Calls piety the parson's trade; * Cries out, 'tis shame, past all abiding, The world should still be so priest-ridden; That acts its pleasure, good or evil, (3.) TIMOTHY DWIGHT, LL.D., D.D., born 1752, died 1817, has been pronounced the father of American poetry, of the higher order, though his poetry is inferior to the productions of the best English writers, and also of the best Americar poets that have follow ed him. The "Conquest of Canaan," and "Greenfield Hill," are his principal productions, exhibiting splendor, gravity, and an exuberant fancy. (4.) Dr. LemuEL HOPKINS, Colonel HUMPHREYS, and some others, acquired celebrity by satirical pieces composed during the war. JOEL BARLOW, also, is known, but not very favorably, as author of the "Columbiad." He was more happy in his preparation of the "Hasty Pudding," and some other humorous pieces. It may gratify some to understand the origin of the name; he thus gives it: "Thee the soft nations round the warm Levant To hear the Pennsylvanians call thee Mush! But the smooth spoon just fitted to the lip (5.) A few years later appeared WILLIAM CLIFFTON, of Pennsylvania; ROBERT TREAT PAINE, of Massachu setts; and THOMAS G. FESSENDEN, of New-Hampshire. Their writings form what is called the transitive state of American poetry. Hitherto our poets had imitated too closely Dryden and Pope, but now began to pursue a more original and independent course. Their writings consist generally of short pieces, for the simple reason that poetry was not their business, but their recreation, their time being chiefly devoted to other pursuits. The period is approaching, however, wher poems of a more elaborate and finished character may be expected. SECTION II. (1.) JAMES K. PAULDING, better known as a novelist than a poet, has, however, written some good pieces. Among his prose works the most popular have been Salmagundi, which was written by him in connection with Washington Irving; John Bull and Brother Jonathan; The Dutchman's Fireside, and Westward Ho! (2.) JOHN PIERPONT, of Boston, Massachusetts; a charming writer. He has composed in almost every metre, and many of his hymns, odes, and other brief poems, are remarkable for melody and spirit. His ear lier poems have generally been composed with more care than the later. Many of them relate to moral and religious enterprises of the present day, of which he has shown himself a most eloquent and powerful advocate. It would be gratifying to multiply extracts from this generous poet; but we must restrict our selves to a few. The first is from his "Airs of Palestine," the result of his observations while traveling abroad in 1835 and 1836: "Greece and her charms I leave for Palestine. There purer streams through happier valleys flow, I love to breathe where Gilead sheds her balm, I love to walk on Jordan's bank of palm; I love to wet my foot in Hermon's dews; I love the promptings of Isaiah's muse! And deck my mossy couch with Sharon's deathless rose." NAPOLEON AT REST. "His falchion flash'd along the Nile, His hosts he led through Alpine snows; Here sleeps he now, alone! not one * * * * Alone he sleeps; the mountain cloud That night hangs round him, and the breath Of morning scatters, is the shroud That wraps the conqueror's clay in death. Pause here! The far-off world at last Breathes free; the hand that shook its thrones, And to the earth its mitres cast, Lies powerless now beneath these stones. Hark! Comes there from the Pyramids. And Europe's hills, a voice that bids The world be awed to mourn him? No: The only, the perpetual dirge That's heard there, is the sea-bird's cryThe mournful murmur of the surge, The cloud's deep voice, the wind's low sigh OBSEQUIES OF SPURZHEIM. "STRANGER, there is bending o'er thee Autumn's leaves shall fall and wither The study of such an author by the young must beget noble and virtuous sentiments, and tend tc purify the fountains of American literature. SECTION III. (1.) RICHARD H. DANA, of Massachusetts, has written po ems that are justly pronounced to be characterized by high religious purpose, simple sentiment, profound philosophy, pure and vigorous diction. The Bucaneer is his principal poem. The wretchedness of a depraved heart, the growth and operation of those harassing emotions which prey sometimes in the bosom of the guilty, are portrayed in vivid colors and with strong effect. The "Changes of Home" is of an opposite character. It is a poem of great beauty. Says an admirable critic, G. B. Cheever, "We are disposed to rank Mr. Dana at the head of all the American poets, not excepting Bryant; and we think this is the judgment which posterity will pass upon his writings. Not because he is su perior to all others in the eloquence of his language, and in the polished beauty and finish of his compositions; in these respects, Bryant has, in this country, no equal; and Mr. Dana is often careless in the dress of his thoughts. It will be long ere any one breathes forth the soul of poetry in a finer strain than that to the Evening Wind,' and Coleridge himself could hardly have written a nobler 'Thanatopsis.' But Mr. Dana has attempted and proved successful in a higher and more difficult range of poetry. He exhibits loftier powers, and his compositions agitate the soul with a deeper emotion. His language, without being so beauti ful and finished, is yet more vivid, concise, and alive, and informed with meaning. His descriptions of natural objects may not pass before the mind with such sweet harmony but they often present, in a single line, a whole picture before the imagination, with a vividness and power of compression which are astonishing. For instance: 'But when the light winds lie at rest, And on the glassy, heaving sea The black duck, with her glossy breast And again: The ship works hard; the seas run high A wild and shifting light.' Again, as a more general instance, and a more sublime one; speaking of the prospect of immortality: "Tis in the gentle moonlight; "Tis floating mid day's setting glories; Night, As one vast mystic instrument, are touch'd By an unseen living hand, and conscious chords In these respects in the power of giving in one word, as it were, a whole picture; in his admirable skill in the perspective, and in the faculty of chaining down the vast and the infinite to the mind's observation, he reminds us both of Collins and of Milton. But, above all, we admire Mr. Dana, more than any other American poet, because he "as aimed not merely to please the imagination, but to Touse up the soul to a solemn consideration of its future destinies." (2.) JAMES A. HILLHOUSE, of Boston, born 1789, died 1841. His best poem is "Hadad," a sacred drama, breathing the lofty thoughts and the majestic style of the ancient Hebrew prophets, to the study of which he was ardently devoted. "As a poet," says Griswold, "he possessed qualities seldom found united a masculine strength of mind and a most delicate perception of the beautiful. The grand characteristic of his writings is their classical beauty. Every passage is polished to the utmost; yet there is no exu berance, no sacrifice to false taste." His style may be seen in the following extract from his poem, "The Judgment :" Nearer the mount stood MOSES; in his hana The rod which blasted with strange plagues the realm |