CHARACTERS. 



SOS 



style of the poem, that it is probable 

 it may be the result of a revision, 

 subsequent to the date of the MS. 

 Some verbal transpositions, of little 

 importance, are not copied. 



If Blair had written nothing else 

 but this single poem, it is alone suf- 

 ficient to entitle him to a classical 

 distinction among the poets of our 

 country. But the poem to the memory 

 of Mr. Law is no inconsiderable ad- 

 dition to his fame. It is evidently a 

 juvenile performance, the tribute of 

 aflection and esteem to the merits of 

 a friend ; and justly chargeable, in 

 some instances, with incorrectness 

 of language, and incongruity of 

 imagery : but the style is simple and 

 beautiful ; and the sentiments, 

 though sometimes trite, are express- 

 ed with a tenderness and energy not 

 unworthy the author of the Grave. 

 The apostrophe to Mrs. Law, in 

 particular, is pathetic and pleasing ; 

 and the abrupt transition to the 

 final conflagation of the universe, 

 approaches to sublimity. 



The Grave, his greatest work, 

 amply establishes his fame. It is a 

 production of real genius, and pos- 

 sesses a merit superior to many 

 pieces of the very first celebrity. 

 It is composed of a succession of 

 unconnected descriptions, and of 

 reflections that seem independent of 

 one another, interwoven with strik- 

 ing allusions, and digressive sallies 

 of imagination. It is a series of pa- 

 thetic representations, without unity 

 of design, variegated with imagery 

 and allusion; which exhibit a wide 

 display of original poetry. The 

 poet's eye is awake on the objects 

 of creation, and on the scenes of 

 human misery ; and he is alive to 

 every feeling of compassion and be- 

 nevolence. Through a shade of 



melancholy, which peculiar impres- 

 sions of religion throw over the 

 scenes he describes, we always per- 

 ceive an amiable and generous prin- 

 ciple struggling to overcome the 

 degeneracy which it deplores. What- 

 ever subject is either discussed or 

 aimed at, he always endeavours to 

 melt the heart, and alarm the con- 

 science, by pathetic description and 

 serious remonstrances ; and his sen- 

 timents are always delivered in a 

 novel and energetic manner, that 

 impresses them strongly on the 

 mind. He is always moral, yet 

 never dull ; and, though he often 

 expands an image, yet he never 

 weakens its force. If the same 

 thought occurs, he gives it a new 

 form ; and is copious without being 

 tiresome. He writes under the 

 strong impression of christian and 

 moral truths. Conviction gives 

 force to imagination ; and he dips 

 his pen in the stream that religion 

 has opened in his bosom. 



His imagination, excursive and 

 vigorous, sometimes exceeds the 

 bounds that criticism prescribes. 

 Possessing strong powers of ridi- 

 cule as well as fancy, he passes too 

 suddenly from grave and serious de- 

 scription, to irony and satire. In- 

 stances of this improper association 

 too frequently occur, and the grave 

 and ludicrous destroy one another. 



But the defects of the Grave bear 

 a very small proportion to its beau- 

 ties ; and its beauties are of no com- 

 mon account. They are happily 

 conceived and forcibly expressed. 

 His language is the natural and un- 

 forced result of his conceptions. 

 Anxious only to give each image its 

 due prominence and relief, he has 

 wasted no unnecessary attention ou 

 grace or evbeilislyneut ; the diction, 

 3 F 3 thcj-etgfe, 



