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' ^ feyertftel ^ Iffr . Markham ' s book contains sources of interest apart from L ^ S epj&od / ejs of speculation . The writer 3 a w Cuzco , which only Miller , rent- ? ^ C " t ^ S ^ uTan 3 Gibbon had seen fcefore him , and which none of those Imyejlers , ha 4 described , picturesquely or in detail , M * Markham s account , illustrated by coloured litlbographs , is both minute and graphic . He found the ruin * spread over a large space in the , north-west corner of a valley niore San eleven ^ hQusand feet above the level of the sea , and two thousand above tfee summit of the Great St . Bernard . The houses are built of stone 3 the traditionary palace of the Incas standing on a terrace of irregular masonry , with carvines of mythological figures , and a staircase leading to the structures
4 * bove . In these remains the rocks are cut m perfect parallelograms , with fine edges , fitted closely together . The lintels are of a slate-coloured limestone . The Incas had chosen their military position with an admirable knowledge of strategy , the citadel of Cuzco being seated on a table-laud , enclbied by rivers and ravines , and by a treble Cyclopsean wall , a work of ^ tpnisbing magnitude . It is built in jexact parallels , with salient and retiring Angles , of masses of the rock often from ten to twelve feet in length , so hewn as to tfval the edifices of the Mogul architects , who " designed like Titans and finished like jewellers . " la the neighbourhood are the pits whence they were quarried , in which still lie blocks of stone , in various
stages of preparation . From a description of this singular group of ruins , and of the plains around themi once the brightest habitation of the Inca race , Mr . Markham proceeds to sketch the actual aspects of Peru , combining with his antiquarian dialectics an interesting and reliable report on the condition of the Republic . His volume is one which , betraying , as it does , both shallowness and assumption , is fresh , varied , and informing .
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TWO NOVELS . Amberhill . By A . J . Barvowcliffe . Two Vola . Smith and IGlder . The Monotons , By Susannn Moodi « . Two Vola . IJentlcy . Ambebhiul belongs to the barbaric order . It is amass of gold and colour , of superb eccentricity and grotesque elaboration . It is the history of an Agony * narrated by one who imagines that she lms advanced sufficiently in her art to rebuke , with authority , the race of young , prolix , nnd ex uberant writers . Verbal harmonies , aho tclla us , she utterly abhors ; worshipp ing only the precious Idea , which in essential Eloquence . But if criticism liivvo any value it is the repressing such onences aa AmberJtill , and the reclamation of the offender . For , here is a new writer , with a superior mind and an original pen , who tella a sad , delirious tale , with spasmodic labour , and almost blasphemes in search of effect . Should the book bo a success , A . . 7 . ttnrrowclilfe is for ever a failure . She supposes that a grn » d moral lcason may be conveyed by o story with-
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The waste of darkness . On and on , the bleak , Bare ridges rose before her , came and passed ; And every flying leap with fresher blood Her nostril sfain'd , till Sofuk ' s brow and breast Were flecked with crimson , foam . He would have turned To aave bia treasure , taoxigh , himself were lost , But Kubleh fiercely snapp'd the brazen rein . At last , when through her spent and quivering frame The sharp throes ran , our distant tents arose , And with a neigh , whose skrill excess of joy Overcame its agony , she stopp'd and fell . The Shammar men came round her as she lay , And Sofuk raised her head and held it close Against his breast . Her dull and glazing eye Met his , and with a shuddering gasp she died . Then like a child his bursting grief made way In passionate tears , and with him all the tribe Wept for the faithful mare . Dr . Griswold ' s labours have not been confined to selection . He opens with a brief survey , including fragmentary specimens , of American poetry before the Revolution , and throughout the volume the selections from each aoet are : preceded by a slight biographical and critical sketch . His narrative is rather bold , and his criticism has the opposite defect of being more rhetorical than judicious ; still , we have to be grateful to him for his diligence in putting together a useful summary of facts . If our readers share our previous ignorance , they will perhaps be interested , as we were , to learn throug h Dr . ( iriswold that " Home , sweet Home " was written by an American—the dramatist Payne .
