Sect. VII.] Lyric Poet ri/. 37 



compositions of this kind before unequalled in En- 

 glish literature. Among those who have most 

 distinguished themselves in this department of 

 poetry are Charlotte Smith, Mr. Bowles, and 

 miss SeAvard. *' In sweetness and harmony of 

 versification, in unaffected elegance of style, and 

 in that pleasing melancholy which irresistibly 

 steals upon and captivates the heart, they have 

 excelled all other writers of the Sonnet, and have 

 shown how erroneous are the opinions of those 

 who deem this species of composition beneath the 

 attention of genius *, " 



Finally, under the general denomination of 

 lyric poetry fall those various species of poetic 

 compositions called Sovgs, Ballads, &c., of which 

 the last age has been eminently fruitful. Never 

 • was there a period before in which the number 

 and the poetic merit of these were so great as 

 during that which is under review. In this de^ 

 partment of poetry the Scotch and English have 

 excelled not only their contemporaries, but all 

 preceding writers. But this class of poets is so 

 numerous, and so familiarly known, that no at- 

 tempt will be made to exhibit even a selection of 

 the best. 



* Drake's Literary Hours, vol. i, p. 1 13. 



