The inaccuracy of some of the rhymes of the preceding poem might easily be amended; but, what is more to our present purpose, the confusion of ideas is apparent: nevertheless, a poetical enthusiasm breathes through every stanza which, probably, was never felt by this unfortunate lady in her better days. Wildness of manner, however, is not inconsistent with the occasional flights of the soundest intellect; for Mr. Day's Elegy, beginning with,

Yet once again, in yonder myrtle bowers,

Whence rose-lipp'd zephyrs, hovering, shed perfume, I weave the painted radiance of the flowers, And press coy Nature in her days of bloom,

might serve as a counterpart to that which we have last quoted.

We believe that, ever since it was published, no one has either spoken, or written, concerning English Elegies, without adverting to Gray's on a Country Church-yard. It would be vanity in us to attempt adding to its praise:-it has already received the stamp of immortality.

Warton, in a dissertation prefixed to his edition of Theocritus, labours hard to prove that pastoral poetry arose out of ancient Comedy, which latter, he says, had its origin in the free games that were celebrated by the inhabitants of the country,

on their festivals, after they had finished their labours. "The sum, says he, of what we have advanced, and desire to establish is this. In the infancy of Comedy, the persons were rustics, prone to throw out mutual reproaches. Among the rest, shepherds were sometimes introduced upon the stage, and Pastorals were acted. In process of time, mean characters were entirely banished from the theatre. Pastoral dialogues, however, remained. The poets observed the delights and graces which the country had to boast; and it was discovered that, by clear description and happy imagery, a poem perfectly in character might be composed, representing the actions and manners of pastoral life."

This supposition of a pastoral stage's having preceded pastoral poetry, is supported by no direct evidence. Pastoral dramas do exist; but they are few, and all of modern invention. The Italians boast of two, the Aminta of Tasso and the Pastor Fido of Guarini; and Gay's forgotten Tragedy of Dione is the only Drama of the kind in English. Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd is a Pastoral Comedy, in the Scotch language, which would do honour to any age or country. To those who understand the Doric dialect in which it is written, and are acquainted with the rural manners of the nation, this Drama gives universal

delight; and, what can scarcely be said of any other work, it is equally the favourite of the young and of the old; of the learned and of the illiterate; of the peer and of the peasant. We could point out many passages of simple tenderness and exquisite beauty; but we despair of imparting the sentiments, in the words in which they are written, to an English ear. The following lines, extracted from Peggy's sorrowing farewel to her lover, will probably remind the classical reader of the Galatea of Virgil; but we can assure him that the lasciva puella is no where to be found in the Gentle Shepherd:

Nae mair again we'll on the meadows play,
Nor rin, half breathless, round the rucks of hay;
Where aftentimes I've fled frae thee, right fain,
And fa'en, on purpose that I might be ta’en.

CHAPTER XVIII.

OF THE HIGHER SPECIES OF POETRY.

We have hitherto spoken only of such simple poetical effusions as, being each directed to a single object, keep that object invariably in view. But the subject of a poem may be of a compound nature, embracing many separate acts, persons, and circumstances combined into one whole; and these are the compositions which we here designate by the title of the higher species, although they are not always of a higher worth. A composite poem (if really poetical) may be compared to a string of jewels, connected by links of baser materials; while a simple and smaller production may exhibit only a single pearl, but "more precious than all the tribe." The class of poems, now under consideration, may be conveniently viewed under three distinct heads:

1. Tales and Romances;

2. Epic and Dramatic Poetry; 3. Didactic and Descriptive.

All of which may be either satyrical or encomiastic;-grave or gay.

In the minor poems, the merit consists in the interest and congruity of the thoughts, and the elegance of the language in which those thoughts are expressed. The higher class are more lengthened and varied; and, much of them being necessarily narrative, they require to be strewed over with flowers and studded with gems, which, by their odours and sparkling, may keep up the attention of the auditors during the duller recitations of the tale. The direct means employed for this purpose are,-in the first place, the due use and admixture of those figures of speech which we have already described; and, secondly, a sort of Religion, (or rather Superstition) which, in different forms, but in every nation, has always been peculiar to the bard.

The untutored observer ascribes the various phenomena of nature to the will of invisible powers, endowed like himself with conscious existence. The thunder rolls over his head; and he supplicates the god of the thunder. The rivers overflow their banks and fertilize, or lay waste, the plains; and he creates, in imagination, the naiads and the demons of the streams. Thus were formed the numerous deities of every savage nation; and the conflicts of the elements were