Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub

ance with the dictates of worldly prudence,) the happiness of both parties seemed so entirely to depend. They soon afterwards took up their residence at Daventry, Captain Hemans having been appointed Adjutant to the Northamptonshire Local Militia. Here they remained for about a twelvemonth, during which time their eldest son, Arthur,' was born. The transition from her "own mountain land," as she would fondly call it, to a country so tame and uninteresting as the neighbourhood of Daventry, was felt by Mrs. Hemans to a degree almost amounting to the heimweh (home sickness) of the Swiss. The only scenery within reach of her new abode, which excited any pleasing associations, was that of Fawsley Park, of which the woods and lawns, the old Hall, with its quaint gables and twisted chimneys, and the venerable, ivy-mantled church-always retained a place in her "chambers of imagery," as presenting a happy combination of the characteristic features of an old

English ancestral demesne. Her sonnet "On an old Church in an English Park," published in the Scenes and Hymns of Life, though written so many years after, was suggested by the recollection of this scenery, of which she had made several sketches. The unexpected reduction of the corps dissolving their connexion with a place to which they had no other ties, Captain Hemans and his family returned to Wales in the following year, and became domiciliated at Bronwylfa; from which time, till the death

1 This child of many hopes, the first to awaken a mother's love, has been the first to rejoin her in the world beyond the grave. He died at Rome, in February, 1837.

of her mother, Mrs. Hemans was never again withdrawn from the shelter of the maternal wing.' Early and deeply was she taught to appreciate the blessing of that shelter-the value of that truest and tenderest friend, "the mother," to use her own words, "by whose unwearied spirit of love and hope she was encouraged to bear on through all the obstacles which beset her path."

For several succeeding years, the life of Mrs. Hemans continued to be a scene of almost uninterrupted domestic privacy, her time being divided between the cultivation of her wonted studies, and the claims of an increasing family. Her five children were all sonsa circumstance which many persons profess to have discovered from her writings, in which allusions to a mother's love are so frequent, and where the "blessed child," so often apostrophised or described, is always, it may be observed, a “gentle" or a "gallant" or a "bright-haired" boy, whose living image might be found in the blooming group around her. Her eagerness for knowledge of every kind was intense; and her industry may be attested by volumes, still existing, of extracts and transcriptions, almost sufficient to form a library in themselves. The mode of her studies. was, to outward appearance, singularly desultory, as she would be surrounded by books of all sizes, in divers languages, and on every variety of topic, and would seem to be turning from one to another, like a bee flying from flower to flower: yet, whatever

1 Her father had, some time before, again engaged in mercan tile pursuits, and gone out to Quebec, where he died.

confusion might reign without, all was clear and well-defined within. In her mind and memory, the varied stores were distinctly arranged, ready to be called forth for the happy illustration, the poetic imagery, or the witty comparison. She continued the study of languages with undiminished ardour, and made some progress in the acquisition of Latin. A volume of translations published in 1818, might have been called by anticipation, "Lays of many Lands." At the time now alluded to, her inspirations were chiefly derived from classical subjects. The "graceful superstitions" of Greece, and the sublime patriotism of Rome, held an influence over her thoughts which is evinced by many of the works of this period-such as, The Restoration of the Works of Art to Italy, Modern Greece, and several of the poems which formed the volume entitled Tales and Historic Scenes.

At this stage of transition, "her poetry," to use the words of a judicious critique,2 "was correct, classical, and highly polished; but it wanted warmth: it partook more of the nature of statuary than of painting. She fettered her mind with facts and authorities, and drew upon her memory when she might have

This poem is thus alluded to by Lord Byron, in one of his published letters to Mr. Murray, dated from Diodati, Sept. 30th, 1816.

66

'Italy or Dalmatia and another summer may, or may not, set me off again.

[ocr errors]

"I shall take Felicia Hemans's Restoration, &c., with me-it is a good poem-very.”

2 Written by the late Miss Jewsbury (afterwards Mrs. Metcher), and published in the Athenæum of Feb. 12th, 1831.

relied upon her imagination. She was diffident of herself, and, to quote her own admission, "loved to repose under the shadow of mighty names." This taste by degrees gave way to one which suggested a choice of subjects more nearly allied to the thoughts and feelings of daily life. She turned from the fables of antiquity,

"Distinct, but distant-clear, but oh! how cold!"

to the more heart-warming traditions of the middle ages; imbuing every theme with the peculiar colouring of her own mind-her instinctive sense of the picturesque, and her intense love of the beautiful. Her poetry of this class is so eloquently characterised by the able writer of the article already referred to, in the Dublin University Magazine, that in no other language can it be more truly and gracefully described. "Tender and enthusiastic, she fed her heart upon all things noble, and would tolerate no others as the aliment of imagination. She created for herself a world of high-souled men and women, whose love had no outward glitter, no surface-sparkle, but was a deep, o'ermastering stream, strong, steady, and unbroken. The men were made to hold high feast on days of victory-to lead the resolute chivalry of freedom-to consecrate banners in ancient churches, solemnized with rich evening light-to scale the walls of cities or defend them to strike with courage-to endure with fortitude. The women to sing hymns of pensive worship to sit in antique bowers, with open missals and attendant maidens-to receive at castle gates the truehearted and the brave-to rush amid the spears, and

receive the wound meant for a sterner heart-to clasp the infant snatched from peril at the peril of life-to bear uncomplaining agonies—and, above all, to wait long, long days for the deceiver who will not return; to know the deadly sickness of a fading hope, and, at last, to dedicate a broken heart to him who has crushed it. These are the people and the achievements of her pages; here is the fountain and principle of her inspirations-Honour deepened and sanctified by religion."

In the year 1818, Captain Hemans, whose health had been long impaired by the previous vicissitudes of a military life, determined upon trying the effects of a southern climate; and, with this view, repaired to Rome, which he was afterwards induced to fix upon as his place of residence. It has been alleged, and with perfect truth, that the literary pursuits of Mrs. Hemans and the education of her children, made it more eligible for her to remain under the maternal roof, than to accompany her husband to Italy. It is, however, unfortunately but too well known, that such were not the only reasons which led to this divided course. To dwell on this subject would be unnecessarily painful, yet it must be stated, that nothing like a permanent separation was contemplated at the time, nor did it ever amount to more than a tacit conventional arrangement, which offered no obstacle to the frequent interchange of correspondence, nor to a constant reference to their father in all things relating to the disposal of her boys. But years rolled on-seventeen years of absence, and consequently alienation-and from this time to the hour of her death, Mrs. Hemans

« AnteriorContinuar »