The _Blackwood_ articles were usually most
scathing, and those of the _Literary Gazette_ were not far behind.
Fortunately, the poet spent most of his time in Italy and thus remained
in ignorance of the great majority of these spiteful attacks in the
less important periodicals.
_Alastor_, which appeared in 1816, attracted comparatively little
attention. The tone of the brief notice reprinted from the _Monthly
Rev._, LXXIX, n.s., p. 433, shows that the poet was as yet unknown to
the critics. _Blackwood's Magazine_, VI (148-154), gave a longer and, on
the whole, more favorable account of the poem. In the same year, Leigh
Hunt published his _Story of Rimini_, most noteworthy for its graceful
rhythmical structure in the unrestricted couplets of Chaucer. This
departure from the polished heroics of Pope, which were ill-adapted to
narrative subjects in spite of his successful translation of Homer, was
hailed with delight by the younger poets. Shelley imitated the measure
in his _Julian_ and _Maddalo_, and Keats did likewise in _Lamia_ and
_Endymion_. Hunt was soon recognized by the critics as the leader of a
group of liberals whom they conveniently classified as the Cockney
School.
Pages:
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379