennyson is a Wise man and
does not rush into publication hastily Whatever h.
does matued and ri9ered and perfected beyond .nI
poetry OF This country. Wordsworth has heaps of sres
mixed with tn generous harvest Of his vere and hob
Byron and Shelley have lefl lots of lines which tbsv
would have destroyed a. "bosh" IL they tso had
lived longer but the same be said of Tennyson
Bnlwer has done" king Arthur" and some M opr
critics lauded it much more loudly than udicionslv
The poems Of Frederick Tenny are advertised to .p
pear immediately The great Alfred is his uncle-poe,-
csy he is his father, and the likeness Ia yery
Indeed is apt suspect that some beiperen hr,rch
OF the family have put up opposition candidate to
prove that they too can produce a poet
third volume Of Alexander Smiths poems is ius, nuh
lished ye, in spite of the continued sale and bs almost
unanimous Civilizations Of the critics who have ano,hso
sized the new poet an opinion prevails among our oue,
thinkers, and persons good Judgment that there has
been considerable deal Of gobe.moHe6Tie on ths tone
and that the public have been someuhat taken in The
fact is critics, body, don't read poetry ,bey dom,
know what poetry H. and hearing such large rumors of
Smith, they wefe compelled to read him and Eks ,ss,o
aers who brenk and get drunk for the first time /, has
bad Tremendous effect them They have not vet re
covered from the debsuch Alexander Smith has much
larger faculty OF Wonder than idesly, and have the
public generally. They have the faculty to be astonshed
and he has the power Of astonishing them to stri.
king e tent. People like to be sstonished and
no" little 1t takes TO a'iepish them That's the
worst feature IN their applause, you have TO share
it With Aztec deforuies, aud bulls hang
ing peudant to Cremorne balloons. We do not wish 20
underrate this faculty of Wonder As concomitan,
Of poetry il says very fine things but Idealty |.
the eTedtrs force it is that which always gives the
presence Of thought The harvest Of Smiths Poetry
dves yield WELL there many scarlet peoples
poet it you WILL in the shat Gustayus Brooke
is great actor The truesi force aud that which Ia
native in Smiths poetry It's rich vein Of healthy
Anman only that does attain tho highest things In
the region OF poetry. Mr. Smilh lectured recently At
Dumbarton, on ihs Life and Genius Of Robert Burns
lie has aiso visit to the Duke and Duchess Of
Argyle and one remembers that Robbie Burns had some
such episode In bis career and handed eVeled ladies
down to dinner in duca balls, bui Mr smiths connection
with aristoctacy ke7 TO end In something more profit
able than ihs gaugership Of glorious Robin he IA
candidate for the SScresryshp Of the Edinburgh UnyeY
sty which he will no doubt obiain II not then some
thing better The Duke Is great admrer Of Smiths
poetry, snd wrote article in praise thereof 10 the
North Briti'h Rsriss, to which he contr butes.
There are indications OF a reaction here 10 peo;,y
against the exclusive subecyity Of the modern schools
Mr.. Mathew Arnold Arnold, Of she late Dr. Arnold
procltms Of o,jectivy He advocates return
to Homer and Socrates for models and does not see much
Poetry in the present Unfortunately for hs theory hfs
poetic practice does not very successfully illustrate his
predatory preccpts He is singer In the larger sense
does he display the powers OF great genius bus
be has Individuality, iieay, absence Of orusteness
true ring to bis metal purpose, and with these he may
accomplish much. At present he is cultivated scholar
who delights In rather than spontaneous poet to
whom may expect some great symphony Of song
while the subject Of poetry, would mention that We
r. 49, IL