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Suit Ifrafer to SiyVbC the- nu ^ erou $ r Engl » sh names ^ dlvng hs * tffifer-: K ^^ K 5 £ SiiS& **« ad mitted into W ^ p leasani *« 0 mstruotnre page .. ¦^^' mSi Jjegihs , bis history of Caricature ? in ;^ ngjand w *^ the l ^^ M ^ l ^ e fopwea * of the , Art produced ; ^ y tje nu arreb of the tS ^ d ^ eanra tfeo ueigu of Gopt ^ ., ^ IJrst- ^ decluiwg very pro-JSfwtoSn ^ a ^ err liip subject when , confined within , the Imuts of a pam-Shlet , by : toeing i * back to middle- » ge antiquity , and trying to esta blish an anieuifor caricature iptljp . works , of grotesquegothic sculpture * and in the ^ rS ^ lWJ ^ ttEesiwhicb illustrate our old Missalsi Hm next < jpoob » a < 0 * e period © £ ithe S < M » th ^ e ^ BubblewJiei ^ the feyer ot speculation raged everywhere ,
; , and when thecaricaturist hf& only to lookinto Change Alley to find a-whole bxwt of subjects ready to his hand * jAj fi « al tglane © at the theatrical earicatares of $ hatday brings the historian on , to tiie time ot Hogarth . We must o ^ ito fcaving ifelt a , little- surprised , at first , whe ^ we saw the name . of Hogarthplacedon a page which bore tho title of ? I * a Caricature . That Hogarth did make ^ iricaturea , and f that some of them a * e , perhansv' the inpst extravagant ' - ' ever produced , is certainly incontestable ; but , considering that he waSj als < j -a ,. great painter -, ( in the . technical as well as the . intellectual sense ) , we cannot-quite reconcile ourselves tot seeing him , because hc ^ condescended to exfa-avagances , placed ; oa the same list of names with Grilray , j&uwlandsan , iB » nbury , and other , mere caricaturists * who were in no strict sense of the . wordpa * ufcec 3 at alL ,. Considering how justly and admirably sueb enti the
^ .. ^ osgues riappreciatea rely unrivalled works as Marriage ai * Modeandthe Halted Progress , we are inclined to wish that he had devoted a . separate pamphlet to . HogarfhY , and had only mentioned him in the present i work an - connexion withi such of his productions as can strictly be Called caricatures . Ninety-rnine out i of every hundred of the so-called wprka of High Art , JRreneh-and English * in the present . day , hnve more real caricature iu their * , if they are tried by the standard of Nature , than can b < e found ia jrav of the serial pictures of die , Rake ' s Progress , the ; Harlot ' s Progress , or * he Mn * rin « rea . la LMode . < ¦ , From , Hogarth M ^ Forgues leada us on to the caricaturists who came after the great , painter . Sayer , Gilray * and Rowlandson receive the most generous and discriaiirMiting appreciatioa at his harxda . The critical part of the > work , ends with ; George-Gruiksaanky whose achievements in caricature
are n as it seems too . -, us ,- rated : br . the author rather too highly . Of the suetjessors of Gruikshank ( who * in our opinionv have carried their art to a much higher . pitchtlianthafr . towhich he or his immediate . predecessors , attained , gygur at ^ their best ) , M » rForgnes does notspeak in detail . He considers them to be still in a state of progress , and not yet fairly entitled to take their pjaceaamongthe Classics of Caricature . We have only to add to this brief ; sketch of the contents of an excellent piunpblet our hearty congratulations to . thetauthor on the intimate acquaints ance with , the sociaL and political . history-of England under the Georges which he exhibits * The mass of < . information collected within a small space , the . justice and intelligence of the critical passages , and the elegant terseness of the style , all claim for this work our warmest recognition . We trust that we bave not heard , froto M . Forgues on English subjects for the last time . i . v i 11 s 7 . i » i i :.: ; . 11 ( i i - ' ¦ ' ¦¦ ¦!) ' > . . ¦'<•¦ ¦¦' . ¦ ¦ __ : _ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦
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: STORIES IN VERSE . Stories in Verse . By Leigh Hunt . Now ¥ irst Collected . Routledge . liEJtejtt Hum-It ' s rjeputation as a pofet is now so firmly established that it requires ho fresh proof ; but , if any doubters remained , ye need ohl ^ yr place this book in iheir hands to cure them of their infidelity . More rich and ¦ varied poetical power—more affluence , of fiincy—more wealth of illustration and or imaginative sympathy with the external shows of things and the inward emotions ' of btir human nature—more rtiusical utterance in easy , natural , urisuperfluousvnrse , the artidulutions of which seem to come forth Bppntaneously from the thought or feeling to which they give expressionwe do not khow where to find , short of those few god-liko singers who sit apart frdni ' all comparison and all envy . Leigh Hunt has here collected the yery floWer of his poetical genius , ihco one elegant volume , which , from its moderate price , we trust will be fptmd scattered abroad in many English homes , darting to and fro on many English railways , through peopled town , broad meadow , and green old woodland , and incorporating itself with the
hotne affections ,-the household thoughts and familiar memories , ot many English hearts . We are well' assured' that no book of poems extant is better frtitedtP become a part of the inWal life of a people . Meanness , insi ' ncerity , malignancy , and irreverence , cannot co-exist with the open sunshine of Leigh Hunt's mind .. That disregard of the beautiful—or rather that positive worship , of the ugly and vulgar—which forms but too large an pleinent of $ b < s pppvjiar intellect , must needs feel itself rebuked and converted bjr pagei ? . sp over ^ pyl ^ , with beawtyy health ^ and love . On tho mere ground of literary taate , we , ar « i grateful for tbj ^ volume : on the broader ground of luimon progreesion , wo must b « s doubly tbankflil for seeing here collected some of the choicest writings of a man who , while combating and suffering for politienl liberty ) , has done the moet to keep us humane ; while conteading ag « in » t-bigotry , 'has done the moat to muke us religious ; and , while lighting against hypociiticnl pretences , has done the most for genuine morals . ¦ . . •!¦ ¦ " - ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ . < ¦ ¦ ¦
' Fully acknowledging tie we do the worth of Leigh Hunt ' * lyrical , descriptive , and meditative poertis , we cannot but think that it in mainly n » i narr ' ative poet that hq will take his rank in the future ; And-we believe | tjiat it Is in this directipn tliat his ambition chiefly looks- ; for we have reason to . know that lie regards narrative poetry as one of the highest exercises of the ; poetical faculty , and regrets that we have not in the English language a greater number of " stories in verso" of the romantic arid ideal order . > Viith the example of Oliaucer before us , it is difficult to coino to an oppor site ) opinion ; otherwise , we confess ton doubt whether tho chronicling of « vtint » f however much they may be- in alliance with emotion ( which is the ^ ery ' efisence of poetry ) , be t ^ ie highest oflico of the poet , who is thus turned
into a sort of celestial .. * eports *? i < AVe < wisfc the / ; ne « d « r ^ lii 5 ttvever , to undo : stand that we * ise ' -the ¦* expression ^^ ^^ narratiVe ^ pcreto ^ 'hiiBaA very restricte sense—a sense which excludes epiei poeti ^ v * frd- ) f d wher « 5 theijaci are na : ri * ated Witn th ^ saine > egiilar sequence thut we find in ' ^* prose ' taU Yet , as we have skfd , thiis is , the class pf poetry whicii Chaucer cTnleP wrote ; and before' tlie triinscehdant genius of , ihfiie ^ riy $ itan of our Kt ^ rf ture , aljl theories which do not ^ jhariiibhise wicli liis ^ pra ^ ti ^ e jptand abastec Drydeh , niPrepvcr , cast much" of his hiakcuiine ' m here is Leigh Hunt making additions to ^ thd ¦ stock , fn tne ibtin of his toiicl ing " Story of Rimini , " and the other exquisitely finished tales of th book before us . ' J - - ' ¦¦' ¦ <'^ ¦¦' ¦ ¦ We rejoice to see that , in this new editfori 6 £ Leigh Hant'tfcnW poerii the author has restored those omitted or altered passages"Whitdi' form pai of the beauty of the whole . Foriuatancey the fresh , natural , and sponta neous couplet with which the story originally : opened , again appears : — " The sun is up , and ' tis a morn bf May ' . ' Rtnali old Ravenna ' 8 clear-shown towers an * \ i&y . Every one must feel the supei-iority