THE LITERATURE OF THE VICTORIAN AGE.

IBy J. D. Davis.]

THIRD PAPER.-POETRY.

TB% Iwt half century hoa listened to many poets, bat to only one or two of extraordin- Many good, and not a few niliyfine, poems have been written, but a wall pottion of them can be con.id «J fit to rank with the productions of the !™at masters of song whom all sections of ittfoi an d readers delight to praise. The itodhas been prolific in poeti destined to rLne obscure, whose names are before !£iclally the middle portion, may truth- EKbe characterised as barren, sterile not 22.it in poetry bat in other species of SStfure. Earlylin the fifties Macaulay in vu*iUty more (han once deplored "the !«jie»bly enervated stats of literatme," his opinion that tbe general Tjirtb of good books whs one element in iha ««esa of his '' History." Whether he 1 ' _joht of wrong in the latter surmise we TJn O t pretend to decide ; but moat people •rfll be inolined to think that his great work Slid n»va succeeded even in an un -llnled elut of high-class literature. But Si Moect of affairs has uitrvellously 2«ttMdsince Macauhy made the entries to, and he would write, were !««live in a different tone now. n to 'difficult, not to say impossible, to •uuihr the poets of recent years, though £!« «c several w«H-«i*tked groups, or Sknols. as they are sometimes called. The !fsram and trumpet" school has gone oat v fashion. Scott was the most eminent ™w of it but he does not come within Z $od under survey. Macaulay and Kn are its best known represen- Ss,e7of our day, and their success has Of the famous "Lays," rSeen thonsand copies were sold m the Kayearsaftertheirpublication; twenty "miLtisand dnriug the next decade. Ihey w« «own too hackneyed for quotation, SSI they are scarcely distiuetivj of the 5m«L Had they appeared thirty years X, it is fflrt'y *hat they wonld have S as successful. Not so, S*«ver with the works of another group Jrooete whoße brightest lights are item Swinburne and Dante Gabriel ftamtti. They worship beauty, and sing JZtj'g praises in verse of exquisite \lody. It has been said that numbers S-harmonious than theirs cannot be com !!ed by any future English poet. They Cnreached high-water mark. They may «Uyb« equalled, but not surpassed. The Wees of these Rogers, though not a umorons band, make up for their fewness Wtbeir enthusiasm; and, it must be eon- Wed. they look with some contempt upon juinultitude whose relish for the beautiful knot quite so keen or so absorbing as theirs, totirhoie love for truth, truth whether muted or smooth and beautiful to behold, is Sore powerful. Mr 1). 6. Rossetti wai aiater m well as poet, ana both the arts he Krtedheadorned. It will be remembered ir Kossetti was the fonnder of the oiiu Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. While rtfflbnder age, he joined with J. S, Millais, jIbM Huat, Thomas Woolner, and one jrtfo others eveu younger than himself, in ib attempt to replace the trivialities of jaliita art with originality, power, and (otrectaeeß. Though greeted from the com- Deacemeat witl? unsp«rrig ridicule and coctemptnotw criticism, the band were able, »hen they had growu out of their first andities and extravagances, to exert npon a widely felt and healthy influence. me of his sonnets take the froat rank Bang their kind, and almost the foremost iietin that rank. Mr Kossetti died in his lime, a victim to the use of chloral, on iibc Sunday last year. Mr Swinburne, ttaijh a very sweet singer, is not , great one. Bis range is limited; iim*s not very numerous; and even his maiuUty not rich. Oae bald innovation ii hw attempted, and that with striking ! urne; he has cone back to the subjects and ito farms of the Greek drama, into which lehat inspired for the time a new life. Qu of Mr Bwinburrjo's heroes is Victor fop! and the great French poet cannot fipfuled to have influenced his feebler I^Ssh admirer. Th« admiration of Mr hinbnrne for his foreicn master msy be tod of by the dedication of his tragedy Hilary Stuart." It is addressed to M. te Hugo as "the greatest man of ijBS, the chief of living poete, the first buustof hia age." Mr Swinburne baa tied a well merited reputation as a critic. urn published elaborate studies of iltbp«re, Charlotte B:onU.:, and William Ik JSniost the group of poets whose m inspiration finds its scarce in their ts> of beauty, a serious charge m lodged a few years since, which w not, we believe, without a cor t&n and alterative effect. Ttiey were lad the " Fleshly School," some of whoso eraons poems overstepped the bounds itommon deceacy. They sought to dcs- Minings altogether too Bacred for the pi eat. They revealed to open gaze thought to be kept inviolably private. Iflhocked and disgusted most ordinary aoDa,includiDg those whose verves are not jjtesensitive. Their admirers might sacri itlieir feelings ou the altar of beauty, iSpplaud all that the high pricata ileir worship should be pleated to utter. kt the ordinary intelligent public de- Wed » little more coruideratioo, some rilni exhibition of reverence and venera a; and above all, a modicum of modssty 4 parity. The evidence adduced was bning in its character. Those who want •sitiew it can either search through the (lllfflfis published by the accosed poets, or i.tai discover it in one of the magazines 'iteen years ago. When successful In •etMarch, let them forbear reading what tyhsTc lighted upon to their families. IVneat for men, not milk for babes. Ktßobert Browning and Mr Tennyson UMatly of an age ; the former was born '12, the latter three years before ; and "With evident their careers are drawing ''dose. They have both, been before the "Idforan unusually lengthened period. Irayeara before the beginning of the pre- W leign, Mr Browning pabliahed his 'fuieelius" ; while Mr Tennyson had pHorth poems, in association with a num. Stntten by hia brother, us early as 1827. Wtwo poets have continued to add to i&npntations by worka in their respec- diverse Btyles at pretty frequent alOU^ and their writings consequently wWVgoodly number of volumes. M'

