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    JFEB K.U.fl.K.1 *t j-^^^-j February 2, 1...

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    Latter-Day Poetry. The Mystic; And Other...

    ( + Vl ^ j-tfrial cast-iron , steam-engine age have , strange literary tendencies , ofJ ^^ * ^ spiritual sensitiveness ; but-thouKh to say , been m the direction , ot ext ^ e V A that has resulted from a * e should te ^^ tt Tvsterieai of the universe—we think we deeper g lance ^^^ L ^^ having passed the hounds of see evidences of our moaera V *™ Q ^ j particular , is fast sinkiug all healthy use or J ^^ S ^ . into a ^ sffiyT debilitated , whining , raving-, a ^ a ^ p ^ ast- * ags £ - tejr- ss sL-rtKiffl ^^^^^^ fisIsai * :

    . Regained" where Satan shows the kingdoms of the earth to Christ on the Mount ) Mr Bailey's poem would be really fine , allowing for a few drawbacks in the way of wordiness ; for there is a dioramic succession of pictures , and a sustained pomp of language . This , for instance , is a very grand old legend , excellently told : — fo Bolotoo , the paradise of gods , Far off in we stern space , a land of shades ; Where , to chance wanderer , for the future bound , And searching for some secret lost to earth , Tree , temple , tower and grove-clad hills present But permeable forms ; through all he stalks , As through a "builded vision ; -wall , and bark , Aud cliff , close round the path , h « passeth through Unharmed , as water round a diving gull . The volume concludes with "A Fairy Tale "—a quaint story very prettily

    ( CrLq iT ^ hi ^ hrSta ^) , ^ the same lofty content of be l rXe te ™ ; e a ° toTavfneeded that oUeal of trial and that p » rification of suffering . Of him we are told that , Initiate and perfect in mysteries , He graduated triumphant . „ ,, :, „_ .:- „ ., „ - „ w ™ K ^ with we arisome repetition , and vith a perpe-/ l mo ^ U v-

    —M . Reade's " Man in Paradise" is so like Mr Bail ey > s >< Myshc , " tbat the remarks we have just made on the latter might almost bej apP ^ d *> it . There is a little less harping on strange words ; but ; Mr . B * " ? , * " J ™ favourite phrases too , and dins ' « the Infinite , " " the Illimitable , the Ineffable , " and " the Beautiful , " so constantly in our ears , that we w U Slose our temper . In the earlier parts of his poem the author seeks to rife aa account of the creation of the world , according to the modern _ geological system ; but he only furnishes another instance of the impossibility of C pt ^ eT ^ o ^ convincing proof of the identity which we have noted between Messrs ^ Reade and Bailey , by quoting a passage ftooeach , and fusing them together , without the addition , subtraction , or alteration of one word—the result being a perfect unity both of subject and style . —

    , jnese graciuaLiuus u . c ,. . tual harping on such phrases as — Initiate , mystic , perfected , epopt . Illuminate , adept , transcendant , he Ivy lite , lived , and died , and again lived , Resuscifcant . Mr Bailev's lan ^ ua ^ e is indeed of the most astounding kind . To say nothing 5 £ & 3 & 5 M 3 S 32 ?~ S £ ¦ « nSeS ve " " affied , " « languescent , " « supra-natural , ' " prepotent -endoRTnous" " orbital aphelion , " " genetic , " " creaneed , " -augnrial rites of voknt fowl , " " maness" ( for woman ) , & c . The inherent difficulties of so mvst cal a subject are of course increased by these needlessly peculiar words S by long ud involved sentences , sometimes extending from page to floias ,, auii " , y »"" n » . mn ,, ^ u < . lll ^ rf ps with words in common aives innui »«

    I looked beneath , me as on waves or name , Up heaving mountainou sly , molten shapes In seething fluctuation tossed , emerged Or sunk again in whelming depths unseen . I heard the wild throes of the elements , Triad vitalities , air , water , fire , Struggling to formative life as , scroll-like , driven , The palpable and mighty form of Earth Beneath me rolled , gathering a substant shape , Semblant of human lineament . Its rocks Chaotic and amorphous , petrified , fire , Granitic , oolitic ; sand and lime ; Igneous aind aquatic beds of stone , Upheaving or collapsing , seemed , hi turn , The awful sport of some Titatian arm , TV-hose elbow , jogged by earthquakes wryed the , pole , l

    uao-e The poet , aiso , x uu »< . cw » v . r- ~— ------ . use transmutin- nouns into verbs whenever it p leaseth Ins sovereign will . Thus we ^ re tol d that a " continuity of soul" has this effect-that i ' ones" the various parts of the universe « with the boundless and divine . Immediately afterwards we read of some Cloud-breathing dragons homed in heights of air . And , in another poem in the volume before us , MivB . iley records that the branches of the Tree of Life "fr uit but in heavenly p aradise . To these pecuharities arc to be added rhymed verses in the midst of the blank lines FS there probably by accident , but exhibiting great carelessness ) , and alexandrines disagreeably breaking the usual measure of five feet . Such are some of Mr . Bailey ' s incidental peculiarities . . Of the gene al character of his chief poem we find it difficult to speak , as we honestly confess that it surpasses our comprehension It has positively left no impression behind it . but that of a misty brightness and a sonorous roar of I . . ^^ i . i . ,. i vM « n « l tlif » n > . tho . sum total , we lew mica ^^ » v ..- ---

