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    1100 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

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    hollow , writing sonnets for annuals in a quarter of an hour , while the printer ' s boy was waiting , and so forth . Time passes— " L . E . L . " marries a successful rival—Mooncalf accepts the calamity with almost jocular resignation —Queen Victoria goes to be crowned— " L . E . L . " sits at a club window to see her pass—Mooncalf goes among the mob , and tells us how he looted up at the adored poetical object for the last time . " As the Lancers , in a style never to be forgotten , rode down the street , I , who had mingled with the crowd , caught a glimpse—my last glimpse of L . E . L . ' I saw her white veil thrown back as she rose quickly , and leaned forward to look on those proud horsemen—the flower of the aristocracy . The next day she had departed . " So ends the Platonic poetical amour of Mr . Mooncalf .

    We had one or two more words , of a seriously reproving kind , to say on the subject of these Recollections ; but , on consideration , it seems hardly worth while to occupy ourselves or our readers any longer with so very imbecile a book . When nonsense gets nicely printed , and sent into the world under the sanction of an . eminent publisher ' s name , it is nonsense which requires exposing . The exposure , in the present instance , is by this time complete enough for all ordinary critical purposes . Let us take the culprit out of the pillory , and allow him to disappear from sight and hearing as fast as he pleases .

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    JINGLES . ' Poetical Romances and Ballads . By Robert Villiers Sankey , Esq . Hope and Co . Wild Flowers arid Green Leaves ; or , Poetical Sketches in Miniature , from Nature in Iier Happiest Mood . Saunders and Otley . Dm we consult our inclinations , we should spare ourselves a disagreeable task in noticing volumes so utterly undeserving of notice , in a literary point of view , as these . The only inducement to do so is the alarming increase of such excessive trash , which seems to call , on all critics , or other guardians of the public taste , to enter their protest , however humble , against these

    desecrations of the sacred name of Poetry . If the versifiers would only choose another title ! We can conceive the objections to the epithet "Rhymes , " even the adjectives "Rhythmical , " " Metrical , " for they might only force glaring deficiencies upon the reader ' s notice . But the other day , we chanced to meet with a well-thumbed picture-book , whose author , with scrupulous exactness , had classified its contents as " Nursery Tales , Rhymes , and Jingles" "Werejoiced in having at length discovered a class and an order in "Which to place the fungus which has been of late so rife in the literary vineyard ; and we have accordingly adopted it formally , as the heading most suitable to the subject of this article .

    Jesting apart , and disclaiming any unkind intention towards the authors of these particular specimens , we should act wrongly by them and by the public , if we did not urge strongly on them to renounce a vocation which is obviously not theirs . Mr . Sankey , in his preface , informs us that these poems were written before he was twenty-one , which he alleges as a claim ^ or indulgence . That is all very -well as regards his having written them : it is no excuse at all for having published them . He was induced to do so ( of course ) by the solicitations of his friends . A young man of twenty-one may and should be influenced by the opinion of others on such a point , and , therefore , we ought perhaps to blame chiefly the friends who gave him this injudicious counsel . We cannot discern the least spark of poetical inspiration in the volume . The subjects are common-place and melodramatic ¦ without being effective , and the treatment does not redeem them . After expressing so much disapprobation , we are bound to support our opinion . " We shall do so by extracts , which will enable the public to judge of its justice . Let us take the first stanza in the book : —

    Ye gay , ye wealthy , ye who spend your hours In gaming , feasting , or in Flora's bowers ; Ye who recline upon the lap of ease , And seek with luxury yourselves to pleaae 5 Who strive to gratify each vain desire , Too oft , metldnka , incur th' Almighty ' ire By scorning those whom He has placed on earth—Your fellow-creatures , though of humbler birth . Remember poverty haa led to crime , W / ten not assisted in . a proper time . The bathos of the last line is irresistible . Here is another grand poetical climax : —

    But now , my readers , let ua haste away , And seek the giddy fair , the vain , the gay , Those who pursue with nimble feet the dance , And wistful gaze to catch each smile and glance ; Who , loat to modesty and fomnlo grace , With high-rouged cheek frequent each pubHo placo 5 Whoso practised curtseys with minuteness show Their silk-clad ankles , and their feet below ; Whoao robes , so tightly fitted to their waist , Well hooked behind , and in the front well lnced , TUat they , poor girla , must even breathe with care , Lest that , by broiitlung hard , 'twould burBt or tear . Such short extracts arc perhaps hardly fair . Let us quote an entire poem . The italics are oura ;—

    THE SCENE OF DESPAIR WHIOII TOOK 1 'L . ACIC IN XJK 1 U 3 UUM . O my CJod 1 what see I now ? la it but , ideal woo ? la it ?—no , it citnnot bo ; Yes , it Is— 'Us Kmlly . 'Tis in very truth the twine Emily , that once loved name .

