George Crabb:
Selections from the Poems of George Crabbe. Edited by Anthony C. Deane. (Methuen. 3s. 8d.)
Ir is a disadvantage of centenary celebrations that, while exalting names already among the greatest, they throw the second rank of genius into disproportionate obscurity.
Crabbe would have returned to favour more easily if his centenary had occurred last year, so as to fill the void between Ilazlitt and Scott. This year the historically minded are devoting to Scott whatever attention they can spare from the Reform Bill, and Crabbe, who also died in 1882, was never more neglected than in the 'year which gives him a special claim to renteMbrance.
This would be of no importance if Crabbe had been by temperament aloof from the multitude, as genius of thc.highest order is said to be. It was not his wish to cry in the wilderness, and he was not indifferent to the corruptible reward. In the manner of his age he spent •his youth in the search for patrons, with ultimate success ; and when these friendly potentates faded out of his life he entered into zealous competition for the patronage of the reading public. When, during twent.y years, he believed that his popularity was exhausted, he published nothing ; but when he found that the new generation welcomed his return, he worked with a speed which Scott himself could hardly have surpassed, and which, as the critics insisted, was incompatible with careful craftsmanship.
The object of Canon Deane's little volume is to " convinc3 some people to whom he is merely a name that Crabbe is worth reading," and that " he has a place of his own in English literature, and holds it without a rival." If so humble a service is needed, every reader will wish success to the enterprise. The extracts include all those passages which commonly find their way into anthologies, and those which are less celebrated will be found to justify their selection. Of the editorial work, though it accomplishes the unusual feat of creating a desire for more, it is impossible to speak with the same unqualified satisfaction. The notes consist for the most part of small fragments of biography and appreciative com- ments of somewhat menacing authority. Such statements as that " this passage was particularly admired by Sir Walter Scott," that " this is the poem which both Fox and Scott desired to be read to them when on their death-beds," and that " the extract here presented was an especial favourite of Cardinal Newman's," arc likely to divert the reader's attention to the anxious examination of his own taste. At rare intervals the editor indulges himself in a comment of his own, as when he says of The Ancient Mansion that " the lyric with which it ends shows conclusively how great might. have been Crabbe's success outside the narrow limits of the heroic style and metre." This would be more obviously true of Sir Eustace Grey, which might well perplex the uninitiated, and of which we are told nothing except that " this poem was written during a great snowstorm." Taken as a whole, the notes give the impression of severely restrained enthusiasm occasionally breaking its bounds.
It is arguable that the best model for -succeeding editor,: of Crabbe was supplied by the poet's sun, in his edition of 1834. The younger Crabbe seems to have realized that his father was peculiarly amenable to friendly advice, and that it is impossible fully to understand the poems as a series without taking into account those influences of suggestion, exhortation, and criticism by which the author was con- sciously guided. The case of Crabbe is entirely different in this respect from that of Wordsworth or of Coleridge. What
the reviewers thought of Lyrical Ballads is to-day a matter of merely curious interest ; but their opinion of The Parish Register had a visible effect upon The Borough, and the reception of The Borough helped to determine the form of Tales, and afterwards of Tales of the Hall. The first editor, therefore, acted wisely in including in his notes significant passages of contemporary criticism, each of which, taken in relation to Crabbe's own words in his Prefaces, helps to prepare the reader for the next attempt. We seem to be admitted to the artist's sanctum, and to follow his intention as the work proceeds.
Canon Deane's account of the early reviewers, in his Intro- duction, is hardly adequate, and in one particular is misleading. Jeffrey, of the Edinburgh Review, cannot fairly be said to have praised Crabbe extravagantly in order to give point to his disparagement of the Lake School. He did not commend Crabbe as being " loyal to the fine classical tradition," in contrast with Wordsworth, or because his couplets were " almost worthy of Pope." Jeffrey's hero among modern poets was Cowper, whom he revered for having " made it apparent to readers of all descriptions that Pope and Addison were no longer to be the models of English poetry " ; and the principal ground of his admiration for Crabbe was that he displayed " that kind of strength and originality which we meet with in Cowper." It is to be hoped that Canon Deane will succeed in reviving interest in Crabbe, and that that revival will lead in turn to the better understanding of Jeffrey.
The publishers have done their part well by presenting the book in an attractive form and at a price which gives it the
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