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    JM^ylS, 1B55.J THE LHADER. m*.

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    BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. The Quarterly Journa...

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    Rhymes And Verses. The Golden Age, And O...

    Youth is a gay and gilded bark On Time ' s far-rolling Sea ; There , Scylia ' s rocks loom , dire and dark , Charybdis' golfs , a-lee ! Oh ! may ' st thou , -wafted o ' er the Main , ( Life ' s checker'd Voyage past , . Each danger ' scaped ) in safety gain Heaven ' s blissful Port at last ! Adieu ! The parting hour ia near—Our interview is o' « r—And the friends that hail'd thy coming here . May greet thee never more ! But thy vision'd form , in future years , 'Mid darkness and decays , Shall eheer our sight , through smiles and tears , Like " The Light of Other Z > ays !" Mr . H . B . Maedonald's Abdul Medjid was written , the preface tells us , " a few months ago , at a period when the downfal of the Turkish Empire appeared an event of more absolute proximity than that to which the chances of war have now removed it ; " and the author courageously proclaims himself " one of those who are of opinion that in this matter we are scarcely yet arrived at the beginning of the end . " The profound originality of the poem may be imagined from this tremendous intimation . Mr . C . R . Brown ( Lays and Lyrics ) launches without preface of any kind on a stream of metre along which he floats complacently enough . There is an intolerable- —because intolerant—air about this gentleman which completely steels us against his tacit and probably unconscious plea of youth . Of the individual Brown , indeed , we have nothing to say . An extract from his volume will save us the trouble- It is in . his character of representative nuisance that he provokes criticism . "We see in him the Brown who , to use one of his favourite metaphors , is the Dead Sea apple of life's vegetarian banquet , though without the tempting outside of that cindery fruit . He is the Brown who always leans against the mantelpiece at evening parties , and " surveys the giddy throng with feelings of scorn he does not care to hide . " He is the Brown who is so terribly severe on Shams . He is the Brown who , ridiculously assuming that he is a poet , assumes , moreover , that which no real poet , in his bitterest sense of isolation , ever proclaimed or felt to be true—that the brilliant light of genius is needful to a perception of beauty , goodness , and truth . In fine , Brown , the abstract , who figures dismally in most men's experience , is represented with dreadful truth by the concrete Brown , for whose verse we now bespeak attention : — MB- BROWN ON A WATEBFAIi . On the grassy bank Of a nameless stream . I lay flat along ; The while mine ears drank The murmuring music Of its plaintive song . Just above where I lay—Beneath two willows , Reclined on each other , A leafy arcade—In mimic billows Rising , the waters played Bound some old black ; stones At the back of a rock , With low , gurgling moans 5 Ere , divided they fell Through the rocky drains , £ '' In crystal chains , With a tinkling sound—Like the distant chiming ' Of a village bell—Into a pool ; ^ j , A round little pool , Dark , deep , and cool ; Where the sly little trout Glides smoothly about , Or , at times , with a bound—Talcing its aim well—Hursts through a foam-bell Above the water , Bent upon slaughter ; " " Its victim , a fly , That has ( lured to pry , With inquisitive eye , Into the pool . Had not the author of Blanche of Bourbon anticipated us by describing that poem as a " feeble imitation" of Scott , we should have quoted a passage or two , in order to establish the accuracy of the definition . Wo let Mr . Jones off easily because , coming after Brown , bis humility is affecting , and , bettor still , precise . The gentleman whose verses constitute the overpowering minority , in this batch , of—at all events—good ! fooling , good sense , and good taste , is Mr . Keene ; and his book , containing more than fifty pieces , of vnrioun length and unequal merit , ia called JCx Eremo . Mr . Keene , placed by fortune in a lucrative office in India , still yearns for English skies , and breezes " pure though chill . " A few of his poems wo reeogniso for old acquaintances , ¦ first formed in Blackumod . Wo may hero state that wo have rend his book through — a book of more than fifty detached pieces be it remembered—and have been frequently reminded of the culm flowing sweetness of Allingham ' s gentle muse . If Mr . Keene is uniiblc to sustain the resemblance very long together , by tho more exorcise of his own powers , ho seldom loses the trace of kindred in hia line appreciation of minute beauties around him . Indeod , his forte is altogether the perceptive ; accordingly his traiiHlatinxns are , perhaps , the best things in Inn hook . We select one , after B ^ rangor . Ther e is all the tenderness , all tho humanity of the originnl , aud

    there is , besides , something of its natural and winning grace- It is no slight addition jto Mr . Keene ' s claim on our praise , that he should have preserved to us , with the full fresh flavour of the fruit , its delicate and evanescent bloom . THE CRADLE . Behold , dear friends , this pinnace light and frail Timidly tempt th & waves of life's rough sea , The little passenger is young to sail Alone—his earliest mariners be we . Already have the waters made it float ; Calmly it shall preserve its life-long way , If we , who watch the launching of the boat , Seek by our songs to make its passage gay . Already Fate has filled its canvas light , Already Hope her brightest aspect wears , And promises beneath a starlit night , Calm seas for ever , soft and fragrant airs . Away , away , birds of ill-omened note , Love is the captain of our crew to-day , L . et us , -who watch the launching of the boat , Seek , by our songs , to make its passage gay . They hang their garlands on the blessed mast , And share the toils , Dione ' s love-led band ; We have made offering to the Sisters chaste , And Friendship has the tiller in his hand ; Bacchus himself shall cheer us while afloat , Invoking pleasure with a jocund lay , Let us , who watch the launching of the boat , Seek , by our songs , to make its passage gay . Who is it comes to bid the vessel hail ? Tis Disappointment ; she makes Virtue blest , And trusts that sacrifices may -avail To give this infant happiness , or rest ; While our prayers' echo dies on rocks remote , Sure that the gods give ear , to whom we pray , Let us , who see the launching of the boat , Aid , by our songs , to make its passage gay .

