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Article REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS. ← Page 2 of 2
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Reviews Of New Books.
A sad picture is drawn of Queen Giiiuevrc in her retreat , when she " had fled tho court , and sat There in the holy houso at Almesbury Weeping , none with her save n little maid , A novice ; one low light betwixt them burned , Blurred by the creeping mist , for all abroad , Beneath a moon unseen , albeit at full , The white mist , like a face cloth to the face , Ohing to the dead earth , and the land was still . "
Gninevre also has some very fine reflections on her life and duty , which she thus sums up : — " Ah , great and gentle lord ! Who wast , as is the conscience of a saint Among Ms warring senses , to thy knights—To whom my false voluptuous pride , that took Full easily all impressions from below ,
Would not look up , or half despised the height To which I ivould not or I could not climb . I thought I could not . breathe in that fine air That pure severity of perfect light—I wanted warmth and colour , ivhich I found In Lancelot—now T see thee what thou art , Thou art the highest and most human too , Not Lancelot , nor another . Is there iiono
Will tell the King I love Mm , though so late ? Now— ere he goes to the great battle 1 none : Myself must tell him in that purer life , But now it ivere too daring . Ah , my God I What might I not have made of thy fair world , Hacl I but loved thy highest creature here ? It was my duty to have ioved the highest : It surely was my prolit had I known : It would have been my pleasure hacl I seen . We needs must love the highest when we see it , Wot Lancelot , nor another . "
There aro , as in the foregoing extract , many passages ivhich show the poet sympathises with the painter ' s sister art . One will suffice : — "And all night long his face before her lived , As when a painter , poring on a face , Divinely through all hindrance finds the mail Behind itand so paints him that his face
, , The shape and colour of a mind and life , Lives for his children , ever at its best And fullest : so the face before her lived , Dark—splendid—speaking in the silence , full Of noble things , and held her from her sleep . "
Among the more forcibly depicted , ancl concisely given descriptions , the following character of an old aud fallen earl , by himself , is one of foremost beauty ; he says : — " 1 myself sometimes despise myself ; For I have Jet men be and have their way ; Am much too gentle—have not used my power : Nor know I whether I bo very base
Or very manful , whether very wise Or very foolish ; only this I know , That whatsoever evil happen to me , I seem to suffer nothing heart or limb , But can endure it all most patiently . " Mr . Tennyson appears to be au admirer of Wordsworth , and he applies to the " bird of eve , " Wordsworth ' s favourite idea oi
the cuckoo , as a " wandering voice : "" The sweet voice of Enid moved Geraint , And made him like a man abroad at morn , When first the liquid note beloved of men Comes flying over many a windy wave To Britain , and in April suddeuly Breaks from a coppice gemmed with green and red , Aud he suspends his converse with a friend , Or it may be the . labour of his bands , To think or say , ' There is the nightingale . '"
So also , another Wordsworthian idea is preserved , only in a more rich and glowing form : — " Friend to me , He is all fault who hath no faidt at all , Fur who loves mo must have some touch of earth ; The low sun makes the colour . " In the closing which depicts Arthurin the tender yet
poem , severe majesty of bis Christian and kingly forgiveness , and ( imnevre , in her touching humility of repentance , Mr . Tennyson rises considerabl y and continuously to the elevated dignity of the Morte d Arthur ; but as we have been lavish with quotations , wc
gladly refer the reader fo the poet's pages , assuring him that the scene there drawn is one of pure and holy grandeur . The style throughout the Idylls of the King is more allied to Mr . Tennyson ' s Princess than any other of his works . But , if we look on this production as a whole , the Tdijlls of die King constitutes no new phase of the poet ' s mind . It will open no new questions , and will make few , if any converts . Mr . Tennyson ' s former
admirers will admire him still , and those who have declared their dislike , or indifference , will remain unshaken in their opinion . The Idylls of the King cannot be ranked as the Poet Laureate ' s greatest work , but they are not unworthy of him .
The Universal Decorator . Edited by J . W . Ross . Parts I . and II . ( NewSeries ) . London : Houlston and Wright , Co , Paternoster-row . The growing taste for art , which has been developed in so surprising a manner in the lower ancl middle classes of English society during late years , is one of the most striking characteristics of our age . Thanks to the judicious efforts ivhich have been
made hy earnest and able teachers and patrons , a sound taste has become so extended , that just criticism in matters of virtu and decorative appliances is not confined , as formerly , to the upper and wealthy classes , but has numerous representatives in those classes whose means arc limited , and whose social rank is humble . One natural result of this new teaching has heen an appreciation of elegance of design and colour in the common utensils of daily
household use and in the domestic furniture of our dwellings ; and while utility is still the paramount requisite , an agreeable form or tint is considered by no means a trifling consideration . Manufacturers have been obliged to march with the age , ancl to consider the altered habits of their consumers ; ancl thus in almost every object in common use we find traces of the growing necessity for the cultivation of art among workmen and their employers .
