359
PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BUONAPARTE LAMAR
excelled him in that ease, grace, naturalness, warmth of feeling, pleas- ant thoughts and glowing eloquence, which are among the essenciali- ties of poetry. There are different kinds of poetry; and we cannot Compare one class with another. For instance, who would compare the Paradise Lost with the Irish Melodies? All that can be said in jus- tice is, that both are good in their respective ways, and that Moore is in song, what Milton is in Epic. All that we insist upon is, that in fixing the relative merit of Gen. Lamar as a poet, he should be brought in comparison with those poets only who have travelled in the same walk with himself. Let him be measured by his own class. Take for in- stance any of his productions and place in juxta-position .with them, the•most successful pieces of similar nature which are to be found in Grizwolds collection of the poets, and our friend will suffer nothing by the comparison. Would you have a Missionary Hymn? Where will you find one breathing greater vigor and a higher tone of self-sacrific- ing devotion than the "Soldier of the Cross"? Would you woo your Lady love in song? Where can be found a higher strain of romance, lofty chivalry and poetic spirit than the Gem of Delight. It is truly a Gem of Delight; and would lose nothing of its lustre by placing it in Company with the Lyrics of l\Ioor~. Would you present a rose to the Lady that you love? Who has ever done it more gracefully than Lamar in his lines beginning- "Grieve not sweet flower to leave these shades." We do not give these as the best specimens of his poetry, but as illus- trations of the fact that whatever he attempts, is usually done with a felicity and grace which leave but little room for improvement or rivalry. We will not arrogate to ourselves the right of telling the reader what he is most to admire and the least to prize in this volume. Leav-· ing him to be pleased with whatever is most congenial to his taste and feelings, we will only venture on this point so far as to direct his at- tention to one particular part, not that we would hold it up as the poet's "chef-d'oeuvre"-all beautiful as it is-but for the opportunity which it affords us of paying our respects to one who is entitled alike to our admiration and our gratitude. We allude to the Lady who is shadowed forth under the title of the "Lilly of the Dell"-the poet's own accomplished and devoted wife. An abidance of many months as a stranger guest.under the hospitable roof of one of the most happy and harmonious of families, enables the writer of this sketch to bear testimony to the fact, that the picture which the poet has drawn of his delightful home, in spite of its exceeding beauty, is not altogether equal to the theme-and especially that part of it which relates to the "Lilly of the Dell." Although his portrait of this fair flower of love- liness falls somewhat short of the brilliancy of the original, yet he can hardly be blamed for failing where the most favored sons of song might scarcely hope to succeed. Such we think is a fair and just estimate of Gen Lamar as a poet, and we deeply regret that one who reflects so much honor on the South should have shared the same fate of all the Southern contributors to literature-that is-the culpable indifference and neglect of those who control the press, and who alone have the power of sustaining and popu- larizing the works of genius. And it is a matter of utter surprise as well as reproach that this remark should so truly apply to his native
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