than they were when that drawing was made. A portrait of Mr. Buckingham, in his Turkish Arabian dress, is prefixed to the book. ART. II. Irad and Adah, a Tale of the Flood. Poems. Specimens of a New Translation of the Psalms. By Thomas Dale, of Bene't College, Cambridge. 8vo. pp. 190, 9s. Boards. Richardson. 1822. THE delusive hope of having encouraged rising talents, or the vainer dream of having checked obtrusive ignorance, such are the visionary supports of the experienced reviewer's fancy; such the airy consolations that still direct his reluctant mind into the weary, way-worn labors of contemporary criticism. We stop ourselves in the outset of this melancholy yet tempting career of thought, not exactly anticipating whither it would lead us; and confine ourselves, "doggedly," and, as in duty bound, to our immediate business. Mr. Dale, in his earlier efforts, evinced very considerable poetic abilities; and we are glad to find that we were not deceived in our favorable sentiments of this youthful bard. He has, indeed, many of the requisites for the composition of that "wondrous whole," the mind of a poet:few have possessed all those requisites; and if he falls below the standard of numerous rivals, that standard itself is perhaps equally distant from ideal perfection. We know but rare instances, in our own country, of an entirely suitable and solemn management of sacred themes; and, in the dearth of such merit, not many excel that moderate degree of it which is exhibited in the poems of Mr. Dale. We do not, however, admire all his effusions of the kind, nor indeed place the very best of them on an exalted eminence: but we welcome some of his general and less sacred passages with a more than ordinary degree of approbation; and we see not why more learning, more experience, and more fruits of every kind, derived from protracted study and sustained ambition, should not render Mr. D. a formidable competitor for the common, if not the uncommon, bays with the loftiest of his contemporary minstrels. The fault which keeps him back at présent, in our judgment, is an unfortunate propensity to imitate those personages; and especially the most inimitable among them, the poet of the Giaour, the Corsair, &c. &c., the unique Childe Harold. Mr. Dale must never hope for the attainment of any height, until he emancipates himself from every particular trick of copyism; until his imitation be that of nature selected, or of REV. Nov. 1822. R art art combined; and until the selection and combination are both made by himself. H to bred og yd vino bebisiw el The following passage, selected from The Tale of the Flood, we think, has very considerable meritsy slidW evib varam bac adort most.1lig yd lls of • An aged man he seems, whose pensive brow slidW wan, yet more with sorrow than with time; For there no troubled lineaments avow pangs of conscience, or the curse No! there are sorrows sacred and sublime, 79d10 And such are his: for still his piercing eye engin 104 Beams with the brightness of its youthful, prime, i seadq And in his glance a fervour bold and high four teds wolks Reveals th undaunted soul that will not faint or flynisgA What charm is in his presence? All around Are hushed to breathless silence, and he stands, 31 Alone 'mid all: a monarch though uncrowned,. And, though unarmed, a warrior. The dark bands barwhdw A Of Cain recede as if a God commands, And yet he speaks not Sure some power hath bowed Each heart with bonds it knows not, nor withstands; Or how should one control a murderous crow crowd ; The weak repel the strong; the lowly awe the proud? isbniw 917012 Yet, if no symbol of superior sway, bsmmo Around his brow no gemmed tiara shone, Yet shall his honoured name survive for aye,tods O Adorned and hallowed with a holier crowni gau When guilty greatness to the grave goes downd 20 Unwept and unremembered, that pure wreath baA For ever blooms, decay or change unknown; baA So laurels spurn the lightning's fiery breath, bewo When the huge oak lies low, and woods are rent beneath. It is the righteous Noah. Uncontrolled aid begrU hock By lawless might, unmoved by vengeful ire," Oft hath the Seer on that false train foretold ooa al Impending woes, and desolation dire; vidries oй But never, never hath his eye of fire gilssab duW With fearful presage fraught, so sternly glowed broAs now it glows: the conscious crowd retires H So through the Assyrian camp the Angel trodsa oT And mailed myriads crouched before the present God. Yet, ere he spoke, a sudden sadness pastode doidW bas-O'er his grave aspect, glistening in his eyed asdW His lips convulsive quivered, and the last, 1st • Nor Nor then his tears condemn. The avenging raidos 378 Is wielded only by the hand of Heaveny ebam dtod sil to Nor man arraigns the justice of his God,wellot T While yet his tears-nay more his prayers are givenol To all by guilt from hope and mercy driven: While yet Salem's towers the thunder slept, Ah! know'st thou not what purer heart was riven, When o'er the destined towers he gazed and Jesus wept." Compassion crept is unfortunate; and so are some other phrases in this quotation:- but, on the whole, who will not allow that much is performed and more is promised in it? Again: It comes! it comes! The clouds concentring swell, A whirlwind swept the sea, and shook the shore The boundless firmament, while death's dark band, T Storm, fire, wind, hail, went forth to work their, Lord's command. O then what prayers and shrieks and blasphemies Y < Midst the wild scene of darkness and dismayedT ment seek we for that maiden fair, as 107 Who left her God for love's delusive ray, exiledT And found too late it led but to despair 19 O Where too is he, whose proffered heart to share H frænd end lg synLIER MARAZE 9 fax 6519ilum bn She 10M * ་ She madly gave her hope her heaven her all On its unheeding lord to aid them ere they fall? High o'er the vale a rugged mountain rose, Round whose huge breast impervious vapours threw Crested its brow. O'erhanging forests grew Shone tremulous, or tinged the clear cascade, Or kissed the pure pale flowers that blossomed in the glade. Ere yet the torrent o'er the heaving shore For often had he scaled the summit hoar, Wound the steep sides, and gained the snow-wreathed brow; To doubt or chill despair, and urged him onward now. This last line has some of the prosaic perplexity, the lesson on difficult grammar, which so strongly marks the modern metaphysic school of poetry. Yet, with this and other similar exceptions, surely both description and feeling appear in this passage that are almost worthy of the subject, and certainly very creditable to their author. The rest of the tale of Irad and Adah' we recommend to our readers. We grieve to be forced to speak in a very different tone on the merits of another of Mr. Dale's divisions of poetry in this volume; we mean his Specimens of a Translation of the Psalms.' After the numerous unfortunate attempts in this way, fastidiousness is all alive; and, assisted by friendly partiality in some instances, and perhaps by self-mortification in others, she opens her broad eyes on the easily visible and most glaring defects of SACRED POETRY in general, but more especially on any failure in the modern paraphrases (for strict translation 21 translation is impossible) of the Psalms of David, There certainly is something in those wonderful compositions, which, while it frequently approaches to the lyric pathos of Horace in elegance of expression, quite overwhelms the Heathen in strength and depth of sentiment; and, in a word, there seems to be no language but the Greek which for a moment could successfully compete with the varied, impressive, inspired ideas of the original. How the present author has swoln the list of gazetted bankrupts in this most unprofitable speculation, this sacred South-Sea bubble, we shall now briefly demon strate, by the most unhappily irrefragable evidence: PSALM II. • Psalmist. 1. Why thus do heathen-Powers combine, .. But He, who sits enthroned on high, From this auspicious day be thine.. And earth to her remotest bound - Thy sway shall own, thy praise resound. R 3 12. Bend, |