What have become of "the laws of design ?" But would good Dr. Currie have dried up the sea! How many yards, will anybody tell us, were in that green mantle? And what a pattern! Thomas Campbell knew better what liberty is allowed by nature to Imagination in her inspired dreams. In his noble Stanzas to the memory of Burns, he says, in allusion to "The Vision," The Fata Morgana are obedient to the laws of perspective, and of optics in general; but they belong to the material elements of nature; this is a spiritual creation, and Burns is its maker. It is far from perfect, either in design or execution; but perfection is found nowhere here below, except in Shakspeare; and, if the Vision offend you, we fear your happiness will not be all you could desire it even in the Tempest or the Midsummer's Night's Dream. How full of fine poetry are one and all of his Epistles to his friends Sillar, Lapraik, Simpson, Smith,-worthy men one and all, and among them much mother-wit almost as good as genius, and thought to be genius by Burns, who in the generous enthusiasm of his nature exaggerated the mental gifts of everybody he loved, and conceived their characters to be "accordant to his soul's desire." His " Epistle to Davie" was among the very earliest of his productions, and Gilbert's favorable opinion of it suggested to him the first idea of becoming an author. "It was, I think, in summer 1784, when in the interval of hard labor, he and I were reading in the garden (kail-yard), that he repeated to me the principal parts of this Epistle." It breathes a noble spirit of independence, and of proud contentment dallying with the hardships of its lot, and in the power of manhood regarding the riches that are out of its reach, without a particle of envy, and with a haughty scorn. True he says, "I hanker and canker to see their cursed pride;" but he immediately bursts out into a strain that gives the lie to his own words: "What tho', like commoners of air, We wander out, we know not where, But either house or hall ? Yet nature's charms, the hills and woods, In days when daisies deck the ground, On braes when we please, then, We'll sit an' sowth a tune; Syne rhyme till't, wee'l time till't, "It's no in titles nor in rank; It's no in wealth like Lon'on bank, Nae treasures, nor pleasures, That makes us right or wrang." Through all these Epistles we hear him exulting in the consciousness of his own genius, and pouring out his anticipations in verses so full of force and fire, that of themselves they privilege him to declare himself a Poet after Scotland's own heart. Not even in "The Vision" does he kindle into brighter transports, when foreseeing his fame, and describing the fields of its glory, than in his Epistle to the schoolmaster of Ochiltree; for all his life he associated with schoolmasters-finding along with knowledge, talent, and integrity, originality and strength of character prevalent in that meritorious and ill-rewarded class of men. What can be finer than this? It has been thoughtlessly said that Burns had no very deep love of nature, and that he has shown no very great power as a descriptive poet. The few lines quoted suffice to set aside that assertion; but it is true that his love of nature was always linked with some vehement passion or some sweet affection for living creatures, and that it was for the sake of the humanity she cherishes in her bosom, that she was dear to him as his own life-blood. His love of nature by being thus restricted was the more intense. Yet there are not wanting passages that show how exquisite was his perception of her beauties even when unassociated with any definite emotion, and inspiring only that pleasure which we imbibe through the senses into our unthink ing souls. Whyles glittered to the nightly rays, Unseen that night." Such pretty passages of pure description are rare, and the charm of this one depends on its sudden sweet intrusion into the very midst of a scene of noisy merriment. But there are many passages in which the descriptive power is put forth under the influence of emotion so gentle that they come within that kind of composition in which it has been thought Burns does not excel. As for example, "Nae mair the flower on field or meadow springs; Mild, calm, serene, wide spreads the noon-tide blaze, While thick the gossamour waves wanton in the rays." Seldom setting himself to describe visual objects, but when he is under strong emotion, he seems to have taken considerable pains when he did, to produce something striking; and though he never fails on such occasions to do so, yet he is sometimes ambitious overmuch, and, though never feeble, becomes bombastic, as in his lines on the Fall of Fyers: "And viewless echo's ear astonished rends." In the "Brigs of Ayr" there is one beautiful, and one magnificent passage of this kind. "All before their sight, A fairy train appear'd in order bright: |