20<2 Poetry, 



thusiasm, that our thoughts expand with his 

 imagery, and kindle with his sentiments. " a 



Kleist, of Germany, in the same department 

 of poetic composition, has been compared with 

 Thomson, and is said, by some of his country- 

 men, to have attained nearly equal excellence. A 

 similar comparison has also been made between 

 the immortal British bard and Delille, of France, 

 who, in his I J Homme des Champs, or Rural Phi- 

 losopher, presented his countrymen with a poem of 

 acknowledged merit. Though in this work, as 

 well as in that which was before mentioned, there 

 is but little display of invention; yet for correctness 

 and elegance of versification, it sustains a very 

 high character. 



The Traveller, and The Deserted Village, by 

 Goldsmith, are so well known, and have been so 

 generally admired, that a formal and detailed ac- 

 count of their beauties is altogether unnecessary. 

 His versification has been pronounced more sweet 

 and harmonious than that of any other poet; and 

 both his sentiments and imagery display excellence 

 of the first order. The Wanderer, by Savage, 

 discovers a large portion of those various and ex- 

 traordinary powers which distinguished that un- 

 fortunate and degraded man. 6 It abounds with 

 beautiful imagery, with " strong descriptions of 

 nature, and just observations on life." The Ship- 

 icreck, by Falconar, is well known, and has 

 been universally esteemed, as abounding with the 

 richest beauties. Scarcely, if at all, inferior in de- 



a Life of Thomson, by Johnson. 



b It is generally known that this extraordinary man was the son of 

 Anne, Countess of Macclesfield, by an adulterous connection with 

 Earl Rivers. His great talents; the unnatural cruelty of his mother; 

 his degrading vices; his accumulated distresses, and his melancholy end, 

 have been so often the subject of mingled astonishment and regret, that to 

 attempt to describe them is as unnecessary as it would be unpleasant. He 

 was born in 1 698, and died in 1743, one of the most remarkable instances 

 of unfortunate genius that the age produced. 



