The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-10-20
New Books.

OLD soSG AND NEW. By Margaret J. Preston.
PhilsdelphIa: J. B. Lippincott d Go. 1871.
pp.. .3l2. Price g. "
It is no small pleasure to welcome to the
company, Gift though few" OF American
poets q woman, Southern born and bred,
who may justly and fearlessly take her place
in the foremost ranks at least, OF the sweet
singers Of the New World. Mrs. Preston
has clearly evinced in her literary history
the rare quality OF growth. Her present
book is so far in advance OF anything she
had previously written, as to warrant US, for
even this comparative reason, in according
it q warm welcome But this volume is not
only an improvement, it is very positive
and vital achievement. We do not know
single volume of American verses which
e1cels it in rhythmic melody, in concentra-
ton OF expression, in felicitous simplicity
and purity OF dicton. II her thought is not
very profound, it is at any rate fresh and
vigorous, and it never outruns nor lags be-
hind her utterance. Whenever she speaks,
she has something to say, and she says it
gracefully and well. Her greatest success is
achieved in her ballads, which fulfil very
nearly all the requisites of that difficult form
OF verse, and some of which are very highly
artistic. She seems generally to avoid the
temptation (very rarely escaped By the few
balladists which late years have produced)
Of stepping aside from the dominant idea OF
the lay, to say something only remotely con-
nected with that idea. Her ballads embody
one thought, or incident, or action; and are
faithful to that. The setting in which she
clothes it is the simplest and most trans
parent possible. In this she has excelled a
poet whose influence is very perceptible in
her writings, aud whom We imagine she
must have carefully studiei-we mean
Mrs. Browning. Mrs. Preston is not per-
haps troubled with the wealth OF thought
which was to her great predecessor an
en,5arras des richesses, and which, while 1t
renders every poem of Mrs. Browning's a
mine OF suggestion, interferes frequently
with the dramatic unity aud simplicity OF
her finest ballads. As striking example OF
Mrs. Preston's restraint and fidelity to the
true spirit of the ballad, we would mention
''Lady Hildegarde's Wedding" which is, we
think, nearly perfect in its way. In her
strictly dramatic attempts. we do not think
: Mrs. Preston quite as successful as in her
lyric poems Her genius is tender, thought
iul, sweet, anything rather than strong or,
perhaps, profound. Her sonnets also are
open to criticism as sonnets, though not
without very great merit Of their own. As
an. example OF very striking compression
and artistic truth, we cannot help referring
to the six irregular poems called, "The Royal
preacher" which are versiication, sing u
larly successful, we think, OF the last chapter
of Ecclesiastes. In brief, we are sure that
any of our readers who may purchase Mrs.
Prestous book because it is the work of a
Southern author will soon learn to love and
value it for higher and deeper reason-for
the reason that in its every page they will
Ehnd the traces OF true woman and true
tpoet.
t. For sale at Holiness Book House.