Cowper's lines in the Task are still the best we have. Mr. Pierpont
has a good deal of talent, and writes very spirited verses, full of
point. He has no continuous meaning which enables him to write a
long and equal poem, but every poem is a series of detached epigrams,
some better, some worse. His taste is not always correct, and from
the boldest flight he shall suddenly alight in very low places.
Neither is the motive of the poem ever very high, so that they seem
to be rather squibs than prophecies or imprecations: but for
political satire, we think the "Word from a Petitioner" very strong,
and the "Gag" the best piece of poetical indignation in America.
_Sonnets and other Poems._
By WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
Boston. 1843. pp. 96.
Mr. Garrison has won his palms in quite other fields than those
of the lyric muse, and he is far more likely to be the subject than
the author of good poems. He is rich enough in the earnestness and
the success of his character to be patient with the very rapid
withering of the poetic garlands he has snatched in passing.
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