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    ,10 mitt auaagiv i^torpay,

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    reade's p oetical works. The Poetical Wo...

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    Lamartine On The Restoration. Histoire D...

    coke ' s bide over the rocky . "S ZtSMOrttl % 38 T 3 S £% Honourable Henry J . Coke . JienUey . The Honourable Henry Coke must disabuse his mind of two prepossessions ere he again takes up the perii if he wish to take it up with success ; and those two are , first , that he has any natural aptitude for gay and sparkling composition j second , that to make books effective a writer should dress up for " effect . " Mr . Kinglake ' s Eothen has misled many writers of travels . After Byron , noman aspired to the glory of a poetic soul unless he turned down his collars and despised mankind ; after Eothen , no man ventures to narrate his travels unless he can be facetious and sarcastic .

    Mr . Coke has performed a journey such as , half a century ago , would have made him a considerable lion ; and the narrative of that journey lies before us—curious and interesting enough , especially in those passages wherein he is plainly telling what he experienced , but rendered less agreeable by the ambitious passages in which he attempts to " write up " uninteresting details . His journey was unpremeditated . He crossed to the West Indies and tne States apparently for mere amusement ; and at the suggestion of the moment determined upon the perilous journey across the Rocky Mountains to worthof its

    California—a romantic adventure , y record . As a book to lounge through during an idle afternoon , this may be commended . No one will find it dull ; and if it be slighter in texture than one could wish , in that respect it resembles most modem books of travels—books written to be sold , read , and forgotten . There is too much space devoted to the earlier and less interesting incidents of this journey . Sketches of society in the West Indies are hacknied now . Here , however , is a glimpse of the scenery of the Blue Mountains worth extracting : —^

    " As we ascended , we observed a considerable change in the vegetation . —Parasitical and orchidaceous plants grew in great luxuriance ; their rope-like roots dropped from the high branches to the ground , and were entwined with endless varieties of creepers , which , again clomb upwards , gracefully concealing the unsightliness of their naturally-formed ladders . These festoons , woven together in rank exuberance , fashioned them selves above into a verdant canopy , ¦ whi ch effectually excluded the scorching rays of the sun . Among the most remarkable objects of this vegetable kingdom is the tree fern . Its stem is sometimes between forty and fifty feet high ; from the top it throws out delicate leafy branches , drooping downwards , and give it all the appearance of a small and

    beautiful palm . But delightful as are these ' shadowy deserts , ' there is a terrible absence of animal life . Hardly a bird or beast is to be seen . A few days Bince we rode into the woods above Bachelor's Pen , and saw great numbers of parrots and humming-birds , but to-day we have seen nothing of the kind ; the only traces of any living thing being a patch of ground , where some wild pigs had been rooting with their noses , and a black enake , which one ot our horses trod on in the path . When we got to the top of the pass , just at the foot of the Blue Mountains , and about 3000 feet above the level of the sea , we dismounted , and walked nearly to the bottom of the hill , until we came to a lovely spot , where two or three tributary streams empty themselves into the Bio ( jhrande . "

    There is something very amusing in the account of the outfit of the inexperienced party , when they were about to front the desperate chances of the overland route ; white kid gloves , ginger-beer in bottles , chocolate , camp-stools , and carving knives —but not a word of ropes , harness , picket-pins , and necessaries . It is natural to suppose that such an outfit was soon practically discovered to be absurd . Indeed , part of the amusement of this record arises from the inexperience of the travellers , and the experience of the mules . Look at these animals in the following passage : —

    14 Brought all the animals down , tied them up , and packed them . If ever thero were other vicious mules in the world , they must have been amiability itself compared with outfu . They rolled , they kicked , they plunged , they screamed , they bit , afl though we had been submitting them to the torments of the damned . Tnking six men to each mule , we finally lashed the packs on them so tight as almost to c . ut them in two . The moment their heads were loosed , away they went into the river , over the foills , and across the country as hard as they could lay legs to the ground . Oh ! it was a pretty sight 1 The flour and biscuit stuff swimming about in the river , the hams in a ditch full of mud , the new not of pots and pana bumping and rattling on the ground until there was not a morsel of shape left in one of them . And the pack-saddles , which have delayed us a week to get made , broken and smashed p splinters . ''

