1824.] Collective Wor 



They strike the destin'd chiefs, and call 

 tliein to the skies. 



Lo! from Sculda's niisfy towers, 

 On jetty wing the raven flies, 



And bears the deeds of future hours ; 

 To thee he hastes, — in solemn stale 

 Thou read'st the stern commands of fate 



To listening Deities ; 

 Say, is it doom'd no parent's tear 

 Shall wet thy Balder's sable bier? 



In stating that tliese lines were an 

 address to the king of gods, we should 

 have added, that Frea is soliciting the 

 voices of heaven,^ — which must be 

 unanimous or vain, — for the recal of 

 her love from the lower regions. One 

 deity (of the evil ones or demons,) 

 refuses assent, and is thus conjured; — 

 By the raven's song of death, 

 By the night-mare's baneful breath, 

 By the glutted vtdture's scream, 

 By the tomb-tire's quenchless beam, 

 By the mighty serpent's blood, 

 , By the roar of Giall's flood. 

 By the war-hounds fatal yell, 

 By all the horrors wrapt in hell ; 

 I charge thee weep the briny tear 

 On youthful Balder's sable bier. 



In the spirit of the interwoven odes, 

 like these, — and we have quoted with- 

 out any choice, indeed strictly at 

 hazard, — the reader will find the 

 highest tone of the author's talents. 

 The dialogue is inferior: it is not 

 quick, connected, and reciprocal 

 enough ; it is not stirring or (if the 

 word may be used,) actionable enough 

 for our notions. At the same time, it 

 must be remembered to what it is in- 

 ferior : to prove it not without poetry, 

 it is enough to read a few lines. 

 Balder, entering the infernal regions, 

 thus soliloquizes : — 



Thou land of horror ! whose unyielding 



frost 

 Piles liigii the raountain-ice, and dims the 



ail 

 With ever-hissing sleet j where piercing 



blasts 

 Sweep on storm-laden wing o'er solid seas: 

 Must i5alder here for ever mourn unheard? 

 Or breathe his sighs the scoff of shivering 



ghosts, 

 Shrill shrieking from their caves? Must 



Balder's soul 

 V'or ever shudder at the howl of wolves, 

 And shrink from scaly snakes, that round 



him twine 

 Their clammy folds, and point the quiver- 

 ing sting? 

 Bright scenes of bliss, farewell! 



The second of these volumes, — and 

 a very entertaining and varied one it 

 is,— is made up of Disquisitions. Tho 

 Monthly Mac. No. 393. 



ks of Dr. Sayers. 121 



brevity of the form into which the sub- 

 jects are thrown does not give space 

 forthe conveyance of much knowledge; 

 but the series contains store enough of 

 hints for it, at the same time that it 

 displays an unusual extent of critical 

 reading, and much original observa- 

 tion. For the truth of this remark, a 

 reference to the very first essay, 

 " Beaut}'," is sufficient. After a reca- 

 pitulation of different theories, from 

 Hogarth's curve of a peculiar shape to 

 Sir J. Reynolds' central failureg, and 

 objections to them, he proceeds to 

 express one which to him appeared 

 less objectionable. It is this : that the 

 power which an object possesses of ex- 

 citing with itself the association of 

 pleasing ideas or emotions, is what de- 

 termines us to ascribe beauty to it. For 

 this the best argument is the incon- 

 stancy of our opinions as to the beauty 

 or ugliness of many fashions and 

 forms ; in a regard of which, we dis- 

 like to day what we yesterday liked : 

 the proofs are so many, as to be in 

 every one's resource. At the same 

 time that we fully concur with Dr. 

 Sayers in the justness of this observa- 

 tion, we yet hesitate to follow him in 

 the utter rejection of any other qua- 

 lity from the embraces of the propo- 

 sition : for, though good to a certain 

 degree, it is by no means finite. The 

 perception of beauty, no doubt, results 

 from an association of ideas ; but those 

 ideas are themselves borrowed, and 

 therefore the enquiry properly is, — 

 What are the kind of objects most 

 likely to fix ideas upon the mind, and 

 form its powers to make a preference ? 

 It is in this sense that the " fit and 

 orderly" must be considered as great 

 attractions for the grounds of plea- 

 sure. The doctor's doctrine has this 

 much in its favor, that no other defini- 

 tion of beauty can be laid down with- 

 out numerous exceptions from it, and 

 objections to it; but it is not primary: 

 up to a certain point it is an account, 

 but no definition of the whole. After 

 all, perhaps, Burke's definition of the 

 beautiful in delicacy is the best we 

 have. Our author ol)jccts, that this 

 would exempt stronger animals, ner- 

 vous figures, and jjlaccs for defence, 

 from being bcautiiul. But to us the 

 exemption is not so evident: we have 

 seen a very nervous figure, strong 

 animal, and even a fortification, each 

 strictly delicate of its kind. Mere size 

 or fulness is not of itself incompatible 

 with delicacy; for that senso is cx- 

 K cited 



