More than this, it made
Longfellow at once the most popular of contemporary English poets.
Clough's "Bothie"--poem whose singular merit has hitherto failed of the
wide appreciation it deserves--followed not long after; and Kingsley's
"Andromeda" is yet damp from the press.
While we acknowledge that the victory thus won by "Evangeline" is a
striking proof of the genius of the author, we confess that we have
never been able to overcome the feeling that the new metre is a
dangerous and deceitful one. It is too easy to write, and too uniform
for true pleasure in reading. Its ease sometimes leads Mr. Longfellow
into prose,--as in the verse
Combed and wattled gules and all the rest of the blazon,
and into a prosaic phraseology which has now and then infected his style
in other metres, as where he says
Spectral gleam their snow-white _dresses_,
using a word as essentially unpoetic as "surtout or pea-jacket." We
think one great danger of the hexameter is, that it gradually accustoms
the poet to be content with a certain regular recurrence of accented
sounds, to the neglect of the poetic value of language and intensity of
phrase.
But while we frankly avow our infidelity as regards the metre, we as
frankly confess our admiration of the high qualities of "Miles
Standish." In construction we think it superior to "Evangeline"; the
narrative is more straightforward, and the characters are defined with a
firmer touch.
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