    But after the thrilling pages of Kelly ' s Excursion to California , the incidents in this volume are tame partly because the terrible Indians only loom in the distance , and never actually come upon the scene . . We have not space to quote some of the longer extracts we had marked , and must conclude with this account—for the especial indignation of all readers—of the Indian squaw and

    THE BOASTED PUPPY . " A young puppy that had been playing with the child was seized by the woman , and received from her half a dozen sharp blows on the throat with a piece of wood about to be used for firing . The puppy was then returned , kicking , to the tender mercies of the infant , who exerted its little might to add to the miseries of the beast , while the mother prepared the fire and a small kettle for the purpose of cooking .

    The puppy , still much more alive than dead , was then taken by the hind legs and held over the flames , till the wornan's fingers could bear the heat no longer . She then let it fall on the fire , where it struggled and squeaked most piteously , and would have succeeded in delaying its end , but that the little savage took care to provide for the security of his late playmate , by replacing him in the flames , till life was extinguished and the hair satisfactorily burnt off . "

    ,10 Mitt Auaagiv I^Torpay,

    , 10 mitt auaagiv i ^ torpay ,

    Reade's P Oetical Works. The Poetical Wo...

    reade ' s p oetical works . The Poetical Woria of John Edmund Bedde . 2 vols . Chapman and Hall . The collected edition of the poetical works of an accomplished gentleman who , for twenty years , has laboured courageously at his art , demand a more deliberate notice than the intrinsic merit of these works would ,. perhaps , secure . Twenty years of ambition , twenty years of thoughtful labour , twenty years of love and brooding meditation , are here distilled and sent forth into the world , to court the admiration and the sympathy , or brave the indifference , of readers and critics ! — Our opinion must be frankly given , even though it may sound harsh ; and that opinion may be expressed in a few words r Mr . Reade is a gentleman of poetical temperament and elegant mind , but he is not a poet . By this our readers know that we do not mean to deny Mr . Reade ' s having written poetry , and some beautiful poetry , as far as a passage here and

    there can be isolated from the text , and presented in shape of a " specimen brick "; but we mean that he is not by nature endowed with that peculiar organization of a poet , which ritt' education can supply . If you demand a short and easy proof , without going to the volumes themselves , read this magniloquent description of Homer in the vision entitled E ^ waov Opyov .

    " Methought I stood upon the Chian stiand In vision : I beheld blind Homer there Beside a rock in meditation stand . I knew the godlike aspect of the Seer : The waves dashed at his feet , he heard them not ; The harp was in his hands , it was forgot In the high mood of his abstracted thought . The breezes sighed amid his hoary hair , That floated oer his neck and shoulders bare .

    Ihe inward cheerfulness that emanates Prom the great soul which its own light creates , Shone o ' er his august countenance , as sheds The sun its light o ' er mountains' topmost heads . Hie forehead bald rose like an altar-place Lighted with fire from heaven : his reverent faco Turned toward the setting sun , whose lustrous flood Fell , robe-like , round the prophet where he stood , Typing the everlasting crown that Fame Haloing should cast around his deathless name ! Ye saw the feeling of the infinite Quickening his visage with an inward light : The moving lips where inspiration , dwelt , As if the presence of the god he felt ,

    Descending on him in that aolitude . In that large forehead and entranced mood Was stamped the imago of the immortal creature : Even while I'gazed , I felt how mighty Nature Entered his soul ! a prophet there he stood , His inspirations round him : from the roar Of waves , his rushing verse was born : their power Prom the eternal rocks ; from the great sky And storms , the strength and the sublimity With , which ho robed his gods ; from yonder Sun , The watching symbol of the eternal One , That shone upon him there in that calm hour , As if it lingered round him while it blest ; The cal / n , the grandeur , majesty , and rest . "

