Scribbleomania; or, the printer's devil's Polychronicon. A sublime poem / Edited by Anser Pen-drag-on, Esq. [pseud.] [i.e. S.W.H. Ireland].

  • William Henry Ireland
Date:
1815
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Scribbleomania; or, the printer's devil's Polychronicon. A sublime poem / Edited by Anser Pen-drag-on, Esq. [pseud.] [i.e. S.W.H. Ireland]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    With acumen keen depth of study survey’d, And if fancy in vestments of reason was ’ray’d ; For when sterling sense cannot genius bind fast, All efforts prove madness—the style mere bombast. style, without laying claim to the pathos which characterises a variety of that gentleman’s productions, notwithstanding his con- tempt for all the heretofore acknowledged rules of poetical com- position. Whensoever Mr. Southey issues from the press, we find him arrayed in a different costume, though one unvarying predeliction for the wonderful runs through the whole series of his poems. His Joan of Arc, hastily composed after the manner of Milton and other epic poets, though possessing merit, is par- ticularly deficient on the score of patriotism, as every Gallic chief is elevated to the rank of an hero, while our fifth Henry, Talbot, &c. are scarcely raised above the common walk of life. Thalaba the Destroyer, after the model of the Arabian Tales, is characterised by some bold but extravagant flights. Madoc, though generally pleasing, on account of the mild sentiments which breathe throughout that production, is nevertheless ren- dered irksome to the reader, at intervals, from insipidity and tameness of style. Kehama, diversified with the rhapsodies of 7 ha!aba, and the gentleness of the last mentioned poem, claims precedence above the rest; and whatsoever genius this writer may possess is certainly elicited from the work in question.
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