poet, "weak master though he be." Of his fertility in the invention of incidents, and his skill in compiling a story, we have already spoken; he has likewise acted judiciously in dramatising a great part of his poem, in which he appears to have followed his favourite, Homer*.

The characters in the Athenaid are almost innumerable. Perhaps it may give some idea of the writer's skill in delineating them, to observe, that they appear more to advantage as a body, than individually. He has made excellent use of the powers of contrast and variety; but of particular personages we have only a general idea. This was, indeed, all that the author himself possessed. We cannot mistake Agis for Leonidas, or Aristides for Cimon; but we have only a vague notion of the individuals themselves. Still we know them-though not familiarly; and we are interested for them all, because the author himself is interested for them. He seems, however, to be in perpetual apprehension, lest they should be mistaken for other than they are-and, accordingly, he is perpetually inculcating that Aristides is just, Medon brave, Mardonius generous, but rash, &c. His heroes are always doing something to display their peculiar qualities: Themistocles, for instance, is perpetually showing off either his valour or his policy; and in the absence of that intuitive knowledge of human nature, by which the author might have been enabled to depict, with truth and life, the union of these two qualities in an individual mind, he resorts to inartificial expedients, which sometimes disgust, and sometimes amuse. Thus, Themistocles is made to hesitate, whether he shall risk his own life to save that of an endangered princess, on the consideration of his own importance to the Grecian cause-happily, his feelings of gallantry, and the thought, "would Aristides thus hesitate?" decide his measures before the moment of rescue is past. Glover has acted judiciously, in transferring no small share of interesting qualities to the Persian part of the dramatis personæ. Masistius, the friend and mentor of Mardonius, is obviously a favourite of the poet; and the regret of the latter for the loss of his friend, though depicted by an infinitely less powerful hand, has a moral interest, and does not appertain to the sorrows of Achilles for Patroclus. We could, also, dwell on the numerous female characters; the passion of Acanthe for Themistocles,

*

We are told, that he was also a great admirer of Ariosto, whom he preferred to Tasso. The influence of the French novels of his time (those of the school of Seuderi) may be traced in some parts of his poems; as in the episode of Teribazus and Ariana.

"Such love as goddesses for heroes feel,
As Thetis felt for Peleus;"

the patriotic and conjugal attachment of Amarantha; the free and graceful simplicity of Ariphilia, the young priestess— "A damsel bright and bold of eye,

Yet did a maiden modesty adorn

Her fearless brow;"

the more majestic form of Eudora; the affectionate admiration of Timothea for her illustrious consort; and the happy loves of Hyacinthus and Cleora-but, we must forbear. The admirers of Leonidas, however, may be gratified by hearing that several of the principal characters of that work re-appear in the Athenaid. Such are Artemisia, Melibus, Medon, and others.

The great variety of private adventures which is interwoven with the history, forms one of the most remarkable characteristics of this poem. To some of these we have alluded. They form an excellent relief from the tumults and violent passions of the main action. There is something peculiarly delightful in the spectacle of the hero reposing from the labours of war and counsel, in the enjoyments of home, during the short respite from glorious exertion; and the social feast, the wedding, or the friendly interview, occupying the intermediate space between past victory and future enterprize.

"Blithest of all the sun's glad beams,

When between storm and storm he gleams."

This effect is assisted by the frequent recurrence of description, whether of natural scenery, works of art, or other objects. In these last there is a minute accuracy, and a plain and equable beauty, which is not unpleasing. Glover, being chiefly confined in a city, by his employment*, seems to have but a sort of suburban feeling for the beauties of nature; and his occasional sketches of morning and evening assort with the general tone of the poem, like the " sylva inter columnas" of Horace, or the mignonette and " sprigs of mournful mint" in the citizen's window, as described by Cowper. His similes are among his best performances; they are generally happy and original, not excepting those founded on mythological subjects. The following, on Aristides's acceptance of a piece of armour,

* "He write an epic poem, who never saw a mountain!" was the exclamation of Thomson, on the publication of Leonidas. Glover was a Hamburgh merchant.

presented to him by the wife of Themistocles, we consider very good:

"In smiles, like Saturn at the tribute pure Of fruits and flow'rs in singleness of heart Paid by religion of the golden age,

Timothea's gift the righteous man receives."

We have made a collection of a few more, of rather a different kind, which will give the reader a favourable impression of Glover's talent of illustration. We must, however, state that these little specimens occur with long and dreary intervals of prosaic composition between them. Some of them will not, perhaps, be considered as written in the purest taste; yet, in general, they are very well executed, and, at any rate, afford examples of the power of description which fell to our author's

share.

