Retrofpell of Domeftic Litsature — Poetry. 
Mr. Hartey’s ‘ Ballads, Stories’. 
learn writing before he was feven years 
old; and this was all his education! He 
is at prefent a ladies fhoemaker, and 
works for Mr. Davies, Lombard-ftreet. 
Mr. Carex Lorrr has drawn up from 
the letters of Bloomfield’s brother, a fhort 
biographical fketch of the poet’s early 
ears: the fame gentleman correCted the 
falfe fpelling of the M.S. and the falfe 
grammar; but he has done nothing 
more. Of the prefent poem we may 
truly fay, that it abounds with accurate 
and minute defcription ; the perufal of it 
will gratify thofe who have a tafte for 
poetry, and are not infenfible of the charms 
of nature. 
Mr. Maorice has publifhed his 
“ Poems, Epiftolary, ‘Lyric, and Elegia- 
cal.” Some of thefe we noticed as they 
feparately made their appearance. Mr. 
M. has a lively fancy and a copioufnefs 
of exprefhion: we are pleafed to fee col- 
leéted in one volume thefe {cattered effu- 
fions of his genius. | 
Mr. Pypus—one of the Lords Com- 
miffioners of the Treatury—has addrefled 
to his Imperial Majefty Paul Emperor of 
of all the Rutlias, a magnificent folio ve- 
lume full of verfes, called the. ‘‘ 5ove- 
reign.” Whether this rhyming Com- 
miffioner intends to offer his fervices as a 
poet-laureat to the Emperor of all the 
Ruflias, we know not; but really the 
fpeculation would not be a bad one, as the 
prefent fpecimen of his abilities would 
{peak very highly in his favor. If fuch 
a {cheme fhould be in contemplation, we 
would advife our author, however, to re- 
print a few copies, and omit the dedica- 
tion, which at prefent\is addreffed to the 
King of Great Britain ; becaufe, it feems, 
« the author would probably have been 
lefs captivated with the character of a fo- 
reign prince, if his fentiments had not 
been habitually formed under the influ- 
ence of that example, which is the pride 
and ornament of the Britifh throne.” 
This is a clumfy compliment to his Im- 
perial Majefty, and we should certainly 
have expected fomething better from a 
Lord of the Treafury ! 
Dr. BooKER, whofe “ Malvern Hills” 
we mentioned with refpe€t on a former 
occafion, has publifhed “* The Hop-gar- 
dens, a Didaétic Poem,” which will not 
derogate from his reputation. The Doc- 
tor’s poetry is tolerably fmooth and me!- 
liduent, but certainly deficient in fpirit 
and pathos; nor is his language always 
perfectly correét. Subjoined to the Hop- 
gardens is a poem on Ale, which, of the 
two, is far more poetical and deferip- 
tive, 
639 
Sonnets, &c.” are many of them pleafing 
and fimple. 
AnpREW Merry, Efq. has given 
us ‘* The Laft Dying Words of the Eigh- 
teenth Century, 2 Pindaric Ode,” giving 
a humorous and chronological detail of 
all the remarkable events, fafhions, cha- 
racters, 8c. This idea is a good one, but 
the execution is certainly not much to be 
boafted of. 
The knell of the eighteenth century, 
however, has been rung in a tone truly 
fad and funereal by the Poet Laureat, in 
his ‘* Carmen Seculare’? for the Year 
1800,” which Mr. Pye, in an abfurd 
and {chool-boy calculation, endeavours to 
prove is the beginning of the new cen- 
tury. Where a man is obliged to com- 
pofe an annual ode ona barren fubject, he 
is to be commiferated; but as the Poet 
Laureat has here volunteered his fervices, 
there is nothing unmerciful in giving an 
opinion on the merits of his performance.. 
Obfcurity, metaphyfical confufion, hyper- 
bole, frequent and tirefome perfonifica- 
tion and affeéted phrafeology, are the cha= 
raéteriftics of this adulatory ode. 
Mr. Du Bors’ & Wreath,” confitts of 
“¢ SeleGtions from Sappho, Theocritus, 
Bion, and Mofchus, accompanied by a 
Profe Tranflation with Notes; to which 
are added, Remarks on Shakefpeare, and 
a Comparifon between Horace and Lu- 
cian.” -Mr. Du Bois, according with 
Mr. Cowper in opinion, that a juft tran{- 
lation of any ancient poem in rhyme is 
impoffible, has given us a verfion, almoft 
literal, of the beautiful remains of thofe 
minor poets. It muft be acknowledged 
that the language of the prefent tranfla- 
tion is remarkably fmooth and polifhed;, 
but in the transfufion of fuch exqutfite 
poetry into profe—into plain profe—the 
{pirit of the original is confiderably eva- 
porated. “We have read poetical tranfia- 
tions of the minor poets, both of Greece 
and Rome, which, though lefs. correct 
than the prefent, have far more attractive 
charms for us. 
We have perufed the fourth edition of 
Mr. GisBorNne’s “ Walks in a Foreft,” 
with much delight. The author has 
made a variety of corre€tions, occafionally 
expanding his defcriptions, occafionally 
comprefling them,” and almoit in every 
inftance improving the effeét. ‘The addi- 
tions are numerous and beautiful, and the 
whole poem has now received a polifh 
which muf enhance its value. 
Mr. DonocGHREe’s “ Effay on the 
Paffions, and other Poems,” difplay tafte 
aN x hand 
