XI.] MELANCHOLY HOURS. 373 



had any other known measure been adopted, the poem 

 would have been deprived of half its beauty and all its 

 propriety. In blank verse it would have been absurd ; 

 in rhyme insipid. The lyrical manner is admirably adapt- 

 ed to the sudden transitions and rapid connections of an 

 Arabian tale, while its variety precludes tsedium, and its 

 full, because unshackled, cadence satisfies the ear with 

 legitimate harmony. At first, indeed, the verse may ap- 

 pear uncouth, because it is new to the ear : but I defy 

 any man who has any feeling of melody, to peruse the 

 vvhole poem without paying tribute to the sweetness of 

 Hs flow, and the gracefulness of its modulations. 



In judging of this extraordinary poem, we should con- 

 sider it as a genuine lyric production, — we should con- 

 ceive it as recited to the harp, in times when such rela- 

 tions carried nothing incredible with them. Carrying 

 this idea along with us, the admirable art of the poet will 

 strike us with tenfold conviction ; the abrupt sublimity 

 of his transitions, the sublime simplicity of his manner, 

 and the delicate touches by which he connects the various 

 parts of his narrative, will then be more strongly ob- 

 servable, and we shall, in particular, remark the uncom- 

 mon felicity with which he has adapted his versification, 

 and in the midst of the wildest irregularity, left nothing 

 to shock the ear or offend the j.udgment. 



W. 



MELANCHOLY HOURS.— No. XI. 



THE PEOGRESS OF KNOW'LEDGE. 



Few histories would be more worthy of attention than 

 that of the progress of knowledge, from its first dawn to 

 the time of its meridian splendour, among the ancient 

 Greeks. Unfortunately, however, the precautions which, 

 in this early period, were almost generally taken to con- 

 fine all knowledge to a particular branch of men ; and 

 when the Greeks began to contend for the palm among 



