Text: N. P. Willis (?), Notice of Griswold's Poets and Poetry of England, etc., Evening Mirror (New York), November 27, 1844, vol. 1, no. 45, p. 3, col. 5

[page 3, column 5, continued:]

Literary.

THE POETS AND POETRY OF ENGLAND IN THE 19TH CENTURY, by Rufus W. Griswold. Philadelphia, Carey and Hart.

If everybody who loves poetry could buy and keep all the poetry he loves, there would be no need of books of extracts. For ourselves, we should never think of asking any man to choose poetry for us — we should as soon think of asking any man to choose our dinner or our company. But alas! libraries must be measured by the square foot, after all; and we see not how we are to have even a taste of what we love, without the aid of such well-qualified and indefatigable choosers — not of the slain, but of the undying — as Mr. Griswold. With our consent he should be gentleman-usher of the Nine; and we hope many readers will be of our mind. We looked for some of our ancient loves — that sonnet of Wordsworth's for instance —

which always brings our “mother's softness” to our eyes; and for some of Scott's less hackneyed strains — as, perhaps, those splendid introductory stanzas in the Lord of the Isles; but we own that nobody could have satisfied us, and nobody that we know, better than Mr. Griswold.

ANTHON’S HOMER: Harper and Brothers. — We are not sure that the aroma of our College Homer is still fresh enough in our nostrils to allow us to criticise this one, and understandingly; add we will not even swear to having read it through in the present handsome edition; but we will venture to echo the world's sentence, that Professor Anthon's part is a good thing well done; and we congratulate our grandchildren upon a chance of reading Homer with more profit if not with more pleasure than we did.

GODEY’S LADY’S BOOK has a new manner of plate this month — a tableau of birds apparently seen through a rainbow. It is very gorgeous. The other embellishments are attractive and the number particularly readable. Mrs. Ellett's contribution (the only one we could find time to read) is excellent.

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MEDICAL STUDENT. — This is another dipper-full of fun from the reservoir of Punch. For sale by Graham, 160 Nassau street.