SOURCE: National Magazine, Vol. I, No. 6, December, 1852, pp. 481-87.

In the following excerpt from a review ofHalleck's life and poetry, the critic discusses the strong points and shortcomings of the poet's works.

To thoroughly analyze Halleck's poetry, we should require pages; not because he has written so much, or because what he has written is of so much consequence, but because much of it violates many of the fundamental rules of taste and art, which would have to be stated and perhaps defended in full. Having neither space nor time to do this, we must content ourselves with a few examples of his merits and demerits and a few brief remarks thereon.

We open the volume at the beginning, at "Alnwick Castle," one of his best poems. In "Alnwick Castle," we see the effect of Scott's romances, both in their versification, and in their recalling the memory of...