, 1879-05-24
uno,ySrNa's NEW POEMS,

A0HhVH sbTE1HlhTs BHR ~.
II the French crtttcs wore much perplc1cd at
Mr. Tcnuyson's use Of ts,c word idyl, what will
they say 10 Mr.. BroHningst For long time
after the appearance Of the 1hyls Of the King''
everybody, rs was to be expected, turned to
writing hlys. Writing TcnnysoMlau Ilyls ID lor
tic undergraduate good exercise, and the ouly
harm done was that vo were dri7en to find sorns
other word to EXPRESS tho form OF art which
onro was called the idyi. But before this could
bo achiesed Mr. Browning comes With these su-
porb jtttIt poems Aild series sIr, Tclny6on III
he served TheocTisus*
Tie story about Mrs. .Iersold md " Surtello ~
e'dent, which furnishes word precious TO the
critic OF Mr. Browning A wcll-known literary
u1nn had the curiosity 10 lenl thr Whole OF Mr..
hrownsng's then published works to fls house
keeper, havlnls often, as he sud. "fulind that,
IKE Mollcre'a literary adviser. hcr Judgments
upon poetic art were improved by her kf,ow!.
Dtve of The art Of rookcry.n II watch her as
(throu2h her toriotse-*hell spectaclcs} she cour-
acenusly tried to master the poct's meaning
WAS often the amusement OF At, afternoon. At
last, pushing the books from her in tespnir, she
delivered herself Ut this memorable criticism
"Takc 'ctl back; bcwiidern,ents i liate unl
predtenuaantk cunt a.bearl"
These poems for ingenuity OF " urcdfcnmcnt" z"
can certainly compare With ANYTHING that Atr.
Browning has written. null as 1t must bc simply
10 ust0nish his readers that he calls them idyla,
NC may tell him tnlphntttaly TINT TIC has euc-
-eccded. For instanre, Ivan Ivanovitth.n o
most powerful rendering OF n familiar Russian,
wolstory, illustrates the power IT The Instinct
Of kcifpycserVatton placed In The tl!rest predIca.
mens ever imaHned, perhaps. For every Mrtts,ic
quality save the idyllsc 1t would be Impossible TO
"sfartla Relpli," :" Ned Bratts," utl "llal-
bert aud Hob i" arc illustrations, from different
points Of ytow. Of tilt tcrrors uf conszIcnre.
This ba. always been fayurite subject With Mr.
Browning, und perhaps No other modern writer
has treated It ID SO mnsterlY musinrr. 1t Is In
decd fascinating md terrible subject Air.
BTornlng's treatment Of tile subject ID peculiar
but most prnfOund. With lin ihc special ter
ror Of conscience Is always, as In "Plppa Pass
es,h Its ,reachesy; It Is always snake coilctl iu
hardly 10 xell expressed b. tho Latin word r.
morse rs by the name of that quaint old book by
Dan M!ehGl (pueltshed few years aro BY tlls
EARLY English Text Society, '''Ihc Aycnblto Of
lnwyt" the "tttlng again Of Inward knowl-
cuGc.n
Tho metre, We a1e told, Mr.. Browning EN-
ploys for tho first time; the render would TN
doubt b. tn0re concerned to know wtu,hcr It il
employed hero for tho last time Focta forget
that such fcollnE as there Is tn the English car
for hexametcrs LAS ut relation whatever to tie
qtantttattve he1atncscrs of the classical tnn-
Cltagcg. How slluuld II hayp atyi II has moth
inE to do With longa aud shorts, Will, altatltta-
tho dactyls alu apondccs, but with accent. Tie
feeling comes to us, not frotn t}scck, hut from
AnElo-9axon poetry, the !lcxametrleal character
Of which Rask pointed out long ago.