MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. 339 



SONGS AND POEMS BY CHARLES MACKAY. Small 8vo. pp. 124 



COCHRANE AND M'CRONE. 



MR. MACKAY, in his preface, tells us rather unnecessarily that the 

 " era of Poesy is not past/' truly, we never thought it was ; but if we 

 really had entertained so heterodox a doctrine, his little book would 

 have gone far to convince us to the contrary. Mr. Mackay is not a 

 mere rhymer he is a poet, and when time shall have matured his 

 faculties, we hope to see the rich harvest, of which his present work 

 is but the forerunner. His songs are sweet and exquistely musical, 

 and his other pieces by no means lack the grand requisites of imagi- 

 nation truth to nature and smoothness of ver-sification. 



The book is dedicated to the Guardians of the Caledonian Asylum ; 

 and they, no doubt, will encourage the real talent of the author, who, 

 we believe, was educated in that Institution. 



There are many passages we would fain quote, but our space is 

 limited. The following bears its own music with it : 



AURORA. 



THE morn gets up with sparkling eye, 

 And a cheek like a hawthorn berry, 

 And sendeth her herald to the sky, 

 To twitter his song so merry: 



He's the eldest born 



Of his mother Morn, 

 And his voice is shrill and jolly : 



And what saith he, 



That herald free- 

 Philosophy, mirth, or folly ? 



'Tis Wisdom's voice, though it speak in mirth, 



'Tis a wise, wise lay ah, very ! 

 And he calls on all in air and earth 

 To join in his song so merry: 



He saith that health 



Is better than wealth, 

 And cheerfulness better than sorrow ; 



Calling on sloth, 



If it prize them both, 

 To rise with the sun to-morrow. 



These are the words of his mother Morn, 



The hunter hears him singing, 

 And winds a blast on his mountain horn, 

 Till he sets the wild woods ringing : 



And this is the lay 



Of the lark so gay, 

 With his voice so shrill and merry ; 



When Morn doth rise 



With her sparkling eyes, 

 And her cheek like the hawthorn berry. 