oiT thi ^ to the' ^ somewhat limp an faded lines which were inexplicably substituted m after euitipns : — l Tia i ni 6 rn ; and never did a lovcjier'day Salute Ravenna from Its lekfy 'bay ' . '' ' Tlie catastrophe 6 f the tale is also restored ; PauTp dyfng in a du ^ l wit his brother GiovannT , and Frahedsca wasting intci death . ^ ith , grief , instea of the two lovers being mitrderetl by the jealOtas husband : "The refashipr ment of the pPem , "; says the Preface to the prj csciit ; edition ; " w'as always a unwilling , and l ^ ow- believe w . is a mistakeii , cdnc ' essioh to what'I suppose to be the ascertained fact ' s pf the story and the , bettejr' ^ conveyance of th moral . ' * T ^ e have thereforeajjam th ' e b <» autif \ il addi ^ k of \ C f lovannl ov « the dead body of his brother ( exqui ^ tujly : put into vei'se front the old pros romance of "Mort 4 * Arthur" ) ; but we missjwith some regret the lurid hurr , of the murder as ; giveii in mtermedfateeditions . ,. , , / . , "JThe : description of thb pageant in th < i First Canto pi" the " Stpry < Rimini , " is a maryellous study of wprd-paititrng and of * melp < Iv . \ The cj valcade pours along bright and exulting , and the verses shine with ' gold an jewels , and seem to march to the stateW measure of the procession . Win can be morc ^ vmd in descrip'tion than tnls?— ., ' First come the trumpeters , clad all in . yrhit ^ , i Except the breast , which , -wears , a ^ scutcheon bright . , By four and four thc ^ 'We , ' on horses ^ re ' y ; AUd as they sit along thlcir « ksy way , ' To the steed ' s motldn yielding * s they go , Each plants \ xi& trumpet on His Biddlte-boW . ; The beralds next appear , in vestai attir'd . Of stiffening . gold with radiant colours fir'd ; And then the pumiivahtjr , who wait on these , : All drebs ^ d in painted tichnesa to the' kne ^ s : * Each tides a dappled horse , and boars' a shield , Charged' with three heads upon « golden field . ' Or in more cleat" and animated relief than this ?—' - » SomtewaUih' , as they go by , tlie riders'facet Looking composure , and their knightly graces ; Tho life , the carelessness , th « Auddon heed ; The body curving to the rearing steed 7 The patting hand , that best penuades the check , And makes the quarrel up with a ptoud neck ; The thigh broad-prcaa'd , the spanning palm upon it , ' And the jerk'd featUer flowing in the bonnet , . > 1 Others tHo horses and thoir pride explore , Their Jauntineas behind and strength before ; . The flowing book , firm chest , and fetlocks clean 5 The uranching veins ridging the gloss ; lean ; The mane hung sleekly ; the projecting © ye „ , That seerns half thinking as it glances by ; The fiuiaU'd , head in its compsctucss / ree , Sinall , and o ' erarching to , the lifted knee ; . The start and snatch , as if they , felt th « comh , Wi / tli mouths that , fling about the creamy foam ; The snorting turbulence , the nod , the qhaniptagt The shift , tbe toBsujg , and tho flacy ^ ramping . Tho ideal of Giovanni ' s gatrdoh is enchanting . ' It is purpled with flower * cooled with shady hikes , Vnded with enticing lawns n " rid paths , which brinj us to the ' edge of the forest r- — i A land of trees ,, whic . li , reaching x ^ xund abgut , , In ttUady bletwing » trctcb'd th « ir old , arois out , Witb , flppte pf j sunny op ^ aiptf , and , wi } h nook * To , lie . and read in , sloping into brooke , , , Whcrea ^ her drink : you , startled the slim ( Jeer , liotreatuig lightly witli a lovely fear , | The fountuin , which " shakes its loosening silver in the aun , " is worthy 0 : playing in Fm ' adiae ; but still finer is tho vill in the garden , Whoflo low , Vwcct talking soQrn'd aa if it said Something ctomul to tbjit happy hIuuIc . When the brido comes back to Ravenna , dead , tho simplicity of the china * is very touching : — On a sudden , just As tho wind open'd in u riuing gnat , A voico of clianting rose , and as it . spread , They plainly heard tho anthem fur tbo dead . It was tho choristors who went to meet
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 25, 1855, page 824, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2103/page/20/
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