Browning's books have never yet beep issued In a cheap form (pirated cdi ; tioHS in Germany and America ex . cepted), acd herein lies one reason why be remains a comparatively unknown poet. Another, and the main, reason is the difficulty of comprehending him. The ordinary reader finds as much trouble in fetting at his meaning as Gilead P. Beck ' id, in the "Golden Butterfly." One can- , not help thinking that Mr Browning might have taken a little more pains to be clear and intelligible. What his object is in being obscure is not very obvious. It cannot be to add to his fame. Of fame he must be indifferent, for, if he is not under* stood in his own day, he is herdly likely to become plainer and more' comprehensible as time rolls on. Spenser was considered hard to read by his contem poraries ; and we, who come three centuries after, do not find him to have improved in this respect It is a significant fact that in London a Browning Society or Club has been founded, the avowed object of whose members is to fathom the' poet's meaning, and make rough places smooth. It would be a good plan, to be acted on before it is too late, if the distinguished poet were to publish annotations on his own works, relieving obscurity wherever occurring. But then there is the danger that the commentary wonld be more involved and intricate than the text Mr Browning caa write in a popular style when ha likes, as the well-known " Pied Piper of Hamelia " testifies. He can also write beautiful lyrics, in one of which occurs the fine allusion to the "wise thrush " who " . . . . aloga each sons twice over, (.eat y »v ihould think be never ootUd rooopt axe The tint flue OMelees rapture." In another there is this graphic picture, as compact as Tennyson could make it «— " Sunset ran, one glorious blood-rod, reeking Sato Blolßb "mid tie banting, (all ia face. Trafalgar lay; In the dimmest north-eaat distance, dawned Gibraltar, grand and ww." Mr Browning's earliest poem, " i'aiacelsus," has for its moral the impossibility of attain ing a high und far-off ideal at one single bonad. Faracetaus is a restless spirit who lived in the sixteenth century, haunted with a vague sense of power, aod ambitious to rave toe level of the human race, Ie is dramatic in form — that to which Mr Browning's genius is best suited. In more propitious times he would have been reckoned among the best of British play wrights, but has adapted his methods of communicating bis . thought*—as he was bound to do if he wanted to aacure an audience at all — to the demands and fashions of the age. Mr Browning's longest poem, " The King and the Book," contains twenty-one thousand lines. It gives, each from a different point of view, ten diilerent versions of a single story, drawn from Italian sources, besides another outline of the tale in the prelude to the whole. Life is too short for this sort of thing; and the poem in question is likely to be cited in »ome future day as an example of what human patience and endurance can accomplish. But Mr Browning's chief excellence lies in the subject-matter of his compositions, and that places him | high among .English geniuses, in spite of whatever faults of manner may disfigure j some of his work. His thoughts are those of a great intellect. His delineations of character prove his profound knowledge of human nature. And his love of truth, and the incorporation of so much of it in his writings, is the sale which will, If anything will, keep those writings from decay. We do not mean to say that all compasitions characterised by truth will endure; but wo do say that no composition can live which is made up of falsehood and inaccuracy. With Mr Browning's name U naturally associated that of his wife, who was the greatest English poetess that has appeared. As Elizabeth Barrett she attained great celebrity. Before Mr Browning had pub lished " Paracelsus" she had come before the public with various poems, and a trans lation of the great drama of "Prometheus Bound." It is worth noting that the two women most, celebrated in the annals of modern English literature, Mrs Browning and !' George Eltat," possessed

