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The critic now returns , as suits his purpose , to " metrical devotion ; " for st > he chooses to designate religious poetry . From metrical devotion he scarcely hopes to obtain the enlargement of his comprehension and elevation of his fancy . Bat why not , if " thoughts which breathe and words
which burn" can enter ( as assuredly they can enter ) into . devotional poetry ? It is worse than useless to theorize , in opposition to numerous and acknowledged facts . The name and character of the Great Supreme do not form the only themes of the sacred poet : creation and life , in all their varied shapes , are nearly exhaustless subjects of his descriptions ; with simply abstract perfection he is little conversant .
According to Dr . Johnson , scarcely any language , whether it be that of prose or poetry , is admissible in pious meditation . Thanksgiving is to be felt rather than expressed : repentance , " in trembling hope , " is not at leisure for cadences and epithets ; supplication to God can only cry for mercy .
Thus does he confound the first impulses of the mind awakened to grateful and contrite devotion with those means of improving its piety , which the exercise of human talents , feelings and principles can supply .
" Pious verse" is not essentially the same with devotional poetry : if pious verse helps the memory and delights the ear , it answers no unimportant end ; devotional poetry , however , may assist the higher operations of the soul . While our abode is yet on earth , we must thankfully employ the means consistent with the laws of our
nature of aiding our unavoidable weakness , and of making religious impressions interesting , durable and efficacious . From Dr . Johnson we turn with pleasure to one of the most intelligent , judicious and impartial of the commentators upon Milton . " A divine poem , " observes Mr .
Dunstcr , * " certainly requires to be written in the chastest style : but it must still be considered that the great reason of exhibiting any serious truths , and especially the more interesting facts of religious history , through the medium of poetry , is thereby more powerfull y to attract the attention /' * On Paradise Regained , B . ii . 1 . 188 .
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Review . —Lamport * & Sacred Poetry * 171
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This remark admits of no dispute : and it overthrows the whole of the sophistry on which we have been animadverting . Devotion allied to Poetry is the title of those of Mr . Lamport ' s verses with which his volume opens : we make two extracts from them :
" Spirit of Poetry ! dost them diffuse O'er all the works of God celestial hues , Yet not their Author celebrate , who taught Thy wings to spread the coloured light of thought ? Thy radiant pencil changes not the form Of aught thou paintest with a tint more
warm . All that the soul conceives of great and high , All it aspires to know beyond the sky , ( In feeble outlines trae'd by vulgar phrase , ) Tis thine to embody to the mental gaze , In lineaments more fair , more bright , more true
. Than cold , uncadene'd language ever drew . " * * * * * * " If the Creator on his works hath trae'd His name in lines that cannot be effac ed ; If o ' er sweet Nature ' s many-coloured
scene , He spreads the heavens' faint blue , the earth ' s deep green , The mountain cloud that upward slowly rolls Along that mountain ' s breast , as morn
unfolds ; The purple vapour of the evening sky , The western sun ' s refulgent canopy , And all that through the pencil ' s magic art , Sublime or soft emotions can impart ; Then , lofty Spirit ! thou that holdest
sway O ' er all the fairest realms of mental day , Give all the riches of thy wid » domain , To swell the triumph of that heavenly train *
V * VwlA * « Faith , Hope and Charity : with them entwine Thy arms , thy voice , thy soul , at God ^ s blest shrine . "
The stanzas vvhich follow are a translation of a Hymn of 13 oethius , * one of the few sacred poets from whose works Dr . Johnson made occasionally a version : r \ - * According to Mr . Lamport , No . 3 , B . L ; in our copy of Boethius , No . f > , B . i . t Rambler , No . 7 , p . 96 .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1826, page 171, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2546/page/43/
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