THE HERMIT. Far in a wild, unknown to public view, A life so sacred, such serene repose, And glimmering fragments of a broken sun, His raiment decent, his complexion fair; Thus stands an aged elm in ivy bound, Thus useful ivy clasps an elm around. We shall close this brief notice of Parnell with the following beautiful bymn: HYMN TO CONTENTMENT. Lovely, lasting peace of mind! 1717 A.D.] With more of happiness below, Thy presence in its gold enshrined. No real happiness is found In trailing purple o'er the ground: To range the circuit of the sky, Is once again with Eden blest, 'T was thus, as under shade I stood, And, lost in thought, no more perceived Know God-and bring thy heart to know The joys which from religion flow: And I'll be there to crown the rest. Oh! by yonder mossy seat, In my hours of sweet retreat, Might I thus my soul employ, While silver waters glide along, To please my ear, and court my song; Should be sung, and sung by me; Go search among your idle dreams, Or own the next begun in this.. WILLIAM SOMERVILLE, the author of The Chase, belongs to the poets of this period, but his works are now rarely read or consulted. He was a native of Warwickshire, and was born on a family estate called Edston, in 1682. He received his early education at Westminster school, from which he was sent to New College, Oxford, and there was afterwards elected to a fellowship. It does not appear that in the places of his education Somerville exhibited any uncommon proofs of genius, or attainments in literature. His powers were first displayed in the country, where he became distinguished, both as a poet, and a gentleman. His estate yielded him an income of fifteen hundred pounds a-year; but being generous, and even extravagant, he died in distressed circumstances, in 1742, and was buried at Wotton, near Henleyon-Arden. · Somerville wrote in a variety of strains, but in none with elevation sufficient to entitle him to greater praise than that of writing very well for a gentleman.' In his verses to Addison,' says Johnson, the couplet which mentions Clio is written with the most exquisite delicacy of praise: it exhibits one of those happy strokes that are seldom attained.' Addison, it is well known, signed his papers in the Spectator, with the letters forming the name of Clio. The couplet alluded to, is as follows : When panting virtue her last efforts made You brought your Clio to the virgin's aid. In welcoming Addison to the banks of the Avon, in Warwickshire, where he had purchased an estate, Somerville does not scruple to place him, as a poet, above Shakspeare: In heaven he sings; on earth your muse supplies Correctly great, she melts each flinty heart Ridiculous as this opinion is, it should be remembered that Voltaire and The cold marble of Cato' was other French critics fell into the same error. preferred by them to the living and breathing creations of the myriadminded' magician. 'The Chase,' his great work, Somerville produced in mature age, 'when his ear,' in the language of Johnson, 'was improved to the approbation of blank verse.' To this poem a certain degree of praise must be awarded. It is allowed, by sportsmen, to exhibit the subject in a very intelligent manner, and to create all the interest that the theme is capable of. The author was, however, unfortunate in choosing blank verse as his measure; for every intelligent reader must be satisfied that rhyme would have been much more appropriate for so light and airy a subject. The following is an animated sketch of a morning in Autumn :— Hail, gentle Dawn! mild, blushing goddess, hail! The friendship of Addison shed a reflected light on some of his contemporaries, and elevated them, in their own day, to very considerable importance. Tickell, perhaps, shared these advantages to a greater extent than any other. THOMAS TICKELL was the son of Reverend Richard Tickell, and was born at Bridekirk, Cumberland, in 1686. In 1701, he became a member of Queen's College, Oxford; and in 1708, he was made master of arts, and two years after chosen to a fellowship, to retain which, as he did not enter into holy orders, he obtained a dispensation from the crown. When Addison went to Ireland as secretary, Tickell accompanied him, and was there employed in public business. After his return to London he published a translation of the first book of Homer's Iliad,' which Addison, and Tickell's other friends pronounced to be better than the translation of Pope, which immediately followed. This circumstance led to a breach of friendship between Addison and Pope, which was never afterwards healed. Addison continued to patronize Tickell, made him his under secretary of state, and left him the charge of publishing his works. In 1725, Tickell was made secretary to the Lords Justices of Ireland, a place of great honor and trust, and which he continued to hold till his death, which occurred at Bath, on the twenty-third of April, 1740. As a poet, Tickell possessed great elegance, and tenderness, but he was deficient in variety and force. His Elegy on the death of Addison is considered, by Johnson, one of the most elegant and sublime funeral poems in the language. Steele, however, regarded it as merely prose in rhyme.' In our judgment his ballad of Colin and Lucy is worth all his other works together. It possesses the simplicity and pathos of the elder lyrics, without their too frequent coarseness and abrupt transitions. It is with great pleas ure, therefore, that we here give it a place : COLIN AND LUCY. Of Leinster, famed for maidens fair Nor ne'er did Liffy's limpid stream Till luckless love and pining care Impaired her rosy hue, Her coral lips and damask cheeks, Oh! have you seen a lily pale When beating rains descend? So drooped the slow-consuming maid, By Lucy warned, of flattering swains Take heed ye easy fair! Of vengeance due to broken vows, Ye perjured swains! beware. |