Verses
By . Boston : Fields, Osgood, & Co. 1870.
THESE verses give the impression of remarkable power, not yet matured, though maturing. There is great freshness of imagination, and an intensity of feeling unsurpassed by any woman since Elizabeth Barrett Browning. There is never any diffuseness, but more commonly an excess of concentration, and a studied conformity in most cases to the rigid requirements of each chosen metre. These qualities, however, are often bought at the expense of rugged lines and rather forced emphasis ; and while there is often a sweetness of special cadences, we often miss the lyrical flow. Yet some of the purely lyrical poems sing themselves well, as in the ringing verses, “ Coming Across,” which are indeed set to the very music of the waves. There is also a class of meditative poems, of an out-door character, as “ Distance” and “ My Strawberry,” which have a depth and delicacy of flavor that recall Emerson and Thoreau. These give the impression of being more recently written than the rest, — or is it only that they are accidentally placed at the end of the book ? We should be inclined to fancy that they represent a later mood than the European poems, as those again are later than the more private and personal utterances.
At the head of all these “ Verses ” may perhaps be placed a few in which an exceedingly high or delicate conception is embodied in a very perfect shape. Such, for instance, are “ Burnt Ships,” “ Ariadne’s Farewell,” and “Thought.” These are poems of permanent worth, leaving nothing to desire, but there are very few which quite equal these. To these, however, should be added the two remarkable poems called “ Gondolieds,” which we must think the artistic high-water mark of the book. It is, moreover, fortunate for the author’s immediate popularity, —and has, in fact, already secured it, — that she has also produced a class of more simple and popular poems, for which see the corners of the newspapers. Such, for instance, are “ My Legacy,” “ Best,” “ When the Baby died,” and “ Lifted over.” By far the best of these, however, is “ Spinning,” which is indeed a strong and tender and noble poem, and likely to live.
We should say of the “ Verses by H. H.,” as a whole, that they show great wealth in the raw material of poetry, and great occasional power of expression, with a careful and conscientious execution. These are qualities that place this author at once above the great body of our poetlings. To be sure, her utterance is not yet quite free ; it is a little choked and resisted. She has resolutely dammed up the stream here and there, to obtain a greater head of water; and it is a great thing to be thus secured against shallowness, though one may sometimes miss the ripple of the unchecked brook.