the cavern, and the objects around them, his language is ex tremely noble and poetical:- stealing slow Round the deep-sounding cliffs in thickening gloom, While numerous fires, at distance, 'gan to glow Along the hills, which scatter'd bands illume, In dark and sullen grandeur, yielding some way Through clouds and mist that on the valleys Mid the deep silence of the night he hears Mingled with pilgrim's holy lays and tears, Again he seems his native land to see- Still lives, and, hoping now he will not die, borrowed the assertion from Michaud; but this latter writer has not informed us on what authority he maintains that ideas of magic became prevalent only long after the period of the crusades. In the laws of Rotario, to say nothing of other documents, it is expressly laid down upon the subject of duels, that each combatant is bound to enter the arena without having recourse to the aid of charms. Precisely too, in the year 1098, which is that of the first Crusade, a duel took place, in which one of the combatants having flung an embroidered glove into his adversary's face, the spectators accused him, with loud cries, of employing magic. Here we have the original of Sig. Grossi's incident, when Pirro throws the girdle in Arvino's face, which was viewed as an act of sorcery; nor will any one doubt, after these two authorities, but that a general and popular belief in magic prevailed among the people in the time of the first crusade. That the Turks believed in it is an indisputable fact. Ismeno's appearance between two witches upon the walls for the purpose of directing his magical arts against Godfrey's tower, was suggested to Tasso by history. In fact, we find it related that, during the last assault, two witches came upon the walls to enchant the same tower; but a fragment of rock, which was hurled against the walls, crushed the magicians, and effectually destroyed their enchantments. Tasso, therefore, was justified in supposing, not only that the warriors whom he celebrated entertained a belief in it, but had he represented them otherwise, he would have described characters very different to those of the crusaders. It is curious to observe, that those who have been most eager to accuse Tasso of having adopted the supernatural machinery which he did, are the same who declare that he failed in preserving the costume of the times. So true it is, that these critics of the Italian epic are themselves so little acquainted with the real facts of history upon which they presume to decide. Yea, one of his own faith.of Lombard birth, Is this same youthful knight, whose hopeful He snatched from death in saddest plight- From his lov'd home. He too all lost to An exiled wanderer 'neath the eastern star, Of promised joy, to which none like appears, Youth's early scenes-all throng his fancy, He seems once more to pace that hallowed ground As when a boy-and hears each well-known sound.' Un di sua fè, nel suol Lombardo nato, scese Il caro accento del natìo paese. 'E or dopo il volger di tanti anni amari There are few poets who might not be proud of having composed the three following stanzas, which contain a description of the onset of the celebrated battle of Antioch. It relates to the moment when the outposts of the Saracen army being put to flight, the Christians rush out of the walls of the city to commence a general assault, while the Infidels as busily hasten to defend themselves from the unexpected attack. "With tumult fierce and wild barbaric sound, The pagan hosts to mingle in the war: In fury driven, loud neigh the steeds, and The onset, urg'd by shrilly fife and drum, Strung every bow, eách vizor lower'd, each hand With brand or lance in rest, prepared to The terrible front, the charge of every band, The din of arms, all shouting onward dash. Teso ogni arco, calata ogni visiera, It is to be regretted that Signor Grossi did not favour us with more similes, like the one above quoted. The single blemish which we have remarked, consists in the 'de veltri il latrar,' because it is known that greyhounds never bark at all during the chase; neither are they formidable enemies to the lioness. These, however, are trifles. In some instances, perhaps, his lines are hardly sufficiently studied. We are not pleased to meet with such passages as the following: 'Annunzian la vittoria le campane,' with others of a similar description. Moreover, we could have wished to have seen fewer familiar and low expressions put into the mouths of the principal personages. Raymond calls Pagano a coward; and the latter had previously bestowed the epithet of 'infamous wretch' upon the other. Peter the Hermit arrives, and apostrophises them as 'A vile race depraved, From hell's most deep abyss in vengeance sprung? Cherboja calls the ambassador Peter a dog;' which the latter retorts upon him with you obscure, creeping worm.' The same Peter applies to the first crusaders the terms of impious, voracious robbers-a generation of vipers, traitors, and counter-parts of Judas, with similar elegant phraseology. Tancred calls his common soldiers, among the crusaders, pests of the camp, coward populace, impious race of vipers, greedy and villain souls, a reprobate race, &c. &c. The Romantici of Italy have so often asserted and repeated that it is only by following their school, that a poet must pretend to invention; and they have accused so loudly their opponents of servile imitation, that we should have expected at least originality from a Romantico. What, then, was our surprise on reading Signor Grossi's poem, the most