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May 30, 1857.] T .g A L E A-giLfe - —- B...
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MR. IlEADE'S POEMS. The Poetical Works o...
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THE OPERAS, CONCERTS, ETC. Maestro Verdi...
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Tub operatic event of the week has been ...
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THE COLOGNE CHORAL UNIOX. Seldom has a g...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Home Education In France. Z>U Jidlo De L...
Vcklebv " Eri Angleterre , Dickens a pu depeindre dans JSicolas JSiclclcby ne exploitation chontee et cruelle de l ' enfance , comme generalement atiauee par les directeurs d'institutions secondaires dans les comtes du P ' rd si bicn qu ' un dc cos directeurs a cru pouvoir attaquer Dickens en diffaination , comme ayant represent ^ au naturel son etablissement et sa ersonne . " ' M . Barrau would have acted more wisely had lie confined hims elf to the sp here of his own observations , and not allowed his national prejudices to misrepresent the institutions and customs of other countries .
May 30, 1857.] T .G A L E A-Gilfe - —- B...
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Mr. Ileade's Poems. The Poetical Works O...
MR . IlEADE'S POEMS . The Poetical Works of John Edmund Reade . New Edition . In Four Volumes . Longman and . Co . From time time , for many years past , Mr . Reade has kept himself before the public by separate poeuis of almost as varied a description as the plays which the actors in Handel are ready , at a moment ' s notice , to represent before Danish Royalty . Epics , dramas , poems of description , ethical poems , odes lyrics , and minor pieces , —all were poured forth with great prodigality and with not a . little confidence on the part of the author that he was
In very truth the poet for whom the age was waiting . The age has perhaps sc arcely endorsed that view ; yet Mr . Reade has many admirers , he has unquestionably written fine things , and it woul d be ungracious and unfair to treat otherwise than respectfully a man who has devoted his whole life to the cultivation of a noble art , and has applied that art to the illustration oi ' lofty principles . Mr . Reade has now collected all his writings into four handsome small-octavo volumes ; he has , we suppose , given them his final revision ; and they challenge from the reviewer a general estimate of their scope and their intrinsic value . . to entertain from
If Mr . Reade were at any time disposed suggestions us , or to modify his poetical system by adopting the external promptings of criticism , that time is now clearly past . The appearance of a collected edition of an author ' s works in the author ' s lifetime seems to imply that he has made his peace with posterity as far as in him lies ; has shriven himself of such sins as he acknowledges to have committed , received extreme unction at the hands of all the Muses , muffled his head in his coronet of o-reen bays , and resigned himself to Fate . " We shall therefore touch but S ^ htly on what we conceive to be Mr . Reade ' s radical faults as a poet . E * ven should he write more , his style is fixed ; should this be his last issue , . criticism is even vainer still .
That Mr . Reade possesses an intense devotion to poetry—that he has rend much and thought much—that he has a copious command of language and that he sincerely sympathizes with all forms of beauty—we readily allow ; but we are bound to say—and we say it with regret when we consider that to object essentially to the work of a man ' s whole life has always in it so mething apparently akin to harshness and want of feeling- ^ -that we conceive the central principle of his poetry is a mistake . If we are asked to describe that central principle in one word , we answer that it consists of declamation—a quality opposed , as it appears to us , to the highest and truest species of poetry . Declamation surges , rolls , and echoes from page to page of Mr . Reade ' s volumes . It allows the reader no rest , as it has evidently allowed the author none . Whether the latter be writing drama or epic , lyric or description , this fatal tendency to thunder on from period
to period , like an orator in a forum—to put on veritable singing robes as an alderm an puts on a scarlet gown and heavy golden chains on state occasions —to create a cloudy architecture of tropes and figures—to strain thought And language to their utmost tension—to heap up glittering piles of words which tend only to confuse and to oppress—the dangerous habit of always saying too much , and the lamentable inability to leave anything to the virgin delicacy of suggestion , —are but too apparent . We have no repose \ no deep inner feeling , apparent in the very quietness of its utterance ; no tender flush and etherial painting , such as we find in the really potential artist , who is never stronger than when he is least self-asserting ; no accents tremulous with emotion ; none of the fresh morning dew and vernal fragrance of poetry , such as might issue from the heart of a , child endowed with a man ' s powers of expression . Instead of these qualities , we find in
