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society at a distance , and whose business it was to invent all sorts of pleasantries for the amusement of his lord . In these low pleasantries , Schlegel admits he was most happy , but he stole the best of them . He was obliged to force himself into the higher school of comedy , and never succeeded in it . ' " ' To a man like Schlegel , ' continued Goethe , ' a genuine nature like M oliere ' s is a veritable eyesore ; he feels that he has nothing in common with him , he cannot endure him . The Misanthrope , which I read over and over again , as one of my most favourite pieces , is repugnant to him ; he is forced to praise Tartuffe a little , but he lets him down again as much as he can . Schlegel cannot forgive Moliere for ridiculing the affectation of learned ladies ; he feels , probably as one of my friends has remarked , that he himself would have been ridiculed if he had lived with Moliere . '
" ' It is not to be denied , ' continued Goethe , ' that gchlegel knows a great deal , and one is almost terrified at his extraordinary attainments and his extensive reading . But this is not enough . All the learning in the world is still no judgment . His criticism is completely one-sided , because in all theatrical pieces he merely regards the skeleton of the plot and arrangement , and only points out small points of resemblance to great predecessors , without troubling himself in the least as to what the author brings forward of graceful life and the culture of a high soul . But of what use are all the arts of a talent , if we do not find in a theatrical piece an amiable or great personality of the author ? This alone influences the cultivation of the people .
" ' I look upon the manner in which Schlegel has treated the French drama as a sort of recipe for the formation of a bad critic , who is wanting in every organ for the veneration , of excellence , and who passes over a sound nature and a great character as if they were chaff and stubble . ' " « Shakspeare and Calderon , on the other hand , ' I replied , 'he treats justly , and even with decided
affection . " ' Both , ' returned Goethe , ' are of such a kind that one cannot say enough in praise of them , although I should not have wondered if Schlegel had scornfully let him down also . Thus he is also just to JEschylus and Sophocles ; but this does not seem to arise so much from a lively conviction of their extraordinary merit as from the tradition among philologists to place them both very high ; for , in fact , Schlegel ' s own little person is not sufficient to comprehend and appreciate such lofty natures . If this had been the case , he would have been just to Euripides too , and would have gone to work with him in a different manner . But he knows that philologists do not estimate him very highly , and he , therefore , ieels no little delight that he is permitted , upon such
high authority , to fall foul of this mighty ancient , and to schoolmaster him as much as he can . I do not deny that Euripides has his faults ; but he was always a very respectable competitor with Sophocles and JEschylus . If he did not possess the great earnestness and the severe artistic completeness of his two predecessors , and as a dramatic poet treated things a little more leniently and humanely , he probably knew his Athenians well enough to be aware that the chord which he struck was the right one for his contemporaries . A poet whom Socrates called his friend , whom Aristotle lauded , whom Menander admired , and for whom Sophocles and the city of Athens put on mourning on hearing of his death , must certainly have been something . If a modern man like Schlegel must pick out faults in so great an ancient , he ought only to do it upon his knees . ' " We must return to these volumes for further extracts .
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MRS . BROWNING ^ POEMS . Poems . By Elizabeth Barrett Browning . New edition . In two volumes . Chapman and Hall . ( Third Notice . ) We have endeavoured , in two articles , to convey our opinion of Mrs . Browning ' s qualities , and are still unsatisfied with the result ; having a vague feeling that our extracts do not justify our praise , and that
the reader may bring against us the very complaint we brought against her previous critics , viz ., of injuring our verdict by the samples brought forward to prove it . But , in truth , extracts are altogether inadequate : they are bricks from a building , and give no correct representation of the building itself . The better plan , in most cases , would be to quote entiro poems ; yet this , also , would be very incomplete .
