My sweet one, my sweet one, thy life's brief hour is o'er, 'Tis true that thou wert young, my child, but though brief thy span below, To me it was a little age of agony and woe; For, from thy first faint dawn of life thy cheek began to fade, And my heart had scarce thy welcome breathed ere my hopes were wrapt in shade. Oh the child, in its hours of health and bloom, that is dear as thou wert then, Grows far more prized-more fondly loved-in sickness and in pain, Cradled in thy fair mother's arms, we watch'd thee day by day, It came at length ;-o'er thy bright blue eye the film was gathering fast,— Thy gentle mother turn'd away to hide her face from me, And murmur'd low of Heaven's behests, and bliss attain'd by thee ;- We laid thee down in sinless rest, and from thine infant brow Though other offspring still be ours, as fair perchance as thou, THE FIRST! How many a memory bright that one sweet word can bring, My sweet one, my sweet one, my Fairest and my First! When I think of what thou might'st have been, my heart is like to burst; earth, Pure as the snow-flake ere it falls and takes the stain. Perhaps the best poem in the volume is by Allan Cunninghame. It is full of real warm human feeling of the best kind, finely tinged too with the spirit of poetry, and written in VOL. XVII. language ost Wordsworthian.Cunninghame is far superior to Clare, and we say so, without meaning any disrespect to that most amiable and interesting person. He has all, or near N ly all that is good in Hogg-not a twentieth part of the Shepherd's atrocities-and much merit peculiarly his own, which, according to our notion of poetry, is beyond the reach of the Ettrick bard. Yet Cunninghame has never written, and probably never will write, anything so fortunate as the Queen's Wake. THE POET'S BRIDAL-DAY SONG. By Allan Cunninghame. Oh! my love's like the steadfast sun, Even while I muse, I see thee sit moon Set on the sea an hour too scon; Though I see smiling at thy feet rose; To thee and thoughts of thee belong With gleams of deap enthusiast thought, O, when more thought we gave of old To silver than some give to gold; 'Twas sweet to sit and ponder o'er What things should deck our humble bower! At times there come, as come there ought Grave moments of sedater thought,When Fortune frowns, nor lends our night One gleam of her inconstant light; And hope, that decks the peasant's bower, 'Twas sweet to pull, in hope, with thee, Shines like the rainbow through the shower; O then I see, while seated nigh, I think the wedded wife of mine, We cannot help thinking, that poetry like this for poetry assuredly it is-awakens a much deeper feeling than that sort of poetry, which, dealing in troubled and sinful passions, might be supposed to have been groaned out to the Muse in auricular confession. There is something sickening in your assiduous poetical sinner, who sees nothing grand but guilt-thinks life dull unless it be devilish, and is oppressed with ennui, if forced for a season to have recourse to some honest employment. The truth is, that sane, sound, and simple nature, is the only nature in which the real poet long finds delight; and if sometimes he meddles with the morbid anatomy of the soul, it is that he may shew forth, in nobler proportions and diviner beauty, the unimpaired structure of our moral being. On this subject we shall not now dilate; but content ourselves with remarking, that nothing is easier than to write in this diseased and drunken style-and that nothing is more difficult than adequately-to speak of "the sound healthy children of the God of Heaven." North has just sent a devil to say, month, so that we may make our arthat he is to have no small print this ticle a page or two longer than per order. The easiest way of doing this is by extracts. So, fair reader, here is a poem by Mr T. K. Hervey. He is a young gentleman of very considerable promise, and the Convict-Ship will adorn even a page of Maga. We have a small volume of poems lately published by Mr Hervey, called "Australia," &c. which are much above mediocrity, and have attracted, as they deserved, considerable notice. No man in the world likes so well as we do to soe clever youths coming for ward-and we at all times have shewn ing hand. Our friend Hervey has ourselves ready to lend them a help- feeling and fancy. THE CONVICT SHIP. By T. K. Hervey, Esq. Morn on the waters!—and, purple and bright, O'er the glad waves, like a child of the sun, Full to the breeze she unbosoms her sail, And her pennon streams onward, like hope, in the gale; Bright as the visions of youth, ere they part, Night on the waves!-and the moon is on high, Bright and alone on the shadowy main, 'Tis thus with our life: while it passes along, With streamers afloat, and with canvass unfurl'd; Yet charter'd by sorrow, and freighted with sighs :- As the smiles we put on, just to cover our tears; As it has been objected to us, that we are too chary in general of poetical effusions, (in answer to this charge, see our pyramidical barda,) weshall quote another little composition from the Souvenir; and at the same time beg leave to propose a toast-"The health of the Reverend E. W. Barnard." Mr Barnard, we learned t'other day, from our friend Martin M'Dermot the Un Ripening every plant of worth, Chorus.