DARTMOOR.
A PRIZE POEM.
[In 1820, the Royal Society of Literature advertised their intention of awarding a prize for the best poem on “Dartmoor;" and, as might have been expected, many competitors entered the field. In the following June, the palm was awarded to Mrs Hemans for the composition which follows.
She thus writes to the friends who had been the first to convey to her the pleasing intelligence of her success:—
"What with surprise, bustle, and pleasure, I am really almost bewildered. I wish you had but seen the children, when the prize was announced to them yesterday........The Bishop's kind communication put us in possession of the gratifying intelligence a day sooner than we should otherwise have known it, as I did not receive the Secretary's letter till this morning. Besides the official announcement of the prize, his despatch also contained a private letter, with which, although it is one of criticism, I feel greatly pleased, as it shows an interest in my literary success, which, from so distinguished a writer as Mr Croly, (of course you have read his poem of Paris,) cannot but be highly gratifying."]
"Come, bright Improvement! on the car of Time,
And rule the spacious world from clime to clime.
Thy handmaid, Art, shall every wild explore,
Trace every wave, and culture every shore"Campbell.
"May ne'er
That true succession fall of English hearts,
That can perceive, not less than heretofore
Our ancestors did feelingly perceive,
...... the charm
Of pious sentiment, diffused afar,
And human charity, and social love."Wordsworth.
