On this page
- Departments (2)
-
Text (7)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
BTUTTANY.*
-
XKW POEMS.*
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
theatre famous , and delighted , the play-goinarpublic of those days Mr William Godbee was also , I thmk , the contriver and inventor of Mathews' transformation dresses for his entertainments , end especially famous for manufacturing queer wigs and head-dresses for him . He was a clever man but a great oddity , as the following letter will show : —r . . Theatr ^ j ^ y al , ADEiPHi , July 24 tfr , 1832 . " Mr . Godbee's Respectfull Compliments to Mr . Hood , and he begs leave to state that he have Received a Letter this morning from Mr . Yates , who is in Glaserow , and he begs of him to go Immediately to Mr . Reynolds of Golden Square , to beg of him to
What ir I chirp mm , And leave mamnm to feed the flock !" We regret we cannot extract some of the Hood characteristic doings , during his residence at . WansteaxL " His lovel for prar-tieal jolciiiiT was extreme , ~ It was there that he wrote " Tylney Hall , " his only novel ; and a little poem called " The Epping Bunt /' which was illustrated by Cruiksiiank . The failure of a firm compelled Hood , in 1835 , to leave England for Coblentz , where he made every effort to retrieve his fortune by literary labour . In his passage over , however , he encountered a storm , the effects of -which are supposed to have laid the foundation of his future sufferinirs .
The correspondence printed m these volumes is of great value . Hood ' s letters are-capital . There is one , describing to Mrs . Djlke the person and manners of her husband , which is indeed life-like . It required some courage , we think , to permit its publication ; but the fact shows both generosity and mental superiority . Xobody ever laughed at it , we may be sure , more than Mr . Dilke himself , -lit , is . painful to read of the sufferings of poor Hood in the decline of his days . How , on a bed of sickness , he had to struggle foifSep - alive his magazine ; and how , by every effort , his'health'was broken , his recovery precluded , and his death hastened . It became necessary to apply for assistance to Sir Robert Peel , 'who granted his continued
wife a pension of a hundred a year , which was afterwards to the children . Little know those who merely read and enjoy the wit of a humorous ' writer of the circumstances under which it was produced . People , in general , think that literature is spontaneousbut authors frequently find it very hard work . As n rule , it is easy enough until the worker discovers that he has to g ; ei his living by it , and then the real difficulties . commence . Hood suffered , during a great part of his life , from lnisappreeiation of his powers as a poet ; and even yet is not estimated after the rate of his excellence . These memorial volumes , however , will , we repeat , do good service , and are Highly creditable to the filial talent and affection of which they are the fruits . '
Intreat of Mr . Hood to Favour him with a Coppy of his Pantomime of Harlequin and Mr . Jenkins , for Mr . Yates by some unfortunate circumstauce have lost it , and the Dresses and Scenery are of no use to him unless he had the M . S . of The Pantomime . Therefore if Mr . Hood have it by him , and would send it Enclosed in a Parcel to ' the Stage Door of the Adelphi Theatre , he would be conferring an Everlasting Favour on him . Honored Sir , if you should not be so fortunate as to have it by you , Fray Oblidge me with an answer by Post , as I dare not Send his Scenery and Dresses without the M . S . to Glasgow . I trust your Goodness of hert will Pardon me in thus troubling you . Permit me to Remain your Humble Servant , " William Godbee . ' P . S . Dear Sir , I shal wait with all anxiety as I can't write nor send to Mr . Yates until I hear from you . " "Whether poor Mr . Godbee ' s anxiety was set at rest , and the pantomime found , is not now to be ascertained , but it is to be hoped it was . # " Of all my fathers attempts at dramatic writing I can find no trace , save one little song intended for a musical piece , which was written to the air "My mother bids me bind my hair : "AIR . " My mother bids me spend my smiles , On all who come and call me fair , As crumbs are thrown upon the tiles , To all the sparrows of the air . But I ' ve a darling of my own , For whom I hoard , my little stock—
Untitled Article
WE have three volumes of poems on our table , winch indicate promise on the part of their authors . The first is of a realistic character , ami professes to "" photograph" actual events and persons ; and , indeed , does this with considerable success . The titles of some of tho pieces sufficiently announce their HuhJHcts;—such us ' " Found Dead , " " The Outcast , " " A C . liristinus Sketch , " "In Moutoriain , " " Little Children , " " Hope , " ' The Sabbath Peal , " " Fickleness , " 'Life ' s Dreams , " and " Conscience . " Thore in much of the spirit und piety of Cowper ,. and tho benevolence of Hood in these verses : and frequently some invention displayed , and
a power of graphic description above the average . Truly , there are some metrical technicalities which the writer has not yet mustered . lie is , as yet , a better poet than u versifier;—but facility will grow on practice . The reader of those pages will long remember the orphan boy , who alopl bonouth ** the arches" one night , —but waked not ' bencuth them , but before " the gates of pearl on guidon hinges limig , " that opened on the Ne \ v . Jerusalem ;—tho betrayed u'irl , with her dying child crying for food , upon the door-sU'p;—tho snu-fcTo , ; tliufc' lias ni > " reluge b wU'a perishing in tho snow;—tho soldier ¦ himHelfdyin tf . on thebiituelield . and at tho stuno moment meeting bis faithful piirtner and hor
Untitled Article
without intention , if not with intensity . At Dinan they actually spent two or three days to renew their acquaintance with " the shops and places they had formerly visited . We have , accordingly , » woodcut of two Dinan girls , and another of the Font at Tinteniac , which we must accept in place of further description ; the ladies possibly think that their sketches will serve the purpose better . We learn fron > their researches , that so late as the eleventh century , the Breton bishops refused to take the vows of celibacy , and that the inhabitants of Rennes , though intolerant of the Hngueliots , refused to take part in the massacre of St . Bartholomew . The 1
country around Rennes is rich , but flat;—but everythingin the town , looks fresh and bright , and the Musee contains three hundred valuable paintings , by Michael Angelo , Titian , Guido , Rubens , Claude Lorraine , and other great masters . From Rennes our tourists proceeded to Vitre , where we have a-sketch of Madame de Seville ' s chateau , and which place they were fortunately enabled to inspect . The walls were hung with portraits of the family , and sustained one of the authoress herself , " representing- a f ' nee with full sleepy eyelids and long-shaped dark eyes . " On another wall was her granddaughter , enbergere , a lovely piquant face .
