And even when his eye-lids close,
With clamourous scream affrights repose.
Oppress'd with light, he seeks to shun
The splendid glories of the sun;
The busy crowds that hover near,
Torment his eye, distract his ear:
He hastens to the secret shades,
Where not a ray the gloom pervades ;
Where Contemplation may retreat,
And Silence take his mossy seat >
Yet even there no peace he knows,
His fev'rish blood no calmer flows;
Some hid assassin's vengeful knife
Is rais'd to end his wretched life.

He shudders, starts, and stares around,

With breathless fright, to catch the fancied sound;

Seeks for the dagger in his breast,

And gripes it 'neath his ruffled vest.'

We cannot afford our sanction to that inelegant abbreviation of the word beneath, 'neath, in the last line of the preceding extract: several writers in verse, we must not style them POETS, have lately endeavoured to bring it into vogue: but surely their ill success will, in time, convince them of the absurdity of the attempt. Art. 31. Odes and Miscellanies. By Robert Farren Cheetham. 8vo. pp. 184. 6s. Boards. Champante and Whitrow.

The author of these poems appears to be master of an easy flow of versification, but his sentiments, though of a moral cast, are trite, and seldom highly illumined by splendour of diction or lively imagery. In the following stanza, in the Ode to Chastity, an evident impropriety occurs:

Thou, only thou, canst stand unmov'd,
Against the unerring dart,

Which Cupid, on his whetstone prov'd,
Flings, laughing, at the heart.'

We do not recollect to have heard before of Cupid's whetstone. Mr. C-might have seen, on some antique gems, a representation of Cupid pointing his darts: but surely the term whetstone' conveys an idea too much beneath the dignity of poetry!

The Lytic poems of this author, though not exempt from the charge of languor in some parts and obscurity in others, are on the whole preferable to his satires; which we particularly disapprove for their personality.

The sonnets and translations are not distinguished by any peculiar merit.-Brevity is the chief praise of each poem.

Art. 32. Daphne, a Poem. 4to, pp. 16. London. 1796. No

Bookseller's Name.

Those who take a delight in the low burlesque of Scarron and Cotton may perhaps peruse this poem without disgust: but the classical reader will be displeased with the ludicrous turn given by

the

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the author to one of the most beautiful stories in Ovid's Metamor
phoses. Such kind of ridicule is unfavourable to the moral sense;
and though it may derive a degree of reputation from the wit with
which it is occasionally interspersed, it can never gratify an elegant
and well regulated mind. The author, to us unknown, has done us
the honour to dedicate this performance to the Monthly Reviewers,
we are sorry that we cannot return his compliment by a more civil
account of it:-but, as he is a man of pleasantry, he will probably take
his revenge by laughing at old Square-toes.

Art. 33. Blue Beard, or Female Curiosity, a Dramatic Romance.
By George Colman, the Younger. 8vo. Is. 6d. Cadell jun.
and Davies. 1798.

The author of this piece professes that, a pantomime not being
forthcoming at Drury Lane for the Christmas holidays, he was in
duced, expressly for that season, to supply the place of Harle-
quinade. We shall not enter into a regular examination of either
the fable or the incidents; for, in fact, we know no rules by which
our criticism should be directed. We have heard, and believe, that
Mr. Colman has executed his design with considerable ability; but
we are sorry that such abilities should be employed in the service of
the Smithfield Muses. We wish to see that gentleman renounce en-
tirely the province of the marvellous incredible legends, and the
whole monstrous offspring of extravagant fancy, in which truth and
nature are never observed. From some specimens of his genius,
we think that we have a right to expect better things from his pen,
whenever he shall choose to return to the verge of human life.

Respicere exemplar vita morumque jubebo
Doctum imitatorem, et veras hinc ducere voces.

Art. 34. False Impressions; a Comedy in Five Acts, performed
at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. By Richard Cumberland,
Esq. 8vo. 2s. Dilly. 1797.