its treatment ; and , indeed , this unreality is a frequent drawback to the effect of the poems . Yet how truly she can touch the human chords is shown in many passages—as in this . •—
" INSUFFICIENCY . " There is no one beside thee , and no one above theo ; Thou standest alone , as the nightingale sings ! Yet my words that would praise thee are impotent things ; For none can express thee , though all should approve thee ! I love thee so , Dear , that I only can love thee . " Say , what can I do for thee ? . . . weary thee .. . grieve thee 1 Lean on thy shoulder . .. new burdens to add 1 .. . Weep my tears over thee . . . making thee sad 1 Oh , hold me not—love me not ! let me retrieve theel I love thee so , Dear , that I only can leave thee . or in this : — " If the rain fell , there was sorrow;—Little head , leant on the pane , Little finger drawing down on it The long trailing drops upon it , — And the ' . Rain , rain , come to-morrow , ' Said for charm against the rain . " or this love poem : —
" A VALEDICTION . " God be -with thee , my beloved , —God be with thee ! Else alone thou goest forth , Thy face unto the north , — Moor and pleasance , all around thee and beneath thee , Looking equal in one snow : While I , who try to reach thee , Vainly follow , vainly follow , With the farewell and the hollo , And cannot reach thee so . Alas ! I can but teach thee . — God be with thee , my beloved , —God be with thee !
" Can I teach thee , my beloved , —can I teach thee ? If I said , « Go left or right , ' The counsel would be light , — The wisdom , poor of all that could enrich thee . My right would show like left ; My raising would depress thee , — My choice of light would blind thee , — Of way , would leave behind thee , — Of end , would leave bereft . Alas ! I can but bless thee . — May God teach thee , my beloved , —may God teach thee «• Can I bless thee , my beloved , —can I bless thee 1 What blessing word can I From mine own tears keep dry ?
What flowers grow in my field wherewith to dress thee 1 My good reverts to ill ; My calmnesses would move thee , — My softnesses would prick thee , — My bindings up would break thee , — My crownings curse and kill . Alas ! I can but love thee . — May God bless thee , my beloved , —may God bless thee ! " Can I love thee , my beloved , —can I love thee ?
Ami is this like love , to stand With no help in my hand , When strong as death I fain would watch above thee ? My love-kiss can deny No tear that falls beneath it : Mine oath of love can swear thee From no ill that comes near thee , — And thou diest while I breathe it , And I— I can but die ! May God love thee , my beloved , —may God love thee !"
Here , also , is a picture of our London Life : — M champ of the steeds on the silver bit . As they -whirl the rich man ' s chariot by ; The beggar ' s whine as he looks at it , — But it goes too fast for charity ; The trail on the street of the poor man ' s broom , That the lady , who walks to her palace-home , On her silken skirt may catch no dust ; The tread of the business-men who must Count their per cents , by the paces they take ; The cry of the babe unheard of its mother , Though it lie on her breast , while she thinks of the other Laid yesterday where it will not wake ; The flower-girl ' s prayer to buy roses and pinka , Held out in the smoke like stars by day ; The gin-door ' s oath , that hollowlylchinks Guilt upon grief and wrong upon hate ; The cabman ' s cry to get out of the way ; The dustman ' s cull down the area-grate ; The young maid ' s jest and the old wife ' 3 scold ; The haggling talk of the boys at a stall ; The light in the street which is backed for gold ; The plea of the lawyers in Wcstminstor-hall ; The drop on the stones of the blind mini's staff , As he trades in his own grief ' s sacredness ; The brothel ' s shriek and the Newgate laugh ; The hum upon 'Change and the organ ' s grinding , The grinder ' s face being nevertheless Dry an J vacant of even woe , While the children ' s hearts arc leaping so At the merry music ' s winding ! The black-plumed funeral ' s creeping train , Long and slow ( and yet they will go As fust as Life , though it hurry and strain !) Creeping the populous houses through , Aral nodding their plumes , at cither side , At many a house where an infant , new To the sunshiny world , has just struggled and cried , — At many a house where aittt'tu a bride
Trying the morrow ' s coronals , With a scarlet blush to-day . Slowly creep the funerals , As none should hear the noise and say , * The living , the living must go away To multiply the dead !'" Power of musical expression , power of wordpainting , and trembling sensibility of nerves are visible in almost every page of these volumes , showing the poetic nature and poetic culture , but showing also , as we must constantly iterate , an absence of
that wealth of material—observation , suffering , and thought—which is indispensable to the creation of enduring poems . Jean Paul , in his Vorschule der ^ Esthetik , acutely observes of young poets , that the novelty of their feelings is mistaken by them for novelty of objects * and their ignorance makes them work in the Unknown or the Mystical , in foreign countries and in foreign times , without individuality ; or else exclusively in the Lyrical , for in this latt there is no Nature to be imitated other than that which they bring with them . These remarks apply