THE POET § AOT > POETRY OP AMERICA . The Podisqnd Poetry of'Amer ica . 3 Jy , Rufus Wilmot Griswold . London : Triibner and Co . ' ^;/ CO-LiiB . qTldK ;' ' 0 £ : f'Poeaas ' . 'by' Authors in their Teens" would not , we imagine , be ; very delightful reading . Here and there we might detect a form of originality which it would be interesting to compare with the fruit of the watwed >^ qnju ^ - ^ here \ and there'TFe'tnight .. be startled by the precocious vigour © r fertili % of a $ nelley or a Keats ; but ,, generally i even genius is not original in it& ; .. ie ^ yAeJQro ]^ 3 ' -an ! $ 'a ; ' sorig ' . like ChUde Harold is preluded by faint chirpings like the " Hours oft Idleness . " The main characteristic of such a volume as - ^ iff : ; l ^ Te . ' ' : imagined ' ,: \ v 6 uld be feeble tmd stiff imitation . It would have a psychological andbiographical uiterest , but , considered as poetry , it would be ^ h ^ ¦ . ^^^ ¦ - ¦ ^ " ^^ ^ p » ' T - ~ . ^ m ~ ^ p *— " ^ ~~ ~~ ~ ~—~ ~ ~~ ¦ ' '¦¦ ' ' ¦
^^ Atpsay ^ - ¦ ; :. ; - ? , .- - ¦'¦ . : ¦ . . .: ' ¦ ' . - . . ¦ ¦¦ ¦ . . ' . ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ . : ¦; ¦ . . . ' Somethingof the same characterj and the same order of interest , belongs i ^^ te ^ Chriswoldfa large volume of selections from the American poets . It ^ egisters thie pro gress of ; a poetic li terature which may be said , figuratively spealang , to be in its teens—^ a . literature which has hardly yet passed through , iheStage of Imitation ] , and is only beginning to put forth originating power . Viewed in this light it is a valuable addition to the library , and perhaps the sense o ^ f its acceptabilily is heightened by the very decided impression which ft-toleTably persistent reading is likely to leave—that , with two or three brilliantexceptions , it gives * us / quite as much asw ^ j o knQW of tne American ;; poets . In wore $ han six hundred double-columned pages , large octaytoi ther ^ is rdomfbrqtiite satiating spechnens : of poets whom we may regird'as jthe > Gottscheds , the Bodmers , and the Hagedoras of America . Mere specimens of Bryant and Longfellow will content no lover of poetry , but ) happily , their entire works are easily accessible . The leader should be warned , tooi that the Yf Fable for Critics , " a satirical p oem bv James Russell
Lowell , shows a much higher order of talent than would be inferred from the samples given in this volume of the writer ' s sentimental poetry . So ' me of the names in Dr . Griswold ' s collection are likely to surprise the English reader , who has been accustomed to associate them with graver business in life and literature than that of verse writing . It seems that John Qurncy Adams not only perpetrated , but printed , a great deal of very indifferent verse . Mr . Bancroft , too , has published " Poems , " which are about the grade of second-rate alburn verses— at least , if we may trust Dr . Gris--wold ' s judgment for giving us fair specimens . Perhaps we ought to allow individual poets the benefit of a doub t as to the validity of that judgment , and admit that they may have written very fine things , which Dr . Griswold has strangely neglected in favour of the very common-place things he has ^ -inserted . Still his volume , as a whole , may be presumed to present a fair average of American poetry } and certainly , with the exception of the two poets for whom we haye already intimated our admiration , and of one or two
