The Poetical Works of Henry Kirk White : With a Memoir by Sir Harris NicolasWhite, Henry Kirke
General
The Poetical Works of Henry Kirk White : With a Memoir by Sir Harris Nicolas
White, Henry Kirke
Poetry
[Greek: Pas to oicheios ergon agapao], "Every one loves his own
work," says Stagyrite; but it was no overweening affection of this
kind which induced this publication. Had the author relied on his
own judgment only, these Poems would not, in all probability, ever
have seen the light.
Perhaps it may be asked of him, what are his motives for this
publication? He answers--simply these: The facilitation, through
its means, of those studies which, from his earliest infancy, have
been the principal objects of his ambition; and the increase of
the capacity to pursue those inclinations which may one day place
him in an honourable station in the scale of society.
The principal Poem in this little collection (Clifton Grove) is,
he fears, deficient in numbers and harmonious coherency of parts.
It is, however, merely to be regarded as a description of a
nocturnal ramble in that charming retreat, accompanied with such
reflections as the scene naturally suggested. It was written
twelve months ago, when the Author was in his sixteenth year:--The
Miscellanies are some of them the productions of a very early
age.--Of the Odes, that "To an early Primrose" was written at
thirteen--the others are of a later date.--The Sonnets are chiefly
irregular; they have, perhaps, no other claim to that specific
denomination, than that they consist only of fourteen lines.
Such are the Poems towards which I entreat the lenity of the
Public. The Critic will doubtless find in them much to condemn;
he may likewise possibly discover something to commend. Let him
scan my faults with an indulgent eye, and in the work of that
correction which I invite, let him remember he is holding the iron
Mace of Criticism over the flimsy superstructure of a youth of
seventeen; and, remembering that, may he forbear from crushing, by
too much rigour, the painted butterfly whose transient colours may
otherwise be capable of affording a moment's innocent amusement.
H. K. WHITE.
Nottingham.
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
CLIFTON GROVE.
A SKETCH.
Lo! in the west, fast fades the lingering light,
And day's last vestige takes its silent flight.
No more is heard the woodman's measured stroke,
Which with the dawn from yonder dingle broke;
No more, hoarse clamouring o'er the uplifted head,
The crows assembling seek their wind-rock'd bed;
Still'd is the village hum--the woodland sounds
Have ceased to echo o'er the dewy grounds,
And general silence reigns, save when below
The murmuring Trent is scarcely heard to flow;
And save when, swung by 'nighted rustic late,
Oft, on its hinge, rebounds the jarring gate;
Or when the sheep-bell, in the distant vale,
Breathes its wild music on the downy gale.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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