Volume II Part 110 (1/2)
We think that Mr. Spencer's Italian rhymes are better finished than his French; and indeed the facility of composing in that most poetical of all languages must be obvious: but, as a composer in Italian, he and all other Englishmen are much inferior to Mr. Mathias. It is very perceptible in many of Mr. S.'s smaller pieces that he has suffered his English versification to be vitiated with Italian 'concetti'; and we should have been better pleased with his compositions in a foreign language, had they not induced him to corrupt his mother-tongue. Still we would by no means utterly proscribe these excursions into other languages; though they remind us occasionally of that aspiring Frenchman who placed in his grounds the following inscription in honour of Shenstone and the Leasowes:
”See this stone For William Shenstone-- Who planted groves rural, And wrote verse natural!”
The above lines were displayed by the worthy proprietor, in the pride of his heart, to all English travellers, as a tribute of respect for the resemblance of his paternal chateau to the Leasowes, and a striking coincidence between Shenstone's versification and his own.--We do not mean to insinuate that Mr. Spencer's French verses (”_Cy gist un povre menestrel,”_ with an Urn inscribed W. R. S. at the top) are _precisely_ a return in kind for the quatrain above quoted: but we place it as a beacon to all young gentlemen of poetical propensities on the French Parna.s.sus. Few would proceed better on the Gallic Pegasus, than the Anglo-troubadour on ours.
We now take our leave of Mr. Spencer, without being blind to his errors or insensible to his merits. As a poet, he may be placed rather below Mr. Moore and somewhat above Lord Strangford; and if his volume meet with half their number of purchasers, he will have no reason to complain either of our judgment or of his own success.
ARTICLES FROM THE MONTHLY REVIEW.
2. NEGLECTED GENIUS, BY W.H. IRELAND.
(VOL. 70, 1813, PP. 203-205.)
Art. XV. 'Neglected Genius:' a Poem. Ill.u.s.trating the untimely and unfortunate Fall of many British Poets; from the Period of Henry VIII.
to the aera of the unfortunate Chatterton. Containing Imitations of their different Styles, etc., etc. By W.H. Ireland, Author of the 'Fisher-Soy', 'Sailor-Boy', 'Cottage-Girl', etc., etc., etc. 8vo. pp.
175. 8s. Boards. Sherwood & Co. 1812.
This volume, professing in a moderately long t.i.tle-page to be ”ill.u.s.trative of the untimely and unfortunate fate of _many_ British Poets,” might with great propriety include the author among the number; for if his ”imitations of their different styles” resemble the originals, the consequent starvation of ”many British poets” is a doom which is calculated to excite pity rather than surprize. The book opens with a dedication to the present, and a Monody on the late Duke of Devons.h.i.+re (one of the neglected bards, we presume, on whom the author holds his inquest), in which it were difficult to say whether the ”enlightened understanding” of the living or the ”intellect” of the deceased n.o.bleman is more justly appreciated or more elegantly eulogized. Lest the Monody should be mistaken for anything but itself, of which there was little danger, it is dressed in marginal mourning, like a dying speech, or an American Gazette after a defeat. The following is a specimen--the poet is addressing the d.u.c.h.ess:
”Chaste widow'd Mourner, still with tears bedew That sacred Urn, which can imbue Thy worldly thoughts, thus kindling mem'ry's glow: Each retrospective virtue, fadeless beam, Embalms thy _Truth_ in heavenly dream, To soothe the bosom's agonizing woe.
”Yet soft--more poignantly to wake the soul, And ev'ry pensive thought controul, Truth shall with energy his worth proclaim; Here I'll record his _philanthropic mind_, Eager to bless all human kind, Yet _modest shrinking_ from the voice of _Fame_.
”As _Patriot_ view him shun the courtly crew, And dauntless ever keep in view That bright palladium, England's dear renown.
The people's Freedom and the Monarch's good, Purchas'd with Patriotic blood, The surest safeguard of the state and crown.
”Or now behold his glowing soul extend, To s.h.i.+ne the polish'd social _friend_; His country's _matchless Prince_ his worth rever'd; _Gigantic Fox_, true Freedom's darling child, By kindred excellence beguil'd, To lasting _amity_ the temple rear'd.
”As _Critic_ chaste, his judgment could explore The beauties of poetic lore, Or cla.s.sic strains mellifluent infuse; Yet glowing genius and expanded sense Were crown'd with _innate diffidence_, The sure attendant of a genuine muse.”
Page 9 contains, forsooth, a very correct imitation of Milton:
”To thee, gigantic genius, next I'll sound; The clarion string, and fill fame's vasty round; 'Tis _Milton_ beams upon the wond'ring sight, Rob'd in the splendour of Apollo's light; As when from ocean bursting on the view, His...o...b..dispenses ev'ry brilliant hue, Crowns with resplendent gold th' horizon wide, And cloathes with countless gems the buoyant tide; While through the boundless realms of aether blaze, On spotless azure, streamy saffron rays:-- So o'er the world of genius _Milton_ shone, Profound in science--as the bard--alone.”
We must not pa.s.s over the imitative specimen of ”Nahum Tate,” because in this the author approximates nearest to the style of his original: