Page:Poems of Nature and Life.djvu/37

 THE RANDALL FAMILY 29

cause ; and another to the transcendently great and glori- ous character of Washington, in which he illustrates, by a series of fine analogies, the proneness of mankind to un- derrate that superlative form of greatness in which all its elements, practical, intellectual, and moral, are blended in the truest symmetry and the highest perfection. In strik- ing contrast to these poems is * The Dying Vision of Bene- dict Arnold,' in which the author portrays with great power the conflicting emotions of that bold, bad man : now scourged by remorse, — now, in total isolation from all human sympathy, cowering before the universal scorn and abhorrence of which he is the conscious object, — now defying mankind in impotent rage, — now courting death with courage borrowed from despair.

" The longest poem in the volume is the * Ode to Con- science,' and we think it the most powerful, though not so artistically constructed and finished throughout as some others. It displays great vigor of conception, keenness of moral vision, and completeness of view, and in some pas- sages a rare clearness, compactness, and force of thought and expression."

��Some peculiar circumstances attending the publication of the "Consolations of Solitude," which throw light on the strong and proud, yet sensitive and scrupulous in- dividuality of the poet, are related by him in a letter to Mr. Abbot which is worth preserving here.

Boston, Oct. 14, 1855.

As you are pleased, my kind friend, to take interest in the progress of my negotiation, I will say that my success has equalled that of any man who chooses to put his hand

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