PREFACE. book addresses the heart through the eye. Piety must be shown in action. But wheresoever truth and beauty of heart are shaped into language, there the very essence of Sacred Poetry will be found. A grand Hymn of SPENSER yields it, or a devout lay of PROCTER; just as the corn-field offers a sacrifice to God in its thousand sheaves, and the violet breathes it under the hedge. Of the Poems in the Volume I may not speak. Most of them are their own panegyrists. Some will be new to the reader, and perhaps familiar names may afford unexpected gratification. How little is PRIOR valued for his serious rhymes! Yet BEATTIE said that much of his "Solomon" "is real poetry," and the admiration of ROGERS is recorded. A few poems by American authors merit the warmest praise. I will only add that the "Elegy" of GRAY is printed from the fac-simile of the original manuscript, furnished by Mr. MATHIAS. ST. CATHERINE'S, September 3, 1861. ix b |