    Let the reader exercise his own ingenuity mhndmg ou V \ + ^ Tkuow that takes place ; he will have no help from us , further than to let hnnknow ^ ha we have absolutely joined on a portion of one of Mr . Reade s lines to a trag ment of one of Mr . Bailey's ! . unmo ftf + pnder-Some of Mr . Reade ' s minor poems exhibit occasional gleams o f ^ ender ^ ness and melancholy grace ; but he will never prosper until he gnes up ms frantic endeavour to wrestle with " the Infinite . Fatigued with the said wrestlings , it is absolutely a relief totum even to the langnul little book entitled Poems , by V *™* ** ;^ * ^™ ( Longman and Co . ) The chief of these poems » " [ Cupid m ^ 1 « che a manifest derivative from the earlier manner of Keats ami Hood ^ ith a few glimpses of the peculiar style of Slunkspeai ^ s " ^ ™ . J ? ^^ ,. faiatlV reflected Mr . Jones ' s verses are sufficiently weak ; but they aie not P om / ous , -d there is sometimes an elegant ^ flux and murmur of -o ^ ds not Lpl ' easing to listen to . when half asleep . _ Whe her Mr Jon s ^ ever do icnenus

    words . Jfcxocpung a . ^ V V w' + i tl , « n « n « t re-ret to say , is something very much akin to bombast . With the utmost desire to fasten on something which we could really ike , we were continually reminded of Bottom ' s celebrated exemplar of " Lreles vein—a tjrant s vein" : — , . , The raging rocks , With s hivering shocks , Shall break the locka Of prison gates ; And Phibbus' car Shall ehino from far , And make and mur Tlio foolish Futes .

    better or not , is a question wlucii < . ou u « y ^ o ., * Sosc fate * lias something of pathos in it-intense devotion to poetry , combined with imperfect powers of expression . nnrrmnn n « d Co ^ we Of The Maid of Messene and other Poems O-ongman and ¦ J ^ O , wj aSS £ SSSt-SSSrrt ¦ f / iri ir \ na _ i ~ ix _ ll \ 2 « i

    It is painful to suggest this comparison ; for , in the worst of Mr . Baileys extravagances , there ' is evidence that the aberrations nrc those of a man ot faculty " who has eaten of some " insane root . " But the reader shall judge for himself by a few brief passages : — They whoso cyon by spirit-fire are purged Move ever up tho roivscont to light , Oil . a ccdediul gradiant jmved with wings . Tho niyth-in sculptured language of tho light—Suiil-compulsory power , Tho gotl of psychopompouB

    function—The Poetry of Creation , by Nicholas Michell Chapman an « «« , . » best described as a book of verses very fit to be pivt in th ? ( ^^^^ f ^! to be sent as a Christmas present to country cousins of the tcimmne gen Ue M ; . ^ L S ctr ^ X issues a volume of £ S ^ 22 StE been shown by a Scottish contemporary to be an outnvgcous piagm « ^ Alexander Smith , Mr . Gerald Masaey , and others . Bu thu . 'f 11 ^ moderncharge that can be brought against Imn . IIo is a ^ gr ^ cat : n , u ^^^^^ school of pompous aad ovenvvought fustian , lie « o » ^ t fully ; so" tliat ' not a ^ c , and ^ avcely a ^ an . a , s free ftom ^ hi- wtu ^ ^

    Ark crystullino , vuuinal by boiuny yoih , To drag tho iloepR of space , and net tho ntars , Whoro , iu their nobulouH » hoals , they ehoro tho void , And , througli old night ' s Typhoniau blindnosB , shine . Setluotivo beldames nnd adulterous gboulfl — Kvo earth , LLlco tho libation of n orownbel bowl , O ' orapillod the depths of tho unknown rtbyfm . In " A Spiritual Logeud "—one of the " other pocMiis " in Mr . Bailcy ^ s volume—the imitation of Milton ' s style is carried to an extent that is positively ridiculous . It is a mere mocUing-birtl echo , which we are astonished that any man of Mr . liniloy ' s natural powers should have brought himself to produce . Tho story is founded on tlmt old Gn -Btic legend of the essential distinction between God and matter , and of the creation of the world by anjrels . Wore it not fox tho staring rcflox of Milton ( nnd not only of Milton ' s general manner , but of that magnificent vision in " Piirndiso

    | foaius at E the mouth . Por instance , at p . 137 we arc told how " Night undor tlio silver dome of the moou Ss : i 5 lH 3 £ SE = Oh I my aoldiur-lud , my prulo , IVly l . riilo , my l llia ° , . , . , Jlo vowM ho -ft-ouUl u »« ko mo lu » bride , IHri liriiU' , hin briclo ; Vox tho War ho has loft iho shore , And iv lock of my hftir ho wore .

    Jfeb K.U.Fl.K.1 *T J-^^^-J February 2, 1...

    JFEB K . U . fl . K . 1 * t j- ^^^ -j February 2 , 1856 . ] .

    E ^—TH LEADER . 115

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 2, 1856, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02021856/page/19/