Poems. By John G. Saxe. Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields. 1 vol. 12mo.
This collection of metrical pieces, inspired by the muse of frolic and fun, is sure of popularity. The writer’s favorites among the poets, seem to be Pope and Hood, the bard of satire and the bard of puns; and his own poems are full of good specimens both of keen hits and felicitous word-twisting. The two satires, “Progress,” and “The Times,” show a vivid perception of the ludicrous in conduct and life, and “The Proud Miss Bride” puts words on the rack to good purpose. The author’s love of wit and humor amounts to poetical inspiration, and the volume contains much of the poetry as well as the versification of mirth. Mr. Saxe has not a bit of gall in his disposition, and his severity is as genial as it is gingerly. Buoyant spirits dance through his satire, and there is nothing waspish even in its sting. Nobody can read the book without envying the writer’s happy disposition, or without having some of it communicated to himself.
Philo: an Evangeliad. By the Author of “Margaret.” Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co. 1 vol. 12mo.
The author of this curious dramatic poem is Mr. Judd, a clergyman of Augusta, in Maine. Like Lord Timothy Dexter’s book, it is “a pickle for the knowing ones.” In the strangeness of its individuality rather than the originality of its thoughts is its hold upon the attention. The writer has poetry in him, but it is most capriciously brought out in connection with all sorts of moral and semi-moral commonplaces and freaks of religious whim. All the proprieties of poetry are violated, not from an inward law of dissent, but from an opinionated dislike of established methods. The author has genius, but not sufficient genius to produce a harmonious poem out of his materials. Still there are few poems, lately published, which can be read with less fatigue, for the audacities and oddities on every page are perpetual stimulants to the mind. In passages, too, the volume is finely and powerfully poetical; and in a certain juxtaposition of refined spirituality with the solidest practical vision, the book is a prophecy of the author’s future excellence.
The Neighbors. A Story of Every-Day Life. By Frederika Bremer. Translated from the Swedish. By Mary Howitt. New York: Geo. P. Putnam. 1 vol. 12mo.
This elegant volume is the first of a new issue of the author’s works, edited by herself, with prefaces and notes. The portrait and autograph of the author are given in this volume, and the remarks with which she prefaces it have the kindliness and good sense which are so characteristic of her nature. “The Neighbors” is one of the most charming idealizations of actual life we have ever read, and nowhere is domesticity so winningly represented. An author, like Miss Bremer, who is now personally abstracting so many hearts in this country cannot fail to have purchasers for this edition of her writings.
Miscellanies. By J. T. Headley. Authorized edition. New York: Baker and Scribner. 1 vol. 12mo.