"Gather ye now your squadrons in array " The signal trumpets,-and the standards high Were lifted, and for combat all prepared.'-pp. 51-54. There is, perhaps, a tinge of Mr. Atherstone's early disposition to bombast, to be traced by nice criticism through these lines; but it cannot be questioned that they exhibit the possession of no inconsiderable poetic power. Sardanapalus, who, with his ten hundred thousand fighting men, -a tolerably good number by the way, considering the statistics of Assyria, anno mundi 3200, or thereabouts, was encamped beyond the walls of Nineveh, receives the answer of the rebel hosts with fury, and both armies burn for the contest. Morning rises, and the din of preparation is heard in either camp. The march of the Assyrian host in advance upon the enemy is gorgeously described. On the other side the Medes hold to their ground in firm array, and preliminaries being arranged, Arbaces obtains an interview with the king. We hardly know of what politics we are at present, for there is such a singular determination in this ministry of ours to trample down the banners of every party, and to act for the public good alone, that we should not be surprised if they would sometimes side with the radicals, sometimes with the Tories, sometimes with the Whigs. Had we lived in the days of Sardanapalus, however, which we bless the stars was not the case, as we should not then have had the felicity of reviewing this poem, we should, undoubtedly, have been in the rebellious camp of Arbaces. He was a noble, brave, considerate warrior, a capital fellow for leading a host of insurgents. There is nothing very new in the idea of his attempting alone to confer with the king, with the view of averting further hostilities. But the reader will, perhaps, admit that it is worth his while to look at the glowing and picturesque verses in which Mr. Athersone relates this parley. 'Meantime, The coming of their enemy renowned Through all th' Assyrian squadrons was made known: Against him should be lifted. Every eye For his approach was greedy, so his deeds Had made him glorious, every tongue was mute. Conspicuous, in his chariot sat the king: Leaning, stood nigh, and o'er the plain looked out : Swiftly and smoothly gliding, on it burned. A hum of expectation through the host, Went forth; and, as they went, their trumpets blew. And through the gazing ranks,-with steadfast brow, Above the glittering ranks his snow-white plume, Among the faults of versification which we have to charge against Mr. Atherstone, we apprehend he must himself acknowledge that his accentuation is often very peculiar. If he be a Scotchman he may, perhaps, plead his privilege to pronounce English words in any outlandish way that may best suit the conformation of his organs of speech. In the passage just quoted, there is only one instance of the licence which he claims in this respect: With look imperial the lofty Mede.' Here, in order to make out the metre, we must pronounce imperial" imperial, dividing into four syllables a word which, at this side of the Grampians, is usually pronounced as if it consisted only of three. "Vehemently" is also sometimes to be read with the accent on the second syllable, to suit Mr. Atherstone's taste in elocution; and, above all things, our dialectician seems to think it a great beauty in writing to terminate his lines not only with an adverb, but very frequently with one favourite adverb, which is neither more nor less than that horrid word " utterly." We have not taken the trouble to count the number of lines which are thus musically ended; but we guess that they are not many under a hundred in the seven books now before us. In most of his battle scenes, we regret to say, Mr. Atherstone appears to us to have failed. They are indistinct, monotonous, and feeble imitations of Homer's general or personal combats; they evince no trace of that genius for which, in other parts of his poem, we are inclined to give Mr. Atherstone credit. For what purpose, except as convenient occupiers of the metre, he has introduced such names as Jerimoth, Menahem, Rabsaris, Nehushta, and, above all, Jehoshaphat, we are at a loss to conjecture. It is amusing to observe how often the first and last of these melodious sounds come together. "Haste! turn your steeds, upon Jehoshaphat Drive, and shout out aloud, that Jerimoth May hear us, and turn back."'—p. 85. And fierce Jehoshaphat, unequal pressed.'-p. 87 'Him, 'gainst Jehoshaphat and Jerimoth. In short, Tom and Jerry were not more inseparable companions than Jehos-haphat and Jerry Moth, although at opposite sides in the combat. If we could get over the ludicrous associations of his name, we might, however, admire his heroism. He is the Tancred of the war, as the following scene, closely imitated from Tasso, will shew:: But Jerimoth, the while, Though long the fire of battle raged around, The fight remember: a faint sound of wheels Like clouds first forming in a vacant sky, Gathered, and grew to shape :-a strife of hosts He saw, chariots, and horsemen,-flight, pursuit,— "It is a dream." But on his face the air Blew freshening; and his thoughts, though dimly yet, Even while he spake, out gushed a stream of gore; And, as the swoon came o'er him, inly said, The hand of death hath touched thee! Rise oh God! Him, deathlike as he lay, Meshullam raised; And from him wiped the gore; and on his breast Of wind-stirred leaves, or the swift streamlet's rush, Imitation though it be in almost every idea, nevertheless the passage is a pretty one; and we must say, that upon coming to it after our eyes were dimmed and our brains almost knocked fairly out by the eternal clashing of swords, and shields, and barbarous names, we beheld something of that fresh green light,' of which our poet speaks. Not that he has omitted to intersperse the vicissitudes of the bloody field with similes after the fashion of the Iliad. If the expression were not vulgar, we should say, that tropes of this class were as "plenty as blackberries," in the 'Fall of Nineveh.' Clouds and waves, thunder and lightning, wolves, dogs, lions, rhinoceroses, and earthquakes; every thing grand in heaven, or fierce on earth, is brought in by way of figure to relieve the clamour of the fray. Passing over the engagements of the minor gods, we shall confine ourselves to that which took place between the two leaders, and which, as will be seen, concludes in a very puerile way. Even to the monarch's car VOL. XIII. The battle dared. Then,-had not Heaven forbid,- Breathless and fixed, the multitude look on,— The awe-struck Mede,-Heaven's own immediate hand Protected thus, his arm no more would lift; Thus spake: "Not yet thy hour, proud king, is come,— Nor this my day to fall." So he; then turned,- And harmed him not,--an instant speechless stood.'--pp.126--128. The fact was, it would have been inconvenient for Mr. Atherstone's purposes to terminate this encounter by any thing short of a miracle. Accordingly, the two warriors, after being hotly engaged, gape at each other, one stands stock still while his adversary walks quietly away. At length Sardanapalus, who after all, was in truth a very different sort of a king from the effeminate, cowardly, being he is very commonly supposed to have been, bethinks himself that this easy escape of the Mede is rather too bad, and he orders him to be pursued. Arbaces, as might have been foreseen, though desperately wounded, hops into a chariot, and runs away helter skelter. The rumour spread that he was killed, and it went rather hard with the Medes, when one of their own body, practising a little stratagem, introduced himself and a few followers among the Assyrian combatants, and shouting that the Bactrians were approaching at the other side to take possession of Nineveh, induced the king to order his forces thither for its protection. The Medes took |