to Mrs . Browning . Foreign scenes , distant timer , the My stical and the Lyrical , make up her poems . Life , as it pulses in our hearts , is dimly , if at all , portrayed by her . Yet so true is it that Experience alone forms the substance of real poetry , that even Lyrical Poetry , which is more directly egotistic and personal , seems to demand for its perfection that the poet should have seen , felt , and thought much : as witness the great Lyric poets of all ages . We conclude these imperfect notices with a little picture from " The Romance of the Swan ' s Nest , " which is a poem in itself :- — " Little Ellie sits alone 'Mid the beeches of a meadow , By a stream-side , on the grass ; And the trees are showering down . Doubles of their leaves in shadow On her shining hair and face . She haB thrown her bonnet by , And her feet she has been dipping In the shallow water ' s flow ; Now she holds them nakedly In her hands , all sleek and dripping , While she rocketh to aud fro . Little Ellie sits alone , And the smile she softly useth Fills the silence like a speech ; While she thinks what shall be done , And the sweetest pleasure chooseth For her future within reach . "
Looking through these volumes for a single poem which might be accepted as typical of the whole , we are struck with the fact that so very few of them could be quoted as gems without great flaws ; not one of them but contains evidence of the poet ' s power , yet scarcely one that can be pronounced entirely good . Therefore , take up the volumes for yourself— they are worth reading and rereading—and expect from us only a fragment or two . «• The
Homaunt of the Page" is a pretty ballad delicately told . In ' The Lay of the Brown ltosary " there is a weird tone which will delight all who a ro not repelled by obscurity . " The llhyme of the Duchess May " would be a glorious ballad but for tho wearisome iteration of tho burden , carried beyond effectiveness . " Lady Geraldine ' s Courtship " is a ballad of modern iifc with lovely lines and pictures , but unlifclike in
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KNOX ON GAME BIRDS , Game Birds and Wild Fowl ; their Friends and their Foes . By A . E . Knox , M . A ., F . L . S ., Author of " Ornithological ltambles in Sussex . " Van Voorst ^ There is a peculiar fascination in all works which treat of animated nature , and the most unskilful pen contrives to write an interesting page on such topics ; but Mr . Knox is a scholar , a gentleman , aud a sportsman , so that hi s book is more than usually entertaining . A lover of sport and a keen observer of nature , he has here collected materials which ornithologists will prize and all readers receive with pleasure . It is even more comprehensive than its title , and reminds one in matter and treatment of "White ' s Natural History of Selborne ,
The opening chapter is properly devoted to the sportsman ' s bird , the Partridge : a bird which will not breed in captivity , ' although so capable of domestication , and even of personal attachment to man : — " A lady in West Sussex had a tame partridge for many years : it was a mere chick when it came into her possession , and no dog or parrot ever presented a more perfect model of affection and docility . Although it had the run of the house , its favourite quarters were in the drawing-room , where it would sit for hours on the back of the chair usually occupied by its beloved mistress , and never fail to exhibit every symptom of grief and concern
during her occasional absence . When she retired to rest , it would accompany her to her chamber , and take up its position near the head of her bed . No wonder then that many a tear was dropped when , from an untimely accident , it ' went the way of all' pets . " The patridge is decidedly a friend to the farmer , even more so than the pheasant ; as his consumption of grain is less , and the quantities of injurious weeds and noxious insects devoured by him at all seasons of the year aro more considerable in proportion to his size . The Reverend G . Wilkins . who has bestowed much attention to
agriculture in Essex , thus addressed a neighbouring fanner who had solicited his advice . If you have a nest of patridges , encourage them . All the summer they live upon insects , wireworms , &c , arid consider how many millions a covey will destroy in a single summer 1 ' He might have added , and in the winter and spring ; for , if the crop of a partridge be examined during those seasons , it will be found to contain chiefly grasses , grubs , and minute coleopterous insects , | which in the larva state are , in a greater or less degree , injurious to vegetation . "
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Dec , 14 , 1850 . ] © t > $ & £ && £ ? + 905
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 14, 1850, page 905, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1862/page/17/
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