POETRY. EPIC POEMS AND ROMANCES. The Curse of Kehama. By Robert Southey. 4to. pp. 376. IN wildness and wonderousness, Mr. Southey has now far outdone his wild and wondrous tale of Thalaba. The Curse of Kehama is, perhaps, the most marvellous story that ever came from the pen of a poet. But, though the reader of it may sometimes be startled by the daringness of its fictions, it will be impossible for him not to be delighted with its numerous and splendid beauties. Extravagant as the story is, it is told with inimitable spirit, and its consistency is preserved to the last. Nothing can be more perfectly oriental than its scenery and allusions. With beautiful and even sublime description it abounds. The language is highly poetical, and the versification has in general a vigour and musical sweetness which it would be difficult to equal. The Lady of the Lake. A Poem. By Walter Scott, Esq. Second Edition. 8vo. pp. 433. So prolific is Mr. Scott's muse, that we have scarcely had time to admire one of her offspring, before our attention is called away to another. It is indeed extraordinary that so prolific a writer as Mr. Scott should rise, instead of sinking, in each succeeding work: so, however, it is. As a whole, we think The Lady of the Lake is superior either to The Lay of the Last Minstrel or to Marmion. The tone of it is more uniformly sustained. On Mr. Scott's descriptive powers it is perfectly unnecessary to enlarge; and, after what we have said, it is scarcely necessary even to add, that in The Lady of the Lake he displays those powers to their utmost extent. The story is highly interesting, and is managed with skill; and some of the characters are delineated with a masterly hand. Constance de Castile. A Poem, in ten Cantos. liam Sotheby, Esq. 4to. pp. 191. By Wil THOSE who have read Mr. Sotheby's poems, and his translations of Oberon and the Georgics, will take up this volume with the hope of being highly gratified. Their expectations will not be disappointed. Mr. Sotheby has chosen an interesting subject, and has treated it in a masterly manner. The story is attractive in itself, and is well supported; the characters are ably drawn, the descriptive parts are natural and animated, and the versification is musical. Christina, the Maid of the South Seas. A Poem, in four Cantos. Crown 8vo. pp. 332. GENTLE reader, canst thou form an idea of the pleasure which the tired and thirsty traveller feels, when, after passing over leagues of sandy desert, he comes at last to a spot where he finds shade and a cooling stream: if thou canst form such an idea, then thou canst conceive the delight which a critic enjoys when after having yawned, groaned, and rubbed his eyes, over the barren waste of a hundred dull volumes, he at length opens a work which bears the stamp of genius. For such delight we are indebted to Miss Mitford. Her poem entitles her, we think, to an honourable place among the poetical writers of the present age. The interest of her story is supported to the last; her descriptions are animated and true to nature; and her versification has an uncommon portion of melody, freedom, and variety. Wallace; or, the Fight of Falkirk; a Metrical Romance. By Miss Holford. Second Edition. 8vo. pp. 252. "I CANNOT, will not, sing of war!" exclaims an amiable and highly inspired female writer of the present day. Not so exclaims Miss Holford. She sings of war; and sings of it, too, in the boldest and most animated strains. We have read her Fight of Falkirk with great pleasure, and are much mistaken if it will not obtain her a lasting reputation. The characters are drawn and kept up with spirit, the story is skilfully conducted, the language is poetical, and the versification is harmonious. To the verse we have but one trifling objection to make, which is that the final alexandrine of a stanza is not always musically introduced; it does not always harmonize with the metre which precedes it. This fault, however, seldom occurs; and is but a faint speck amidst so many beauties as Wallace contains. |