O! should I ever dare profaneWith venal touch the hallow'd lyre,Let me be banish'd from the Muses' train;Ne'er let me feel their heart-ennobling fire!Unworthy of a Poet's glorious name,Let me be doom'd to everlasting shame! |
The writer of the following pages has beenin the habit, for many years, of amusing himselfwith the composition of Poetry. Oftenhas he been advised by his friends to publish;and at length, influenced by their persuasion,and feeling a sort of paternal fondness for theoffspring of his own brain, he ventures topresent this small volume to the notice ofthe Public.
It contains Poems of many different kinds,composed, of course, in as many varieties ofstyle; and the author has exerted his best[Pg iv]endeavours to render them worthy of approbation.The present times—he is well aware—areunfavourable for the publication of poeticalworks. The booksellers complain generallyof the little demand for them. Nevertheless,it is very improbable that Poetry,—if excellent,(as it ought to be to deserve the name,)should ever be totally neglected. The seedof poetic taste is sown by the hand of Naturein the souls of all men; though in a smallnumber only it is by culture brought tomaturity.
The author has exalted ideas of Poetry,He deems it—decidedly—the first of the FineArts. It is the most intellectual,—the most[Pg v]comprehensive,—the most powerful,—the mostdelightful,—and, also,—hear it, Utilitarians!—themost useful. In remote antiquity, as iswell known, it was chiefly instrumental inteaching and civilising the then-barbaroushuman race. To lure their wild minds intoreflection, it invested truth and morality withthe many-coloured garb of Fiction, and introducedthem, through their delighted imagination,to their understanding and their heart;while, by the charm of harmonious numbers,it soothed their fierce and licentious passionsinto submission to the laws of social life. Itwas believed to have something divine in itsnature, and was universally held in the highestveneration. From ancient times, even to this[Pg vi]day, it has continued to be a favourite studywith many of the most illustrious characters.
Finally,—and let this be for ever remembered,as conferring on it the highest honour!Poetry has been deemed worthy by the SacredWriters to be made an instrument in the causeof Religion; and by its sublime descriptionsit has assisted human imagination in forminggrand, and awful conceptions of the AlmightyCreator!
Park-Fields, Allesley, near Coventry,
22d January, 1840.