WE Confess that we have little sympathy with the mass of cream and tea-colored books which have invaded our

land, with the apparent intention of benefitting none but printers. It is therefore with heartfelt satisfaction that we now and then glean from amid this host of versified

rubbish a volume like the one before us.

special notice, but omitted on account of our confined space, we come to "The Beggar of Naples." This is one of the longest and most striking poems in the book; in a versification the most irregular but the most harmonious, indulging in the wildest flights of fancy, but never soaring beyond the common ken. The story is simple, and turns on the power with which a virtuous love may shape the destiny of the meanest. The picture of the beggars hang

few skillful touches more than a whole library of statistics. "Avoiding every wintry shade,

The volume before us, as the title imports, is chiefly composed of lyrical poems; but there are also two or three articles in blank verse, whose exceeding merit awaken a desire to see a further exertion of the author's talents in this unfettered mode of versification. The power which he evinces in " the Alchemist's Daughter" and "A Vision of Death," prove the existence of resources for which the friends of his former volume scarcely gave him credit. We own ourselves astonished at the versatility of Mr. Read's genius, at the ease with which he passes from lyrical to the highest order of poetry, with the scope of thought which is shown in his unveilings of man's inner nature, and with the dramatic variety and intensity of his diction. We scarcely recognize the same hand in the lyrical and dramatic poems; both are beautiful, but of widely different orders of beauty. The former are characterized by a purity of thought and sentiment, a delicate refinement and nicety in the choice of phrases, a brilliant and constant play of fancy in figures the most apt and glowing, a striking spirit of individuality, and a versification the most varied and harmonious. The transition from the lyrical to the dramatic pieces is at the same time both delightful and startling. The style changes at once, the author vanishes from sight, and is lost in our sympathy for the imaginary creatures of his mind. In the dramatic compositions the language is vigorous, passionate and condensed, dealing rather in the bold metaphor than in the more ornate but less difficult simile, and seeking effect rather by force and earnestness than by beauty and delicacy of expression. This is as it should be, and proves our author the possessor of powers which must eventually place him in the very first rank of poets. But we must leave general criticism, and proceed to substantiate our high opinions by the text before us.

The volume opens with a poem replete with the most picturesque and striking imagery. There is a beautiful contrast between the desolate, frozen appearance of nature

"When old Winter, through his fingers numb, Blows till his breathings on the windows gleam; And when the mill-wheel, spiked with ice, is dumb Within the neighboring stream;"

and the fervent feeling which appears to have dictated this friendly tribute to one whose presence can at all

seasons make

"A summer in the heart."

The lazzaroni crawled to sunny spots;
At every corner miserable knots
Pursued their miserable trade,

And held the sunshine in their asking palms,
Which gave unthanked its glowing alms,
Thawing the blood until it ran

As wine within a vintage runs."

The italicized lines are eminently suggestive; and in the contemplative mind, awaken a long train of the most solemn thoughts-thoughts of Heaven's indiscriminate bounty, and man's unthankful forgetfulness, of the beggar's hands overflowing with the gifts of nature, but all empty of the gifts of churlish human charity. The listlessness of the beggar's life, the vacant sense and brain of the purposeless idler, is admirably portrayed in the following lines:

"Upon the beggar's heart the matin hymn
Fell faint and dim;

As when upon some margin of the sea
The fisher breathes the briny air,
And hears the far waves symphony,
But hears it unaware.

The music from the lofty aisle,

And all the splendor of the sacred pile-
The pictures hung at intervals

Like windows, giving from the walls
Clear glimpses of the days agone.

All were unheeded,

And came but as his breath;

Or if there came a thought, that thought unheeded
Even in its birth met death."

The awakening from this lethargy, at the first touch of love, is unrivaled :

"At once upstarting from his knees,
He watched her as she went;

The blood awakened from its slothful ease,
Through all his frame a flaming flood was sent;
He stood as with a statue's fixed surprise,
Great wonder making marble in his eyes!"

What can surpass the simple grandeur of the concluding lines of this passage? The new light which at once bursts on his aroused senses is thus happily described :

"All things at once became a glorious show;
Now could he see the sainted pictures glow;
And instantly unto his lips

Rolled fragments of old song-
Fragments which had been thrown

Into his heart unknown." &c.