Mr . Reade considerable eloquence ( au excellent thing in itself , but more fitted for prose than poetry ) , a perpetual consciousness of the effect to be produced , with restless eflbrts to produce it , several fine detached lines and passages , but a lack of simplicity and truth . We believe Mr . Reade has expunged a great deal from this collected edition of his writings . This looks like a generous devotion to his art , a magnanimous wish to leave his poems in the most complete condition that he can put thorn into by any amount of industry and self-sacrifice . The author has probably spared no pains to leave posterity his debtor ; and , if we express dissent from the result , it is not out of any disrespect to him , nor , indeed , out of any wnnt of sympathy with his aspirations and his toils . His theory of poetry and ours are at variance in bouio important respects ; but we make no claim to pronounce a final judgment , and Mr . Reade may with groat force and authority appeal to Byron as to a poet of the docliunatory school . To that we might reply by questioning the position of Byron among the greatest of
poets ; but this would be opening a dangerous door , and wo cannot of course horo enter into such an argument . The very first stanza of the very first page of this collected edition may be regarded us a complete exemplar or epitome of what we believe to be Mr . Reade ' s excellences and dofoots—his strength and his weakness . Speaking of Italy , ho says : — It" thou wort auyht , Timo-liullowud phantom , Muse ! Save tho creation of immortal mind , Hero throned apart thy temple wouldat thou choose : Oh ! novor yet ' mid ldVa woods roclinod , Parnassian height or Dulphio shades onshrinod , Wus a sublimur , worthier ultar thino , Than where I stand , companion ' q / ' tho wind , Cloud-Jbldad on the stormy Apwmiiui ! There whpro I fool thoo linked with Nuturo ' s life and mind . Tho'lines we have horo placed in italics arc truly noblo—but tho rest of the stanza is declamatory and diffuse .
Another of Mr . Reade ' s faults is a tendency to get out of his depth Avhen wandering about among ' the Infinite' and the Eternal / ' the Ineffable ' and c the Beautiful . ' Some painful experience in ' Latter-day Poetry' has infected us with a horror of all such primal secrets and abysmal depths . We think , also , Mr . Reade does not do his own faculties justice by adopting whole lines from other writers , however great , with bufc slight alterations . Why should he echo the conclusion of Paradise Lost in this way ?—I retraced , Thoughtful and slow , my solitary wav . ' ^ _ _ — . _ _ ~ _ _ _ A «« -a _ V
In his poem , ' Ulysses , ' we find him writing of Calypso : — Passion ' s ecstasies * Remembered , pity waked from prescient sight , Drew tears that dimmed those eyes' etherial light , Large drops that left their fringing lashes bright ! The last of these lines is taken word for word from Coleridge ' s Christabel , with the exception of the unnecessary epithet before the word ' lashes . ' Mr . Reade is most at home among the more stupendous forms of inanimate nature , where his somewhat Pantheistical tendencies of mind find their truest utterance ; and we cannot conclude this notice without specially referring to the ' Vision of the Ancient Kings '—a poem which , though deficient in finish , and capable of much improvement in the details , is , in the conception , very original , solemn , and impressive .
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The Operas, Concerts, Etc. Maestro Verdi...
THE OPERAS , CONCERTS , ETC . Maestro Verdi reigns supreme at both houses . And in spite of pedants , we see no reason to regret the fact , since Verdi possesses at least the rare secret of imperiously swaying the emotions ' of that collective organism , the Public , and of sending home his excited audiences humming to their beds . The production of the Trovatore at Her Majesty ' s Theatre is notable for the consummate vocalization and remarkably picturesque and effective acting of Alboni's Azucena , and for the very fine and pathetic singing of Giuglini in the last act . We regret to be unable to discover the vocal or dramatic qualities which have given , we believe , to Madame Spezia a considerable reputation in Italy . The voice of this elegant and accomplished lady is , to our thinking , naturally an imperfect one , and it is already worn . Her acting is intelligent , but the sacred fire
is wanting . Signor Benkventako achieved a rare distinction in the part which Graziani was thought to have made his own : he contrived , to sing the // mio balen so execrably , that it went off almost without a hand , and amidst visible and audible signs of irritation and _ disappointment in the audience . There is a leaden dulness in tire tone of Signor Beneventano ' s voice , which the exaggeration of his singing and the general protuberance of his manner and deportment do not permit the public entirely to forgive . It is g-ood news that on Tuesday Signor Cossi , the barytone , a fine dramatic singer , will make his first appearance in Nino , an opera which lias not been performed in London for nine years . A new light tenor , Signor Bjjlart , who , we are told , has won a considerable reputation at Florence by his singing in the Sotvnambula and the Pirata , is engaged at this house .