    In this passage there are sounding linos and poetical expressions ; but who does not feel that this vague and meaningless abstraction of a Poet is almost ludicrous applied to Homer ? It is not true , Mr . Reade ; you never did have such a vision 1 If

    Homer appeared to you , he never appeared like that : Think of the rough , hearty , naive Homer as a Prophet ! But the passage serves our purpose as illustrative of Mr . Reade ' s poetical failures : every where as here , we find him substituting vague abstractions for the quick pulsations of life-ra soun ding period for a reality . He calls these volumes the " Inward confessional of all that passed Upon this inner soul . The strife Of thought to interpenetrate our life , Booting its mysteries to the Source of "Qeing . "

    Now , it is precisely because these volumes are no confession of his life , that we deny their qlaim to be considered poetry . He may have tried to Jet his sorrows and his thoughts express themselves in music ; but the unskilful fingers playing on the harp can only play the tune they have beeiKtaught , even when attempting to play a tune that " beats time to nothing in the head " of the player . Mr . Reade , as we said , is a man of elegant mind and poetical temperament . Like thousands of

    others , he has mistaken aspiration for inspiration , and devoted himself to an Art which Nature never devoted him to . This is the reason why he begins by writing Cains , Deluges , and Italys , in imitation of Byron , and concludes by writing Dramas of Life and Revelations of Life , in imitation of Wordsworth . He is never himself ; always the echo of some other ' s song . Had there been a song within him , it would have risen above all echoes and burst forth .

    Not poetry , then , but agreeable verse , must the reader seek , in these volumes . He will find it What a fine image in the fifth line of this opening stanza to Italy : — ** Oh ! never yet ' mid Ida's woods reclined , ^ Parnassian height , or Delphic shades enshrined , Was a sublimer , worthier altar thine Than where I hear the chantings of the wind , Cloud-folded on the stormy Apennine ! Than where I feel thee linked with Nature ' s life and

    mine . Here , again , is a good Byronic passage :- — " Is this -wreck all that now remains of thee , Thou magisterial forum ? this the place , ' Ambition ' * fiery " altar } can . it be This tree-scathed solitude is all the trace Where temples crowded into narrowing space ! ¦ Looking while to yon azure heaven they soared , As if eternity were in their base ; Where heroes , demagogues their passion poured , And the plebeian herd ruled , flattered , or implored . '

    " Here the Past eits a substance , not a shade , . The palpable wrecks around her throne and bier : We feel her breath the conscious air pervade , A sense of her prophetic being near : While in the silence audibly ye hear The throbbing pulse of mutability ! The unheeded present is a shadow here : The Future child of both , doth prophesy , Changes that storm-like felt , in folded thunders lie . " Elsewhere he speaks with exquisite beauty of " The summits of unreached ambition seen In the clear orient of opening youth . "

    One passage more , and we have done ; it shall bo from the description of Arethusa : — " She threw herself upon the bank beneath The shadowing willow that o'erhung the stream , Her bow and shafts were cast upon the turf : Her head against a bough reclined , her neck Gleamed whiter from the depths of shadow cast By the black trees : her parted lips drank in The breathing air , like pulses of her life ; Spent with fatigue , her arms hung listlessly : Like a pale statue in eternal rest She looked , still marble , cold , and beautiful , Waiting the spark of life ' s enkindling flame . "

    These are sufficient to indicate that the volumes contain passages such as entitle them to a reading . Our criticism is severe only because we have considered the volumes as poetry meant for posterity . To the general remarks we would fain add one particular observation on the frequent oarelessness and discord of the versification—a carelessness which , in works so long under the author ' s hands , is inexcusable . A delicate'sense of music MiyReaao has not ; and in blank verse he follows the weak , unrhythmical , and licentious blank verse of Byron ; but there are a quantity of verses that have no scansion whatever : e . g .:-

    —" Fireflies pendant hung Amidst the lovellcd rays poised motionless on , Invisibly thrilling wings , lightning like . " Again : —

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 31, 1852, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31011852/page/18/