This little volume would have received an earlier notice, if we had been at all careful to proclaim our favorite books. The genius of this book is religious, and reaches an extraordinary depth of sentiment. The author, plainly a man of a pure and kindly1 temper, casts himself into the state of the high and transcendental obedience2 to the inward Spirit. He has apparently3 made up his mind to follow all its leadings, though he should be taxed with absurdity4 or even with insanity5. In this enthusiasm he writes most of these verses, which rather flow through him than from him. There is no composition, no elaboration, no artifice6 in the structure of the rhyme, no variety in the imagery; in short, no pretension7 to literary merit, for this would be departure from his singleness, and followed by loss of insight. He is not at liberty even to correct these unpremeditated poems for the press; but if another will publish them, he offers no objection. In this way they have come into the world, and as yet have hardly begun to be known. With the exception of the few first poems, which appear to be of an earlier date, all these verses bear the unquestionable stamp of grandeur8. They are the breathings of a certain entranced devotion, which one would say, should be received with affectionate and sympathizing curiosity by all men, as if no recent writer had so much to show them of what is most their own. They are as sincere a litany as the Hebrew songs of David or Isaiah, and only less than they, because indebted to the Hebrew muse9 for their tone and genius. This makes the singularity of the book, namely, that so pure an utterance10 of the most domestic and primitive11 of all sentiments should in this age of revolt and experiment use once more the popular religious language, and so show itself secondary and morbid12. These sonnets14 have little range of topics, no extent of observation, no playfulness; there is even a certain torpidity15 in the concluding lines of some of them, which reminds one of church hymns16; but, whilst they flow with great sweetness, they have the sublime17 unity18 of the Decalogue or the Code of Menu, and if as monotonous19, yet are they almost as pure as the sounds of Surrounding Nature. We gladly insert from a newspaper the following sonnet13, which appeared since the volume was printed.
The Barberry Bush.
The bush that has most briers and bitter fruit,
Wait till the frost has turned its green leaves red,
Its sweetened berries will thy palate suit,
And thou may’st find e’en there a homely20 bread.
Upon the hills of Salem scattered21 wide,
Their yellow blossoms gain the eye in Spring;
And straggling e’en upon the turnpike’s side,
Their ripened22 branches to your hand they bring,
I ‘ve plucked them oft in boyhood’s early hour,
That then I gave such name, and thought it true;
But now I know that other fruit as sour
Grows on what now thou callest Me and You;
Yet, wilt23 thou wait the autumn that I see,
Will sweeter taste than these red berries be.
点击收听单词发音
1 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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2 obedience | |
n.服从,顺从 | |
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3 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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4 absurdity | |
n.荒谬,愚蠢;谬论 | |
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5 insanity | |
n.疯狂,精神错乱;极端的愚蠢,荒唐 | |
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6 artifice | |
n.妙计,高明的手段;狡诈,诡计 | |
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7 pretension | |
n.要求;自命,自称;自负 | |
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8 grandeur | |
n.伟大,崇高,宏伟,庄严,豪华 | |
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9 muse | |
n.缪斯(希腊神话中的女神),创作灵感 | |
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10 utterance | |
n.用言语表达,话语,言语 | |
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11 primitive | |
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物 | |
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12 morbid | |
adj.病的;致病的;病态的;可怕的 | |
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13 sonnet | |
n.十四行诗 | |
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14 sonnets | |
n.十四行诗( sonnet的名词复数 ) | |
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15 torpidity | |
n.麻痹 | |
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16 hymns | |
n.赞美诗,圣歌,颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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17 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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18 unity | |
n.团结,联合,统一;和睦,协调 | |
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19 monotonous | |
adj.单调的,一成不变的,使人厌倦的 | |
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20 homely | |
adj.家常的,简朴的;不漂亮的 | |
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21 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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22 ripened | |
v.成熟,使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23 wilt | |
v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎;(指人)疲倦,衰弱 | |
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