394 ROGERS A TEACHER OF TRUE WISDOM.

and solemn, and reconciling truths, in emphatic and elegant language- and anticipate, as it were, and bring out with effect, those salutary lessons which it seems to be the great end of our life to inculcate. The pictures of violent passion and terrible emotion - the breathing characters, the splendid imagery and bewitching fancy of Shakespeare himself, are less frequently recalled, than those great moral aphorisms in which he has so often

Told us the fashion of our own estate,

The secrets of our bosoms

and, in spite of all that may be said by grave persons, of the frivolousness of poetry, and of its admirers, we are persuaded that the most memorable, and the most generally admired of all its productions, are those which are chiefly recommended by their deep practical wisdom; and their coincidence with those salutary intimations with which nature herself seems to furnish us from the passing scenes of our existence.

The literary character of the work is akin to its moral character; and the diction is as soft, elegant, and simple, as the sentiments are generous and true. The whole piece, indeed, is throughout in admirable keeping; and its beauties, though of a delicate, rather than an obtrusive character, set off each other to an attentive observer, by the skill with which they are harmonised, and the sweetness with which they slide into each other. The outline, perhaps, is often rather timidly drawn, and there is an occasional want of force and brilliancy in the colouring; which we are rather inclined to ascribe to the refined and somewhat fastidious taste of the artist, than to any defect of skill or of power. We have none of the broad and blazing tints of Scott-nor the startling contrasts of Byron-nor the anxious and endlessly repeated touch of Southey — but something which comes much nearer to the soft and tender manner of Campbell; with still more reserve and caution, perhaps, and more frequent sacrifices of strong and popular effect to an abhorrence of glaring beauties, and a disdain of vulgar resources.

The work opens with a sort of epitome of its subject

and presents us with a brief abstract of man's (or at least Gentleman's) life, as marked by the four great eras of his birth-his coming of age-his marriageand his death. The comprehensive picture, with its four compartments, is comprised in less than thirty lines.We give the two latter scenes only.

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And soon again shall music swell the breeze;
Soon, issuing forth, shall glitter through the trees
Vestures of nuptial white; and hymns be sung,
And violets scattered round; and old and young,
In every cottage-porch with garlands green,
Stand still to gaze, and, gazing, bless the scene!
While her dark eyes declining, by his side
Moves in her virgin veil the gentle Bride.

"And once, alas! nor in a distant hour,
Another voice shall come from yonder tower!
When in dim chambers long black weeds are seen,
And weepings heard, where only joy had been;
When by his children borne, and from his door
Slowly departing to return no more,

He rests in holy earth, with them that went before!
"And such is Human Life! So gliding on,

It glimmers like a meteor, and is gone!"-p. 8-10.

After some general and very striking reflections upon the perpetual but unperceived gradations by which this mysterious being is carried through all the stages of its fleeting existence, the picture is resumed and expanded with more touching and discriminating details. Infancy, for example, is thus finely delineated:

"The hour arrives, the moment wish'd and fear'd;
The child is born, by many a pang endear'd.
And now the mother's ear has caught his cry;

Oh grant the cherub to her asking eye!

He comes!

she clasps him. To her bosom press'd,

He drinks the balm of life, and drops to rest.

'Her by her smile how soon the Stranger knows ;
How soon, by his, the glad discovery shows.

As to her lips she lifts the lovely boy,
What answering looks of sympathy and joy!
He walks, he speaks. In many a broken word
His wants, his wishes, and his griefs are heard.
And ever, ever to her lap he flies,

When rosy Sleep comes on with sweet surprise.
Lock'd in her arms, his arms across her flung
(That name most dear for ever on his tongue),

As with soft accents round her neck he clings,
And, cheek to cheek, her lulling song she sings,
How blest to feel the beatings of his heart,
Breathe his sweet breath, and kiss for kiss impart ;
Watch o'er his slumbers like the brooding dove,

And, if she can, exhaust a mother's love!"-p. 19, 20.

This is pursued in the same strain of tenderness and beauty through all its most interesting bearings; — and then we pass to the bolder kindlings and loftier aspirations of Youth.

"Then is the Age of Admiration then Gods walk the earth, or beings more than men! Ha! then come thronging many a wild desire, And high imaginings and thoughts of fire! Then from within a voice exclaims 'Aspire!' Phantoms, that upward point, before him pass, As in the Cave athwart the Wizard's glass," &c. p. 24. We cut short this tablature, however, as well as the spirited sketches of impetuous courage and devoted love that belong to the same period, to come to the joys and duties of maturer life; which, we think, are described with still more touching and characteristic beauties. The Youth passes into this more tranquil and responsible state, of course, by Marriage; and we have great satisfaction in recurring, with our uxorious poet, to his representation of that engaging ceremony, upon which his thoughts seem to dwell with so much fondness and complacency.

