Place  him  in  any  age,  among  any  men,  he  would  still  be  a  great  poet. To  explain  and
vindicate  our  assertion,  it  will  be  necessary  to  examine  the  circumstancea  under  which
TuiNTaoR*8  poetry  grew  up,  and  his  points  of  resemblance  to,  or  diflerence  from,  his  pre-
decessors. The  Btronio  school  —  that  of  unmixed  passion  —  carried  every  thing  befimo
it  for  a  time. like  other  manias,  it  had  its  day. Shellvt  the  English  JEacurun,  made  a
slight  diversion,  bat  he  was  not  easy  to  comprehend  fully,  much  less  imitate ;  and  the
public,  when  sated  with  the  purely  sensuous,  naturally  betook  itself  to  the  oppoale  ex-
treme, the  purely  intellectual  poetry  of  Wordsworth,  which  in  its  turn  fiurly  displaced
the  other,  and  became  the  model  for  juvenile  rhymesters  and  the  ideal  of  newly*fledged
critics. Still  there  was  a  large  class  who,  while  they  admitted  Word8worth*8  claims  aa
a  poet,  could  not  help  also  perceiving  that  he  was  as  deficient  in  some  qualities  of  a  great
poet  as  Btron  had  been  in  others,  and  who  rather  admired  his  venes  as  works  of  an
than  felt  them  aa  poems. Now  Tkmntson  precisely  sapplies  thia  deficiency  in  tlie  in-
tellectual school,  or  to  speak  more  accurately,  he  has  brought  about  the  proper  onion  of
the  two  schools:  He  was  the  only  man  who  could  do  it  Hknrt  Tatloe  had  no  lack
of  dash  and  spirit,  with  wonderful  power  of  portraying  character ;  but

WoRDawoRTo'a  unfortunate  theory  of  poetry  has —not  spoiled  him,  fur  he  ia  not  a  num


Literary  Notices. 485


to  be  spoiled,  bat  prevented  lum  from  doing  much  that  he  might  have  done. He  oensarei
Shellkt  on  principle,  not  because  his  poetry  want*  grandeur  or  sablimity,  but  ttecoMm  it
dotM  not  leane  a  n^iciendtf  real  imprtsmon  on  the  mind. His  own  energy  he  leemt  to  regatd
as  a  fault,  and  seelcs  to  tame  down. But  in  Tkhntbon  we  find  the  Tarioui  aspeoti  of  the
poetic  mind  duly  exliibited. There  ia  epic  narration  and  deep  philosophy,  picturesque
description  and  voluptuous  painting,  each  in  its  place. Unlike  Wordbwortb,  be  has
passion ;  unlike  Tatlok,  he  is  not  afraid  of  showing  his  passion ;  unlike  Btror,  he  is
never  passion's  slave. 