MR. HENRY ELLISON'S MADMOMENTS.
THESE two thick little volumes, closely printed at the foreign press of Malta, contain upWards of twenty thousand lines of verse, and about a hundred pages of prose ; the poetry consisting of mis- cellaneous poems, dramatic scenes, a few tales, and several didactic productions; the prose, of " detached thoughts," varying in length from a sentence to an essay. The author atatas that the greater part was written between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-three: the volumes are evidently the production of a youthful anti ardent student—full of industry, not devoid of talent, an admirer of the German school, and at worshipper of Wouuswowrn—who has been accustomed to write down his thoughts and sentiments as they came into his mind; and has here given the unstudied outpour- ings to the world. Such a course is not the way to excellence, even in a matured mind, which time and reflection have stored with ideas, and habit rendered dexterous in expression: but, in a young man like Mr. ELLISON, the wonder is that his voluminous and hasty composition has not given rise to a much worse collection than Madmovreut;; which consists of good commonplace and bor- rowed thoughts, sometimes strongly- expressed, more frequently weakly ; but so little pains has he taken in composition, that his versification is constantly harsh, and occasionally he has even split his words to eke out the line, reminding one of Casesnco's parody, "lie was my tutor at the U- niversity of Gottingen."
There are, however, points of promise in the volumes. The remarks on Hamlet are novel and ingenious ; some of the thoughts in the poetry indicate is healthy and penetrating mind ; and the pre- face is a striking piece of composition, though deriving much of its effects from its Liermanisms of compound worda. It is proper to add, that the title does not at all indicate the contents ; which have nothing licentious, loose, or convivial. The assumed character of " Borimatural," the author explains as meaning, " one who inherits the natural sentiments and tastes to which he was born, art-unsul- lied and custoni-free."
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