AO NC ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
The enemy’s horse are heard approaching. Saul lifts himself with 
a last expiring effort and falls on his sword. 
It is obvious that Heavysege laboured under many disadvantages 
in attempting such a tremendous subject as Sawl—one which would have 
taxed the genius of even the greatest of modern poets, for any render- 
ing of the mighty tragedy must perforce submit to a comparison with 
the faultless Biblical narrative. The chief defects of the drama, as 
Heavysege has given it to us, are its prolixity, its often defective versi- 
fication, and the presence of anachronisms and other errors of fact or 
grammar, resulting from his lack of general culture. All these weak- 
nesses were, however, to some extent rectified in the third edition of 
Saul. The merits of the drama have already been sufficiently indicated. 
It would have been a creditable performance for any, short of the few 
ereatest names, and when we remember the circumstances under which 
it was actually written, one feels inclined to claim for Heavysege at 
least some measure of that genius which distinguishes the born poet 
from the product merely of contemporary culture. | 

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It must rank above every dramatic poem written in the English lan- 
guage during the present century, nor do we think that an exception to this 
judgment will be taken, except by some of Browning’s admirers. Heavysege’s 
blank verse is brilliantly expressive, and his imagination has capacities 
shewn by no other in our day. The author is richest in the greater qualities 
of the poet. In creative power and in the various range of imagination, in 
vigor, clearness, and variety of conception, and in force and subtilty of 
characterization, and in expressiveness of language he excels, and so much 
excels as to approach the performance of the greatest poets.’—The Common- 
wealth (Boston). 
“Though very long, no lover of genius can read the first act of the drama 
without reading to the last page; and numerous as are the scenes and 
characters portrayed, the unity of its purpose will be apparent, and the artis- 
tic yet simple management of the whole cannot but elicit admiration. Many 
passages remind me of the older English dramatists, and since the appearance 
of ‘Philip Van Artevelde’’ and ‘Ion,’ I have met with nothing in modern 
dramatic literature which has afforded me the real enjoyment I have derived 
from ‘Saul.’ It is not wanting in dramatic effect, though some conventional 
critics might find fault with certain passages on this score, and it is remark- 
ably free from the mannerism and egotism so common in similar productions. 
The author displays a most delicate appreciation of inanimate nature, has a 
strong feeling for the ordinary feelings of humanity ; and there is no same- 
ness or monotony in his delineations of human character. He seems to have 
emulated the master minds of the past, and gives us lessons of deepest import 
without sanctimonious pretensions on his part. 
‘“ The general scope of this drama is in keeping with the Bible history of 
Saul and the leading personages associated with him; but of course the 
filling up, as it might be termed, is all original. The boldest attempt of 
our poet, perhaps, is that of introducing supernatural characters; and in 
manner of telling it, have a strange power over the reader.’’—(Charles Lan- 
man, Haphazard Personalities, p. 271.) 
