-
Articles/Ads
Article REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. Page 1 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of New Publications.
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS .
The Paradise of Taste . B y Alexander Thomson , Esq . author of Whist , a Poem . Cadell and Davies . 1796 . 4 / 0 . Pages 124 . Price 6 s .. TVTEVER were dtsjeBi membra facta more glaringly * exhibited than in this J- ^ motley composition . Avowedl y written in defiance of established authorities , it maintains a claim to' originality by extravagant methods ; and tins , at least , is certain , that the daring independence asserted in Mr T ' s preface , is preserved with tmabating irit throughout his inti
sp poem To - mate the writer ' s age , were needless ; abundant marks of youth are discoverable : felicity of expression , however , bursts forth occasionally , rolling : along such majestic floods of imagery , that , overwhelmed with the unexpected torrent , criticism" becomes lost in admiration . Tlie work being unique , we ' shall grant unusual latitude to its review . It divides itself into seven - Cantos , viz .: the Library ; Vision ; Garden of Beauty ; Vale oj Pity ; House of RidiculeMountain ofSublimity and Island of '
; Fancy We would here gladly close our remarks ; with advising Mr . T . to ride Pegasus with shorter reins in future ; but ours is a sacred office : we must not deal merely 111 loose , general observation . Examples are wanting to corroborate applause and censure . _ We objeft to a wanton change of versification in a continued poem . Poor indeed , is the performance that requires stage-trick to fix attention . The
profit and loss of such process are lamentabl y disproportionate . We are surprized—we expeft—we examine—we are disappointed . Irregularity and variety are not synonimous . —Our strictures in this respect are pointed because attempts are made at justification . ' The personification , Canto II . page 19 , forcibl y reminds us of Cowley ' s Gabriel . Johnson ' s celebrated sarcasm upon that description , is equally applicable to the portrait of Taste * . The celestial employments of Mr T ' s bards arefor the most partinsiid and ridiculous
, , p . Ovid , Ariosto , and Spenser , are huddled together upon a joint-stool ; whilst Virgil and Pope sit 111 chairs , to bear birds sing . Euri pides and Otway skulk ferdus in a cave h ontame either apes Narcissus of old , or makes eddies in the water . Racine and Rowe turn galley-slaves . Richardson lolls on a coffin . Svatius and Young are puny sprites squatting on the afex of a pyramid . Fielding tipples ateMohere CbampameCervantes Madeira they then mix their
, , ; beverage Lucian and Swift gobble down beef-steaks . Plautus , Aristophanes , and Kabelais , bespatter themselves with porridge . Sterne rests propped up bv two tombs , like a maudlin bacchanal—a leer in one eye , and a tear in the other . In fine , Shakespeare ( the author ' s favourite ) stands perched upon a cragged rock , « like eagle chained , " and carelessl y vibrates a vast club , too ponderous for other hands . . '
Canto VII . page 1 , 7 , presents a passage that we strove in vain to un oerstand : » . " -there of dazzling moons an army bright " Still broke the silence of the midni ght air , ' With many-shap'd and many-colour'd li ght , « ' With azure beams and purple splendors rare , " And many an oval green a . ; u , n . uiy ¦ * scmci = quare . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of New Publications.
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS .
The Paradise of Taste . B y Alexander Thomson , Esq . author of Whist , a Poem . Cadell and Davies . 1796 . 4 / 0 . Pages 124 . Price 6 s .. TVTEVER were dtsjeBi membra facta more glaringly * exhibited than in this J- ^ motley composition . Avowedl y written in defiance of established authorities , it maintains a claim to' originality by extravagant methods ; and tins , at least , is certain , that the daring independence asserted in Mr T ' s preface , is preserved with tmabating irit throughout his inti
sp poem To - mate the writer ' s age , were needless ; abundant marks of youth are discoverable : felicity of expression , however , bursts forth occasionally , rolling : along such majestic floods of imagery , that , overwhelmed with the unexpected torrent , criticism" becomes lost in admiration . Tlie work being unique , we ' shall grant unusual latitude to its review . It divides itself into seven - Cantos , viz .: the Library ; Vision ; Garden of Beauty ; Vale oj Pity ; House of RidiculeMountain ofSublimity and Island of '
; Fancy We would here gladly close our remarks ; with advising Mr . T . to ride Pegasus with shorter reins in future ; but ours is a sacred office : we must not deal merely 111 loose , general observation . Examples are wanting to corroborate applause and censure . _ We objeft to a wanton change of versification in a continued poem . Poor indeed , is the performance that requires stage-trick to fix attention . The
profit and loss of such process are lamentabl y disproportionate . We are surprized—we expeft—we examine—we are disappointed . Irregularity and variety are not synonimous . —Our strictures in this respect are pointed because attempts are made at justification . ' The personification , Canto II . page 19 , forcibl y reminds us of Cowley ' s Gabriel . Johnson ' s celebrated sarcasm upon that description , is equally applicable to the portrait of Taste * . The celestial employments of Mr T ' s bards arefor the most partinsiid and ridiculous
, , p . Ovid , Ariosto , and Spenser , are huddled together upon a joint-stool ; whilst Virgil and Pope sit 111 chairs , to bear birds sing . Euri pides and Otway skulk ferdus in a cave h ontame either apes Narcissus of old , or makes eddies in the water . Racine and Rowe turn galley-slaves . Richardson lolls on a coffin . Svatius and Young are puny sprites squatting on the afex of a pyramid . Fielding tipples ateMohere CbampameCervantes Madeira they then mix their
, , ; beverage Lucian and Swift gobble down beef-steaks . Plautus , Aristophanes , and Kabelais , bespatter themselves with porridge . Sterne rests propped up bv two tombs , like a maudlin bacchanal—a leer in one eye , and a tear in the other . In fine , Shakespeare ( the author ' s favourite ) stands perched upon a cragged rock , « like eagle chained , " and carelessl y vibrates a vast club , too ponderous for other hands . . '
Canto VII . page 1 , 7 , presents a passage that we strove in vain to un oerstand : » . " -there of dazzling moons an army bright " Still broke the silence of the midni ght air , ' With many-shap'd and many-colour'd li ght , « ' With azure beams and purple splendors rare , " And many an oval green a . ; u , n . uiy ¦ * scmci = quare . "