No. XVII. The gentle bard by Fame forgotten. JOHN SCOTT. THE Miscellaneous Poems of Dr. Beaumont, of which, in No. IX., I have promised to take a further notice, were published at Cambridge in 1749, under the title of "Original Poems in English and Latin." The latter, which occupy only about thirty pages, possess nothing remarkable either in relation to their matter or their manner, except that as specimens of classical purity of style, they will by no means stand the test of criticism. Their deficiency in this respect, indeed, has been apologised for by the Memorialist of his Life and Writings in the following terms:-" If in his style," says he, "he sometimes sinks below the purity of the Augustan age, it is to be remembered, that he had been long conversant with the ecclesiastical writers, and the later his torians; and therefore it is less to be wondered at, if the reader now and then meets with the harsh language of Tertullian, where he expected the happy elegancy of Horace or Ovid.”* The defect, however, is of vital importance in this department of composition, and as the subjects which he has chosen thus to clothe, are, with very few exceptions, of a trifling and uninteresting nuture, I shall content myself with but one extract, which I have selected, as it affords us, in the first place, a proof that these miscellaneous pieces, like the elaborate poem of Psyche, were written at Hadleigh; and, in the second, as it presents us with the only direct allusion to his native town and stream, which I have been able to discover in his writings. The poet is lamenting the apparently diminished affection of one of his dearest friends, and, in the conflict of his mind, he calls upon the Brett to witness to his sorrows: Tu, Brette, pratis qui recreas sitim, Qui fallis Hadleiam fluentis Quæ fugiunt remanentque semper * Life prefixed, p. xxv. Dic O! propinquis quot tua murmura The English poems are justly said by the editor to possess the same general tendency which was conspicuously the aim of their author's whole life; that is, "to recommend a sincere love of virtue, and to express that awe of the Supreme Being, which ever filled his grateful and humble heart."* They partake, however, of the same faults which have, with respect to style, so deeply blemished the pages of his Psyche, though not in an equal degree; for they exhibit a greater perspicuity and chastity of diction, and a greater freedom from farfetched conceits and colloquial familiarities. Their texture, indeed, being altogether of a lyric cast, and, therefore, void of narrative, may in some measure account for this; yet from the sixty-five quarto pages which are devoted to these compositions, I do not think it possible to extract more than eight or nine passages, which, in a poetic light, will be considered as reflecting credit on the memory of their author. If we * Life prefixed, p. xxiii. recollect, however, that from the folio of Psyche not more than eighteen specimens were deemed worthy of exhibition, the comparison will be greatly in favour of the smaller volume. The collection opens with some stanzas entitled "Reasonable Melancholy," in the metrical construction of which there is a pleasing flow of melody, well adapted to the nature of the subject. The commencing and concluding stanza are more especially entitled to notice, as well for the philosophy of their sentiment as the poetry of their expression, and with these I shall gratify my readers. Tell me no more of sweets and joys; Nor flatter poor unworthy toys As they were kings. 'Tis not a pretty name That can transform the frame Of bitterness, and cheat a sober taste. 'Tis not a smile That can beguile Good eyes, and on false joys true colours cast. Come hither grief; one draught of thee Will taste more sweet Than all false joy's hypocrisy, Which here doth greet Deluded souls; one tear Flows with more honey far Than all Hyblean hives; one pious sigh Breathes sweeter air Than all the fair Arabia, and can sooner reach the sky. There is a moral and devotional charm pervading throughout the poetry of Dr. Beaumont, which tells us, in terms which cannot be mistaken, of the goodness of his heart, and of the fervor of his Christian faith. This is a feature which, whilst it induces us to overlook with tenderness many errors of taste, fixes us with a more than common interest on those parts of his writings which give a clear and unalloyed transcript of his thoughts and feelings. Thus, there can be little doubt from what we know of the tenor of his life, that the following piece of advice was drawn from an intimate and impartial acquaintance with the state of his own bosom : |