That this is a hi g hly gratifying state of things cannot be doubted ; for it is certain that the appreciation of beauty in nature or in art , is a sure sign of an elei-ated and refined intellect . Among the journals ivhich have taken an active and successful part in this great movement , the publication before us is particularly deserving of notice ; and is , we are happy to say , appreciated by tbe public , having now entered upon a new series ,
ivhich has been enlarged and improved from the old one . Wc regret that our space does not permit us to particularize its merits ; suffice it to say that we can safely recommend it as a safe guide to the artist or the workmen , when their own ideas fail or require refreshing . Here ive find excellent essays upon the importance of the study of design ; upon the mutual interests of artists and manufacturers ; with biographical and architectural
articles . Technical information is given of a valuable nature , with regard to the peculiar requirements and various trades ; and to make it a perfect exponent of the views for which it was established , the ivork gives us , each month , a series of very beautiful and hi g hly finished designs ( some of them most pleasingly coloured ) for carvings , sculpture , stained glass , jeweller )' , furniture , vases , panels , and many other purposes .
First Steps in Photography . By GILBEUT FLEMING . London : CI . Fleming , 498 , New Oxford Street . This is certainly what it professes to he , a concise ancl practical treatise on the collodion process , ivhich will prove most useful to the beginner in producing positive and negative views , or portraits , & c . The cleaning the plate , cooling the plate , rendering the plate sensitiveexposure in the cameradeveloping the picturethe
, , , fixing process , printing from the glass negative , arc all familiarl y explained , so as to be easily understood by the merest tyro in the art ; whilst the chapter "On some of the Principal Causes of Failure in Photography " will prove of great value in enabling the amateur to avoid them .
Loxnox IMPROVEMENTS . —The oldest auction rooms in London , those under the Piazza , Covent Garden , occupied alone by the Messrs . fiobius for upwards of half a century , will before long hold a place only in the records of the past ; the " hammer" has fallen upon the last " lot" in these ancient rooms , and another and a spacious hotel , is lo be erected in their place . Those of our readers who are so minded , will find some curious memoranda regarding these old auction rooms in our friend " John Green ' s" reminiscences of Covent Garden and its
neihg bourhood , where , in the days of yor » , all the wits , fashionables , and celebrities , used to congregate . In consequence of this sweeping change , our brother , . lames Bobins ( one of the successors ofthe celebrated George Robins ) has been " induced to go to the Fast , " and has established himself in offices at No , -J ?> , lloorgnte-street , Bank ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reviews Of New Books.
A sad picture is drawn of Queen Giiiuevrc in her retreat , when she " had fled tho court , and sat There in the holy houso at Almesbury Weeping , none with her save n little maid , A novice ; one low light betwixt them burned , Blurred by the creeping mist , for all abroad , Beneath a moon unseen , albeit at full , The white mist , like a face cloth to the face , Ohing to the dead earth , and the land was still . "
Gninevre also has some very fine reflections on her life and duty , which she thus sums up : — " Ah , great and gentle lord ! Who wast , as is the conscience of a saint Among Ms warring senses , to thy knights—To whom my false voluptuous pride , that took Full easily all impressions from below ,
Would not look up , or half despised the height To which I ivould not or I could not climb . I thought I could not . breathe in that fine air That pure severity of perfect light—I wanted warmth and colour , ivhich I found In Lancelot—now T see thee what thou art , Thou art the highest and most human too , Not Lancelot , nor another . Is there iiono
Will tell the King I love Mm , though so late ? Now— ere he goes to the great battle 1 none : Myself must tell him in that purer life , But now it ivere too daring . Ah , my God I What might I not have made of thy fair world , Hacl I but loved thy highest creature here ? It was my duty to have ioved the highest : It surely was my prolit had I known : It would have been my pleasure hacl I seen . We needs must love the highest when we see it , Wot Lancelot , nor another . "
There aro , as in the foregoing extract , many passages ivhich show the poet sympathises with the painter ' s sister art . One will suffice : — "And all night long his face before her lived , As when a painter , poring on a face , Divinely through all hindrance finds the mail Behind itand so paints him that his face
, , The shape and colour of a mind and life , Lives for his children , ever at its best And fullest : so the face before her lived , Dark—splendid—speaking in the silence , full Of noble things , and held her from her sleep . "
Among the more forcibly depicted , ancl concisely given descriptions , the following character of an old aud fallen earl , by himself , is one of foremost beauty ; he says : — " 1 myself sometimes despise myself ; For I have Jet men be and have their way ; Am much too gentle—have not used my power : Nor know I whether I bo very base
Or very manful , whether very wise Or very foolish ; only this I know , That whatsoever evil happen to me , I seem to suffer nothing heart or limb , But can endure it all most patiently . " Mr . Tennyson appears to be au admirer of Wordsworth , and he applies to the " bird of eve , " Wordsworth ' s favourite idea oi
the cuckoo , as a " wandering voice : "" The sweet voice of Enid moved Geraint , And made him like a man abroad at morn , When first the liquid note beloved of men Comes flying over many a windy wave To Britain , and in April suddeuly Breaks from a coppice gemmed with green and red , Aud he suspends his converse with a friend , Or it may be the . labour of his bands , To think or say , ' There is the nightingale . '"
So also , another Wordsworthian idea is preserved , only in a more rich and glowing form : — " Friend to me , He is all fault who hath no faidt at all , Fur who loves mo must have some touch of earth ; The low sun makes the colour . " In the closing which depicts Arthurin the tender yet
poem , severe majesty of bis Christian and kingly forgiveness , and ( imnevre , in her touching humility of repentance , Mr . Tennyson rises considerabl y and continuously to the elevated dignity of the Morte d Arthur ; but as we have been lavish with quotations , wc
gladly refer the reader fo the poet's pages , assuring him that the scene there drawn is one of pure and holy grandeur . The style throughout the Idylls of the King is more allied to Mr . Tennyson ' s Princess than any other of his works . But , if we look on this production as a whole , the Tdijlls of die King constitutes no new phase of the poet ' s mind . It will open no new questions , and will make few , if any converts . Mr . Tennyson ' s former
admirers will admire him still , and those who have declared their dislike , or indifference , will remain unshaken in their opinion . The Idylls of the King cannot be ranked as the Poet Laureate ' s greatest work , but they are not unworthy of him .
