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Untitled Article
qufrement , by head , heart , and circumstances , lie is so peculiarly and pre-eminently qualified , and continues " to bring the poetry of other lands to the hearths and homes of England . " It is delightful to observe how he himself feels what beauty and what good there is in the work to which he is called ; and to re «* ceive such invitations ( often be they repeated !) as that with which he prefaces
the present volume . " My mission , afe all events , is one of benevolence . 1 have never left the ark of my country but with the wish to return to it bearing fresh olive branches of peace aud fresh gar ^ lands of poetry . I never yet visited the land where I found not much to love , to learn , to imitate , to honour . I never yet saw man utterly despoiled of his humanities . In Europe , at least , there are no moral or intellectual wildernesses .
Let others go forth with me to gather its fruits and flowers . " A brief introduction to our readers is all that we can give to this volume ; perhaps all that we need , for Dr . Bowring has anticipated our task , and provided the criticism as well as the poetry . Two Dissertations are prefixed , the one on the language , the other on the literature of the Magyars , as the Hungarians call themselves , after one of the tribes from
which they sprung . The second Dissertation contains an interesting series of biographical and critical sketches of the Poets from whose productions Dr . Bow * ring has selected the specimeus . here transplanted into our language . We honestly confess that we are greatly , obliged to hi in for being , to this extent , bis own reviewer , and giving us his opinion of originals with whom we can only hold communication , while he officiates as interpreter .
Poetry has its full share of that interest w ( hich every thing foreign possesses , because it is foreign . Its essence is every where the same ; for every whereit is the harmonious response of man's heart to the Voice of Nature . But itsforms vary as do those of the sceneryand costume of different regions and tribes . Nor are they less worthy of faithful observation and report . "
Hungarian towns and villages , and rivers and plains , and hills and valleys , have been painted and described by many . Here are some of the thoughts of those who dwell there . The dresses of Hungary aud Transylvania , decorate many books , and are the subject of many pictures . H « re are some of the adorniugs of the inward man—here ia something of th& costume of mind . "
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In addition to the materials afforded by this volume for the gratification of an enlightened curiosity , and thereby for philosophical instruction and even moral good , some of the compositions included in it have a high degree of intrinsic worth . Where shall genuine poetry be found , if not in the following ballad r
" Lovely Lenka . " He lingers on the ocean shore , The seaman in his boat ; The water-spirit ' s music o ' er The ruffled wave doth float . ' Maiden of beauty ! counselled be , The tempest wakes from out the sea . '
' I may not stay , ' the maiden cried , c Tho' loud the tempest blow ; That meadow on the water side-r-That cottage—bids me go . That shady grove , that murmurs near , Invites me—he I love is there . ' * The wave is high—the storm is loud , And dangers rise anon . '' But hope sits smiling on the cloud . Storms drive the vessel on . Aud joy aud sorrow both convey Man ' s mortal bark along its way . '
Into the seaman ' s boat she s-tept , The helm the seaman took ; The storming billows fiercely swept . And all the horizon shook . The maiden spoke— ' Ye fears , be gone The storm-wind drives the vessel on . '
* O maiden ! darker is the sky , Aud fiercer is the wind ; Alas ! there is no harbour nigh , No refuge can we find . A whirlpool is the angry sea , It will engulph both thee ajad me . * € , seaman ! fortune always shoue And still will shine on me ; Soon will the stormy clonds be gone , And sunbeams calm the sea , And evening bring the promised dove , And evening guide me to my love . '
She turned her to the distant strand , { He stood upon the spot ) — In sweet delirium stretched her hand , And winds and waves forgot . So is love's spirit overfraught With love ' s intensity of thought .
He stood- —a statue on the shore , A pale—ice-hardened form : The billows battling more and more , And louder waxed the storm . Clouds — waves , all mingled — and the boat ? Its scattered planks asunder float .
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136 Critioal Notices . — Miscellaneous .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1830, page 186, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2582/page/42/
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