ISMAEL;
AN ORIENTAL TALE.
WITH
Other Poems.
ISMAEL;
AN ORIENTAL TALE.
WITH
Other Poems.
BY
EDWARD GEORGE LYTTON BULWER.
Written between
The Age of Thirteen and Fifteen.
Hor. 2 Ep. 1.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. HATCHARD AND SON
No. 187, PICCADILLY.
1820.
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Printed by J. Brettell,
Rupert Street, Haymarket, London.
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PREFACE.
To court applause by oblique dexterity, or withouta due sense of respect for public opinion, impertinentlyto advance pretensions, is equally revolting tothe feelings of an ingenuous mind. But as geniusand a desire of fame are naturally allied, and, perhaps,the former never existed without the latter;will not the youthful adventurer be justified in endeavouringto stand well in the opinion of the judiciousand discerning, by disseminating his worksamong them—under a confidence, that the morecandid will be pleased with the first blossoms ofpoetical talent, not only as the fruits of industry, butas presages in maturer years of more elevated titlesto distinction? With these impressions, the Authorof the following Poems has been induced, by theadvice of his friends, to offer the present Collection{vi}to the public. The praise of friends, I am aware, isnot always a sufficient reason for publication;—andpieces of poetry, dictated by some local occurrence,or intended as a tribute of politeness or affection tosome individual, though at first much admired, may,nevertheless scarcely deserve to be transmitted toposterity. I am well aware that the strict eye ofcriticism may discover imperfections, and that a niceear may, perhaps, occasionally be hurt by a harshline;—and, that some, from a dread of inspiring intoa young mind, a taste for extra-academical fame, maybe disposed to extinguish altogether such attempts—yetit would be straining delicacy beyond convenientbounds, if we did not cherish the idea, that there maybe others, who may be pleased to look propitiouslyon the first specimens of genius at so early an age—manyof them having been written when the Authorhad attained only his Thirteenth year, and the wholebefore he had completed Fifteen years of age. Theirclaims are not, perhaps, of that superior kind, whichwill find a place among the first orders of poetry;but the pieces breathe throughout the true spirit ofvirtuous sensibility, vigour of fancy, and that characteristicmanner, which always accompanies strongpower of invention;—they display richness of imagery,and elegance of style, while the language has an{vii}easy flow, and unaffected simplicity, free from thatartificial splendor, and obscure magnificence, whichmoder