    Does she love another ? Speak ! Oh ! my throbbing heart -will break She , my former hope and pride , Soon will be another ' s bride ; Heaven forbid it ! —yet ' tis so , 'Twere delusion to say no . Oh , my brain , my frenzied brain ! Can I live and love again ? Cursed then may she be for ever ; Yet I trust not , —never , never !

    May she then be bless d , and may—Yet I scarce know what I say . Hymen ' s knot , is it completed ? Are my hopes and schemes defeated ? Habbi , Abbe , Father Downey , Stop i—oh ! stop the ceremony . Alas ! too late— 'tis done—' tis done , And my deathless grief ' s began ; She is now another ' s wife , And I ' m -wretched—yea . for life .

    We quoted the first lines in the volume ;—here are the last \—So off we hurried at a lawful speed , Just reached in time and got a crowded seat , " Where all were -wedged so closely , that indeed We scarcely knew ; where next to stow our feet . An aged dame , whose size would equal two , Sat next to me , and after gazing long , In nervous tone she said , " Ok alles-vous t A Bruxelles , Monsieurt" " Out . " " C ' estlon . " And this she ask'd to several persons round ; No doubt she wish'd that some one-would get out , That hex short feet might better reach the ground , And give her rooin , poor soul , to more about .

    I have not time to tell the towns we pass d , For I ' m impatient that my tale be done ; Suffice it then to say we reach'd . at last Brussels , just at the setting of the sun . Did Mr- Sankey ' s et friends" urge the publication of tliis astounding doggrel ? He has done a good thing , according to Job , for his enemies We close the " plaintiS ' s case , " and leave the decision to the public . The second book on our list is less absurdly bad ; but it is not more poetical , and is full of pretension and of common- place . Here is a specimen . " The sense ( cry you mercy !) is complete in the passage extracted : — Wag-tail bird of March , Precursor of spring ,

    Pursuivant of flowers , Bright recollections bring . Remembrancer of search , Through tangled woods , In secret woven bowers , Passing the golden hours , Where lovers meet , In joyous mood , By the tumbling floods , On footsteps fleet , In the cool noontide , And wooed is many a rustic bride , Lovely as princess in her pride—As pure her blood .

    Here is another . The last line requires a commentator : — This earth is beautiful , Surpassing all we know , Of loveliness and beauty—But man is undutiful , His evil passions How , Hiding hia duty , And marring his mind , Leaving nought behind , Of its primeval , But dross ; So utterly debasing is evil , And of good the loss . No one shall say -we are unfair critics . We will ( luoto an entire poem Attention ! Flourish of trumpets !

    Enter—TO A 1 TADED LEAP . Emblem of hope , long cherished bright , Which scattered incense o ' er the soul , But now thou art eclipsud in night , A scorched and blighted scroll . Generous public 1 wo will tax your patience no longer . Take comfort , a » we do , in the hopo that we must at lust have arrived at the worst poem 0 * the year .

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    BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . A Commonplace Booh of Thoughts , Memories , and Fancies , Original and Selected . By Mrs . Jarneaon . " Longinun , Brown , Qrcon , and Longmans . TheMonuviental History ofEuypt , as Recorded on tlia Ruins of her Temples , Palaces , and Tombs . By William Ouburn , B . S . L . 8 voJb . Trtlbnor and Oo . The Poetical Works of William S / mnstone , with Ufa , Critical J ) iesorfation } and Explanatory JSotas . By the Kov . George- GilUHan . Jumoa Nioliol . The Vision <>/ 'Prophecy , and other Poems . By James W . Burns , M . A . Johnatono and Hunton . Poeim . By Aubrey do Vcro . Burns and Lambert-

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 18, 1854, page 1100, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2065/page/20/