His shame at his tattered appearance, at his companions, and at his base mode of life, are singularly beautiful and truthful strokes. That a soul so aroused should struggle for and reach the first ranks of fame is nothing strange, and that he should wed his deliverer is strict poetical justice. From "The Deserted Road" we clip the fol lowing felicitous local touches:—

"Here I stroll along the village,
As in youth's departed morn,

But I miss the crowded coaches,
And the driver's bugle-horn;
"Miss the crowd of jovial teamsters,
Filling buckets at the wells,
With their wains from Conestoga,
And their orchestras of bells."

"The Alchemist's Daughter," amid a host of stirring lines, contains the following beautiful passages. Lorenzo, speaking of the marriage of his young mistress—

"Her mother died long years ago, and took One half the blessed sunshine from our house, The other half was married off last night.” This is genuine poetry, and we recognize it at once. Again, describing the rising moon,

"Mark how the moon, as by some unseen arm, Is thrust toward heaven like a bloody shield." The following noble burst should go far to cheer those whose labors appear to produce no immediate results:

"Are there no wrongs but what a nation feelsNo heroes but among the martial throng? Nay, there are patriot souls who never grasped A sword, or heard a crowd applaud their namesWho lived and labored, died, and were forgot; And after them the world came out and reapt The field, and never questioned who had sown." From this garden of dainty devices let us, before leaving, cull a few choice flowers. From "The New Village" we would fain extract the whole stanza, describing the forest-life of the Indian maids, which concludes thus

"The daisies kiss their foot-falls in the grass, And little streams stand still to paint them in their glass." In "A Vision of Death," the flowers over the grave of a beautiful maiden, are thus invoked :—

"Bloom, bloom,

Ye little blossoms! and if beauty can,
Like other purest essences, exhale

And penetrate the mould, your flowers shall be
Of rarest hue and perfume."

From "The Realm of Dreams," we extract this exquisite couplet :

"And where the spring-time sun had longest shone And violet looked up, and found itself alone." The above has a positive fragrance, that unexplainable odor which at once distinguishes genuine poetry, however disguised, from all imitations, however ingenious. No one but a true poet could have written this passage, which, for its suggestive delicacy, is scarcely rivaled in our language. From the same poem we extract this simile, describing the unruffled quiet of a small mountain lake:

"Through underwood of laurel, and across A little lawn, shoe-deep with sweetest moss, I passed, and found the lake, which, like a shield Some giant long had ceased to wield, Lay with its edges sunk in sand and stone, "With ancient roots and grasses overgrown."

The descent of the mystic spirit of the lake is thus pictured:

"Then noiselessly as moonshine falls
Adown the ocean's crystal walls,
And with no stir or wave attended,
Slowly through the lake descended;
Till from her hidden form below
The waters took a golden glow,

As if the star which made her forehead bright
Had burst and filled the lake with light."

Observe the beautiful melancholy, and the slow, swaying versification of the following description of a deserted

quay:

"The old, old sea, as one in tears,

Comes murmuring with his foamy lips, And knocking at the vacant piers,

Calls for his long-lost multitude of ships."

We would gladly extend this imperfect notice to twice its prescribed length; for we are aware that in our limited bounds we can do but partial justice to merits so conspicuous; and, perhaps, in our bungling haste to pluck that which caught our fancy, we have passed by beauties which would have arrested the eyes of others. We are conscious of having bestowed on this volume the most unmixed praises; and the censorious may ask us, what has become of our critical gall? The province of criticism is two-fold-to cheer with praise, or to correct with censure; and we belong to that good-natured portion who exercise the former calling. What is deliberately done can be followed by no apology. Whatever we have said, has been supported with solid material from the work before us; and our readers may judge by the extracts, whether we have done our author that worst of all injustice which arises from over commendation.

Poems. By Oliver Wendall Holmes. A New Edition. Boston: Wm. D. Ticknor & Co. 1 vol. 16mo.

It gives us great pleasure to announce the appearance of a new and revised edition of Dr. Holmes's poems, printed in a style of simplicity and elegance creditable to the publishers and appropriate to him. It contains a large number of pieces which have never before appeared in any collection of his poems, and also a number which are now printed for the first time. A volume which is so emphatically "a nest of spicery," which sparkles on every page with wit, fancy, and imagination, and which contains some of the most perfect specimens of versification and true poetical expression ever produced in the country, will be sure of a rapid and a large circulation. The author has been literally mobbed for many years to prepare an edition of his poems, and we now have one which fairly reflects his character and powers.

