and metrical composition. Neither in respect of the
quantity nor the quality of his verse could Gray's manner of
composition be described as spontaneous. Compared with Wordsworth's
numerous volumes of poetry, the slender volume that contains the
poetry of Gray looks meagre indeed; yet almost every poem in this
small collection is a considered work of art. To begin with 'The
Bard.' Few readers, we suppose, would rise from this ode without a
sense of its poetical 'effect.' The details may be thought to require
too much attention; the allusions, from the nature of the subject,
are, no doubt, difficult; but a feeling of loftiness, of harmony, of
proportion, remains in the mind at the close of the poem, which is
not likely to pass away. How, then, was this effect produced? First
of all we see that Gray had selected a good subject; his raw
materials, so to speak, were poetical. The imagination, unembarrassed
by common associations, breathes freely in its own region, and is
instinctively elevated as it moves among the great events of the
past, dwelling on the misfortunes of monarchs, the rise of dynasties,
and the splendours of literature. But, in the second place, when he
has chosen his subject, it is the part of the poet to impress the
great ideas derived from it on the feelings and the memory by the
distinctness of the form under which he presents it; and here
poetical invention first begins to work. By the imaginative fiction
of 'The Bard,' Gray is enabled to cast the whole course of English
history into the form of a prophecy, and to excite the patriotic
feelings of the reader, as Virgil roused the pride of his own
countrymen by Anchises' forecast of the grandeur of Rome. Finally,
when the main design of the poem is thus conceived, observe with what
art all the different parts are made to emphasize the beauty of the
general conception; with what dramatic propriety the calamities of
the conquering Plantagenet are prophesied by his vanquished foe;
while on the other hand, the literary glories of the Tudor Elizabeth
awaken the triumph of the patriot and the poet; how martial and
spirited is the opening of the poem! how lofty and enthusiastic its
close! Perhaps there is no English lyric which, animated by equal
fervour, displays so much architectural genius as 'The Bard.'

"Take, again, the 'Ode on the Prospect of Eton College.' A subject
better adapted far the indulgence of personal feeling, or for those
sentimental confid