productions. Some of these, such as the ode To the Celandine, A Portrait, The Green Linnet, &c., possess unusual beauty. It is obvious to compare Wordsworth with Cowper; and, while the former in simplicity and correctness of diction rivals his great master, as well as in the preference for natural scenery, in his shorter poems; in The Excursion we miss the wonderful descriptive power and idiomatic force of The Task. Meritorious, too, as the simplicity and purity of his diction may be, his poetry, it must be admitted, verges not unfrequently on the commonplace in matter, and on the prosaic in form. The especial merit of The Excursion, we imagine, consists in the simple earnestness of tone which seems to pervade the poem: and, if it is not characterised by any very profound or positive views of the realities and the duties of human life, by drawing the mind away from the ordinary trifles of life to a sober contemplation of animate and inanimate Nature, chiefly in its humbler manifestations, which are too often passed by as undeserving of serious regard by the unthinking crowd, it is, at least, not without incentives to a high moral feeling even though it be of a somewhat negative, and merely contemplative kind. More fortunate than most of his poetic brethren, if without any very splendid triumphs, Wordsworth passed the greatest part of his career in calm and easy circumstances: a fact which, conjoined to his naturally equable and placid temperament, may explain the prevailing tone of contentment with the surrounding condition of things, and that sort of optimism which seems to characterise his writings. Yet it is remarkable that he, like his intimate friends Coleridge and Southey, began his career with the profession of a creed by no means in consonance with that of the prevailing orthodoxy. If his revolutionary aspirations had been less pronounced than those of the author of Wat Tyler or Joan of Arc, they appear in sufficiently striking contrast to his later expression of opinion. THE EXCURSION. HELLENIC FANCY. IN that fair clime the lonely herdsman, stretch'd And, in some fit of weariness, if he, When his own breath was silent, chanced to hear E'en from the blazing chariot of the sun, Towards the crescent moon, with grateful heart By echo multiplied from rock or cave) Swept in the storm of chase, as moon and stars When winds are blowing strong. The traveller slaked Gliding apace, with shadows in their train, Might, with small help from fancy, be transform'd The zephyrs fanning, as they pass'd, their wings, Despondency Corrected. EDUCATION-THE DUTY OF THE STATE. OH for the coming of that glorious time Them who are born to serve her and obey; For all the children whom her soil maintains By timely culture unsustain'd; or run To drudge through weary life without the aid And the rude boy-who, having overpass'd *Written in 1814. The Elementary Education Act-the first Act of the State (i.e. the influential Public as represented in the Legislature) to recognise this obligation-was passed in 1870. It remains to be seen whether the tardiness of the State in recognising such obligation is about to be atoned for, in some measure, by the quality of the instruction to be given in the national schools-whether, in short, the teaching is to continue to consist of bare facts and figures,' or to be for the future a real education; moral as well as intellectual, Ꮓ The sinless age, by conscience is enroll'd, Or turns the sacred faculty of speech To impious use--by process indirect Declares his due, while he makes known his need. To eyes and ears of parents who themselves Urge it in vain; and, therefore, like a prayer The unquestionable good. Discourse of the Wanderer, etc. A HERALD OF SPRING. PANSIES, lilies, kingcups, daisies, They will have a place in story: 'Tis the little Celandine. Eyes of some men travel far For the finding of a star: Up and down the heavens they go I'm as great as they, I trow, Since the day I found thee out, Modest, yet withal an elf Bold, and lavish of thyself; Since we needs must first have met Ere a leaf is on a bush, In the time before the thrush When we've little warmth, or none. Poets, vain men in their mood! Travel with the multitude: Never heed them: I aver That they all are wanton wooers. But the thrifty cottager Who stirs little out of doors, Joys to spy thee near her home: Spring is coming-thou art come! Comfort have thou of thy merit, |