INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

FAVOURABLY as the first volume of the "Sacred Poetry of the Seventeenth Century" has been received, the Editor, though confident that the volume now presented to his readers is of equal and more various excellence, anticipates, nevertheless, one probable objection, viz. that too great a proportion of the precious products of the sacred muse of Britain, here brought together, are of an exclusively Christian—perhaps, in the majority of instances, of a strictly spiritual character. This objection he does not expect to hear from the reader whose piety is the predominant quality of his mind-the more exactly the selection corresponds with the promise of the title, and with the general character of the series of which it forms a part, so much the more decidedly will it secure his approbation; he does not expect to hear it from that less numerous class, who have reflected upon the true end of the divine gift of song, and who regard with sincere veneration whatever is worthy of the high endowments of the true poet, in our elder literature-he feels assured,

that the volume contains that which will secure the suffrages of such judges in its favour. It is from the ordinary admirers of the voluptuous verse of the nineteenth century-from those who consider poetry as the highest result of literary power, only because it supplies a more sensual music to the ear than history or oratory-that it is to be seriously expected. Now these, he confesses, are just the persons whom he is ambitious upon this occasion to number among his readers;-not from the mere desire of obtaining popularity for his labours, but because he would gladly be instrumental in opening to them those fresh and more exalted sources of delight, which are presided over by the graver muses. He therefore willingly devotes a few sentences to an explanation of the fact, to which the anticipated objection relates.

Of the poets of our own times, who have not confined themselves to subjects of an exclusively pious kind, several have habitually written with a proper regard to purity of sentiment, and even with a definite moral purpose. Rogers, Southey, Bowles, Campbell-above all, Wordsworth, are admirable moralists as well as poets. It too often happens, however, that their allusions-for they seldom go farther than to allude to the peculiar spiritualities of the Christian faith, are introduced rather by taste than feeling, and seem rather a complimentary acknowledgment of the common creed, than the outpourings of devotional inspiration. It

was stated upon a former occasion,' that a different method was adopted by the earlier poets. It is not until a late period in the civilization of a people, that poetry, especially in its lyric and less important departments, is written with artifice and for effect. It may appear paradoxical, to say of the poets of the Seventeenth Century that they were not artificial. They were so, in style and manner; not in sentiment and opinion. From the most fanciful of the school of Donne and Cowley it is easy to strip off the out-growth of affectation and conceit; and discover the opinions and feelings of the writer in all their plainness and genuine simplicity beneath. By too many of them indeed religion was rarely noticed. The fashionable follies of the day-the praise of the reigning idol of public regard the extravagant idolatries of sensual passion-furnished the topics on which the Herricks, the Carews, the Clevelands, the Randolphsand, in general, all except the first rank among the votaries of the muses, during the Stuart dynasty, employed the light and graceful efforts of their genius. In the treatment of these, it is no wonder if they seldom deviated into religious reflection, or sought by a superficial colouring of morality to recommend to the grave what was obviously designed only for the "gay creatures of the element" of courts and aristocratic coteries.

Introductory Essay to Vol. I.

But

neither, at the same time, did they shun the peculiar topics offered in the religion of the gospel, when these presented themselves to their attention; nor did the vivacity of their fancy or their warmth of feeling desert them, while thus more befittingly employed.' It is only to be lamented, that such topics did not more frequently suggest themselves.

1 Not unadvisedly are the words fancy and feeling here used together. These qualities are more compatible, and more frequently found in conjunction, than is commonly supposed. Those glittering conceits, in

"Linked sweetness long drawn out,"

which have so grievously offended the critics, in Herbert, Crashaw, Cowley, and their tribe of "tuneful brethren," are but the ornaments in which the prevailing fashion arrayed the genuine muse: they by no means excluded-in their exquisite beauty they often implied-the presence of a real poetic inspiration. Like sparkles from glowing iron, their brightness and their multitude prove the intensity of the heat which threw them out. The insects that, on summer evenings, glimmer above the silent current of some deep river, may catch the wandering and superficial gaze, and divert it from the sober depths of the " abounding river;" but to the eye familiar with such haunts, and which seeks a more majestic object, they indicate, while they adorn, the windings of the water. Genius includes true feeling -feeling winged by imagination, strengthened and dignified by intellect. But genius may, and often does, co-exist with an imperfect taste; for genius is native to its possessor-his nature, in regard to which he cannot be other than he is: he cannot divest himself of it. Whereas taste is but the form and method, the shape and peculiar colouring of intellectual results, impressed upon the producing mind by surrounding and over-mastering circumstances. There are, doubtless, certain general canons of taste, applicable to all intellectual production; but it is a poor

While, therefore, the works of many of the admired poets who wrote within the period to which the present volume is limited, offer but few specimens for a selection of this nature, (in several instances, the editor has been able to cull, out of perhaps an entire volume, or more, only such scanty pieces as will be found attached to their respective names,) these few are frequently, for the reasons already intimated, not only of a serious or even solemn character, but expositions of subjects peculiar to Christian theology. If, however, as has been said, these subjects, when they did occur

kind of criticism, which makes no allowance for the habits and tendencies, the characteristic peculiarities and circumstances of an era; but seeks to pare away, as useless deformity, every thing that its own narrow standard pronounces irregular. Such critics may be compared to some modern architects, with whom no building, nor the minutest portion of a building is tolerable, which deviates from the pure Greek proportions. As if one single style were suitable to all the varied purposes of architecture as if no allowance ought to be made for the demands of a period, for the necessities of local circumstances, or for originality of conception-every structure, from the porch of a cottage to a hall of justice, or a cathedral, must be squared to exact conformity with some existing fragment erected by a Callicrates or a Mnesicles. But the efforts of the mind must not be thus cramped and circumscribed: no liberal art can be submitted without injury to this pedantic ordeal-least of all, poetry, the noblest and the freest of them all. What the critic condemns for a conceit, the plain reader may enjoy as a beauty; nor are the faculties of the soul so insulated from each other, that fancy can sparkle and imagination soar, with no other effect than to breathe a torpor over the affections.