In criticising a poet, the too common method pursued by the craft is to fix upon him some time-honored and timeworn phrases and epithets, which apply to him only as they apply to all poets, and to avoid that task of analysis which would bring out the peculiarities of his genius. Holmes has especially suffered from this mode of criticism; and thus one of the most singular and individual of our poets, a man who, whatever may be thought of the scope and domain of his genius, is still a strictly original writer, is described in terms which are as applicable to Longfellow and Bryant as to him.

The great mental peculiarity of Holmes is fineness of intellect-subtilty in the perception of resemblances, subtilty in the perception of differences, and subtilty in the conception of remote and filmy shades of thought. He has a most acute and inevitable perception of the ludicrous, but it is ever passed through his intellect before it is expressed; and, accordingly, his wit and humor have the certainty of demonstration, and never miss their mark. He has a no less acute perception of the pathetic, the beautiful, and the grand, but he never hazards their expression from the simple impulse of enthusiasm, but passes them also through his intelligence, scrutinizes them as they lie mirrored on his imagination, and gives them utterance only when he is satisfied intellectually and consciously of their validity and excellence. Such a man would naturally be accused of lacking sensibility, sensi

tiveness to impressions; but no careful reader of his writings, who considers their singular wealth and variety of sensuous imagery, of niceties and felicities of description, can fail to discern the intense sensibility to external objects they continually imply, however much he may be puzzled to account for the form in which it is expressed. The truth is, we should judge, that Holmes's extreme

sensitiveness made him skeptical, or fearful of the quality, and that he arraigned his impressions, his spontaneous combinations and strange freaks of juxtaposition, his teeming throng of fanciful images, his impatient, voluble, and affluent verbal extravagances, before the tribunal of his intellect, to see if they would bear the tests by which the bizarre is discriminated from the picturesque, levity from wit, drollery from humor, sentimentality from pathos, flightiness from ideality. Were it not for his detecting, exacting, sure and fine intellect, there would be no rein on his wild colt of a fancy, and the result would be more portentous freaks of deviltry and mischievousness, and perhaps more direct expression of impatient passion and tender feeling, but the whole would be but splendid disorder and aimless brilliancy. It is thus from the very fulness and fierce pressure of his sensitive nature for ex. pression, that Holmes has become so eminently an intellectual poet, and that all his writings indicate an intense working of faculties rather than a heedless expression of affinities. Take up any one of his poems, witty or serious, subject it to the chemical processes of criticism, and it is surprising what seemingly untameable elements of thought and emotion are revealed. This mastery of his impulses, as seen in the intellectual form of their expression, is the peculiarity of Holmes, and gives to his poems that character of certainty, decision, and restrained exuberance, which constitutes so much of their charm. Such a man must have rejected more brilliancies and grotesque strokes of fanciful wit, than most men have ever conceived. Nothing which his fancy or his wit, his Ariel or his Puck, pitches into his mind, can pass muster, unless it can bear the sharp, close, microscopic glance of his sure and subtle intellect.

In respect to the intellectuality of his processes, Holmes bears some resemblance to Tennyson, with the exception that Tennyson's mind pierces patiently into a different and more mysterious domain of spiritual phenomena, and bears the marks of a slower reduction of film to form. The mind of Holmes acts with the rapidity of lightning. It examines and dissects as instantaneously as it feels and conceives. There is no patient contemplation of the object of his thought, but a quick, brisk, almost nervous seizure of it. His mind works with such intensity, all its faculties are so perfectly under his control, that what it grasps it grasps at once with the celerity of intuition. Nothing comes to him by degrees and slow steps. He does not wait for the Muse to turn her countenance gradually upon him, unfolding feature after feature, but he impatiently seizes her by the shoulders, twirls her round, and looks her right in the face. He is not abashed by her reproof, and disregards all her airs and assumptions of dignity. He seems plainly to tell her that he will stand none of her nonsense-that he knows her secret-that she cannot impose upon him-that if she do not choose to smile he can sail along very well without her assistance. Such spiteful treatment from any body else, would draw down her wrath; but Holmes seems a favorite, and has his mischievous ways indulged.

There is observable in Homes's long poems one defect which springs from the refinement of his perceptions. Though his writings evince no lack of vivid and palpable imagery, the curious subtilty of his mind leads him often into a remoteness of allusion whose pertinence and beauty are not apprehended by the ordinary reader. The leading idea of some of his poems, though obvious enough if sharply scrutinized, is still not prominent enough to enforce attention of itself. The result is that "Poetry" and "Urania," appear at first like aggregates of brilliant parts rather than as vital wholes. The unity of each is perceived only on an after examination. This is an artis

tical defect which mars their excellence and effectiveness.

