Poems. Ed., with notes, by W.S. Dalgleish

thought from all nice subjectivities, remote allusions, and hidden meanings. Their tone, too, is eminently manly and healthful. The crowning distinction of their character is, that they are genuine transcripts of nature. There is, withal, a delicious artlessness and abandon in Scott's delineations both of nature and of human nature, which forms the most enduring charm of his works. Without their splendid descriptions of Scottish scenery, and their apt allusions to Scottish feudal history, Scott's poems would, to the great mass of readers, be "flat, stale, and unprofitable." Indeed, the command he had over these materials, and the manner in which he used them, constituted the great secret of his poetical art.

His power as a descriptive poet lies in the grasp which he takes of the grander and broader features of natural scenery: he deals in bold outlines and striking effects, rather than in minute details. His fancy is apt rather than rich, homely rather than brilliant. The elements, or rudimentary ideas, which go to the composition of his pictures, are surprisingly few.

The topographical element bulks very largely in Scott's poems. They are historical romances set in a geographical framework. The skill with which he manipulates the names of his favourite haunts, and the evident love with which he dwells upon them--investing them, as he does, with a romantic interest-form one of the chief sources of his popularity. It is to this strong local colouring, as much as to anything else, that his tales are indebted for that vraisemblance which endears them to the hearts of the Scottish people. It is this that makes the south and centre of Scotland preeminently the Land of Scott. It was this that drew so many pilgrims to his shrine; so much so that Mr. Cadell could write: "It is a well-ascertained fact, that, from the publication of 'The Lady of the Lake,' the post-horse duty in Scotland rose in an extraordinary degree; and, indeed, it continued to do so regularly for a number of years, the author's succeeding works keeping up the enthusiasm for our scenery which he had thus originally created."

Scott's power as a narrative poet—as an expositor rerum gestarum— is only second to his power in description. Next to his descriptions of the Trosachs and the Cuchullin mountains, we rank his account of the combat between Fitz-James and Roderick Dhu; of the heroic capture of Turnberry Castle; of the deaths of Marmion, De Boune,

and De Argentine. These narratives abound in life and vigour. He sweeps through them with untired wing, and with a glorious sense of freedom and power. It must be admitted that the progress of his stories is often laboured, from the weight of historical and antiquarian detail which they have to carry. In the descriptive passages the reader is sometimes apt to lose his way in the maze of geographical digressions. But in the scenes of heroism and daring adventure, the interest never flags: the poet puts forth all his unfettered strength, and carries his reader along with him in his invincible career.

The delineation of character in Scott's poems-and in this respect they differ from his novels-is subordinate both to the descriptive and to the narrative elements. In no case does the development of the plot depend upon the analysis or development of character. The interest depends rather upon the concurrence of events than upon the triumph of principles. The reader's sympathies are diffused over the general result, rather than centred in the fate of particular personages. Subordinate characters are sometimes more estimable than the ostensible heroes. Cranstoun, the hero of "The Lay of the Last Minstrel," makes a poor figure in the poem, and excites far less interest than William of Deloraine. Roderick Dhu is the real hero, the central character, of "The Lady of the Lake." Lord Marmion is " a haughty gallant, gay Lothario," a cavalier of the seventeenth century, clothed in the trappings of the sixteenth: the real hero of the poem is the Palmer, De Wilton. Ronald, the Lord of the Isles, is a selfish, faithless, and conceited Highlander. The true dénouement of the poem is not his marriage with the Maid of Lorn, but the triumph of Bruce at Bannockburn.

True to his character as a Ballad poet, Scott makes large use of the supernatural element. "The Lay of the Last Minstrel” is based upon, as it was suggested by, the legend of Gilpin Horner. The scene at the tomb of Michael Scott, in the same poem, is another weird fancy. In "Marmion," the host's tale of the Elfin Warrior, and the apparitions at the City Cross, are conceived in the same vein. The Augury of the Taghairm, or Oracle of the Hide, in "The Lady of the Lake," and the appearance of the phantom beacon in "The Lord of the Isles," we owe, in like manner, to that fondness for the purely romantic and supernatural aspects of the ballad which Scott had imbibed along with his admiration for Bürger's "Lenore" and

"Wilde Jäger." In this respect Scott bore the impress of his poetical birth; for he is reported to have said of the translation of Bürger's "Lenore" by William Taylor of Norwich: "This was what made me a poet. I had several times attempted the more regular kinds of poetry without success; but here was something that I thought I could do." And accordingly his own translation of that ballad was one of his earliest poetical efforts. But in his larger poems, with the partial exception of "The Lay," Scott, with the instinct of a poetical artist, keeps the supernatural element duly subordinate to their primary characteristics-narration and description.

If we were asked to appraise the poems contained in this volume, and to give a comparative estimate of their poetical worth, we should found our verdict upon the analysis of their outstanding features which we have now given. We should therefore unhesitatingly assign the first place to "The Lady of the Lake," as the poem in which vivid description and powerful narration are most successfully combined. We are inclined to give the second place to " The Lay of the Last Minstrel," on account of its romantic and distinctively ballad character. The first of Scott's great original poems, it was written at a time when his mind was saturated with ballad literature; it was produced in answer to a demand for a ballad; its scene is laid in the ballad district of Scotland; and it bears, both in its characters and in its language, proofs of its ballad origin, particularly of its indebtedness to "Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead." mion" may dispute this position with "The Lay," on grounds of historical interest and artistic structure, but not on those of natural feeling or poetical power. The last place remains for "The Lord of the Isles;" but it occupies the lowest rank in an honourable series. Though it is in many parts crude and disjointed, though it lacks unity of action and concentrated interest, it is yet full of national sentiment and heroic adventure.

"Mar

The great value of Scott's poems for educational purposes has been hitherto underrated, if, indeed, it has not been wholly overlooked. As a rule, their moral tone is unexceptionable. They present us with many noble types of gentle and heroic character. They are calculated to enlist the sympathies of the young on the side of truth, and goodness, and honesty, and moral as well as physical beauty. On the lower ground of usefulness in technical teaching, they may be turned

to excellent account. Not a few grammatical lapses and questionable constructions are to be found in them; but the general vigour of language and Shakespearean concentration of thought which characterize them, entitle Scott as a poet to a prominent place amongst English Classics.

The measure employed by Scott in all his longer poems, with the exception of "The Vision of Don Roderick," is iambic tetrameter, in rhyming couplets. This is the romantic measure of English, and specially of Scottish poetry, which Wace, Barbour, Wyntoun, Blind Harry, and other romantic chroniclers, systematically used. In modern times it was revived by Coleridge in his "Christabel ;" but Scott has the merit of having made it thoroughly popular. This measure, when pursued with unvarying regularity, as in the case of Scott's "Rokeby," is apt to become monotonous. To avoid monotony, Dunbar adopted a stanza consisting of four romantic couplets of tetrameters, each couplet followed by a trimeter in the same measure. Scott adopts several expedients for giving variety to his verse. Of these the following stanza from "Marmion" affords examples::

1. Trimeters are introduced (lines 4, 7, and 10).

2. The order of the rhymes is changed: sometimes alternate lines rhyme (lines 1 and 3, 2 and 4); sometimes the rhyming lines are separated by a couplet (lines 7 and 10).

3. Trochaic feet are introduced (e. g., " Résting",” in line 1).

4. Anapæstic feet are introduced (e. g., "-mìon' wás," in line 5; and "-tèring' glánce,” in line 9).

The rhythm of the poems is further relieved by the introduction of songs and ballads.