Here at least is actual observation , though perhaps not made the most of . A saying , too , which the ladies record of a guide is not without a certain " value . It has reference to the differences in creeds . " For himself , he was not quite sure , but rather iru-linedto give the preference to Protestantism ; and then , in a burst _ of confidence , he announced , * Protestantism is a religion of charity , but Romanism is a religion of money . '" A shrewd thinker , that guide . There are some good remarks in a general way on the noted town of Nantes , famous for its Protestantism—where , also , there is a theatre and other places of amusement proper to an importantcity . While waiting for the diligence , our party took a sketch of the ruins of a church at Dmiges . Let us say , once for all , these
sketches , scattered through the book , are pleasant things , and of tliemselves confer a degree of worth on it . The sketchers came at last to Ploerrnel , and put up at the Lion d'Or . It was close to the church relative to which the ladies show more powers of description than in any other pprt of the book . " It is , " say they , " very rich in detail , and peculiar in form . The gingoyles are very eccentric , — -snaky dragons , with ducks' feet , howling moulcs , and scaly monsters of aU kinds .. But it is at the north door you-stand entranced ; for here the architect has concentrated his genius , and the whole gable end is covered with a profusion of detail that _ is perfectly bewildering . This is one of those rare fronts of varied mosaic / covered with imagery wilder and quainter than - ever filled a ' Midsummer Jviuht ' s " "Dreuin-, '' of which Kuskin speaks .
* 13 very-. sto ) i < 3 ... . ha § Vits separate story , and you can spend hours in tracing out their grotesque and fanciful meanings . Here is a hideous , distorted . monkey playing- on a bagpipe , which sonie one has picked out with pink ' chalk ' , as " being , in his . opinion , 'the stone of the building ; then a graceful vneimaid dances jauntily over a prostrate contiiur , who is lying doubled-back with astonishment , as he-well may be ; two twin children are two or three times repeated , inside one window I counted thirty figures . All round the gable edge are . carved , in hold relief against the sky , fabulous snakes with their tails in their mouths . " We cannot wursue the ladies in their tour . What we have
quoted will " recommend the boolcTTTermrp " 5 " : —Tlle-rwhitmTnr-is--certajnly faint ; but tl > e writers go through their pleasant adventures ¦ ¦ with vivacity , and . we can be cheerful-hi their company .. "The Isun-bu ' rnt , toil-worn , and quaintly-costumed sons and daughters of Bretagne " . are not . very strongly characterised , nor are their surroundings very picturesquely described ; but there is a sense of motion , of prevailing good sense , and amiable companionship which entitle the tourists to respect .
TWO lady travellers have undertaken to give us an account of Brittany , of which , in truth , there was " scim-ely anything new to be told , and have printed their notes of a six weeks' tour . The value of such notes is not at all dependent on the objects seen , but always on the spectators , who need liavo well-furnished minds to ensure their seeing properly . Madeline and Rosalind Whllnee-Dunlop have scarcely boon sufficiently careful in regard to tho prior condition of effectual travelling , bub sometimes it is refreshing to learn how things in general appear to tho pure virgin mlncL The ladies have , at any rate , sufficient vivacity to exclaim " how nice" and how . pretty . I ' . ' . ¦ jv . h « n , thingfl to t ! 1 ( -in * u'u ) Jr ! lM ° ^ . M ' indescribable come within th ' i'ir range of experience . Forsuch ^^ e ^ T'dia of'p ^ rcoptloiTlet us at least do them credit , It is not much , but it will probably pletine them . Brittany was not altogether new to them . They hud . visited it oh a previous occasion ; their eyes wore therefore not altogether xininstrueted on this , and we think should have managed to see a little better than they hare done . But they have Been , arid not
Untitled Article
* How wo Spent the Autumns or , Wandering * in Brittany . By the Authoresses of " The Tlmoly llotrcat . " Kiohnrd Beutley .
Untitled Article
* P / intiit / rajililc J ' octim . Dy C . C . Si'UUiW . 0 . C . Spillor . S / icf /< . - )/ : Tl »< Uvotli » f tit ; J ' oti / fii' ]' , unit uthvr 1 ' orms . Ity JoilW Alfukd I / anoi'ohd . Smith , Elder , k Co . ' Thv tiiu ,,,,, : or , Mr . Titruhuir * A . fn-nfurr * hi ttia Xe «> ir "> ^' \ £ ¦ ¦ Serh-cmuio Womancc , in llhyhi * . By Gko 1 wh Uaiihy Iata . m . Muir & Hon .
Untitled Article
July 7 , 1860 . 1 The Saturdayr Analyst andVLeader . 635
Btuttany.*
TUHTTATMY *
Xkw Poems.*
XKW . ' POKMS . *
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), July 7, 1860, page 635, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2355/page/11/
-