both genius and high culture ; their natural parts were trained by severe and prolonged studies. They afford another proo., -wore another needed, of the fact thatperievtion and trne success are not attained even by the best equipped for the contest, without long and painstaking labour. Mr and Mrs Browning were married in 1846, and, till the year IS6I, when death removed her, the lady was the untiring helpmeet of her ; husband and hi* fellow-worker. A romantic ' poem by Mrs Browning, entitled " Lady Geraldine's Couttahip," is said to have had its origin in her acquaintance with her future husband; and it describes how a noble lady fell in love with a peasant, whom she blesem with her hand and fortune. Mra Browning's ''moat mature" work ap peared in 1856, five years before her death. It is called "Aurora Leigh," and narrates the growth of a poet's miad, a subject which had previously occupied Wordsworth and certain leaser luminaries. The story contains passion, philosophy, and metaphysical discussion, combined with commonplace con versation, the last being inserted possibly to relieve the tension. But it i« not by her loosest and moct sustained efforts that this lady has become known ; it is by her lyrics and nhorter piece*. Perhaps the most famous, and deservedly so, is "The cry of the children," which waa sug gested by the hardship endured by ths young workers in factories and workshops. Its motive is tout) similar to that of Hood's " Song of the Shirt" It begins :— "Do ye hear the children weeping, O my brothers, Ere the sorrow comes with years I They are leaning their young beads against their mothers. And that cannot stop their tears.1' We quote in fall stanza next to the last— "And well may the children weep before yon I They are weary ere th«y rmn; They have never seen the sunshine, nor tbe Which is brighter than the sun. They Know the grief of man. without its wisdom; They Sink in man's despair, without its calm; Are slaves, without the liberty in Chriatdom, Are martyrs, by the panK without the palm: Aro worn as if with age, yet unretrievingly The harvest of iv memories cannot reap,— Are orphans ot the earthly love and heavenly; Let them weep t lot them weep 1" {To he Continued.)

The Pupils and the Judge.

The following "tkit" hits off rather happily the characteristics of out public school pupils, as well as the scholastic acquirements of some school committee men and other dignitaries of even higher preteniions. The district where the examination took place is mercifully kept secret At an examination of a public school ono of the scholars failed H a problem. The teacher said—"Ladies and gentlemen, I shall invite a gentleman of the audience to work out tlie sum on the board. John Smith, open the book and read that ques tion." The scholar obeyed and read out— "Add fifteen-sixteenth* andnine-elevenths." "Now, Director Buter, will you step to tbe blackboard and work it t" The director hesitated, ttten said, " Certainly," nnd ad vanced a step, but paused and asked the teacher, "Is it fair to put the children so difficult a problem?" "Oh, never fear," replied the teacher, "they will be equal to it." "Very well," said the director, "go on," The boy began the question—"Add fifteen-sixteentbß ." "No, ho," said the director, " I will not bo a party to over taxing the children's brains. I have con cieotious scruples against it, This foroing system is ruining the rising generation," and he gave back tbe chalk and left the room. " Well, Judge Castletown, will you favour us?" " I would do so with pleasure," replied the Judge, "but I have a case coming on in my court iv a minute or two," and he left. "Director Middleton, we roust fall back on you," said the teachev, smilin?. "Oh," said the director "I pa«s—l mean I decline in favour of Director Jefferson," " Well, that will do," replied the tencher ; "Mr Jefferson, will you favour us?" "I would certainly—that is of course," replied Mr Jefferson, "but—ahem 1 I think it should be referred to a commit-Why bless me, 111 never catch it Good bye. Some other time," and he left "I know Judge

