The earliest ray of the golden day On that hallowed spot is cast; And the evening sun, as he leaves the world, The pilgrim spirit has not fled : It walks in noon's broad light; And it watches the bed of the glorious dead, It watches the bed of the brave who have bled, And shall guard this ice-bound shore, Till the waves of the bay, where the May-flower lay, Shall foam and freeze no more.' RICHARD HENRY DANA, a native of Massachusetts, is well known as a prose-writer, especially as the author of numerous essays and reviews, published in The North American Review, The United States Review and Literary Gazette, The American Quarterly Observer, and other periodicals. His chief poetical works include the tale of The Bucaneer, The Changes of Home, and a didactic essay in verse, entitled Factitious Life. The style of these and other poems by Dana is original, and often graphic. A melancholy tone usually prevails. The Bucaneer is a gloomy narrative of the crimes of a pirate named Matthew Lee, 'a dark, low, brawny man,' who reigned in a solitary island. The opening of the poem, describing the quiet scenery of the pirate's island, forms a pleasing contrast with the sequel: "The island lies nine leagues away. Of craggy rock and sandy bay, No sound but ocean's roar, Save where the bold, wild sea-bird makes her home; But when the light winds lie at rest, How beautiful! no ripples break the reach, And silvery waves go noiseless up the beach. And inland rests the green, warm dell; Mingling its sound with bleatings of the flocks, Flapped in the bay the pirate's sheet; Curses were on the gale; Rich goods lay on the sand, and murdered men ; But calm, low voices, words of grace, A quiet look is in each face, Each motion's gentle; all is kindly done.— The taste displayed in many parts of the narrative is questionable, and the interest is diminished rather than increased by the use of supernatural agency, which destroys the air of reality given to some of the descriptions. This opinion, derived from a perusal of the poem, differs widely from the judgment of an American reviewer, who says of The Bucaneer: 'The peculiar force of the poem lies, we think, in the mingling of the natural and supernatural, and the air of reality which is thrown over both. A certain mystery shrouds the scenes, the transaction, and its consequences.' Among the minor poems of Dana, the lines on the Little Beach-bird' have a sombre beauty. other poems, the habitual pensiveness of Dana 'deepens into gloom.' 'His compositions,' says the critic already named, 'have more hearse-like airs than carols.' When he addresses the ocean, he says: 'Before an ear did hear thee, thou didst mourn, In CHARLES SPRAGUE, like the greater number of American writers, devoted to literature only the few leisure hours allowed by mercantile pursuits. He was born in Boston (1791), where, for several years, he held the situation of cashier of the Globe Bank. A theatrical prize-prologue first introduced him to the reading public, and was followed by other poems, of which the best are the short unassuming pieces devoted to the domestic affections. The didactic poem entitled Curiosity, contains passages of satire; but Sprague was deficient in the qualities of mind and temper that make a keen satirist, and was more at home with 'quiet pictures of fireside joys and sorrows,' such as The Brothers and The Family Meeting. He resembles Bryant in the harmony of his diction. 1 North American Review, No. 150, p. 136. In a style of comparison which is generally injurious to the author whom it would elevate above his true position, Sprague has been called 'the American Pope;' this unhappily reminds us of Klopstock, 'the very German Milton.' Sprague has neither the laconic force of expression, nor the pointed wit and malevolence of the English satirist; but excels in his quiet little poems, telling of household love and grief, and apparently uttered spontaneously from his own heart. His poetry, which is uniformly pure and elevated in its tone, has enjoyed a considerable popularity in America. We quote one of the shorter pieces: Two swallows, having flown into church during divine service, were apostrophised in the following stanzas: "Twere heaven indeed, Through fields of trackless light to soar, And nature's own great God adore.' RICHARD WILDE (1789-1847) must be mentioned as the writer of one beautiful song-The Lament of the Captive. His other writings in verse consisted mostly of translations from Italian poetry, In prose, he wrote a work entitled Conjectures and Researches concerning the Love, Madness, and Imprisonment of Torquato Tasso (1842), in which he attempted to prove that the friendship between the poet and the Princess Leonora of Este was mutual, and that the madness of Tasso was feigned. In the narrative sketch prefixed to the following song, we read that a solitary European was left alive after a battle between his friends and a tribe of Indians, among whom he remained in captivity. In this condition, he refused to be consoled by the kindness of his captors: 'Nor other wish or joy the lone one had, Or sit and gaze for hours upon the deep, That rolled between him and his native home; And when he thought none marked him, he would weep, THE LAMENT OF THE CAPTIVE.1 'My life is like the summer-rose My life is like the autumn leaf 1 There has been some dispute respecting the authorship of this song. The statement of Captain Basil Hall, that it was written in Germany; of others, that it was by an Irish poet; and of a third party, that it was from the Greek of Alcæus, gave rise to an amusing controversy, in which, I scarcely need state, its originality and Mr Wilde's authorship of it were established.'-GRISWOLD. The wind bewail the leafless tree, My life is like the track of feet All vestige of the human race, On that lone shore loud moans the sea, JAMES A. HILLHOUSE, a native of Connecticut, wrote in a superior style several dramatic poems not intended for the stage. Of these, the best, entitled Hadad (1825), is founded on a Scriptural subject. It has been commended by the American reviewers as a chaste and beautiful production, evincing skill and taste in composition, and pure and melodious in its tone.' JOSEPH DRAKE, who died in 1820, wrote a spirited lyric on the American Flag, and a poem entitled The Culprit Fay, which displayed a poetical fancy above mediocrity. Pleasing verses, but without any examples of remarkable originality, might be selected from the specimens given under the names of Ware, Sands, Goodrich, Clason, and Leggett; but these, with many other versifiers of the same class, must be left unnoticed, in order to allow space for the writers who have made some marked progress in the cultivation of imaginative literature. For the correctness and beauty of his diction, the truthfulness of his descriptions of nature, and the noble sentiments blended with his imaginative verses, Bryant claims, perhaps, the most prominent place among the poets of America. WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, the son of a respectable physician (Dr Peter Bryant), was born, November 3, 1794, at Cummington, Massachusetts. A taste for versification appeared during his boyhood, and in his fourteenth year he published several poems, which were well received. In 1810, he entered Williams College, and after remaining here two years, studied law, and was admitted to the bar at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1815. In 1821, he published at Cambridge a volume of occasional poems, containing some of his best pieces-The Ages, Thanatopsis (a meditation on death), Lines to a Waterfowl, Green River, The Yellow Violet, and the Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood. In 1825, Bryant resigned the profession of law, and removed to New York, where he was engaged as one of the editors of The United States Review and Literary Gazette, and subsequently of The |