To raise a laugh by any means, by improbable incidents, by pun,
quibble, and cant phrases, seems to have been, for some years past,
the design and scope of modern comedy: but in the piece before us
Mr. Cumberland has scorned to aim at applause by such unworthy
artifices. The subject has a moral tendency; its main object being
to explode a most pernicious practice, which has too often been the
pest of society. Nothing deserves the lash of the satiric muse more
than the insidious tale-bearer, who, to serve his own selfish pur-
poses, endeavours by whispers, by lies, and by calumny, to blast the
characters of good and honest men. The fable is interesting; the
language, in general, is pure and elegant; and some of the situa-
tions are well imagined: but, in the delineation of characters, the
"author does not seem to have recollected that a close imitation of life
and manners is the true province of comedy. The maker of false
impressions is an attorney: but the manners of men engaged in that
profession are totally neglected. Earling tells lies and whispers like
any other bad man: whereas, if he acted on all occasions with profes
་་ sional artifice, the colouring might have been more strong and glow-
ing

15

* This was reviewed before. See Vol. XXV. p.237.

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ing throughout the piece. The Tartuffe of Moliere might well have served Mr. Cumberland as a model. When compared with that excellent comedy, and with Congreve's Double Dealer, the present piece does not appear in a very advantageous light.

Art. 35. The Mysterious Marriage; or the Heirship of Roselva, a Play, in Three Acts. By Harriet Lee. 8vo. 28. Robinsons. 1798.

At a time when the fashion of the day allows dramatic pieces which cannot be called either tragedy or comedy to take possession of the stage, it is not a little surprising that the play now before us was not admitted to the advantages of a public exhibition. We do not profess ourselves friends to the new and equivocal species of dramatic poetry but we incline to the opinion that Miss Harriet Lee's performance was fairly entitled to the honour of public representation. In the perusal, it has afforded us real pleasure the style is elegant, and the versification is not only correct, but harmonious. Iron Chests and Spectres of the Castle have attracted numerous audiences, while Miss Lee has been obliged to lock up her performance in hopes of better times. She says that It is more than two years since the manuscript, from which the following play is printed, was read by several acquaintances, among whom was Mr. Colman, whose letter on the subject is dated October 1795. The difficulty that attends producing any piece to advantage on the stage, has hitherto inclined the author to consign her's to obscurity; but as the theatre will soon probably become a "LAND OF APPARITIONS," she hastens to put in her claim to originality of idea, though the charm of novelty may be lost. The Female Spectre she has conjured up, was undoubtedly the offspring of her own imagination; yet she is now obliged to produce it to disadvantage, or expose herself to the charge of being a servile imitator.'

Mur..y.

Whether the ghost conjured up by Miss Harriet Lee was known to the author of the Castle-Spectre, we cannot say but we are sorry to hear a lady of her merit say, in a mournful yet dignified manner, that her scenes were intended for decoration, and many of the verses for music: yet that unfortunately she is, at last, obliged to publish her work without any of those embellishments. Do Art. 36. The Castle Spectre; a Drama. By M. G. Lewis, Esq. M. P. 8vo. 28. Bell. 1798.

After having read this-What do you call it ?—a drama, it seems, it must be, we cannot but regret that an author, whose talents seem designed for better things, should condescend to make us stare at Groves, and Suits of Armour, and Pedestals with Names, and the River Conway, and, in short, whatever presented itself to his imagination. The whole, we find, depends for success on the effect of the Castle Spectre; and therefore all that we shall say is, that it seems extremely easy to pen a ghost, not indeed in Shakspeare's manner, but of the silent kind, as in the play before us. Mr. Lewis, we have no doubt, will draw after him a train of imitators: but it is to be hoped that he himself will retire from the regions of the marvellous.

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Art. 37. Christ's Hospital, a Poem. By T. S. Surr. 4to. 2s. 6d.
Longman.