Southtiold wilt not refuse," said the teacher, and the Judge srepped promptly up to the blackhoard amidst a round of applause from the andience. "Add fifteen-sixteenths—" A dozen heads west up as the Judge made the first run. " Well, what is it ?" asked the teacher. " He's got the denominator on top of the line 1" cried the boys in a chorus. • Tery_ good, boys, very good; I see you are attentive," said the Judge, as he rubbed out tbe figure*, turned red and began again, but was interrupted by the class callinc out, "Now he's got the nu merator and denominator under the line 1" "Aha ! you young rogues, you're sharp, I see,''said tbe Judge, jocosely, and again commenced. " That ain't a fraction at all I It'B one thousand aod five hundrad and six teen !" wag the cry that hailed the Judge's new combination of figures. " Keally, Mr Teacher," ejaculated tbe Judge. ''I must compliment you on the wonderful proficiency of your scholars in algebra. I won't tire their patience any more." " Oh, go on, go on," said the teacher; and again the Judge wrote some figures in an off-handed manner. ' That isn't a fraction! Its six thousand one hundred and fifty-one I" yelled the boys. "Mr Teacher," said the Judge, "it would be ungenerous on my part and imply an un worthy suspicion as to your efficiency to pat those extraordinarily bright children additionaljtests ; I would not, I could not Ob, excuse me. There's Brown 1 I've im portant business with him. Sheriff, I want to see you," and be left Some time after wards a boy was brought before Justice Soatbfield for throwing stones in the streets. "John," said the Jud^e sternly, " were you the boy that rushed in uchool on Menday while £ was working out that problem»" " Ye*, sir," waa the reply, John got thirty day*.

Railroad Robberies in France.

BAILBOA.D robberies are common on French railways. Within a short period four assaults on passengers were reported in the French journals. In one instance a lady proceeding from Lyons to Paria was robbed during her Bleep of all her jewellery and money. Last month a young man was found with a bullet through nia head on the arrival of a train at Maneilles, he olio having been robbed of c insiderable property. The two other robberies were committed on the Vlncennes line by the same in dividual. The first victim was a trades man's wife. She was alone in the carriage when the train ttarted, but at the Bastille station a respectably dressed man jumped in and seated himself oppo site to her. A conversation ensued, and nothing unusual occurred antil the train entered' a tnnnel. Then the ruffian, taking his neat coat, which he kept across hi> Knees, threw it ovtr|the woman's head, threw her to the floor, and, threatening to strangle her if she made any outcry, robbed her of all she possessed and made good bis escape. On the same day another woman met with a similar occurence on the same line, the robber being by description the same individual who perpetrated the other out rase, and again he succeeded in esc iping, after having robbed the woman by the same process as previously related. Thesß repeated assault* may in the course ot time impress upon the conservative minds of the railroad companies the necessity of adopting the American style of carriages, in which such outrages are impossible.

A Drunken Legislature.

Mineapolis is the headquarters of the temperance movement in the State, of Minnesota, but its Legislature is said to be in urgent need of temperance reform. For drunkenness, profanity, and obscenity, the Legislature is said to be without a rival in this or any other State, as may well be believed when it is known that at the closing session members of the Senate became so drunk as to roll from their chairs to the floor.—" Pall Mall Gazette."

'• Oh, you donkey I"—Why may a snow, (hoe be considered as almost identical with a midnight murderer ?— Because oae is a vwkc-tuiu and the other an tws-assiu.

HUMOROUS CLIPPINGS.

