[84:2] Author of _Sonnets and other Poems_, published by Dilly. To Mr. Bowles's poetry I have always thought the following remarks from Maximus Tyrius peculiarly applicable:--'I am not now treating of that poetry which is estimated by the pleasure it affords to the ear--the ear having been corrupted, and the judgment-seat of the perceptions; but of that which proceeds from the intellectual Helicon, that which is _dignified_, and appertaining to _human_ feelings, and entering into the soul.'--The 13th Sonnet for exquisite delicacy of painting; the 19th for tender simplicity; and the 25th for manly pathos, are compositions of, perhaps, unrivalled merit. Yet while I am selecting these, I almost accuse myself of causeless partiality; for surely never was a writer so equal in excellence!--S. T. C. [In this note as it first appeared in the _Morning Chronicle_ a Greek sentence preceded the supposed English translation. It is not to be found in the _Dissertations_ of Maximus Tyrius, but the following passage which, for verbal similitudes, may be compared with others (e. g. 20, 8, p. 243: 21, 3, p. 247; 28, 3, p. 336) is to be found in Davies and Markland's edition (Lips. 1725), vol. ii, p. 203:--Οὔ τί τοι λέγω τὴν δἰ' αὐλῶν καὶ ᾠδῶν καὶ χορῶν καὶ ψαλμάτων, ἄνευ λόγου ἐπὶ τῇ ψυχῇ ἰοῦσαν, τῷ τερπνῷ τῆς ἀκοῆς τιμηθεῖσαν . . . τὴν ἀληθῆ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ Ἑλικῶνος μοῦσαν. . . .] LINENOTES: [3] Wak'd] Woke MS. Letter, Dec. 11, 1794. [SECOND VERSION][85:1] My heart has thank'd thee, BOWLES! for those soft strains Whose sadness soothes me, like the murmuring Of wild-bees in the sunny showers of spring! For hence not callous to the mourner's pains Through Youth's gay prime and thornless paths I went: 5 And when the mightier Throes of mind began, And drove me forth, a thought-bewilder'd man, Their mild and manliest melancholy lent A mingled charm, such as the pang consign'd To slumber, though the big tear it renew'd; 10 Bidding a strange mysterious PLEASURE brood Over the wavy and tumultuous mind, As the great SPIRIT erst with plastic sweep Mov'd on the darkness of the unform'd deep. FOOTNOTES: [85:1] First published in 1796: included in 1797, 1803, 1828, 1829, and 1834. LINENOTES: Title] Effusion i. 1796: Sonnet i. 1797, 1803, 1828, 1829, 1834. [6-7] And when the darker day of life began And I did roam, &c. 1796, 1797, 1803. [9] such as] which oft 1797, 1803. [11] a] such 1797, 1803. [13-14] As made the soul enamour'd of her woe: No common praise, dear Bard! to thee I owe. 1797, 1803. VIII[85:2] MRS. SIDDONS