ON THE POETIC AND MUSICAL CUSTOMS OF THE ANCIENTS; WITH ORIGINAL POEMS ON "HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA'S VISIT TO CASTLE "THE MORAL AND SOCIAL TEMPERAMENT OF THE TIMES ;" AND OTHER INTERESTING SUBJECTS. BY A. G. TYSON, AUTHOR OF A TREATISE ON "SHORT HAND," ETC. SUBSCRIBERS' EDITION. LONDON: MESSRS HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO., 33, PATERNOSTER-ROW; AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. 1852. [PRICE FIVE SHILLINGS BOUND IN CLOTH.] INTRODUCTION. POETRY, in the estimation of many, is a very questionable subject; and for any one to announce this as the object of his pursuit, advocacy, or approbation, is, often, but a signal for others to sneer and jest at his expense. And yet even those who jest at the Poet are not unfrequently themselves singers, musicians, and men of taste; and sometimes, also, admirers of certain Poets; although, what is not less odd, such admirers do not usually agree very well as to the individual object of their approbation. And, again, what is still more incongruous, we have observed that the most determined sober-minded proser will occasionally finger about amongst the Poets, and, like a sparrow with your choicest seeds, snatch here and there, with wonderful adaptability, the choice morsels which suit his own digestion. With such contradictory elements, it is not the easiest task to define what is the public taste, or the public opinion, in reference to this art. To say that there is even a small respectable number of Englishmen who never were influenced by the finer impulses of Poetic feeling, would be, I think, contrary to the truth. The apparent contempt which is cast on Poetry would, indeed, premise that it is disagreeable to the human mind-at least, so far as Englishmen are concerned. But when we stick closely to the inquiry, we soon perceive that this contempt is only superficial; that it has, in fact, no natural root in the soul; that when the spirits of men are unbent from the trammels of habit and custom, they express themselves usually in rapturous strains of spontaneous Poesy. I have seen some of the hardest-tempered specimens of humanit |