_EDITED BY ALLAN CUNNINGHAM._
Perhaps we are getting too panegyrical, for panegyric savours of the
poppy; but we must not flinch from our duty.
_Allan Cunningham_--there is poetry in the name, written or sung--and
high-wrought poetry too, in nearly every production to which that
name is attached--and among these "The Anniversary for 1829." All the
departments of this work too, (as in the "Keepsake") are unique. Mr.
Sharpe, the proprietor, is a man of refined taste, his Editor and his
contributors are men of first-rate genius, the Painters and Engravers
are of the first rank, and the volume is printed at Mr. Whittingham's
Chiswick-press. Excellence must always be the result of such a
combination of talent, and so it proves in the _Anniversary_. As
might have been expected from the talent of its editor, the volume
is superior in its poetical attractions--both in number and quality.
By way of variety, we begin with the _poetry_. First is a stirring
little ballad, the Warrior, by the editor; then, a humorous epistle
from Robert Southey, Esq. to Allan Cunningham, in which the laureat
deals forth his ire on the "misresemblances and villanous visages"
which have been published as his portrait.[1] Next is a gem of
another water, Edderline's Dream, by Professor Wilson, the supposed
editor of "Blackwood's Magazine." This is throughout a very beautiful
composition, but we must content ourselves with the following
extract:--