1B00.] 
pointed /hafts* of Pindar, than The Hatchet 
and Shepherd’s Pipe of Simmias, refemble 
the Ifiad of Homer +.—Falconer’s genius 
does not appear to have been peculiarly 
adapted to lyric poetry. This ode dif- 
covers none of that enthufiafm which 
ought to have been its chief characteriltic : 
it is generally languid, and feldom or never 
Tifes to any confiderable height, Tt muft 
at the fame time be confeffed, that his hero 
was but ill calculated for infpiring fublime 
ideas. A man who is only diftinguifhed 
by the fplendour of his rank, is a very in- 
different fubject for poetry. The epifode 
of the choice of Hercules is introduced 
with propriety, and poflefles fome merit. 
The incidents of which it is compofed, 
have been embellished by Shen{tone, Lowth, 
and others; but it is probable, that no 
poetical imitation will ever rival the ort- 
ginal profe of Xenophon f. 
The Demagogue is a political fatire di- 
rected againit a certain party, whom he 
regards in the light of incendiaries. A- 
mongft other partizans, he affails the vi- 
rulent Churchill, a poet, who once en- 
joyed a reputation which his uncouth 
{trains were by no means adequate to fup- 
port. This poem cannot be contidered as 
avery happy effort: it is often incorreét, 
and contains frequent inelegancies of ex- 
preffion. There is nothing in its verfif- 
cation to compenfate for the want cf {kill 
which is difplayed in the arrangement of 
its cOmponent parts. The fatire, how- 
ever, is fometimes manly and poignant. 
In the verfes beginning “ Ye hills fall 
proftrate,”” there is a profane allufion to a 
paflage of the facred writings, which might 

* Pindari Olymp. i. 150, &c. 
+ The mode of writing which is here ‘al- 
luded to, was introduced by Cowley, a poet 
of no mean genius, but of an extremely 
vitiated tafte. The unmerited reputation 
which he acquired by means of his lyric 
poetry, induced many others to follow his 
example. Long did the Englith prefs groan 
peneath the load of thefe abfutd productions : 
and Congreve claims the honour of having 
cured the nation of this Pindaric madnefs. 
He not only fhewed them by his own praCtice 
the manner-in which Pindar arranged his 
ftanzas, but alfo pointed out the absurdity of 
that rambling mode of writing which about 
his time was fo prevalent. It may however 
be remarked, that he was not the firft Englith 
poet who exhibited this f{pecies of compofition 
in its genuine form: among the works of 
Jonfon, there is an ode which is ftriétly mo- 
delled after the example of Pindar. 
} Xenophon, MMemcrabil. hb. it. cap. 1. 
‘ 
Critique on the Poems of Falconer by Mr. Irving: 
12 
with much more propriety have been 
omitted. 
As The Shipwreck is a performance 
which the public has always been accuf- 
tomed to diftinguith with particular marks 
of regard, its peculiar excellencies and 
defects demand a more ample difplay. 
The uniform popularity which it has 
maintained, may be adduced asa proof of 
its real merit. Warious caufes may tend 
to confer a fhort-lved reputation upon 
poets of inferior genins. That reputa- 
tion, however, which does not rett upon 
a true foundation, mult very {peedily decay. 
Shefheld, Montague, and Granville, were 
once extolled as legitimate fons of Apollo ; 
but indignant Time has erafed their names 
from the rolls of fame. 
The fate of a merchant-fhip that was 
loft in a vielent fterm, will, at firft fight, 
appear to be a fubject little fufceptible of 
embellifament: but when we begin to 
perufe the page of Falconer, every pre- 
jucice of this kind immediately vanifhes. 
In exnibiting a feries of events which cam 
{carcely be deemed of a poetical natures 
he has difcovered no common ingenuity. 
To relase fimple and unadorned facts in 
their natural order, is not the part ef a | 
poet: he muft felect thofe that feem molt 
conducive to the general purpofe which he 
has in view, and blend them with others 
which are purcly imaginary, fo that the 
whole may become interefting, and aflume 
an air of probability. Thefe rules are 
exemplified in the practice of Falconer: 
the manner in which he has conduéted his 
fimple tale, cannot fail to touch the fym- 
pathetic breaft*. His chief characteriftics 
are tendernefs and fenfibility. If he feldom 
reaches the fublime, it ought to be re- 
membered that in this refpeét hevis far 
from being fingular. Few indeed are the 
noets that can afpire to a ftation on the 
mountain of fublimity +. 
After having propofed the fubject and 
invoked the Mufes, he apologizes for his 

* Thy woes, Arion! and thy fimple tale, 
Over all the heart fhall triumph and prevail ! 
Charm’d as they read the verfe too fadly truey 
How gallant Albert and his weary crew _ 
Heav’d all their guns, their foundering barle 
to fave, 
And toil’d—and thriek’d, and perifh’d on the 
wave ! 
CAMPBELL. 
ul 
+ See Mr. Alexander Thomfon’s Paradife 
of Taffe, canto vi. Titis poem, like the other 
produétions of its author, is ** highly rich 
in fancy and in phrafe.”’ 
under- 
