hteen years anything better has been said:--

"Undoubtedly the true poet addresses himself, in all his
conceptions, to the common nature of us all. Art is a lofty
tree, and may shoot up far beyond our grasp, but its roots are
in daily life and experience. Every bosom contains the elements
of those complex emotions which the artist feels, and every head
can, to a certain extent, go over in itself the process of their
combination, so as to understand his expressions and sympathize
with his state. _But this requires exertion_; more or less,
indeed, according to the difference of occasion, but always some
degree of exertion. For since the emotions of the poet during
composition follow a regular law of association, it follows that
to accompany their progress up to the harmonious prospect of the
whole, and to perceive the proper dependence of every step on
that which preceded, it is absolutely necessary _to start from
the same point, i.e._, clearly to apprehend that leading
sentiment of the poet's mind, by their conformity to which the
host of suggestions are arranged. _Now this requisite exertion
is not willingly made by the large majority of readers. It is so
easy to judge capriciously, and according to indolent impulse!_"

"Those different powers of poetic disposition, the energies of
Sensitive, of Reflective, or Passionate Emotion, which in former
times were intermingled, and derived from mutual support an
extensive empire over the feelings of men, were now restrained
within separate spheres of agency. The whole system no longer
worked harmoniously, and by intrinsic harmony acquired external
freedom; but there arose a violent and unusual action in the
several component functions, each for itself, all striving to
reproduce the regular power which the whole had once enjoyed.
_Hence the melancholy which so evidently characterizes the
spirit of modern poetry_; hence that return of the mind upon
itself, and the habit of seeking relief in idiosyncrasies rather
than community of interest. _In the old times the poetic impulse
went along with the general impulse of the nation._

"One of the faithful Islam, a poet in the truest and highest
sense, we are anxious to present to our readers.... He sees all
the forms of Nature with the '_eruditus oculus_,' and his ear
has a fairy fineness