136 AI,e;XANDER WII<SON : poe^-naturalist 



and mechanical in metre, they move smoothly 

 on without disturbing the peace of our minds by 

 a single striking phrase or fresh thought. From 

 this generalization we except one only, the 

 ''Epistle to Mr. David Brodie, written on the Last 

 Night of the Year." On so familiar a theme it 

 would be difficult for a poet to be very original, 

 and we do not find that this epistle surprises us by 

 accomplishing anything very unusual. Yet the 

 poem is a good one by reason of its very simplic- 

 ity and sincerity and contains several stanzas 

 that are quite worthy of Wilson at his best. The 

 year is described as "It leaves us, trembling at 

 the load it bears" ; and an excellent description 

 of the bare winter fields, which is strikingly con- 

 cluded with the line "The bleak wind whistling 

 o'er the drifted waste," gives a real poetic beauty 

 to the poem. 



The fables, which include "The Fly and the 

 Leech," "The Monkey and Bee," and "The Wasp's 

 Revenge," are manifestly copied after Fergusson, 

 but they merely add volume without merit to the 

 verse productions of Wilson. The songs are of a 

 better quality. "Achtertool," "Matty," and "To 

 Delia" are examples of the greater number of 

 them. Smooth and mildly musical, there is 

 nothing uncommon about them either of merit 

 or of fault. They were written to familiar Scotch 

 airs and were doubtless composed to be sung 

 by Wilson and his friends around the festal board ; 

 no doubt they served the purpose well. 



"The Group" is the one song to be especially 

 noticed. It is a description of the revellers gath- 