Come, now ! — When a chemist and druggist discharges his assistants by saying he "can dispense with their services," how can he expect to get on with his business ? Why, very well; because, don't you see 2 he dispenses without them. Grocer, who has lately joined the Volun teers, practising in his shop :—"Bight, left, right, left. Four paces to the rear, march 1" — falls down trapdoor into the cellar. Grocer's wife, anxiously :" Ob, Jim, are you hart?" Grocer, savagely, Iras with dipnity : " Go away, worn mi ; what do you know abont war ?" Down the stairs tripped England's Queen, With noble air and majestic mem. When something tangled the Royal feet, And with some abruptness eh* took a seat. Then tho doctor qoickly announced that she Had badly bartered and bruised her knee, * Which much clearly prove to a thinking man That royalty is built on no common plan; For should you or I thus apruptly sit, Our knees would not feel the bump a bit. A suspicioua-looking transient customer, who had very recently arrived, stepped into a first-class hair-dressing t scatilishment for the purpose of having a shave, the other day, and while the lather was being laid on, he remarked that he supposed there were a good many men who failed to pay their shaving scores. ■' No, sir,'' said the barber. "No, sir, I used to give credit, but I never do now—in fact, nobody ever asks for tick any more." "How's that?" asked the customer. "Well, you see," said the barber, trying the edge of the razor on hia thumb nail, " I had a set or stiff* who used to ask me to chalk it down. I got tired oi keeping books, and I adopted a new system. Whenever I have any of these standbys, I put a little nick in his nose with, my razor, and keep tally that way. They got so they did'nt want to run bills." There was a tremor in tho customer's voice as he enquired from benuath the lather, "Do you object to beiug paid in advance?" A MASHING YARN. " Now tell me true," the maidon said, And raising high hor regal head She kisied beneath his moustache rod— " Wos't ever mashed before f Ho trembled llko an aupnn loaf. And hid his eyes in mute, dumb, jrriaf, And then ho Bhocked her fond belief— "Yes, I'vo been mashed afore!" "Oh! woe Is me," tho maidon cried ; " I almost wished I could have died Before this shock came to my pride— So you've been mashed afore J" "How many mashes V then sho cries, And looking up with streaming eyes She listens to her lover's Jios— " A dozen, less or more!" " Ah! Well, I oaro not, so I'm last;" And roum his nockher arms sho cast, " Farewell tho mashes of tho past— Your mashing days are o'er." A lecturer was once lecturing about vege tables, and, sot knowing much about them, tho audience were enjoying plenty ot fun and getting roars of laughter, "Silencoi" exclaimed the lecturer. " Could any ot this large assembly possibly toll me tbe nearest thine to a turnip?" " Why," replied a wit, " your head, sir." 11 Put That in Your Pipe and Smoke It." —They were out walking. He was smok ing a monstrous pipe, She was in a mood for conundrums, and gently whispered, ■' Tom, can yon tell me why that pipe re sembles you?" He didn't speak for the next two seconds or so; be bad an idea that he was a "pleasant companion," or something such like, but didn't choose to say so; he only raised his eyebrows won deringly and said, "No, darling." " Well," replied the fair one, "It's because it's wooden-headed." They don't know each other now. This was a club dialogue and its sequel: Q.—"What are you smokina ?" A,—" An imported Havana." Q.—" How much does it cost?" A.—" A quarter." Q. " How many do you smoke a day V A. "Half-ai dozen." Q.— "How long have yon smoked 1" a.—"Thirty years." Advioe —"My friend, with that amount of money you could have bought a hou»e on Fifth Avenue." The parties quitted the Bruns wick and strolled up town. As they came near the Windsor, the smoker asked: Q.—-" You never smoke?" A.—"Never." Sarcastic reply—"Then point out your house." Intimate with 'Em.—The other day a pompous little fellow at a dinner table was boastisg of the great men with whom he was on intimate terms, He was in constaut correspondence with Longfellow, bad lonclied with Tennyson, was in friendly relations with the frince of Wales, and, in short, knew eveiy thing mid everybody. At length a quiet individual at tbe farther end of the room broke in on the conversation with the question, "My dear fir, did you happen to know the Siamese twins* when they were in this country?" Our hero, who evidently had a talent for lying, but □o real genius, at once replied, "The Siamese twins, sir? Yea, sir. I became very intimate with one of them, but I never hid the good tortune to meet the other."

Curious suicides.

Five carious suicides are leported from Europe. Two of them occurred at Monte Carlo, one being that of a Lyons com mercial traveller, who lost £350 belonging to his employer; the other that of Count Mastini, who had lost heavily at the gamine; tables. Two of the others occurred in Paris and in the (same house. A young man had embezzled 40,000 francs. Ho had been pressed te induce bis aunt, with whom he lived, to sell her shop to make good the loss, but he refused to do this, and offered to pay back the sum oat oi his salary. His employers declined to accept that form of settlement, and took steps to prosecute him. In consequence of this unhappy state ol affairs, both he and his aunt thot themselves through the head. The fifth case of suicide comes from Gotba, and is the soquel to a murder. Freiherr Yon Wnnßonbeim, a ducal Minister, waicossiug the cast la park one morning when he was shot deud by a nun, who thereupon shot lam-elf and died soon afterward*. Piivatc veußC*nce, hav ing something to do with politics, is be lieved to have been the motive in the case of the murder.

The Great Wall of China.

*N American engineer, who, being en gaged in the construction of a railway in China, has had ususually favourable oppor tunities of examining the famous Groat Wall, built to obstruct tbe incursions of the Tartars, gives the following account of this wonderful work : *'The wall is 1728 miles long, 18 feet wide, and 15 feet thick at the top. Iho foundation throughout is of solid grunlte, tho remainder of compact masonry. At intervals of between 200 and 300 yards, tower.) liae up 25 to 40 feet high anil 24 in diameter. On the top of the wall and on both sides of it are ninsonry parapets, to en able the defenders to pass tmsoen from one tower to another. The wall itself is curried from point to point in a perfectly straight line, across valleys and plains and over hills, without the slightest regard to the configuration of the ground, sometimes nlungin? down into abys.-031000 feet deep. Brooks and rivers are bridged over by the wall, while on both banks of larger .streams strong flanking towers are placed."

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STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, JUNE 16, 1883.



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