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Critical Notices Of The Literature Of The Last Three Months,
high expectations which the acknowledged reputation of the editor had excited . The poetical works of Henry Howard , Earl of Surrey , Thomas Sackville , and minor contemporaneous poets , are readable ; and although the pleasure attaching to their perusal is seriously diminished by the difficulties incident to the use of obsolete words and pedantic expressions , there are so many passages of real beauty , ancl so much truth in the sentimentsthat they can neverAvhile the English language enduresbe
, , , , wholly forgotten or tmcared for by a large majority of thinking readers . To Surrey , English poetry is greatly indebted . He found it degenerated to a mass of forced conceits and idiomatic phrases . He left it , with examples from his own pen of what national poetry ought to be , and enriched the literature of his country with many a rare specimen of his taste ancl poetical genius . It is curious to observe in our own eminently practical times , how , in
spite of the little encouragement that is given to poetry , the passion for verse-making , or , to use a term more consistent with the dignity of art , for an expression of thought in rhythm , struggles through every obstacle , until it bursts into print ; only , in a vast majority of instances , to live the short life of a tender flower . Within tho last feAV months we have read the volumes of more than a dozen of these butterflies of song ; and many of them have well repaid the devotion of an idle hour . Amongst those most deserving of notice may be mentioned , the " Nuga ? . ; or , the Solace of Rare Leisure , " by the Eev . James Banks ; full of unpretending merit , becauso simple in style , ancl homely to a fault . Miss Caroline Dent ' s " Thoughts
and Sketches in Verse , " notwithstanding their semi-religious character , are praiseworthy effusions , evidencing nerve and character , and a wholesome contempt for the merely sentimental and the burlesque . " Zohrab , and other Poems , " by W . T . Thornton , are the production of a man of taste and education ; and " Janus ; Lake Sonnets , " & c , by David Holt , are as full of the oft-sung praises of the Lakes of Westmoreland as William Wordsworth himself could desire .
Mr . Bell's edition of " Dryden ' s Poetical Works " * is one of the most satisfactory proofs that a taste for good and wholesome reading is becoming apparent among the masses . Cheap editions of our British classics , Avhen studied and read by all those who can read , will aid greatly in purifying the spoken language , and probably induce a greater earnestness of thought than is at present visible in the writings of those whose professed object is popular progress . Prefixed to the volume before us is an excellent memoir
of Dryden ; ancl the occasional annotations to the poems materially and usefully assist the perusal . We trust that the works of Dryden will now be more generally known and more highly appreciated than , we are sorry to say , they have been during the last half-century . And now , before we close our notice of the poetry whieh has come before tis during the last three months , let us make single yet emphatic mention of a touching tale of deep and dread distressWe believethanks to
. , Dr . Elliotson ' s kindness , that help has been to a certain extent rendered ; but even if it has , the brief recital can do no harm , and may do much good . In a letter to tho editor of the Times , during the last month , Dr . Elliotson thus writes : — " On the site of a building in the city of London that contains the memorial
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Critical Notices Of The Literature Of The Last Three Months,
high expectations which the acknowledged reputation of the editor had excited . The poetical works of Henry Howard , Earl of Surrey , Thomas Sackville , and minor contemporaneous poets , are readable ; and although the pleasure attaching to their perusal is seriously diminished by the difficulties incident to the use of obsolete words and pedantic expressions , there are so many passages of real beauty , ancl so much truth in the sentimentsthat they can neverAvhile the English language enduresbe
, , , , wholly forgotten or tmcared for by a large majority of thinking readers . To Surrey , English poetry is greatly indebted . He found it degenerated to a mass of forced conceits and idiomatic phrases . He left it , with examples from his own pen of what national poetry ought to be , and enriched the literature of his country with many a rare specimen of his taste ancl poetical genius . It is curious to observe in our own eminently practical times , how , in
spite of the little encouragement that is given to poetry , the passion for verse-making , or , to use a term more consistent with the dignity of art , for an expression of thought in rhythm , struggles through every obstacle , until it bursts into print ; only , in a vast majority of instances , to live the short life of a tender flower . Within tho last feAV months we have read the volumes of more than a dozen of these butterflies of song ; and many of them have well repaid the devotion of an idle hour . Amongst those most deserving of notice may be mentioned , the " Nuga ? . ; or , the Solace of Rare Leisure , " by the Eev . James Banks ; full of unpretending merit , becauso simple in style , ancl homely to a fault . Miss Caroline Dent ' s " Thoughts
and Sketches in Verse , " notwithstanding their semi-religious character , are praiseworthy effusions , evidencing nerve and character , and a wholesome contempt for the merely sentimental and the burlesque . " Zohrab , and other Poems , " by W . T . Thornton , are the production of a man of taste and education ; and " Janus ; Lake Sonnets , " & c , by David Holt , are as full of the oft-sung praises of the Lakes of Westmoreland as William Wordsworth himself could desire .
Mr . Bell's edition of " Dryden ' s Poetical Works " * is one of the most satisfactory proofs that a taste for good and wholesome reading is becoming apparent among the masses . Cheap editions of our British classics , Avhen studied and read by all those who can read , will aid greatly in purifying the spoken language , and probably induce a greater earnestness of thought than is at present visible in the writings of those whose professed object is popular progress . Prefixed to the volume before us is an excellent memoir
of Dryden ; ancl the occasional annotations to the poems materially and usefully assist the perusal . We trust that the works of Dryden will now be more generally known and more highly appreciated than , we are sorry to say , they have been during the last half-century . And now , before we close our notice of the poetry whieh has come before tis during the last three months , let us make single yet emphatic mention of a touching tale of deep and dread distressWe believethanks to
. , Dr . Elliotson ' s kindness , that help has been to a certain extent rendered ; but even if it has , the brief recital can do no harm , and may do much good . In a letter to tho editor of the Times , during the last month , Dr . Elliotson thus writes : — " On the site of a building in the city of London that contains the memorial