The present edition of Holmes, while it contains a complete collection of his published pieces, is enriched with some after dinner poems, which were not intended for the public eye. These seem to have been thrown off extempore, but they teem with brilliancies of wit and fancy, and are full of fine audacities of expression. Of these the best are "Terpsichore," "A Modest Request," and "Nux Postcænatica," which contain enough spirit and poetry to make a reputation, and which almost add to that which Holmes has already made. The drinking song, slily called "A Song of Other Days," is almost unmatched for the grandeur and splendor of its imagery, and the heartiness of its tone. The "Sentiment" which follows this right royal Anacreontic, is as glorious a tribute to water as the other is to wine-thus satisfactorily proving that Holmes is indebted to neither for inspiration. One of the most beautiful and brilliant of the poems added in this edition, is that on the Ancient Punch Bowl, and the mode in which sentiment and wit are made to shake hands, and dwell cosily together, is grandly humorous. "Urania,” we suppose, must be considered on the whole, the best production in the volume. It has touches of sentiment and pathos, so graceful, so pure, and so elusive-not to speak of its satirical and witty portions-that it would be in vain to place any other poem of the author before it.

We have only space to refer to one more admirable peculiarity of Holmes, a natural consequence of the vigor, affluence and fineness of his intellect, and that is the rereadableness of his productions. There is a perpetual stimulant in them which we cannot drain dry. On a fourth or fifth perusal some refinement of allusion or analogy, some delicacy of thought or expression, some demure stroke of humor, which did not at first fix the attention, repays the diligent reader. Indeed to read one of his poems for the purpose of taking in its whole meaning at once, would require the mind to be as thoroughly awake and active as if it were engaged on Hume or Butler. The very gladness and briskness with which his verse moves, the flood of radiance poured out upon it, the distinctness of much of the imagery, interfere, on the first perusal, with the perception of his minor felicities and remote combinations of fancy and wit. Holmes, indeed, is a poet to have constantly on the parlor-table, not one to be consigned to a shelf in the library; for there is hardly a page not brightened by those fine fancies which age does not dim, and which "sparkle like salt in fire."

United States Fiscal Department.

In a republican government entire simplicity in all that relates to public affairs, is not only convenient to the officers, but is a duty to the public, every man of whom is a party in the business. We are reminded of the value of simplicity and order by two quarto volumes now before us, which point out the order, and show how simplicity is to be attained in whatever relates to the fiscal department of the government of the United States.

The title of these volumes is expressive of their valuable contents. "A Synopsis of the Commercial and Revenue System of the United States, as Developed by Instructions and Decisions of the Treasury Department, for the Administration of the Revenue Laws: Accompanied with a Supplement of Historical and Tabular Illustrations of the Origin, Organization and Practical Operations of the Treasury Department and its various Bureaus, in Fulfillment of that System: In Eight Chapters, with an Appendix. By Robert Mayo, M. D. 2 vols. 4to."

We have not space to enter into details of this truly

great work. All that is set forth in the promises of the title page is amply sustained by the body of the work, and an amount of information is given, truly astonishing to those who have not had experience in the numerous ramifications of the overgrown department. While there is scarcely a relation which any citizen could occupy with regard to the treasury department, in all its forms, and while the duty of every officer connected with that branch of government, whatever may be his grade, is amply set forth, it seems as a matter of course that at least one in every hundred of the citizens of this country should have a copy of this instructive work, for the benefit of himself and of the others to whom he is the centurion. And while these various kinds of information are given, the work incidentally contains a history of the department.

Loan holders, applicants for remuneration, and all who have any connection or business with the tresury department, are instructed by these volumes how to proceedhow they ought to proceed-and how others have proceeded. Dr. Mayo has done a public service by preparing these volume. We hope the public will remember him

and his work.

The Women of the Bible; Delineated in a series of Sketches of Prominent Females mentioned in Scripture. By Clergymen of the United States. Illustrated by eighteen characteristic engravings. Edited by the Rev. J. M. Wainwright, D. D. Phila: Geo. S. Appleton, 164 Chestnut

street.

