New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-12-20
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
AURORA LEIGH.

bEoAh,S. lSno., rp 10 Y. = Fshne" ""
poem Of love and art and Italy; the history o
a vou,ns genius and . woman's heart. traced
through al the seasons of q chequered life, from
her suddenly -bhshted Sprirg to the happy godss
hours in which the harvest moon Of love aud fame
stands s:eadfast and serene above her; and THE
POEM, the Ipest result Of years Of such devotion b
ire poetic srt has been always rare aud is now.
perhaps, more rare than ever; and ths history. in
the deepest and trae.t if not in the ordinary and
superficial sense, an autobiography Of the Only
Englishwoman who has ever wpn for herself -
unquestiOned and unquestonable place among he
greater poets, the
'teachers who instruct mankind
From just shadow on chsrne wan
To find mans veritable stature out
Erect sublime
to Us out Of the treasury Of her rich mad saA
heart.
To trace womsn's unfolding life, FROM the csose-
shut bud up to the full sweet aower-to tell the
story of q womsns soul through an the struggle a
long years between the proud aspiring intellect and
the humble loving heart en- to the perfect peace q
their final reconciliston-to follow the subtle &C.
cret course of true woman's true love through al
the labyrinth If her wito do this and to do Il with
the firm hand and the clear eye of genuine artist.
was Mrs. Brownpg's LOFTY aim-to have achieved
it in the composition Of 4" Aurora Leigh" 10 nobI
to have won right to all the poor written prans
Of critics, and the richer unspoken praise Of oil
who have eyes to zee and hearts to understand the
sweet miracles of poetry.
=. all AZ hat - a
are all at the core of US, ncreduous alike Of ain
gular evil and of singular good and it may be, per
hsps, that this our radical incredibly 10 the condi-
zion of our deepest impressions, and our most eK-
quisite delights. Every new promise that comes to
us brings with itself the shadow Of our old doubts
We question the sweetest certsinties Of existence
hesitate on the threshold of immortal happiness,
and treub!e before each fresh venture Of our most
victorious faculties. As we are skeptics for our.
selves so are We for others, and most for those IN
whom we trust the most and from whom We hope
the highest things.
As Charles Tennyson admirably sings, in one Of
those charming sonnets which his laureled brother
might be proud to own:
"when desire hath fullest power,
Hope treads too lightly for herself 10 hear,
And eoubt is ever by until the hour"
Many true lover Of poetry and Of Mrs. Brown
ing as a true poet, will take up aurora Leigh ~
with a Kind Of tremulcus reluctance, the fruit OF
no vulgar fear for the poets success, but Of this
deeper, subtler feeling which is as real, If not 20
intense in all appreciative as it is in oil creative
natures.
Here is June come again CAN'T be June indeei'
Can you believe in it VIII you test ." And you
pause on the LAST .tep--and slowly draw the bolts
within, and pass the door way-and 10 o world
of sweet assurance, delicious world Of blue sky.
and sunshine, and blossoms
What was he sitation at the first line Of Aurora
Leigh" becomes glad certainty ersyou turn single
leaf aud grows into impassOned interest before you
reach the first crisis Of the heroinss history. Fer
the tale of aurora Leigh is no mere thread on
which to string pearls Of pretty phrases and fne
thoughts. Itisa nervous, passionate story, seix-
ing upon your sympathies with the grasp of life
and holding you as face holds you, BY the natural
play of PARSONS aud emotions, thoughts and senti-
ments. a. sound aud human in substance % thsy
are subtle and poetic in quality. Not that Mrs.
Browning has completely freed herself from those
vague and undramatic tendencies towards episode
and rhapsody over which no living English post Of
eminence, with the exception OF her own husband.
has Wholly risen. She has INDUCED these tsnden-
cies too freely even in this new poem-but her In
duJqence of them is 30 clearly On Indulgence and
not On mbesiity- is 30 plainly capable OF cling
ING to grand purpose with the close constructive
power of On Italian or Greek, that the supreme
general effect LETT by "Aurors Leigh" upon tho
mind is one of the nobest unity and deepest inten-
sty. In this respect il s as unlike a. possible TO
Ternysons Princess" with which, In point Of
conception and purpose, it has 10 many snslog'os
that you cannot read the one without thinking Of
the other. The princess" was most rightly
named Medley" by its author; :" Aurora
Ie;sb il monumental in the Conference, dignity, and
order of its composition.
The thread Of the narrative, finely spun ss Il ~,
is 30 clear and strong that the most complexities
incidents arrange themselves about il in their natu.
raj relations and it il not difficult to c0ndense the
plot int tho simplicity Of prose.
"Aurora Leigh" is an Anglo-Italian girl, tho
daughter of bue-eyed Florentine mother and Of
an austsre English father, who came to Italy coz
yentionsl and calm, was walked TO life and love BY
the sudden splesdor Of sweet Italian face, std
when the brief bright Summer Of his heart was
smitten BY the cold blast Of death, dropped and
died among the Tuscan mountains, letting fall from
his relaxing hand the one small flower that re-
NAMED TO him. f f
The desolate child was taken FROM her home OIL
dreams among the bills Of PeIago, to dweV with
stern realities in the precise British home Of her
bitterly.yirtuous British aunt. 1here She was