The poetical works of Sir Walter Scott, with memoir of the author.

272 THE LORD OF THE ISLES. [CANTO VI.
and of some minor sketches) are certainly, in point of invention, of the most novel, that is, of the most Minerva-press
description; and, as to the language and versification, the
poem is in its general course as inferior to'Rokeby' (by
much the most correct and the least justly appreciated of
the author's works) as it is in the construction and conduct
of its fable. It supplies whole pages of the most prosaic
narrative; but, as we conclude by recollecting, it displays
also whole pages of the noblest poetry."
The British Critic says: " No poem of Mr. Scott has yet
appeared with fairer claims to the public attention. If it
have less pathos than the Lady of the Lake, or less display
of character than Marmion, it surpasses them both in grandeur of conception, and dignity of versification. It is in
every respect decidedly superior to Rokeby; and though it
may not reach The Lay of the Last Minstrel in a few splendid
passages, it is far more perfect as a whole. The fame of Mr.
Scott, among those who are capable of distinguishing the
rich ore of poetry from the dross which surrounds it, will
receive no small advancement by this last effort of his genius.
We discover in it a brilliancy in detached expressions, and
a power of language in the combination of images, which has
never vet appeared in any of his previous publications.
"We would also believe that as his strength has increased,
so his glaring errors have been diminished. But so embedded and engrained are these in the gems of his excellence, that no blindness can overlook, no art can divide or
destroy their connection. They must be tried together at the
ordeal of time, and descend unseparated to posterity. Could
Mr. Scott but'endow his purposes with words'-could he
but decorate the justice and the splendour of his conceptions
with more unalloyed aptness of expression, and more uniform strength and harmony of numbers, he would claim a
place in the highest rank among the poets of natural feeling
and natural imagery. Even as it is, with all his faults, we
love him still; and when he shall cease to write, we shall find it
clifJicuslt to supply hisplace with a better."