This book is as remarkable for the felicity of its design as for the beauty of its execution. The plates which adorn it are eighteen in number, and they are among the best and most exquisite specimens of the engraver's art that it has ever been our good fortune to examine. The articles have been written by clergymen of the United States, distinguished for their talents, and eminent for their piety; and they have truly rendered a meet offering for those to whom it is appropriately dedicated, "thoughtful readers, men as well as women, the one being interested equally with the other, in what constitutes the character of mother, wife, daughter, sister." As the inside of the book is rich and attractive, so the skill and taste of the binder have made its exterior truly magnificent. The style is new in this country, being a rich, massive arabesque, and its execution reflects the highest credit upon Mr. J. T. ALTEMUS, of this city, under whose supervisory direction the work was accomplished.

The Republic of the United States of America; Its Duties to Itself, and its Responsible Relations to other Countries. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1 vol. 12mo.

In this volume the author enters upon an elaborate defense of the democratic party of the union, the administration of President Polk, and the Mexican War. As a partisan production it may be considered able and moderate. The writer, however, in his remarks on war in general, and the Mexican war in particular, falls into some offensive cant of his own, in attempting to upset some popular

cant of another kind.

Mrs. Sigourney's Poems.

Carey & Hart have published, in one beautiful volume, uniform with their editions of Longfellow, Bryant and Willis, the Poems of Lydia H. Sigourney, a lady who has been long before the public as a writer, and whose fine powers have ever been devoted to good objects. She richly deserves the compliment of such an edition, and we have no doubt that its success will be triumphant. The volume contains many poems which have never before

been included in a collection of her works, and many which are now published for the first time. The illustra tions by Darley are the best, both in respect to design and execution, which have appeared in Carey & Hart's editions of the American poets. They all exhibit Darley's singular power of making the countenance physiognomical of the mind, even of the most elusive qualities of thought and emotion, and of bringing out character distinctly and decisively.

Notes of a Military Reconnoisance of the Route to California with the advanced Guard of the Army of the West, Commanded by General S. W. Kearney. By W. H. Emory, U. S. A.

This public document, printed by order of Congress, and vastly different from the usual verbose farragos, in printing which public money is expended, is a most valuable work. Mr. Emory has traveled with the eye of a scholar as well as soldier, and while he has amassed a valuable collection of military data, he has added scarcely less to our stock of Ethnological and antiquarian information. Well written, truthful, because it is an official report, recording many incidents of peril by flood and field, it should find a place in every library, as a memorial of the toil and sufferings of that gallant little band which, under the guidance of the late General Kearney, won that beautiful country for the United States. The battle of San Pasqual and the subsequent operations on the San Francisco, (where the gallant Captain Moore Johnstone, Lieut. Hammond, and so large a portion of the command were killed,) are graphically told, and add to the interest of the book, which is richly illustrated by engravings of ruined buildings, plants, scenery, etc.

The Opal-Our amiable and highly gifted friend, Mrs. SARAH J. HALE, has presented to the public, in "The Opal" just published, one of the best and most beautiful Annuals we have ever seen. Her superior taste as Editress, has enabled her to collect a number of articles of unquestionable merit, which, together, form a most delightful volume. We do not wonder at "The Opal's" popularity, especially since the care of its preparation has devolved upon Mrs. Hale, who is so eminently fitted for the performance of that duty. Its pages are pure and bright, and the gems which adorn them, from the rich treasures of the minds of Grace Greenwood, N. P. Willis, and other equally popular authors, serve to render it in truth, a neat and appropriate offering for all seasons.

Thirty Years Since, or the Ruined Family-The indefatigable G. P. R. JAMES, has written another novel, which bears this title. It is remarkable with what facility works of fiction emanate from his pen, and it is not the less astonishing that they should be so generally readable. "Thirty Years Since" is fully equal to any of its author's recent productions, and will doubtless find many readers and admirers.

The Rival Beauties.-This is the title of a new novel

written by Miss PARDOE, author of "The City of the Sultan," &c. Gertrude and Sybil, the Rival Beauties, are as dissimilar in their natures as light is the opposite of darkness, and the character of each has been portrayed in an admirable manner by the writer. Miss Pardoe's works are usually interesting-the one before us will, we think, compare advantageously with any that have preceded it.

Hand-Book of the Toilette and Hand-Book of Conversa tion and Table Talk, are the titles of two bijou volumes published by G. S. Appleton. They are beautifully gotten up, and contain many valuable suggestions.