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    majestic images and a truly poetical skill : it is the union of these excellencies which causes Homzr to be the poet of all countries and periods . The most popular of his translators has been accused . of " a monotonous and cloying versification : " * and ridicule is attempted to be thrown on

    —his cuckoo-song" verses , half up aad half down . " No ridicule however can deprive him of his well-earned fame . It may be true that his pauses are not sufficiently varied .. In this respect he is , no iSoubt , inferior to some of his

    predecessors . Still , he has redeemed the fault by various and characteristic charms : nor is it accurate to speak of" his rhyming facilities j" ** being perfectly ascertained that „ his lines were laboured into ease , and , by rer peafed efforts , polished into elegance . If it has been the fate of Pope to have

    injudicious imitators , it were , nevertheless , heartily to he wished that the care and diligence which he bestowed oil his versification were copied by tnany of hi& censors . L ^ t not our readers consider these

    observations as misplaced in a critical fietice of the poetry of {? awper . This amiable writer holds , * ve think , a tniddle rank between the race of poets who have formed their versification

    on that of Pope , jtnd those who introduce the language of common life into compositions professing to be potttic&l . Besides , Cowper is a favourite and popular author . His pages interest readers of nearly all classes . . And though it be readily admitted that 4 * the raagic of his song ' is to be

    fcttnd in his virtues ; yet , to have Jtoeri so generally acceptable in this £ dpriciou 4 age , he must have pos-* € * 9 ed intrinsic excellence as a poet . In those of Cowper ' s poems to ivilich he owes his high reputation , toe is neither mean and infantine , on tibe one hand , nor fastidiously atten tive to cadence and ornament , on the other . t Doubtless , some of his lines are harsh and unfinished : and there

    * Feast of the Poets , ii . 27 . $ ~— " simplicity , though frequently naked , is not consequently poor : for a * - kolnea * may be that of M Giftfee , and not *** ? tofffC ***' " Hfi * &lW * Itttrod . to Se-& # jj # a # t % ?^ ( fee . : ^ ttd . # d . ) Jnttrotl * . tfc . " * '" ' ' ¦ ¦ ' ' . . " ¦• - - < —

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    are those of his productions which partake greatly of the nature of ths sermo pedestris . Yet where he trifl e * it is at once with ' dignity and ease : his descriptions of natural objects exhibit a proof of his having looked through creation with a poet ' s eye

    and his choice of topics , his lively and faithful pictures of human manners , his keen and delicate aud playful satire , his ardent sensibility , his quick and graceful transitions , his skill in painting those domestic scenes and

    retired employments which he loved —these are his appropriate recommendations . He who has once read Cowper , is desirous of reading him again , and even of becoming familiar with his strains . There are writers

    whom we can enjoy only in certaiu states of our nfixnds : Cowper always gaius admittance to us 5 he is our companion and instructor , he can soothe and engage us , at every hour .

    An additional volume of the poem * of such an author was sure of raising expectation : if that expectation be not gratified , the cause of the disappointment appears in the declaratioa of the respectable editor , who says ,

    " It is incumbent on me to apprize the reader , that by far the g-reater part of the poems , to which I have now the houour to introduce him , have been already published by Mr . Hay ley . " Preface . In the Dedication , tQo , he speak of " the few additions inserted in this collection . " Amoog these additions ,

    which should have Jbeen distinctly marked , \? e perceive an ** Address to Miss - — - ^ on reading tl ^ e Prayer for Indiflterence / 'J same Latin translations from fhe Poems of V . Bourne , and same English ones of the Epigrams of Owen ; together witji a fevr Biipoi- pieces . The translations of the I ^ t in and Italian Poems of Milton ,

    are here presented again to the worlds Siotwithstanding they had been published in 13 O 8 , in a quarto volume We confess therefore that we are doubtful of the necessity of this part of the undertaking of the Rector of Y ^ xbanr , ^ s well a , s of jtjhye prapriety of entitling the larger portion of tb * volume , the P ^ thtimaus Poetry of Covrpei % U In fdlectipg the

    prfcdact By Mr . Gr ** m * . I ) though , . trictly » p * ak m , it he / w »^ humous , ftl the wofrf , oi 4 pw& , coutcy »

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    102 Review .- ~ Cowper s Poems ,

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1816, page 162, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2450/page/34/