Tub Operatic Event Of The Week Has Been ...
Tub operatic event of the week has been the first appearance on the stage of Madlle . Victoire Balfe , at the Royal Italian Opera , on Thursday evening , in La Soniunnbula . We beg , in this instance , to be allowed to waive the ungracious responsibilities of criticism . For the present we are content to record tiie very enthusiastic and encouraging reeception accorded to the debutante by a crowded and distinguished audience . The first appearance on any stage is a terrible ordeal , and to confront such an audience as that of the Royal Italian Opera in a part consecrated by the traditions of Malibran , Pjgrsiani , Jenny Linus and Viakdot Garcia , is a noble but a perilous ambition . It wag evident on Thursday evening that Madlle . Balfe was not in complete possession of her natural powers , but the sympathy of the public was unequivocally expressed , and wo have every hope that with increasing confidence will come a success not , due to sympathy alone , but to admiration of the rich hereditary instinct and the accomplished art . We all feel a peculiar interest in this very charming young lady ' s career , and we all look to see her early and abundant promise ripeued and fulfilled .
The Cologne Choral Uniox. Seldom Has A G...
THE COLOGNE CHORAL UNIOX . Seldom has a greater musical sensation been created by any single performer than was made by tho eighty members of tho Choral Union of Cologne , at tho Hanover-square Rooms , in 1853 . In England choral and part singing have always been enjoyed : we have composers of madrigals and glees whoso names survive in song ; we have glee , madriyal , and catch clubs innumerable , and the annual madrigal concert at Bristol is a musical institution not unworthy to compete with the most elaborate Continental ' solemnities . ' Good voices are , we believe , more common in England 'than in any country in Europe , with the sole exception of Italy ; it is the school of singing that has been wanting , a sound traditional method , and , above all , a patient and dovoted practice of tho art for its own sake . Too many of our vocal clubs have degenerated into convivial meetings , and many a " respectable burgher ' s wife has cursed in her heart her husband ' s propensity to ' catches . ' Germany , with its patient and naive enthusiasm , supplies an example which wo earnestly ieoommend our vocal associations to follow . These gontlomon of tho Cologne Choral Union , from long and careful training anil constant practice , have acquired a precision , delicacy ,
variety , and magnificence of ensemble which make tho best choral singing in England almost insignificant in comparison . Unfortunately , the music of most oi thu pieces is poor stud ' , as music ; German music of ^ ho second class in not celobratod for strength or beauty ; it is the exquisite execution , that would redeem even worse compositions . The ' swelling grandeur of tho harmonics , the whispered broathinys of tho modulated phrases , tho power and tho glory of sound pouring forth in organ penis , and hushed to tho subdued boauty of orgau whisperings , ' which wo admired four years ago aro still as flue as over . Tho transitions from lurliasimo to pianiaaiino , and tho alternations of low a nd loud aro managed witii an ease and perfection only , we repeat , to bo attained by dovoted subordination and unremitting practice In sonic instances , however , tho sense of tho words is unduly sacrificed to tho ' effects , ' and thus tho sincerity of the interpretation is mar rod . Indeed , the music of tho pioooo is , as wo have eaid , for tho most part laboriously trivial and coinmojiplaco . J 3 ufc tho success of tho singers is aa unquestionable as it is deserved , and wo only rogroo that our Cologno choralists cannot remain beyond a fortnight iu England . On
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 30, 1857, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_30051857/page/19/
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