important of any which we have yet received from an Italian of the romantic school! If poetry ought to be characterised as invention, we are sorry to declare, that the fifteen Cantos in verse, by Signor Grossi, are not poetry, inasmuch as they lay claim to no degree of invention. From the first to last, both the principal facts and most minute circumstances, even il flagellarsi flagellarsi a due mani,' by Pagano, all are copied from the histories of the crusades or legends of the middle ages; or from the productions of the poets already known, for the most part Italian, and even from that great Tasso, with whom Signor Grossi has ventured to compete. Yet, while in his character of a Romantico, he is by word obliged to decry the merits, in fact he renders to him the greatest homage by his frequent imitation, not only of the ideas, but of the versification and style, even to the very phraseology. We should, however, have supposed that the example of Lucan would have sufficed to deter any other writer from pursuing a similar track. All the incidents, however, are narrated with minute historical accuracy, in the style of a chronicler, embracing the least circumstance, if we only except the battle of Ascalon. This omission is not owing to the Lombards having borne no part in it, but because one of them, namely Pagano, took no part in it, being then about to expire of the wounds which he had received at the capture of Jerusalem. And, indeed, he richly deserved to have taken leave of the world some twenty years before, by the hand of the common hangman. Should these observations fall under the eye of Signor Grossi, we would earnestly suggest to him, to be cautious how he suffers himself to be carried away by the metaphysical precepts of a school foreign to the genius of Italy. Italian poetry has its peculiar character already formed, of which it is impossible to deprive it without destroying its entire principles, its very language, and its literature, by means of another middle age. This genius is founded upon the works of about six of the greatest poets in the world, whether we choose to refer them to the classical or to the romantic school. These formed themselves upon the schools of the Greeks and the Romans, and followed paths very opposite to those pursued by the modern Italian romantici. They left works of a stamp wholly distinct from what is now imprest upon the poetical works of Italy, by our authors of the romantic school. We would advise Signor Grossi not to be elevated by the praises of a few fanatical innovators, and not to imagine that to succeed in pleasing his contemporaries, is enough to constitute the reputation of a great poet. None were ever more extolled, or more popular than Marini: who is there at this time bold enough to commend his works? We could wish Signor Grossi, then, to reflect, that between the servile imitation of the ancients, and the extravagance that scorns every rule, there exists a just medium, which we could desire to see him pursue, no less out of regard to his own reputation than for the honour of Italy. ART. XI. ART. XI.-E. J. Stagnelii Samlade Skrifter. The collected Works of E. J. Stagnelius. Edited by L. Hammarsköld. Stockholm. 1824-25-26. STA TAGNELIUS was one of those truly poetic beings to whom Goethe's beautiful comparison, likening the life of a poet to the gentle, ever-working existence of the silkworm, may be justly applied. He was so thoroughly a poet, that all his thoughts, words, deeds, and even his errors and excesses, bore the stamp of poetic impulse. He is remarkable for a strain of deep melancholy, a profound mystical intuition of life and nature, and a longing for the moment when the imprisoned anima might burst its earthly tenement, and soar to the pleroma, as he terms it— the purer regions of celestial air. These sentiments, cherished by the philosophy of Schelling, and the gnostic doctrines of the Nazareens, contained in the Adam's Book,* distinguish the poems of Stagnelius from all that we have seen of Swedish poetry. Among foreign poets, we can only compare him with the German Novalis. Both thought they saw in this visible world merely the symbolic expression of a more ecstatic order of things, and both were early summoned to those blissful regions after which they so fervently aspired-whose bright effulgence seems to have enchanted their mental gaze while yet inhabitants of earth. Of the three volumes before us, the first contains the epic poems of Stagnelius, which are, Wladimir the Great, Blenda and Gunlög, with two epic fragments; the second, his dramatic pieces, among which are five tragedies; and the third, his didactic poems, the Lilies of Sharon (a collection of religious lyrics), elegies, idyls, sonnets, romances, and translations. This valuable treasure was the fruit of a poetic career of about eleven years, from 1812 to 1823. His epic poems are, we think, his least successful efforts. Among them, Wladimir occupies the first place for vivid description, and also for the purity of the hexameter. The subject of the poem is, the Campaign of Wladimir, the famous Russian prince, against the Byzantine town of Theodosia, and his conversion to Christianity by the beautiful sister of the Greek EmBasilius. Blenda' is founded on a Swedish story of the peror Valiant Women of Smaland, who, by a kind of Sicilian Vesper, destroyed the Danes who had invaded their country during the absence of the Smalandian Warriors. *Edited by the late Dr. Norberg, the famous Swedish orientalist, and published at Lund. VOL. I. NO. I. S The |