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Excerpt from English Songs, and Other Small Poems
It may be thought paradoxical to assert that the songs which occur in dramas are more natural than those which proceed from the author in person: yet such is generally the case. If, indeed, a poet wrote purely and seasonably only, - that is to say, if his poetry sprung always from the passion or humor of the moment, the fact might be other wise. But it may easily be seen, that many rhymes are produced out of season; and are often nothing more than the result of ingenuity taxed to the uttermost; or otherwise, are simply the indiscretions of gentlemen at ease,' who have nothing, or nothing better to do. Now Poetry is not to be thus constrained nor is it ever the offspring of ennui or languor. It demands not only the 'faculty divine,' (so called,) but also, that it should be left to its own impulses. The intellectual faculties are, in no one, always in a state of tension, or capable of projecting those thoughts which, in happier moments, are cast forth With perfect ease, - and which, when thrown out by the Imagination or the Fancy, constitute the charm, and indeed form the essence of poetry.
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