Author: Bath, Elizabeth (1772-1856)
Title: Poems, on Various Subjects
Date: 1806
Contemporary Reviews of this Volume
The Eclectic Review, 3 (April 1807), pp. 349-51
Art. XIV. Poems on various Occasions. By Elizabeth Bath. 12mo. pp.154. price 5s. Bristol, 1806.
MISS B., we understand, is the daughter of the late Mr. Shurmur B. one of The Society of Friends, and a remarkable philanthropist, whose kindness to the poor of Bristol, as far as it respected temporal relief, was carried to the last limit of propriety. The hero of the following couplet could not, with stricter justice, claim the praise it awarded him.
‘Is any sick? The Man of Ross relieves;
Prescribes, attends, the medicine makes and gives.’
His daughter’s poems have much to recommend them. If the imagery they display, is less original than we might wish; if the language falls somewhat short of classic purity; and if, here and there, we observe a repetition of thought and rhyme; we are, on the other hand, constantly gratified by the strong traces of an active, ardent, and amiable mind, void of affectation, characterized by the liveliest sensibility, and pouring all its influence into the scale of virtue. We are happy to add, that our author’s allusions to the still higher theme, religion, are such as indicate that it occupies and warms her heart. Our gratification, however, she will permit us to remark, would have been more complete, if a distincter reference had been made to evangelical principles; because, persuaded, as we are, that the form the true basis of virtue and of hope, we feel confident that all productions of the sentimental and moral class, are likely to do good, according to the degree in which those principles are either asserted, or, at least, strongly implied. The poetry of Cowper has shewn, that the Muses do but add to their charms, when they consecrate them beneath the cross of the Redeemer.
From the pensive strain observable in Miss B.’s poems, we should infer, that she has been disciplined in the School of Adversity; a circumstance whereby she was probably enabled to impart that peculiar interest, which the reader will not fail to recognize in almost every page. In a poem entitled An Estimate of the Pleasures of Life, she pathetically says,
What are all our promis’d pleasures,
But the dew-drops of the morn;
Little, trembling, glitt’ring treasures.
Transient gems that deck the thorn?
Scarce can hope her rays supply,
Scarce they glitter, ere they die.
We are pleased with the lines on the Advantage of Resignation, and with those on Death. The following are from the Reflections of a serious moment.
How cold are the dead in the depths of the grave,
Still and dark is their gloomy abode;
And long are the reeds that so solemnly wave
O’er the tomb that affection bestowed.
These are the frail monuments grandeur will raise
O’er those to the grave that descend;
But the living memorial that never decays,
Is lodged in the heart of a friend.
The sun sheds his rays to enliven the green,
And sports on the breast of the wave;
But where are the rays to enliven the form,
That is lodged in the depths of the grave?
Yet this is the spot Sensibility seeks,
There it weeps o’er the slumbering dead;
And this is the spot where fond Friendship resorts,
Affection’s sad tribute to shed.
These enjoyments are sacred, and who shall explain
How such scenes can a comfort bestow;
The stoic may reason, and reason in vain,
On a pleasure he never shall know. (pp. 27, 29)
As we have not room for a long extract, we quote the following verses from the Address to Solitude.
There is a hunger and a thirst,
Which nothing can supply,
But bread from God’s unsparing hand,
And water from on high.
And ever has the heav’n-taught mind,
The tranquil scene preferr’d,
There list’ning to the still small voice,
In silence only heard.
Sweet Solitude, O let me share
The pleasures of thy shade!
For pure devotion, calm delight,
And contemplation made.
We should, perhaps, have chosen the Description of a great Character, as exhibiting the best specimen of ingenuity, and poetic address; but the turn of thought in the former part of the sixth stanza, is so foreign to the whole connexion, that we are ready to pronounce it unintelligible, and must suppose, that there is some mistake which Miss B. will be surprised to discover.
The list of subscribers with which the volumes closes, is very respectable. Should another impression be called for, an event which is not improbable, we advise Miss B. to give her work those additional touches, which will render it more worthy of the public patronage; and in this task, she will be likely to improve her qualifications so much, as to be encouraged to undertake distinct work.
The Literary Annual Register, 1 (November 1807), pp 505-07.
Poems on various Occasions. By Elizabeth Bath. sm. 8vo. pp. 188. pr. 5s. Bristol, Desmond
The author of this work is a lady of the Society of Friends, and daughter of the late Mr. Shurmer Bath, an inhabitant of Bristol, and a man of most remarkable philanthropy. Miss B. appears to have been instructed in the school of adversity, and the solemn, pensive, pious strain of the pieces in this very interesting volume, evince that she has not been taught in vain. The list of subscribers, which occupies the space of thirty pages, shews the esteem in which her personal character is held by her friends; the following extracts will enable our readers to judge of her poetical character.
[The rest of the review consists of the following poems from the collection: To Sensibility, An Estimate of the Pleasures of Life, The Advantages of Resignation, An Effusion, and Address to Beauty in their entirety.]
Prepared by Asa Lambrecht, Universitry of Nebraska, Spring 2018
© Asa Lambrecht, 2018