The change in the countenance of the herald, who had brought proposals from Xerxes to the Chalcidian senate, produced by the entrance of Themistocles, is thus compared :

"As at the aspect of a single cloud,
Known by the trembling seamen to contain
Destructive blasts, the sail he swiftly furls
With anxious wish for shelter in the lee
Of some still shore; the herald thus relax'd
His alter'd features. Arrogance abash'd
Foreboded ruin from that mighty arm,
In vigour brac'd by unexpected health.
In act to speak, the hero stretch'd his hand,
To fear and impotent distress he seem'd
Extending refuge, like a poplar tall,

Whose grateful branches cool the green descent
To some pellucid fountain, where his course
Th' o'erweary'd passenger suspends, to slake
His eager thirst beneath such friendly shade."

Besides the beautiful simile in the ensuing passage, there is some spirited versification.

"A sudden trumpet strikes his ear; he sees
Masistius nigh. So breaks the polar star
Through night's unrav'ling canopy of clouds
On some bewilder'd sailor, to correct
His erring course. Amidst a warm embrace
Began Mardonius: O, in season come,

Thou more than half myself! my strength decays,
My talents languish, ev'n my honour sleeps,
When thou art far.' Masistius calm replies:
'I have compos'd Pallene's late revolt
Through all the district; Potidea's walls
Alone resisted; from whose small domain
O'erflowed with tides, the army I withdrew.
I come, Mardonius, not to hear a tale
Of languid talents, or of strength decay'd,
Much less of honour sleeping in thy breast,
When I am absent. Honour on a rock
Immoveable is fixed; its solid base

The billowy passions beat in vain, nor gusts
Of fortune shake; support from none it wants,
Firm in itself." "

There are two good comparisons in this passage:

"Now Sparta's wide encampment on the right
Was formed; sedate and silent was the toil,
As is the concourse of industrious ants,
In mute attention to their public cares.
Extending thence, successive states erect
Their standards. On the left, their num'rous tents
Th'Athenians pitch. In labour not unlike
The buzzing tenants of sonorous hives,
Loquacious they and lively cheer the field,
Yet regularly heed each signal giv'n
By staid commanders. Underneath a fringe
Of wood, projecting from Citharon's side,
Ascends the chief pavilion. Seated there
Is Aristides at a frugal board,

An aged menial his attendant sole."

Themistocles, exulting at the restoration of Athens, to be brought about by his means, makes use of the following magnificent image. The genius of Glover, generally buried under the rubbish of dull chronicle, occasionally bursts forth in bright passages like this, which repay the patient reader for his per

severance.

"Superb, her structures shall proclaim
No less a marvel, than the matchless bird
The glory of Arabia, when, consum'd
In burning frankincense and myrrh, he shows
His presence new, and op'ning to the Sun

VOL. II. PART 1.

I

Regenerated gloss of plumage, tow'rs,
Himself a species. So shall Athens rise

Bright from her ashes, mistress sole of Greece.
From long Piræan walls her winged pow'r

Shall awe the Orient and Hesperian worlds.”

Sicinus addresses Themistocles in these lovely lines:

"O! thou transcendant, thou stupendous man,

From thy Timothea moderation learn,

Which, like the stealing touch of gentle time
O'er canvas, pencil'd by excelling art,

Smooths glaring colours, and imparts a grace
To mightiest heroes. Thus their dazzling blaze
Of glory soft'ning, softens envy's eye."

The obstinacy of Amompharetus is thus forcibly pourtrayed:
"His ready phalanx from the lines he draws,

Wing'd with his horse and bowmen; yet his course
Suspends at Sparta's camp. There sullen, fix'd
Like some old oak's deep-rooted, knotted trunk,
Which hath endur'd the tempest-breathing months
Of thrice a hundred winters, yet remains
Unshaken, there, amidst his silent troop,
Sat Amompharetus."

Mardonius is thus contrasted with Themistocles :

"Stern he ends;

In open fight th'Athenian to confront,
Magnanimous he burns; his heated soul
Yields to delusion of that subtle chief,
Wise like the serpent gliding through a brake,
When his empoison'd jaws in silence steal
On some incautious woodman, who, on toil
Intent, exerts his brawny strength, nor deems
A foe is nigh."

We conclude our string of comparisons with the following very animated picture:

"Two more the gen'rous horse, uprearing, dash'd
Maim'd and disabled to the ground; the last
His teeth disfigur'd and his weight oppress'd.
As some tall-masted ship, on ev'ry side
Assailed by pinnaces and skiffs, whose strength