OTHER POEMS.—­In 1808, before The Lay had lost its freshness, Marmion appeared:  it was kindred in subject and form, and was received with equal favor. The Lady of the Lake, the most popular of these poems, was published in 1810; and with it his poetical talent culminated.  The later poems were not equal to any of those mentioned, although they were not without many beauties and individual excellences.

The Vision of Don Roderick, which appeared in 1811, is founded upon the legend of a visit made by one of the Gothic kings of Spain to an enchanted cavern near Toledo. Rokeby was published in 1812; The Bridal of Triermain in 1813; The Lord of the Isles, founded upon incidents in the life of Bruce, in 1815; and Harold the Dauntless in 1817.  With the decline of his poetic power, manifest to himself, he retired from the field of poetry, but only to appear upon another and a grander field with astonishing brilliancy:  it was the domain of the historical romance.  Such, however, was the popular estimate of his poetry, that in 1813 the Prince Regent offered him the position of poet-laureate, which was gratefully and wisely declined.

Just at this time the new poets came forth, in his own style, and actuated by his example and success.  He recognized in Byron, Moore, Crabbe, and others, genius and talent; and, with his generous spirit, exaggerated their merits by depreciating his own, which he compared to cairngorms beside the real jewels of his competitors.  The mystics, following the lead of the Lake poets, were ready to increase the depreciation.  It soon became fashionable to speak of The Lay, and Marmion, and The Lady of the Lake as spirited little stories, not equal to Byron’s, and not to be mentioned beside the occult philosophy of Thalaba and gentle egotism of The Prelude.  That day is passed:  even the critical world returns to its first fancies.  In the words of Carlyle, a great balance-striker of literary fame, speaking in 1838:  “It were late in the day to write criticisms on those metrical romances; at the same time, the great popularity they had seems natural enough.  In the first place, there was the indisputable impress of worth, of genuine human force in them ...  Pictures were actually painted and presented; human emotions conceived and sympathized with.  Considering that wretched Dellacruscan and other vamping up of wornout tattlers was the staple article then, it may be granted that Scott’s excellence was superior and supreme.”  Without preferring any claim to epic grandeur, or to a rank among the few great poets of the first class, Scott is entitled to the highest eminence in minstrelic power.  He is the great modern troubadour.  His descriptions of nature are simple and exquisite.  There is nothing in this respect more beautiful than the opening of The Lady of the Lake.  His battle-pieces live and resound again:  what can be finer than Flodden field in Marmion, and The Battle of Beal and Duine in The Lady of the Lake?