I turned from all she brought to all she could not bring;
and on another occasion, that general favourite, beginning—
And slight, withal, may be the things which bring;
and then proceeds to enlarge upon the same sentiments. Her own strain that follows is good—but not so good. Is it wise to provoke the comparison?—and does it not give a certain frivolity, and the air of a mere exercise, to the verse which only repeats, and modifies, and varies, so to speak, the melody that has been already given? Or if the quotation set out with is looked on as a mere prelude, is it good policy to run the risk of the prelude being more interesting than the strain itself? The beautiful passage from Southey—
They sin who tell us love can die, &c.,
is too long to be quoted as merely a key-note to what is to follow, and is too good to be easily surpassed.
But this is a trifling remark, and hardly deserving of even the little space we have given to it. It is more worthy of observation, that Mrs Hemans, a reader and admirer of German poetry, contrived to draw a deep inspiration from this noble literature, without any disturbance to her principles of taste. A careful perusal of her works, by one acquainted with the lyrical poetry of Germany, will prove how well and how wisely she had studied that poetry—drawing from it just that deeper spirit of reflection which would harmonise with her own mind, without being tempted to imitate what, either in thought or in manner, would have been foreign to her nature.
We fancy we trace something of this Teutonic inspiration in the poem, amongst others, that follows:—
THE SILENT MULTITUDE.
A mighty and a mingled throng
Were gathered in one spot;
The dweller, of a thousand homes—
Yet midst them voice was not.