    Jm^Yls, 1b55.J The Lhader. M*.

    JM ^ ylS , 1 B 55 . J THE LHADER . m * .

    Books On Our Table. The Quarterly Journa...

    BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . The Quarterly Journal of Pure < vnd Applied Mathematics . Edited by J- J . Sylvester , M . A ., & c , N . M . Ferrers , M . A ., assisted by G . G . Stokes , M . A ., & c , A . Cayley , M . A ., & c , and M . Hermite . ( No . 1 . ) John W . Parker and Son . Parisian Etiquette : a Guide to the Manners of French Society in Paris . Translated from the French . John F . Shaw-The British Cavalry at Balaklarea : Remarks in Reply to Lieutenant-General the Earl of Lucan ' s Speech in the House of Lords . By a Cavalry Officer . Charles Evans . Printing : its Antecedents , Origin , History , and Results . By Adam Stark . ( The Traveller's Library , 82 . ) Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland . By Thomas Moore , F . L . S ., edited by John Lindley , Ph . D ., & c . Nature printed , by Henry Bradbury . ( Parts 1 and 2 . ) . Bradbury and Evans . The Rag-bag : a Collection of Ephemera . By N . Parker Willis . Trubner and Co . Out-doors at Idlewild ; or , the Shaping of a Home on the Banks of the Hudson . By N " . P . Willis . Trubner and Co . Beauties of Fanny Fe # * n , with a Sketch of her Life and Writings . Knight and Son . Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer . Edited by Robert Bell . Vol . 4 . John W . Parker and Son . Jonas Clint : a Tale . J- H . Parker . Ivan III . ; " or , a Day and Night in . Russia : a Dramatic Sketch , in Five Acts . By John Bell Sculptor . Chapman and Hall . The Sabbath ; or , an Examination of the Six Texts commonly adduced from the New Testament in proof of a Christian Sabbath . By a Layman . Vols . 1 and 2 . Chapman and Hall . The Sabbath ; or , an Inquiry into the Supposed Obligation of the Sabbath of the Old Testament . By Sir William Domvillo , Bart . Chapman and Hall . The Royal Gallery of Art , Ancient and Modern : Engravings from the Private Collections of Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Albert , and Heirlooms of the Crown at Windsor , Buckingham Palace , and Osborne . Edited by S . C . Hall , F . S . A ., & c . ( Part 0 . ) P . aud D . Colnaghi and Ca The Martins of Cro Martin . By Charles Lever . ( No . G . ) Chapman and HalL Letter to Lord Brougham on the Question of Trusteeship in England . By Le Chevalier de Chatelain . Ilardwicke . Chambers' ' s Journal of Popular Literature , Science , and Arts . ( Part 16 . ) W . and R . Chambers . The English CycloprefHa ; a New Dictionary of Universal Knotoledge , based on the " Penny Cyclopaedia . " Conducted by Charles Knight . ( Part 26 , ) Bradbury and Evans . The Newcomes . Edited by Arthur Pondcnnie , Esq . ( No . 20 . ) Bradbury a / nd Evans . The Masonic Mirror : a Monthly Journal of Freemasonry , devoted to the Proceedings of Masonic Lodges , the Welfare of the , Order , the Interests of Us Charities , Literature , and , News . ( No . 7 . ) ** - Barton . The Ot / Mnfctt : a Novel . By the Author of " The Head of tho Family , " & c . ( Cheap Edition , revised . ) Chapman and Hall . The Castle , of Ehremtein : its Lords , Spiritual and Temporal ; its Inhabitants , Earthly and Unearthly . By G . 1 * . Ji . J nines . { Parlour Library . ' ) Thornaa Hodgson ; The Art-Journal—New Series : containing the lioyal Gallery . ( No . 0 . ) Virtue and Co . Oltnnpns . . Shnpkin , Martihall , and Co . The Forger's Wife . By John Lung . Wnr < 1 aml Lock - Sharped Road-book for the Rail ; Wester ,, Writhm , including the Lines south of the Thames ; and compri . iino the South- WvMvrn , South-1-M 8 tr . ni , Brujhtonund . South Coast , Great Western , North and South Wale * , London ami North- II astern , and neiahbouriny Lines ; upon a Scale , of V . n Mil ,- * to the . inch , with Notices <>/ 1 owns , Villaacs , principal Seats , Historical Localities , Tunnels , Viaduct * , and other objects of interest on the . route . I )( lvl ( 1 lio tf » - The most Eminent Orators and Statesmen of Ancient and Modern Times ; containing Sketches of their Lives , Specimens of their Eloquence , and an Estimate oj thetr Gonius . By David A . Uuraliu . UrUbuor and Go-

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 12, 1855, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12051855/page/19/