Among the numerous public charities which adorn this Island, there is not one nobler in its institution and more beneficial in its effects than Christ's Hospital: from the liberal plan of education adopted in that seminary, the attention paid to genius and disposi tion, and the pains taken to inculcate the purest principles of morality and religion, together with the means of rewarding merit, vested in the society by their large possessions and extensive patronage, -it is not wonderful that, of the boys educated by this charity, the greater part should prove useful citizens; many acquire considerable eminence as officers in the navy, or as merchants and traders; and some distinguish themselves in the learned professions, or benefit their country by their improvements in arts and sciences. Surely all persons must applaud the motive of Mr. Surr, whatever opinion they may form of his poetical talents, in thus paying a tribute of gratitude to the place of his education, and to the memory of those illustrious persons to whose bounty he feels himself so much indebted. -The sentiments in this poem are such as no man can disapprove : but of the versification, our duty compels us to say that it is in general tame and languid.-The following lines may serve as a spe cimen :

But chief I love in fancy to repair

On Sabbath ev'nings to the Hall of Pray'r.
O ye, within whose bosom warmly glows
A heart, that pitying throbs for human woes;
A heart, that swells with grateful, joyful sense,
When Mercy smiles on helpless Innocence;
O hither bend your steps, here raptur'd gaze
On living monuments of Edward's praise!
Here view, beneath one roof, the num'rous train
Of Sorrow's offspring, Bounty's stores maintain!
Here view on orphan brows Contentment's air,
The smile of Innocence devoid of care!

A band of brothers! scions of one stock!

In the world's wilderness, a helpless flock;

Whom Mercy shelters on this hallow'd ground,

From Want, and Woe, and Vice, which prowl around!'

Art. 38. Belinda; or, the Kisses of Joannes Bonefonius of Auvergne, translated, and accompanied with the original Latin. 8vo. 4s. 6d. Kearsley.

The mistress of Philarete, by George Wither, is one of the earliest and best specimens of erotic poetry which our language as yet can boast: had that poem been separated by the author into a number of distinct ditties, many of them would have been handed down from anthology to anthology, and would have attained a classical rank in the library of the Graces. The ease of Prior is sometimes vapid and often vulgar; and he has bequeathed us but few pieces in this vein, that are of sterling and perpetual value. The collections of Dodsley and of Pearch may here and there afford a knot of lines worthy to have been produced by the tender passion: but in general our poets have REV. MAY, 1798. disdained

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disdained to compose on the sofa, and to mould into articulations the ambrosial air of a kiss. Some indulgence, therefore, is yet due to the writer who attempts to rival, in our language, the delicately finished productions of a softer region, and gives us to quaff the mystic nectar of the fifth fountain.

The following Greeting to his Mistress,' considered as a translation, has the merit of strict fidelity to the text:

Salve mélque meum atque amaritudo,
Otiúmque meum, negotiumque;
Meus Phosphorus, Hesperusque, salve.
Salve, luxque mea, et meæ tenebræ ;
Salve, errorque meus meusque portus.
Salve, spésque mea et mei pavores.
Salve, nilque meum, meúmque totum.
Sed quid pluribus? O ter ampliusque,
Salve, tota Acharisque Pancharisque.
Hail, honey'd fair, my bitterest joy,
My leisure's bliss, my fond employ !
My morning-star of cheering blaze,
My star of eve, I hail thy rays!
Hail thou my day, my night in one;
The port I seek, the rock I shun!
Hail thou my hope, and thou my fear;
My nothing, yet my all that's dear!
Hail, various maid, whate'er you be !
Bewitching contrariety !

Hail all Belinda can express

Of beauty, or of ugliness!'

As the author proceeds, the more facility he seems to acquire, in expressing with euphonious neatness the pretty playful poignant and voluptuous diversifications of similar love-thoughts, which form the whole merit of the original. Most of these poems, however, are too licentious for general circulation.

The preface contains curious particulars of Bonefonius.

Tay. Art. 39. Poems, by J. Hucks, A. M. Fellow of Catharine Hall, Cambridge. 12mo. 3s. 6d. Boards. Deighton, Debrett, &c. 1798.

These poems possess a degree of animation and spirit, from which their reader will form a favourable opinion of the good sense, social disposition, and benevolence of the writer. The following verses, on reading Mr. Rogers's celebrated poem on the Pleasures of Memory, may be given as a specimen :

O teach me, Thou! who with prophetic fire,
To memory erst hast struck thy silver lyre;
Sweet bard! who with creative pow'r canst give
The faded hours of life again to live;
Teach me, like thee, to feel the pensive theme,
And draw ideal bliss from memory's dream.

See the seven fountains of Sir William Jones.

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