GENIUS.

SAY what is Genius? words can ne'er define That power which springs from origin divine; We know it by its bold, impetuous force; We know the torrent by its headlong course; We know the sun by his effulgent ray, Which gloom disperses from the face of day. Invention* marks the genius of the soul, And on the lightning rides from pole to pole.

* Invention is the first part of poetry and painting: and absolutely necessary to them both; yet no rule ever was or ever can be given how to compass it. A happy genius is the gift of Nature; it depends on the influence of the stars say the astrologers; on the organs of the body say the naturalists; it

It sweeps with comets its eccentric flight,
And soars in air beyond the world's dim sight; 10
Disdains the paths that common footsteps tread,
But breathes the spirit of the mountain head:
It flies through scenes unvisited before,
Exhausts this world, with Shakspeare sighs for more.
Allied with Genius see bright Fancy move
The queen alike of terror and of love;

She gives the wings on which Invention soars
And untried regions of the world explores.
Judgment* with these and sympathy refin'd
Guide and improve the genius of the mind. 20

is the peculiar gift of Heaven say the divines. How to improve it many books can teach us; how to obtain it, none; that nothing can be done without it all agree:

In nihil invita dices faciesve Minerva.

Without invention a painter is but a copier, and a poet but a plagiary of others.

Dryden's Parallel between Poetry and Painting.

It is by judgment that we discern the propriety of the plan and the execution of a work; the conformity of stile and manner to its peculiar nature, the rectitude of sentiment, the probability of incident, the clearness of investigation and the uniformity of design.-" Whatever (says Longinus) looks great both in poetry aud prose, we must carefully examine

Though erring taste be found in early years,
Yet blooming genius oft in youth appears;
Youth sometimes burns with all the poet's rage,
And speaks the glory of a riper age.
Behold where bursts the golden orb of day!
He rolls exulting in his fervid way;

He grows in strength till from meridian height,
He pours on earth his streams of burning light.
Thus Genius first begins her brightening course,
Proceeds increasing in resistless force;

And all collected in one great design,

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Moves like a giant just refresh'd with wine:
Then sweeps the storm which chills with loud alarm,
Then falls the vigour of Alçides' arm.

The poet often gains a madman's name,
When first he kindles with the muse's flame,
When wild and starting he appears in pain,
And shews a moon-struck phrenzy of the brain;
The world cries out, "What ails our neighbour's lad?
'Tis pity of the boy, for he is mad;"

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whether it be not only appearance; we must divest it of all superficial pomp and garnish. If it cannot stand this trial, without doubt it is only swelled and puffed up, and it will be more for our honor to contemn than admire it.

He "often laughs aloud, and none know why,"
And looks so strange and wildly from his eye;
'Tis said, he wanders at the dead of night,
And like a ghost, avoids the glare of light;
'Tis said, he babbles to the Moon's full-beam,
And sits, in silence, by the falling stream.
Taste* is the willing umpire of the soul,
And arm'd with sanctions acts without controul;

* Definitions often rather confuse than enlighten the mind. The arbitrary terms of metaphysical and logical writers, require a train of reasoning before we can observe the basis on which they are founded. It may however tend to place taste in a clearer view than we can by the measures of poetry, if we select from some approved authors, the most satisfactory definitions of taste. "Imagination united with some other mental powers, and operating as a percipient faculty, in conveying suitable impressions of what is elegant, sublime or beautiful, in art or nature, is called 'Taste."

This definition of Beattie has left unmentioned those mental powers united and operating with imagination; it has also confined taste to the discernment of what is elegant or beautiful, without noticing its rejection of what is faulty and improper

it is therefore in this respect incomplete "Taste (according to the classical writer of Fitzosborne's letters) is nothing more than an universal sense of beauty rendered more exquisite by genius and more correct by cultivation." This defini

It takes from Genius a reflected ray,

As Cynthia brightens from the source of day. 50
The seeds of taste in numerous breasts are sown,
But few can mighty Genius call their own.
Born in his wilds, the rude and humble swain
Whose wishes centre in his small domain,

tion, though not equal to the former, contains one beautiful remark; which is, that taste is rendered more exquisite by genius and more correct by cultivation. A much more complete definition of taste than either of these, is given by Rollin. "Taste (says he) with reference to the reading of authors and composition, is a clear and distinct discerning of all the beauty, truth and justness of the thoughts and expressions, which compose a discourse. It distinguishes what is conformable to eloquence and propriety in every character, and whilst, with a delicate and exquisite sagacity, it notes the graces, turns, manners, and expressions most likely to please, it perceives also all the defects which produce the contrary effect, and distinguishes precisely wherein those defects consist, and how far they are removed from the strict rules of art and the real beauties of nature. This happy faculty which it is more easy to conceive than define, is less the effect of genius than judgment, and a kind of natural reason wrought to perfection by study. It serves in composition to guide and direct the understanding. It makes use of the imagination but without submitting to it, and keeps it always in subjection. It consults nature universally, follows it step by step, and is a faithful image of it.

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