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The Minstrel; or the Progress of Genius with some other poems By: James Beattie (1735-1803) |
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THE MINSTREL;
OR,
THE PROGRESS OF GENIUS. WITH
SOME OTHER POEMS.
By JAMES BEATTIE, LL. D.
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED BY JAMES BALLANTYNE,
FOR WILLIAM CREECH, MANNERS AND MILLER,
AND A. CONSTABLE AND CO.
1805.
TO
SIR WILLIAM FORBES,
OF PITSLIGO, BARONET,
AS A MARK OF RESPECT FOR HIS CHARACTER,
AND AS AN APPROPRIATE TRIBUTE TO ONE OF THE MOST
VALUED FRIENDS OF THE AUTHOR,
THIS EDITION
OF THE
POETICAL WORKS OF DR BEATTIE,
IS INSCRIBED
BY
THE PUBLISHERS.
CONTENTS.
Page.
The Minstrel, Book I. 1
Book II. 35 Retirement 71 Elegy 76 Ode to Hope 81 Pygmæo gerano machia: The Battle of the Pigmies and Cranes 89 Epistle to the Hon. C. B. 101 The Hares: A Fable 105 Epitaph: being Part of an Inscription for a Monument,
to be erected by a Gentleman to the Memory
of his Lady 118 Ode on Lord H's Birth Day 119 To the Right Hon. Lady Charlotte Gordon, dressed in
a Tartan Scotch Bonnet, with Plumes, &c. 125 The Hermit 127 Ode to Peace 130 Triumph of Melancholy 139
PREFACE TO THE MINSTREL.
The design was, to trace the progress of a Poetical Genius, born in a
rude age, from the first dawning of fancy and reason, till that period
at which he may be supposed capable of appearing in the world as a
MINSTREL, that is, as an itinerant Poet and Musician; a character,
which, according to the notions of our fore fathers, was not only
respectable, but sacred. I have endeavoured to imitate SPENSER in the measure of his verse, and
in the harmony, simplicity, and variety, of his composition. Antique
expressions I have avoided; admitting, however, some old words, where
they seemed to suit the subject; but I hope none will be found that
are now obsolete, or in any degree unintelligible to a reader of
English poetry. To those, who may be disposed to ask, what could induce me to write in
so difficult a measure, I can only answer, that it pleases my ear, and
seems, from its Gothic structure and original, to bear some relation
to the subject and spirit of the Poem. It admits both of simplicity
and magnificence of sound and of language, beyond any other stanza
that I am acquainted with. It allows the sententiousness of the
couplet, as well as the more complex modulation of blank verse. What
some critics have remarked, of its uniformity growing at last tiresome
to the ear, will be found to hold true, only when the poetry is faulty
in other respects.
THE
MINSTREL;
IN TWO BOOKS... Continue reading book >>
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