200 Poetry. 



many of his pieces a considerable portion of sen- 

 timent and tenderness, and sometimes to elevate 

 his reader by an unexpected stroke of the sublime. 2 



Since the days of Butler many specimens of 

 that burlesque poetry adopted by him in his Hudi- 

 brass, have been given to the public; but few of 

 them are entitled to the praise of high excellence. 

 Probably the most successful imitations of the Hu- 

 dibrastlc manner are to be found in the Alma of 

 Prior, and the M'Fingal of Mr. Trumbull, a 

 respectable poet of our own country. The merit 

 of the former is so great, that Mr. Pope, with all 

 his poetic fame, expressed a wish to have been the 

 author of it; and the latter has been pronounced, 

 by good judges, both in Europe and America, to 

 be nearly equal to its great model. 



M. Gressett, a French poet of high reputation* 

 has shown, in his Vert-Vert, and in his Chartreuse, 

 that between the heroic and the burlesque there is 

 still another species of poetry, partaking in some 

 degree of the characters of both. A kind of com- 

 position which, while it displays some of the attri- 

 butes of moral and serious poetry ^ at the same 

 time embraces the features of the satiric, the gay* 

 and the refined comic, in a very pleasing degree. 



About fifty years before the commencement of 

 the century under review, began the fashion of 

 imitating the great satirists of Rome, or adapting 

 ancient poetry to modern characters and manners. 

 This kind of poetical exercise has continued in 

 vogue to the present day, and the number of those 

 who have made trial of their genius in this way 

 has greatly increased. Of this imitation the sa- 



z The real name of this writer is Walcott. While justice is done to 

 his talents, which, in a certain line, are really great, his faults and vices 

 ought not to pass without censure. His blasphemous impiety cannot be 

 viewed by the christian without abhorrence ; while the injustice and ma- 

 lignity displayed against private character, in many of his writings, must 

 be regarded with cordial detestation by every honest man. 



