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€ &e& to examine the little volume before us , not with ihe prepossess $ wn of friends , but with the impartiality and justice of honest Reviewers ,
The chief characteristic of Mr . J / s style is , as might be expected , simplicity . His versification is generall y correct , often elegant sirul harmonious . These qualities bespeak great nicety of ju dgment and delicacy of ear and considering the authoi ' s age ,
situation and circumstances , we are led to wonder how he acquired them , for we can as readily conceive that a man may be horn an astronomer or a
mathematician , as that any one ever ame into the world possessing an innate power of versifying * At times , Mr . J , displays great vigour of imagination and brillian .. cy of thought , to which he unites an amiable pti % ty of sentiment , and an ingenuous zeal for virtue , which do equal honour to his head and heart .
With respect to the faults of these poems , they are such ? is usually attend the first efforts of the muse . Mr . J / s flights of fancy , ' though generally bold , vigorous , and glowing with the true poetic fire of native genius , are
sometimes short and wavering . He lias also , in common with other young poets , fallen into unintentional plagiarism . This fault owes its origin to the grrat sensibility of the poetic character . A fine poem , like a sweet piece
of music , vibrates long on the <* ar ; and in the warmth of
enthusiasm , it is difficult to avoid silently repeating the strains which once excited the same kind and degree of feelipg . Nor does criti-
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Review . v-Poems by John Jaclsrm . 383
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* Vol . ii . 648 .
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cal justice allows us to overlook the sentiment which the late Dr * Currie , the friend and biographer of Burns , has so beautifully expressed , that feeling dictates to
genius in all ages and countries , and that on many occasions . her language must be the same . Mr . J . will recur to those lines which were thrilling in his memory , when he wrote the following : ( C On whom fair science has hut faintly
smil'd "—* ' Ne ' er in the aniple page of fame enroll'd—" 4 C But when beneatt the moon ' s pale beam " ¦ ¦ ¦« ¦* * 4 % ^^ " % "j ^ v That th irit of
e sp Gray should have descended upon our young poet , is as honourable to his taste as to his character ; and that the genius of Smyth should liave occasionally fired his imagination , is a proof that he has not read the chaste and elegant effusion ^ of the author of English Lyrics to no purpose . Some few instances of harsli
construction occur , which might easily be ri-medied : * 'Acd carolPd Smyth ' s sweet song aloii £ my way . " Again , in verses t' > a red-breast : "^ Thou now forget ' st stern winter * * pelting ,
And fondly wi&hest to be free /* These art * the chief , it not the only blemishes which have occurred to us in the perusal of these poems . Had we not already ., had the pleasure of laying before our readers * the beautiful
lyric , entitled " Stanzas sent to a young lady , written early on the
morning , of her birtb-day . y we would here transcribe it as a fair specimen of the author ' s poetical talents . We must however gratify
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1808, page 389, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2394/page/37/
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