On this page

• Text (3)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    Rotherham , October 19 , 1827 . Lord Byron was , in our opinion , the greatest and most original poet of his age . It cannot be denied , indeed , that he has borrowed some of his characters and descriptions from the pages of history and romance ; but this has always been the practice of great poets , not excepting Shakspeare himself , from the age of Homer to the present day . Like his great

    predecessors , however , what he has taken from others he has made his own ; he has thrown over naked prose all the embellishments of poetry ; and where he has condescended to imitate , it has not been like a servile copier , but as a great genius . In opposition , then , to those unjust critics who would class this exalted poet with common plagiarists , we cannot but express our admiration of the extraordinary and splendid talents which have left their eternal impress on his works .

    A more plausible charge which the detractors of Lord Byron s talents bring against them is the sameness of his characters . It must be confessed that this sameness does exist , and that the hero of all his poems ( with the exception of his dramas ) is one individual . " Childe Harold , " " The Corsair , " and " Lara , " may be justly considered as different sketches of the same person in different circumstances , and , together , they form a sort of

    poetical biography of his actions and feelings from his earliest years to his death . This individual , however , is always so powerfully described as to render the sameness of Lord Byron more striking and interesting than the variety of other poets . He is , if we ^ may he allowed the expression , the great magician of the story , and always presents himself to our view surrounded with such mighty spells that our senses are charmed , and our reason chained , by their fascinating influence .

    This influence , however , like that of witchcraft , is often dangerous and evil ; and the poems of this noble author too nearly resemble the fatal song of the Syrens , which , though sweet and enchanting , lured to destruction those who listened to its melody . Their general tendency is certainly to cast a gloom . over the mind , and render us dissatisfied with life , the evils of which they continually press upon our attention , without describing the alleviating circumstances that lessen their weight , or even remotely alluding

    to the great moral good that arises from their existence . They are , also , calculated to lower our opinion of human nature , and destroy the strongest motives to honourable exertion ; since they dwell only on the selfishness of man , and deride his noblest pursuits . A worse effect likely to result from , these poems is the scepticism which they are calculated to produce in minds not well fortified by religious principle ; for they represent a future state of existence as , at best , altogether doubtful , if desirable , whilst they call in question even the attributes of the Deity ,

    The most striking characteristic of Lord Byron ' s poetry is , indeed , the moral gloom that envelopes it . Enthroned amidst the dark clouds of scepticism , this mighty , but evil , genius throws forth the illumination of his talent , like lightning in the storm , only upon mournful and distressing objects . He shews us man , tossed on the tempestuous ocean of life , without any light to guide him in safety over it , but the momentary flash that reveals , only to render his situation more dreadful , the dangers that encompass it , and then leaves him to perish amidst theih in despair . He throws a fearful

    Untitled Article

    f 868 )

    Untitled Article

    ON THE POETRY OF BYRON .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1827, page 868, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1803/page/12/