"Then are they blest indeed! and swift the hours
Till her young Sisters wreathe her hair in flowers,
Kindling her beauty - while, unseen, the least
Twitches her robe, then runs behind the rest,
Known by her laugh that will not be suppress'd,
Then before All they stand! The holy vow
And ring of gold, no fond illusions now,
Bind her as his! Across the threshold led,
And ev'ry tear kiss'd off as soon as shed,
His house she enters; there to be a light
Shining within, when all without is night!
A guardian-angel o'er his life presiding,
Doubling his pleasures and his cares dividing!
How oft her eyes read his; her gentle mind,
To all his wishes, all his thoughts inclin'd;
Still subject
ever on the watch to borrow
Mirth of his mirth, and sorrow of his sorrow."

p. 32, 33.

PARENTAL AFFECTION.

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Beautiful as this is, we think it much inferior to what follows; when Parental affection comes to complete the picture of Connubial bliss.

"And laughing eyes and laughing voices fill

Their halls with gladness. She, when all are still,
Comes and undraws the curtain as they lie

In sleep, how beautiful! He, when the sky

Gleams, and the wood sends

up its harmony,
When, gathering round his bed, they climb to share
His kisses, and with gentle violence there
Break in upon a dream not half so fair,
Up to the hill top leads their little feet;
Or by the forest lodge; perchance to meet
The stag-herd on its march, perchance to hear
The otter rustling in the sedgy mere;

Or to the echo near the Abbot's tree,

That gave him back his words of pleasantry-
When the House stood, no merrier man than he!
And, as they wandered with a keen delight,
If but a leveret catch their quicker sight
Down a green alley, or a squirrel then

Climb the gnarled oak, and look and climb again,
If but a moth flit by, an acorn fall,

He turns their thoughts to Him who made them all.”

"But Man is born to suffer. On the door
Sickness has set her mark; and now no more
Laughter within we hear, or wood-notes wild
As of a mother singing to her child.

All now in anguish from that room retire,
Where a young cheek glows with consuming fire,
And innocence breathes contagion! — all but one,
But she who gave it birth! From her alone
The medicine-cup is taken. Through the night,
And through the day, that with its dreary light
Comes unregarded, she sits silent by,

Watching the changes with her anxious eye:
While they without, listening below, above,

(Who but in sorrow know how much they love?)
From every little noise catch hope and fear,
Exchanging still, still as they turn to hear,

Whispers and sighs, and smiles all tenderness!

p. 34-36.

That would in vain the starting tear repress."- p. 38, 39.

The scene, however, is not always purely domesticthough all its lasting enjoyments are of that origin, and look back to that consummation. His country requires the arm of a free man! and home and all its joys must

be left, for the patriot battle. The sanguinary and tumultuous part is slightly touched; but the return is exquisite; nor do we know, any where, any verses more touching and full of heartfelt beauty, than some of those we are about to extract.

"He goes, and Night comes as it never came!
With shrieks of horror! - and a vault of flame!
And lo! when morning mocks the desolate,
Red runs the rivulet by; and at the gate
Breathless a horse without its rider stands !
But hush!.. a shout from the victorious bands!
And oh the smiles and tears! a sire restor❜d!
One wears his helm one buckles on his sword;

One hangs the wall with laurel-leaves, and all
Spring to prepare the soldier's festival;

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While She best-lov'd, till then forsaken never,
Clings round his neck, as she would cling for ever!
Such golden deeds lead on to golden days,
Days of domestic peace - by him who plays
On the great stage how uneventful thought;
Yet with a thousand busy projects fraught,
A thousand incidents that stir the mind
To pleasure, such as leaves no sting behind!
Such as the heart delights in - and records
Within how silently in more than words!
A Holiday the frugal banquet spread
On the fresh herbage near the fountain-head
With quips and cranks what time the wood-lark there
Scatters her loose notes on the sultry air,
What time the kingfisher sits perch'd below,
Where, silver bright, the water lilies blow :—
A Wake the booths whit'ning the village-green,
Where Punch and Scaramouch aloft are seen;
Sign beyond sign in close array unfurl'd,
Picturing at large the wonders of the world;
And far and wide, over the vicar's pale,
Black hoods and scarlet crossing hill and dale,
All, all abroad, and music in the gale:
A Wedding-dance-a dance into the night!
On the barn floor when maiden-feet are light;
When the young bride receives the promis'd dower,
And flowers are flung, herself a fairer flower:

A Morning-visit to the poor man's shed,

(Who would be rich while One was wanting bread ?)
When all are emulous to bring relief,

And tears are falling fast- but not for grief :

--

A Walk in Spring - Gr*tt*n, like those with thee,
By the heath-side (who had not envied me?)