14 
undertaking, and proceeds to introduce an 
allegorical defcription of Memory, which 
is highly poetical. He fupplicates this 
power, to recall to his view the events he 
is about to relate; for in thefe events he 
himfelf had a principal concern. The 
narrative then commences: the fhip Bri- 
tannia is reprefented as proceeding on her 
intended voyage between Egypt and Ve- 
nice. Upon the occafion of her touching 
at the ifland of Candia, the poet finds an 
opportunity of lamenting the devaftations 
of war, and of expatiating on the miferies 
of flavery. He next delineates the cha- 
racters of Albert, Rodmond, and Arion, 
the officers of the fhip: and in doing this 
he difcovers confiderable powers of diferi- 
mination. ‘That of Redmond is the moft 
_mafterly. Under the fignificant appella- 
tion of Arion, he exhibits an interefting 
portrait of himfelf.—To this fucceeds the 
beautiful epifode of Palemon and Anna, 
two lovers, whom the cruelty of a fordid 
parent had doomed to extreme mifery.— 
The fhip fets fail from Candia; and the 
natives of the ifland aflemble along the 
fhore in order to view her as §* fhe marches 
on the feas,’’ and to contemplate the va- . 
rious devices which ornament her ftern 
and prow. | 
A feries of pathetic refleCtions on bid- 
ding adieu to the Jand, forms the exordium 
of the fecond canto. In that part of the 
narrative which immediately follows, a 
variety of ftriking objects are defcribed ;— 
the brilliant hues that are reflected from 
the fides of a dying dolphin; the water- 
fpout whofe towering column mingles with 
the fkies; and the gambols of a fhoal of 
porpoifes which are feen exploring their 
prophetic: courfe along the ocean. ‘They 
are now threatened with a fiorm. The 
pilots begin to apprehend dangerous con- 
fequences from its increafing violence, and 
hold a confultation refpeéting the meafures 
they ought to adopt. In the mean time 
the mariners are overwhelmed by the fevere 
exertions which they are under the necef- 
fity of ufing, in order to prevent the veflel 
from foundering. 
_ The third canto commences with a dif- 
fertation on the defign and influence of 
poetry. Hethen refumes his fubject ; but 
very foon finds an opportunity of entering 
upon a long digreffion relative to the an- 
cient and modern ftate of Greece. After 
he has thus indulged his fancy, our wan- 
dering thoughts are again directed to the 
ftate of the labouring veffel, which at length 
{trikes upon a rock and is dafhed to pieces, 
the greateit-part of the crew perithing along 
Critique on the Poems of Falconer by Mr. Irving. 
[ Feb. 2, 
with her. The poet himfelf is dragged ta 
the very gates of death: 
Another billow burfts in boundlefs roar ; 
Arion finks, and Memory views no moré ! 
Ha! total night, and horror here prefide ! 
My ftun’d ear tingles to the whizzing tide 3 
It is the funeral knell! and, gliding near, 
Methinks the phantoms of the dead appear ! 
At length he emerges from the deep ; and, 
with only two of his companions, gains 
the fhore.. An affecting piéture of the 
fate of Palemon clofes the narrative. 
Such are the outlines of The Shipwreck ; 
a poem pregnant with various matter. 
The moft material cbjeétion that can be 
urged againft its general plan is, that the 
poet makes a long excurfion into the ad- 
jacent nations at the very time when the 
ftorm is precipitating the veffel towards 
her ruin. It is true, there is magic in the 
found of ANCIENT GREECE: yet the man 
who ftands on the pinnacle of danger, may 
be fuppofed to have his mind too much 
engaged with ideas of a different kind, to 
leave any room for the admiffion of claffical 
raptures. The manner in which he has 
treated this fubjeét, will fcarcely be ad- 
mitted as a fufficient compenfation for fuch 
a breach of propriety: he performs much 
lefs than his readers might reafonably 
expect on fuch an occafion. 
Upon the whole, however, the poem is 
conducted with tafte and judgment. Al- 
though he is fometimes too circumftantial 
in detailing the different nautical man- 
ceuvres, yet we follow him through the 
various gradations of the fable with a 
lively intereft. The introduétion of num- 
berlefs pleafing and pathetic incidents -ren- 
ders the narrative animated and interefting. 
The only regular epifode which the poem 
contains is, that of Palemon and Anna. 
A more beautiful and tender ftory is hardly 
to be found in the whole body of Englifh 
poetry: never were the diftrefles of two 
lovers pourtrayed with a more delicate 
hand. The defcription of Palemon’s fen- 
fations when he falls in love, breathes all 
the pathos of the amorcus Sappho. Such 
a defcription could only have been. pro- 
duced by one who had experienced 
The trembling extafies of genuine love. 
The fequel of this epifode occurs towards 
the clofe of the third canto. In relating 
the mournful fate of Palemon, the poet 
appears to great advantage. Upon the 
foundering of the veffel, the unhappy 
youth, having betaken himfelf to a raft, 
endeavours to gain the fhore; and we are © 
artfully left to {uppofe, that he is infantly 
overwhelmed by the fury of the form. 
Arion 
