The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-02-16
LITERATURE.
Miscellaneous POEMS By Mrs. LAURA Gw1N 1860.

Miscellaneous POEMS By Mrs. LAURA GwIs, 1860.
We are always so solcitous of the progress of ou
Carolina nind in Literature, Art, Poetry, and Fic
tion that it is not often that any thing of these
several classes, the production of our own State ii
suffered to escape US. Yet here is pleasant vol
ume Of verse by one Of our own people, a lady o
real talent, which is now, at the last nom ent
made known to US by the merest accident.
Mrs. GwN is resident and, we believe, native
Of Greenville, South Carolina. He volume, duo
decimo Of more than 200 pages, and very neatly
printed, is dedicated to Hon. JOHN BELToN
ONEALL, late Chief Justice. It was published il
1863 most unfortunate time in which to send
forth works of literature. 'The muse is silent in
the clash of arms" people maddened by strife,
and reused to intense earnestness by sense OF
rights assailed and liberties o'erthrown, are not
apt to give ear to the sweet singer, charm she
never so wisely; and to This we ascribe the fact
that the knowledge of this publication has not
reached US befMe.
1t is not too late, however, to give it recog-
milton, especially as the poetry really possesses
considerable claims to our regards. The author,
we are told, is young, and with due encourage
ment may report more rigorous exercise here
after, and more rigorous self-criticism. Her
muse is one OF gentle temperament, seldom pass
ing into high ecstaoies, or dealing with the more
emphatic passions. She sings gracefully in the
tender and the elegiac and her subjects are
such as naturally suggest themselves to the fugi-
tive writer who has not ye. conceived that higher
ambition which aims at bold design and continued
or o1oho 10 Sba ho1opnp pot Tn
the didactic order, and her most vigorous efforts
in this volume are such as she delivers through
the medium Of blank verse. This measure she
handles with much more skill and dexterity than
is usually the habit Of female writer's Of verso,
who usually prefer the moro sensuous forms of
rhyme.
Still, there are defects in her construction Of this
verse, occurring occasionally, which disturbs its
free flow, and sometimes mar the success of para
graph or period. The poems Of this class, in this
volume, are worthy of the didactic order. With
this, however, our author blends the descriptive,
and this enables her to adorn mere moral with
the fnciful, and so lift it into the picturesque.
But she will find it better to use her fancy in the
higher work of the narrGtioe. This will afford the
more ample province for the development Of the
poetical. Mere moral poetry Is the humhlest class
Of verse; since it rarely admits Of discovery; and
discovery is the first great secret of poetry, imply
ing, as it does, tho necessity Of originality. Wc
gain but little in putting into rhyme, however
pretty and portable, the well-known morals and
ma1ims OF Thousand years ago; and, to say clev-
erly what the old masters said wonderfully, may
yield us the credit which belongs to imitation but
not that which follows upon discovery.
Our author must not suppose, in this, that we
mean to censure. Our object is to teach. Young
poets, in their first beginnings, must necessarily
be initiative, since they are in the prentice cond-
ton, and require to learn the use Of their tools
before they can possibly hope to build up their
fabrics OF thought and fancy. Imitation Of good
masters is the secret by which, alone, the young
poet can make language sufficiently flexible for
the utterance Of fresh and original thought This
fe1ibiity of language, in proper metrical array
onco obtained, the poet is then required to show
what are his own individual endowments, by the
development Of creations entirely his OWL, in
which he works, no longer following 8 master.
We should prefer, had We the space, to give one
of the blank verse pieces Of our author as among
her best; bnt these are generally too long for our
columns. We give q single short selection, such
as blends the slegiae with the lyrical, simply to
show the ease and grace Of the verse; and not pre-
senting it as by any means among the best sam
pies of this pleasant little volume. Our author
will do well to study the simple, grand old masters
Of the language, and not the twitterings of that
numerous tribe among the later poets, who, con-
tent with q paltry passing conceit or fancy, give
little heed TO the thought, and do not seem to un-
derstand that poetry is so much winged thought,
ifnot passionate emotion, and which, even IN the
emotional, requires to be fresh and original.
LINES.
I sit beside brooklets shaded brim,
L Listening the music low,
fHsht waves as they go,
Chanting foreyarmore their mellow hymnl
The bank rest upon is rich with moss,
And, Ger the waters clear,
Bend lilies tall and fair,
And ruahes green, and feathery fern leaves toss
The violet's gentle eyes ere open, too,
So Like sweet human eyes,
Up-gazing at the sldes,
Filled brinful with their grateful tears of dew.
And am musing in this lonely spot,
On days agone agone,
Their phantom pleasures flown,
Their haunting memories that vanish not