The Universal Decorator . Edited by J . W . Ross . Parts I . and II . ( NewSeries ) . London : Houlston and Wright , Co , Paternoster-row . The growing taste for art , which has been developed in so surprising a manner in the lower ancl middle classes of English society during late years , is one of the most striking characteristics of our age . Thanks to the judicious efforts ivhich have been
made hy earnest and able teachers and patrons , a sound taste has become so extended , that just criticism in matters of virtu and decorative appliances is not confined , as formerly , to the upper and wealthy classes , but has numerous representatives in those classes whose means arc limited , and whose social rank is humble . One natural result of this new teaching has heen an appreciation of elegance of design and colour in the common utensils of daily
household use and in the domestic furniture of our dwellings ; and while utility is still the paramount requisite , an agreeable form or tint is considered by no means a trifling consideration . Manufacturers have been obliged to march with the age , ancl to consider the altered habits of their consumers ; ancl thus in almost every object in common use we find traces of the growing necessity for the cultivation of art among workmen and their employers .
That this is a hi g hly gratifying state of things cannot be doubted ; for it is certain that the appreciation of beauty in nature or in art , is a sure sign of an elei-ated and refined intellect . Among the journals ivhich have taken an active and successful part in this great movement , the publication before us is particularly deserving of notice ; and is , we are happy to say , appreciated by tbe public , having now entered upon a new series ,
ivhich has been enlarged and improved from the old one . Wc regret that our space does not permit us to particularize its merits ; suffice it to say that we can safely recommend it as a safe guide to the artist or the workmen , when their own ideas fail or require refreshing . Here ive find excellent essays upon the importance of the study of design ; upon the mutual interests of artists and manufacturers ; with biographical and architectural
articles . Technical information is given of a valuable nature , with regard to the peculiar requirements and various trades ; and to make it a perfect exponent of the views for which it was established , the ivork gives us , each month , a series of very beautiful and hi g hly finished designs ( some of them most pleasingly coloured ) for carvings , sculpture , stained glass , jeweller )' , furniture , vases , panels , and many other purposes .
First Steps in Photography . By GILBEUT FLEMING . London : CI . Fleming , 498 , New Oxford Street . This is certainly what it professes to he , a concise ancl practical treatise on the collodion process , ivhich will prove most useful to the beginner in producing positive and negative views , or portraits , & c . The cleaning the plate , cooling the plate , rendering the plate sensitiveexposure in the cameradeveloping the picturethe
, , , fixing process , printing from the glass negative , arc all familiarl y explained , so as to be easily understood by the merest tyro in the art ; whilst the chapter "On some of the Principal Causes of Failure in Photography " will prove of great value in enabling the amateur to avoid them .
Loxnox IMPROVEMENTS . —The oldest auction rooms in London , those under the Piazza , Covent Garden , occupied alone by the Messrs . fiobius for upwards of half a century , will before long hold a place only in the records of the past ; the " hammer" has fallen upon the last " lot" in these ancient rooms , and another and a spacious hotel , is lo be erected in their place . Those of our readers who are so minded , will find some curious memoranda regarding these old auction rooms in our friend " John Green ' s" reminiscences of Covent Garden and its
neihg bourhood , where , in the days of yor » , all the wits , fashionables , and celebrities , used to congregate . In consequence of this sweeping change , our brother , . lames Bobins ( one of the successors ofthe celebrated George Robins ) has been " induced to go to the Fast , " and has established himself in offices at No , -J ?> , lloorgnte-street , Bank ,