New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-07-30
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
SEVEN NOLUllEs ~ NEKeI,

York. A. ID. T.. Randolph a. ~ i-''N'
G-ELIEN. POEM BY GEOEGE H. OAL' hN'
York: sheldon g. Go. l2""' pP''" 80. D., Irrr.
E-GIANCEs AT THE WORLD l SSstt-s he EGadlnus
RoNYMvs ANONYMOUS. MuudWsi f"ui'N'"''
Fau.tus tS,4 svo. ppl4L ,,,. ,,,,cIrsTf.
.pot,ts OF RURAL LIFE IN COMMON ENui i5mo.
~ WILLIAM BAANEs Boston; kose''' D'o'
,EfMIsc71IAYEoUs POEMS BY the Rev. J. k s8srE.
NJ A. Vicar OF Hurselcy. Ne"-AOIA' 4o'
~ snitc Of the dizziness Of the book trade Sonhtl
ful fare and the discussion OF friends inc SURF -
worse has not diminished this season ine i'o -,
her of Patnalp's Monthly gives us an account VI 90,
eateen new volumes simultaneously Io'i0"0r -
Germany: aud the above seven htieS |hNeO Vi 'h'ii
native productions indicate an equ"l Pioiu-u', "a
e~eo In ,rose on this side of the Atlantic Nhether
tbo harvest he rich or poor it gives at least toleTa-
Nc cline IN the character of the soil and the favor or
isravor of the season. and in like manner all that
Udelyproduced poetic literature which Is the result
of taste and culture and desire, rather than the II
resstible rhythmical gift might be presumed 10 II
uish us at least with general mdcatiohs OF 'ho
present character Of poetic taste aud ASPIRATION Even
where the influence of living masters IS not betrayed
IN peculiarties of meter diciOn, it may often ne
detected in the choice of the theme or the manner OF
Cts treatment The imaginative faculty IS rare en-
5ovment il is true but there is certain respon-
Eive receptive quality which lies near to IT and Is
often suspected 10y the pOssessOr at east te be the
sane thing-a quality impressible and active Whlch
anconscously accepts and reproduces the more SUD-
tile features and tendencies OF thought All poetry
which does not spring from an independent creative
power is rooted in this quality: nay, the latter is
she crude element out of which the former crystal
6zes and perhaps the difference between the multi
tude of B7nor poets and the few acknowledged LORDS
Of Song is chiefly one of arrested development.
In examining the five new volumes Of native verso,
however we have been unable to detect in them any
common direction, or the evidence Of any general
fashion of misd. The two popular poets OF England
aud America are alike distinguished for their deli
cate sense of form-the body of Poetry-but only
one volume Of the five betraYs any apprehension OF
the same excellence. The author thereof lets us
guess that he has read Tennyson another purposely
and consciously initiates Byron; third suggests no
nearer models than Pope and Young; while the
fourth must be pronounced guiltlcss of basng his
style upon that of any poet living or dead-athough
the reader may wish that he had done so.
The absence Of o sense of rhythmical form, which
sense is one Of the very first requisites of poet Is
remarkable in man who has written so much, and
of whom so much culture must be presumed as Prof
Ieavitt We cannot excuse the careessness 1--WE can
not call it ignorancel which mars the structure OF
nearly all his verse. In his poem of Path he
shows that he can write the iambic pentameter cor
recly but seems to imagine that the same measure,
unrhymed allows him to buffet his readers ears with
such lines
Industry subdues its boisterous energy,
Made gentle by the spirit OF the day,
And speaks TO these nights in mingbng murmurs,'-
and even worse than these scattered beautifully
through his three tragedies. The redundant syllable
Is always attachable to a perfect pentameter, but
Prof Leavitt joins it to a tetrameter-a thing which
neither gods nor men can endure, Of course, where
the external form is thus slighted, the conceptions
however fresh and picturesque they may be, suffer-
and this is one of the first facts which fine instinct
teaches the true Poet When we come to examine
the spiritual quality of the three tragedies, we find
evidence of the warmth which accompanies an su-
thors delight in composition but scarcely trace Of
that earnest ideal which painfully feels its way to-
wards dramatic truth. We do not care that "Afra-
mus is historically fase-that no Gothic king ever
reignod in Rome before TheodOric in whose day
Goths and Romans alike Christians; but we are
dissatisfied at finding no dramatic individuality in
the characters Afranius Julius and the others
alternately put their mouths to the same mask, and
speak in the same dialect and tone They not
persons but voices so similarly modulated that it is
impossible 70 detect the rank, passion of the
speaker When they have al been killed, one after
the other the reader is not moved; for they die be-
fore they have really been born in his mind.
In THE Idumean we arc able to separate some of
the chaTacterS-perhaps because Hcrod, Antipatcr,
and Augustus already positive persOnages. There
Is, moreover, some good local cOoring as in the
kcene in PETRA and the occasional force and spirit
which the author shows make all the more regret
the negligent manner in which he has performed his
task The same remarks will apply to "The Siege
of Babylon" wherein, moreover, the tragic motive,
although its course is equally foreseen less pass
tVely developed. 1t might have been greatly hight
ened, not Belshazzar made to fOretel his doom,
I'm advance of the writing upon the wall The latter
event thus becomes quite insignificant The prophecy
of Daniel, with which the tragedy closes, may be
appropriate in a religious sense, but it is dramatic
mistake.
Prof Leavitt is most successful in his short deyo-
tiona poems, where the suggestion Of music has reg
ulated his meter and the prescriptions Of theology
have given form to his thoughts. IL, in turning
aside from devotional to imaginative poetry, he
would allow Poetic Art to stand for him in the place
of Doctrina Theology and perform a similar service,
we are sure he would have greater satisfaction in his
work, and give corresponding addition of pleasure
to his readers. The following his competest poem:
LIBERTY.
IT'S not the chain that makes the slave,
Since, dared the tyrants might
MID dungeon gloom may lie the brave
In liberty and light.
Lot Power then to It's minioas say
go, beat, and burn, and KIM"
That torture which the flesh can sIay
But aniuatos the Will.
world dened the man behold
Majestic in his chain:
Unawed by power, uuJJught by gold,
Unterrited by pant
II Wrong universe could pile
On the true honest soul,
Immortal, IL Will trust, and SMILE
UncFusled beneath the whole
Mr.. Abbey's Stories in Verse; are Of a very diff
ferent character The structure of his verse is always
skiDtul and generally agreeable; his language is
vivid asd picturesque and his stories give evidence
of original constructive talent We find lack of the
higher poetic development, not 50 much in any one
OF the POEMS taken n cOueicto,+ - -