y American poet,' who 'treats the works of Nature with a religious
solemnity, and brings to the contemplation of her grandest relations a
pure and serious spirit. His poetry is reflective but not sad; grave in
its depths but brightened in its flow by the sunshine of the imagination.
He never paints on gauze; he is always earnest, always poetical; his
manner is every where graceful and unaffected.' The illustrative quotation
is from 'An Evening Reverie,' written by Mr. BRYANT for the KNICKERBOCKER.
LONGFELLOW is pronounced to be 'unquestionably the first of American
poets; the most thoughtful and chaste; the most elaborate and finished.
His poems are distinguished by severe intellectual beauty, by dulcet
sweetness of expression, a wise and hopeful spirit, and a complete command
over every variety of rhythm. They are neither numerous nor long, but of
that compact texture which will last for posterity.' SPRAGUE is
represented as having in certain of his poems imitated SHAKSPEARE and
COLLINS rather too closely for all three to be original. 'PIERPONT is
crowded with coincidences which look very like _plagiarisms_;' 'but,' adds
the reviewer, 'it is reserved for CHARLES FENNO HOFFMAN to distance all
plagiarists of ancient and modern times in the enormity and openness of
his thefts. He is MOORE hocused for the American market. His songs are
_rifaciamentos_. The turns of the melody, the flowing of the images, the
scintillating conceits, are all MOORE. Sometimes he steals his very
words.' Mrs. SIGOURNEY'S poetry is said to be characterized by 'feeble
verbosity' and 'lady-like inanity,' and Mrs. OSGOOD is represented as
being in the same category. After quoting certain characteristic lines of
Mr. JOHN NEAL, describing the eye of a poet as '_brimful of water and
light_,' and his forehead as being '_alarmingly bright_,' the reviewer
adds: 'We find a pleasant relief from these distressing hallucinations, in
the poems of ALFRED B. STREET. He is a descriptive poet, and at the head
of his class. His pictures of American scenery are full of _gusto_ and
freshness; sometimes too wild and diffuse, but always true and beautiful.'
So some are praised and some are blamed--'thus runs the world away!' . . .
WE are made aware, and we would not have our correspondents ignorant of
the fact, that there is a critical eye monthly upon our pages, that is
keen to discover errors (as well as beauties) in language and construction
of sentences. See: 'By the