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"Seasons." Still more in matter than in style does Thomson deserve to be called the founder of a school. He brought men back to "Nature, the vicar of the Almighty Lord;" he taught them how much there is in the common sights and sounds of country life-or rather what they in their ignorance called common-that is full of beauty and of poetry; and thus he awakened a feeling of which there is no trace in the great poets-for great they are, in spite of this deficiency-who sat, in the judgment of that age, upon the highest seats of Parnassus.

A word or two must be said, before parting with this true poet, about what some critics deem his greatest achievement-" The Castle of Indolence." This poem, which, as I have stated, was published not long before his death, is written in the Spenserian stanza. As the title implies, it is a dreamy poem, full of lovely imagery and flutelike music-a poem which charms us by the sweetness of versification and of fancy, while leaving no very strong impression on the mind.* The first book especially is in every line a poet's work, and yet, unless my judgment or prejudice be at fault, the poem is too shadowy and unsubstantial to afford complete satisfaction. The reader does not care to keep it by him-does not return to it again and again, in order to secure some passage

*Gray's fine ear for musical verse does not seem to have been much charmed by Thomson's rhythm; for he gives to the "Castle of Indolence" the cold praise of containing "some good stanzas."

floating dimly in the memory. Yet here, too, as in the "Seasons," there is a largeness of conception, an expansiveness of thought, which prove that the imagination of Thomson was a faculty by no means cabined and confined.

[The "Seasons" and "Castle of Indolence" are published in countless editions, and may be bought for a few pence. Thomson's poetical works, which contain much that young readers will not care to look at, fill two volumes of the cheap Aldine series. A sug. gestive essay on Thomson will be found in the "Recreations of Christopher North," and Mr. Saintsbury's appreciative criticism in Professor Ward's "Selections" does ample justice to the special merits of the poet. Read also Hazlitt's judgment of Thomson in his "Lectures on the English Poets." George Bell and Sons.]

CHAPTER X.

THE GEORGIAN POETS.

THOMAS GRAY AND WILLIAM COLLINS.

Thomas Gray,

1716-1771.

Two years before the death of Pope, Thomas Gray first gave public proof of his genius as a poet, and the very year of Pope's death witnessed the advent in London of "a literary adventurer, with many projects in his head and very little money in his pocket." No poets could be less indebted to their illustrious predecessors. They took an independent course, and gave a new impulse to English verse. Gray and Collins were great lyric poets in an age scarcely qualified to appreciate this noble gift, but to both ample justice has been done since. The bulk of their poetical works is very inconsiderable, and you may read in an hour or two all that they have written worthy of immortality. For slight as is the productiveness of these poets, the work they have left behind them.

William

Collins, 1720-1756.

Q

is by no means wholly of the highest order. The pure gold of their poetry occupies a tiny casket, but it is one of the rarest value.

Of the two, Gray is chronologically the foremost, and he is also the better known. He has written the most popular poem in the language, and some charming letters, which, without being pedantic or laboured, are of the finest literary flavour.* In his love of nature, and in his accurate observation of natural objects, Gray showed an affinity to the poets of our century; in his careful regard to form, and in his use of what may be called the current poetical diction, he proved himself in harmony with his own. His life was that of a laborious student. He read much but wrote little, and his vast learning, which is said to have been alike extensive and profound, had the effect perhaps of repressing his creative power. He felt strongly the limitation of his genius. "If I do not write much," he said to Horace Walpole, "it is because I cannot.”

Thomas Gray was born in London on the 26th of December, 1716. He was educated at Eton, and was in due course admitted a pensioner of Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is said to have left the university without taking a degree, and on the invitation of Horace Walpole travelled with him

* "Gray's letters," said Rogers, "have for me an inexpressible charm; they are as witty as Walpole's, and have what his wanttrue wisdom."

When his friend Nicholls expressed astonishment at the extent of his learning, Gray replied, "Why should you be surprised?-—for I do nothing else."

as his companion in France and Italy. A quarrel separated the friends, the fault of which Walpole generously acknowledged. He said that the poet was too serious a companion for him. "Gray was for antiquities, whilst I was for perpetual balls and plays. The fault was mine." Gray returned home by slow stages to find, on the death of his spendthrift father, that he could not afford to follow the profession designed for him-that of a lawyer. His true vocation was "to scorn delights," or rather to seek for his delights, as so many men have done, in patient and constant. study. In 1741 he seems to have fixed his residence in Cambridge, and within the precincts of a university which has few worthier sons than he, the famous poet died in 1771, a few days before the birth of Sir Walter Scott. You remember that the spot which suggested the "Elegy" was Stoke Pogis churchyard, and there, appropriately enough, Gray was buried. He rests, as Mr. William Rosetti finely says, "on the scene of his greatest triumph, like a warrior on his final and victorious battle-field."

"A great wit," says Cowley, "is no more tied to live in a vast volume than in a gigantic body; on the contrary, it is commonly more vigorous the less space it animates." The general truth of this statement is open to question-our greatest writers have almost always been prolific writers; but it is singularly applicable to Gray and also to Collins. The

Elegy written in a Country Churchyard" has a charm which appeals to all hearts. The poet said

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