-Strew about, strew about! 1st Angel. Flowers that hand of poet never May from heaven's pasture sever; Chorus.-Strew about, strew about! Ever bloom as fresh as snow; Chorus. Strew about, strew about! 1st Angel. Gladsome health to fire the eye, And paint the cheek of infancy; Chorus.-Strew about, strew about? 2d Angel. Lowly thought, and holy fear, Studious peace, and conscience clear, And grace divine, to make them be Meet for angels' company. Chorus.-Strew about, strew about! With these very beautiful verses, we intended to have closed our article. But on correcting the slip, we perceive that a few additional sentences are necessary for the "upmaking," since nothing looks so well at the top of a page, as the title of an article-and we perceive that the title of the next is a taking one. What then shall we say? why, that all our good Poets, yes, one and all of them, should contribute to the next volume of the Literary Souvenir. What difficulty is there in writing a beautiful poem of fifty lines, long or short metre, any summer morning before breakfast? Consider how early the sun rises all the summer through, from about the beginning of May, well on to the end of September. Suppose you breakfast at nineor half past nine. Well then, up with you at five-and before the bell rings, there is your poem. Lay it aside for sunshining morning into the form of a week-correct it over your egg any a letter with it-and off she goes to the tune of Alaric A. Watts, Esq. Leeds. Nothing can be more easy and simple than this process, and by and by down comes, or up goes to you your beautiful large paper copy of the Souvenir, with the worthy Editor's kind regards, and a pleasantly indited letter. Therefore, Wordsworth, god of the woods, "sole king of rocky Cumberland," a lyrical ballad, if you please, or a small portion, a very small portion, of the Excursion.-Southey, with wit and wisdom at will, dispatch a few pages of Omniana.-Coleridge, thou dear delightful dreamer, whose genius is ever sailing "up a great river, great as any sea," at thy bidding, let a flock of fair phantoms flit down to Leeds, on the ready railroad of thy inventive imagination. O, thou English Opium-Eater, "perhaps the most singular literary character now alive!" who, from that little box of enchantment, dost devour divinest fancies, remember not to forget the Literary Souvenir.-Christopher North, thou terror of evil-doers, and praise of such as do well, fling to your friend Alaric a chip or two of the old block, and he will prize them as parings from olive tree in the sacred grove of Athens.-Barry Cornwall, my pretty man, take off your new natty yellow glove, and taking care not to ink your snow-white finger, indite an ode to the chaste Dian, or Boy Endymion, or him the hapless Hylas, Nestor, Hyacinthus, Sappho, or Jupiter Ammon. But we have said enough-the British Poets know what we mean, and we insist on our wishes being attended to in all proper quarters. The truth is, and we may as well out with it, that we long to have a hit at some poet or other. We cannot think of attacking their former works that would seem spiteful-but we should like hugely to fall foul of an occasional poem from the pen of any one of our most highly and justly esteemed living poets. yet we much fear, after all, that we have said nothing very characteristic of the Souvenir. The truth is, that we have too much genius to write a good review. Howsomever, we beg leave to inform the public, pro bono publico, that the volume contains precísely 394 printed pages, written by popular authors-ten (ni fallor) exquisite engravings by the first artists-and three plates of autographs of the principal Living Poets. Besides the poetry, of which we have quoted some average specimens, there are some half-a-score of prose tales, picturesque or pathetic. The prose tales are in general goodexcellent; but we have a certain odd notion that we could write a better one than any of them; and we hereby promise to make this threat good before October. Shall we send it direct to Messrs Hurst, Robinson, and Co., or to yourself, Mr Watts, at Leeds? As we shall probably be in town before publication of the next Souvenir for 1826, we can hand it over the counter to Mr Mann, who, by the way, is an extremely pleasant man, indeed, and an excellent traveller. O vain race of mortals! how and by what means have any of you ever brought yourselves to think ill of Blackwood's Magazine? What Editor in England would admit into his periodical this same blessed article? Not one. And why? Is it deficient in wit, fancy, understanding, or knowledge? Most certainly not. On the contrary, it possesses all those qualities, to a truly extraordinary degree. Why then would no editor but Chris topher rejoice in this my article? BECAUSE NO OTHER EDITOR HAS A HEART, Here have we been dallying away our time, pen in hand, for a couple of hours, like an absolute Dr Drake, and |
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