ABSTRACT
The contents of this little volume were ‘written chiefly with a view to ascertain how far the language of conversation is adapted to the purposes of poetic pleasure.’ The author has certainly accomplished his purpose, and instead of the pompous and high-sounding phraseology of the Della Cruscan school, has produced sentiments of feeling and sensibility, expressed without affectation, and in the language of nature. If this style were more generally adopted, it would tend to correct that depraved taste, occasioned by an incessant importation from the press of sonnets and other poems, which has already made considerable inroads upon the judgment. We extract the following as a specimen of the author’s talents. [Quotes ‘Lines left upon a Seat in a Yew-tree’.]
The majority of these poems, we are informed in the advertisement, are to be considered as experiments.