nasties ot originality—such as Edgar Poe ' s " Raven , "—it is poetry difficult x to read and easy to forget . Mr , Bayard Taylor arrests us more than most of ! tfs fellow poets . " The Phantom" is a charming bit of simple pathos , and " Kubleh , ** a story in which' an Arabian mare is the heroine , is finely told , and tempts us to quote ' a passage : — INreyer yet ) O Arabs , never yofc was like to Kubleh I And Sofuk loved her . ' She waa more to him Than all his snowy-bosomed odalisques . For many years , beside hia tent she stood , The glory of the tribe . At last she died : Died , while the fire was yet in all her limbs—Died for the life of Sofuk :, whom she loved . . i v i The base Jebours—ronwliom be Allah ' s curse I—. . Came on his path , when far from any camp , And would have fllitfu him , but that Kubloh sprang Against * the , javelin ; paints and bore thorn , down , £ Pr ( $ &n > & tbo open desort . Wounded sore , , ' , Bhei urged Her light limbs into mnddening speed , And m&ad the wind a laggard . On and on v > w £ v ?' 8 artddli ( 1 be » eatl * her , nnd behind WMrtdia a swift and cloudy turbulence , £ ! ; , f star of EWi » > downward hurl'd Vy Allah a bolt , swoen » -with its burninc- hair
Mr . " Whittier has rather a spirited ballad founded on one of the most startling examples we have met with of Puritan intolerance in the American colonists : — Two young persons , son and daughter of Lawrence South wick , of Salem , who had himself been imprisoned and deprived of all his property for having entertained two Quakers at his house , were fined ten pounds each for non-attendance at church , which , they were unable to pay . The case being represented to tte General Court , at Boston , that body issued an order which may still be seen on the court records , bearing the signature of Edward Kawson , Secretary , by which , the treasurer of the county was ' fully empowered to sell the said persons to any of the 3 English nation at Virginia or Barl&does , to answer said fines . An attempt was made to carry this barbarous order into execution , but no shipmaster was found willing to convey them , to the West Indies . The state of society indicated by this anecdote must have found a confenia l poet in the Rev- Michael'Wigglesworth , who " flourished " between 031 and 1707 . Dr . Griswold tells us : —
His most celebrated performance , " The Day of Doom , or a Poetical Descrip " tion of the Great and Last Judginent , with a short Discourse about Eternity , " passed , through six editions in this country , and was reprinted in London . A few verses will show its quality—¦ ' j 3 till- was the night , serene and bright , When all men sleeping lay ; Calm was the season , i * 4 carnal reason Thought so 'twotilcl last for a ^ o . ' Soul , take thine ease , let sorrd \ y cease , Much good thou hast in store ?' This was their song , their cups among , The evening before . " After the " sheep" have received their reward , the several classes of " goats " are arraigned before the judgment seat , and , in turn , begin to excuse themselves When the infants object to damnation on the ground that " Adam is set free
And saved from his trespass , Whose sinful fall hath spilt them all , , And brought them to this pass , "the Puritan theologist does not sustain his doctrine very well , nor quite to his own satisfaction even : and the Judge , admitting the palliating circumstances , decides that although " In bliss They may not hope to dwell , Still unto them He will allow The easiest room in hell . " At length tho general sentence ia pronounced , and the condemned begin to
" Wring their hands , their caitiff-hands , And gnash their teeth for terror ; They cry , they roar , for anguish sore , And gnaw their tongues for horror . But get away , without delay , Christ pities not your cry : Depart to hell , there may ye yell , And roar « eternally . " Before quitting Dr . Griswold ' s volume we ought to mention that it contains some well-executed portraits ! and is altogether a handsome book . The portrait of Bryant , from a daguerreotype , is particularly fine ; the refined moral expression of the head perfectly corresponds with the spirit ofkis poetry-
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810 * # EPE £ . g A DE E . ^ Nq . 310 , Satprekay . ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ H ^ B ^^ H ^ HMM ^ B ^ BB ^^ B ^^^^^ jUI ^ m ^^ h ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ J
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 1, 1856, page 210, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2130/page/18/
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