The longer and more ambitious
poems of Tennyson and Longfellow are interesting, but they lack the
strength, vigor and greatness of design which are inseparable from all
the noblest works of art.
They are written to please, rather than to educate the human race. Their
shorter pieces are the best ones. Whittier's chief excellence is to be
found in his ballads; in the "Wreck at Rivermouth," "Skipper Ireson,"
"The Relief of Lucknow," "Barbara Frietchie" and others. Nothing is more
rare than a fine ballad. Coleridge's ballad of the "Ancient Mariner" is
probably the greatest English poem written since Milton's time, and
there are many old English ballads which are nearly equal to it. The
ballad of "Mary Garvin," simply as a work of art, takes the first place
among Longfellow's poems. Tennyson and Whittier both tried their hands
on the siege of Lucknow, and Whittier carried off the prize.
His verses are always sensible, healthy and elevating. Complaint has
been made that they are too much haunted by the spectre of his
schoolmate; but without saying this, we could wish that such an immature
affection had been replaced afterwards by a deeper and more manly
attachment. He was assisted in the arrangement of his collection of
poetry (which Lowell and other good critics considered the best we have)
by his poetical friend Miss Lucy Larcom, and this was chiefly no doubt
that she might receive a share of the profits from its publication.
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