Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1862-03-19
The Standard.
: - - : :.
For the Standard.
For the Standard.
ANEW N0RTH.CARoLfNAB BOOK. Il
.HEsrER, AND OTHER PoEMs.s
~ rnRo. 4. MILL.

ny THRo. II. HlLI. :, s.,.,ls.es
In these days Of trial and yicissitade when the
" rude clash Of hostile arms" is resoundiag from
one end Of young Confederacy to the other, and
the clarion Of war is blatant with its furious nose
il will not perhaps, be unpleasant to portion your
resders, to turn for moment from the sad record
Of suffering, and carnage and death, to the quiet
walks Of literature and be RECALLED by the fragrance
Of few sweet poetic flowers gathered from the Of
ferings Of th-Carolina mind. Inc secular
press have cordially greeted such political traetates
Is the times have called FORTH and surely the lltera
~ public will not be lesscourteous and prompt in
welcoming into their s;ciety one who come modest.
" before them, but yet clad in "snging robes"
which he wears appropriately and gracefully. Spe-
cially should generous reception be extended and
. hearty "God prosper you" be given, inasmuch as
this new claimant for literary honors is the rst to
appear as poet since the declaration OF our lndepen-
dence from the iron rule of anarchy. 1t is true,
that during the most Ubiquitous war waged against
us BY the brutal Celestials Of the North many fn-
gitive compositions of more less merit have been
published (the most noteworthy Of which was in
celebration Of the great battle of Manassas and from
the brilliant pen Of Mrs. Clarke, wife Of Col W. j.
Clarke, Of the 14th Reg, N G. State Troops
poem which par parenthesis we take leave to char
lcterze as beautiful and of real Hebrac strengthD
but no volume written by Southern poet and pub
lished by Southern printers has appeared, save the
one which it is our pleasing task now to notice
Despite the jealousy of Yankee critics and the
unblushing assumptions of the literary hacks OF
Boston, the South has always possessed among her
gifted sons many who were masters Of versihcation,
and whose inspirations were SO Enthusiastically poetic,
that the merest scolist in letters could not fail to
distinguish between them and the common herd of
rhymsters and village poetasters Without in this
necessarily brief paper abiding to the scores OF gen
rrraIl
read people, though perchance they are not as "ta-
miliar as household words" we yet can make good
our assertion that the South is not at all destitute OF
men of poetic genius, if we only mention the names
of Edgar Poe, Pendleten Cooke, Jno. r. Thompson.
Paul H. Hayne, W. j. Grayson and James Barrow
Hope Although the two former have passed away
in their manhoods early prime, the remaining four,
We rejoice to know, are still in the hesh young
comparatively in years, Zone excepted and We trust
are accommodating rich material during these troub
lous days to be worked up hereafter into noble
lyrics, and sweet pastoras, and grand odes, and
rich, difficult and Ito the common mind unappre-
ciated sonnets, and it may be into poems of epic
scope grandeur and power. We hail, therefore,
any new singer from whatever Southern home he
comes, whether "Linnetlke" he flies in the hum
bic vale" with the "strong Eagle sails along the
skies" whether his carrolings be among the
"blue-eyed pimpernels" and sweet violets which
places where sun-beams cannot peep" or like Pc
trarch pours out his heart in sweetest sonnets, or
with Milton scars into higher and purer atnos-
phere of thought Specially does our heart warm
when he comes with an "old familiar face !" from
our own noble State and modestly lays his offering
at the shrine Of the Muse whom he worships II,
however, upon an examination Of his contributions,
We should find that he is intruder into the YER
nal meads and sequestered groves in which the tru-
L. Cd hot R0fN} L.
ing at the real Castalian fount he has only been
imbibing few fat and insipid draughts from a
way.side spring whose waters never sparkle with
the life of poesy and song We shall quietly tell him
so, and give him the same advice that was given to
distinguished friend of ours by literary Maceanas
ITO take to the measles, the whooping-cough, CT
the jaundice, bat not to writing verse" But these
remarks are by no means applicable to the author
under consideration, for we have examined and read
carefully the different poems contained in his neat
little volume, and we have met with such nantes
tstions as to assure that that divine GTatus which
all poets have, has not been denied Mr.. Hill. In
other words, this volume shows the author to be a
man of genius and culture 1t may be true, that
there is considerable inequality in the poems; it
may be true that Poe might apply bis critical
scapel to some of them as merciessy, If he chose,
rs he did when he subjected one William W. Lord,
to his cruel anatomizngs; it may be true, that the
sometimes fragmentary character; it may be true,
the judicous reader will detect certain mannerism
perhaps he may even think certain spirit of imita
ton it may be true, that there is evidence of
sustained power, and that the reader is struck with
the occasional repetition Of phrase, idea ever
line, and the recurrence of certain words OF ;
rather melhuous and pretty sound and yet afte
all this if he have particle Of real poetic tast
or the least poetic sympathy, and can appreciate
harr Of varSiHcatinn of nm,
originality of thought he will have to accord to on
author place among those writer's who WOO sue
cessfully the muses..
1t would not be difficult to tell who are the poet
that stand ch;efest in Mr.. Hills affections. T
tell this, would not require that poetic mottoe
be prefxed to his stanzas. Any one who has rea
Poe, and Keats, and Tennyson, can trace the Unfit
ence of thei: rich, abundant, and peculiar geniu
upon the intellectual habtudes of our author. b.
we do not think him copyist in any offensi,
sense, for in the little duodecmo before US We al
unable to recognize any old friends with whom v
have had pleasant association in former years. if "
except those only which we have seen published i
the Leisure Hour and other papers, by Mr.. Lii
himself The defects and excellencies of the volnn
arc the author s-the latter greatly preponderatin
Indeed there is not as much careessness traceab
in this volume as is to be found in the works of mo
particularly youthful ones.
The genius of Mr.. Hill is sometimes gay and re
licking sometimes sad--nay downright gloomy ar
desperate. Poe's Raven" and that splendid ira
ic story by the same author" The Fall of IL
House of Ushur must have made deep impre
sion upon his mind, and aided no little in giving
rection and tone to his inspiration. Even in SON
Of his most joyous pieces when he sings merrily fi
few slaves, he gives expression to sentiments tn
suggest disaster, smack of suicide and smell Of tt
graveyard. But then there are other poems utter
free from all faint of hypochondria in which mob
and elevatng thoughts are expressed in language
once beautiful and felicitous. Indeed, we shou
think, that when he penned some of the poems, h
mind was illumined by therch eulgence that stream
from the Cross, and his heart cheered by the swe
consultations Of the religion Of Jesus. The mir
that conceived 1.-THE Star above the Manger,"
Hope Of Heaven" was surely not a prey to morb
fanciss and depressing fears, but was imbued rit
deep religious sentiment, perhaps controlled by gel
uine religious principle. "The Star above II
MaEger," is really beautiful and deserves to tai
rank with the best productions of the Southe,
mind; Its length prevents us from copying it i
the delectation Of the reader.
We repret hat nnnoof ,,ndo.4.,1t