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New Perspectives on HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, 6th edition Instructor’s Manual Page 1 of 12
This document is organized chronologically and uses the same headings in blue that you see
in the textbook. Under each heading, you will find (in order): Lecture Notes that summarize
the section, Figures and Boxes found in the section (if any), Teacher Tips, Classroom
Activities, and Lab Activities. Pay special attention to teaching tips and activities, which are
geared toward quizzing your students, enhancing their critical thinking skills, and
encouraging experimentation within the software.
In addition to this Instructor’s Manual, our Instructor Companion Site also contains
PowerPoint Presentations, Test Banks, and other supplements to aid in your teaching
experience.
Table of Contents
Tutorial Objectives 2
Introducing Multimedia on the Web 2
Working with the audio Element 3
Exploring Embedded Objects 4
Exploring Digital Video 4
Using the HTML5 video Element 5
Adding a Text Track to Video 6
Using Third-Party Video Players 7
Creating Transitions with CSS 8
Animating Objects with CSS 9
End of Tutorial Material 11
Glossary 12
Tutorial Objectives
Students will have mastered the material in Tutorial Eight when they can:
BOXES
• None
FIGURES
• Figure 8-1
TEACHER TIP
Prepare a few examples of lossy and lossless compression. Mention to the students the disadvantage of
lossless compression.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
• Internet Activity: Ask the students to research the advantages and disadvantages of
multimedia.
• Quick Quiz:
o True/False: In lossless compression, data is compressed by removing redundant
information. (Answer: True)
o Fill in the blank: _____ is a computer program that encodes and decodes streams of
data. (Answer: Codec)
LAB ACTIVITY
• None
• Using figure 8-4, discuss the different browser support audio formats.
• Discuss the syntax to nest several source elements within a single audio element.
• Explain the process of applying styles to a native media player.
• Using figure 8-6, show the default audio player for different browsers.
• Explain the concept of a fallback option.
BOXES
• Tip: Because XHTML requires values for every attribute, enter the controls attribute as
controls="controls" to display media player controls on a page written in XHTML
(HTML 591).
• Tip: If no type attribute is provided, the browser will download a section of the file to
determine whether it corresponds to a recognized format (HTML 593).
• Insight: Exploring MIME Types (HTML 593)
• Tip: By default, audio and video elements are displayed in-line with the surrounding page
content (HTML 595).
• Proskills: Verbal Communication: Tips for Effective Web Audio (HTML 598)
FIGURES
• Figure 8-2, Figure 8-3, Figure 8-4, Figure 8-5, Figure 8-6, Figure 8-7, Figure 8-8, Figure 8-9,
Figure 8-10
TEACHER TIP
Remind the students that CSS can be applied to modify the media player’s appearance. Use figure 8-10
to show how a fallback text is displayed within a web page. Gather a few images to show the latest
audio players for different browsers.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
• Class Discussion:
Ask the students to make a list of any four attributes of the HTML audio element.
• Quick Quiz:
o True/False: The mobile version of the Firefox browser supports the AAC audio format.
(Answer: False)
o True/False: Apple devices support all audio formats except AAC. (Answer: False)
LAB ACTIVITY
• Have the students open an editor of their choice and create a new file with the extension
.html or take up any file from their previous lab activities. Follow the instructions from the
following section:
o HTML 593 “To add an audio clip”
o HTML 595 “To apply styles to the Media Player”
o HTML 595 “To play the audio clip”
o HTML 597 “To provide alternate text to the audio clip”
BOXES
• Tip: Browsers that don’t support HTML5 ignore the audio and source elements but apply
the embed element to insert the media player via a plug-in (HTML 599).
FIGURES
• None
TEACHER TIP
Have a discussion with the students on the challenges faced with plug-ins. Remind students that plug-
ins use the attributes designed for them and ignore the others. Also, tell them that plug-ins can act as
fallback options for browsers that do not support HTML5.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
• Quick Quiz:
o True/False: Older browsers relied on plug-ins to play audio and video files. (Answer:
True)
o True/False: Plug-ins cannot act as a fallback option for browsers that do not support
the HTML5 multimedia elements. (Answer: False)
LAB ACTIVITY
• None
BOXES
• None
FIGURES
• Figure 8-11, Figure 8-12, Figure 8-13
TEACHER TIP
Remind the students to supply multiple versions of the same video to achieve widest cross-browser
support.
Have a discussion with the students on the advantages of embedding a video in a web page.
New Perspectives on HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, 6th edition Instructor’s Manual Page 5 of 12
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
• Quick Quiz
o True/False: The most popular video codec is H.264. (Answer: True)
o True/False: The desktop version of Internet Explorer only supports MPEG-4 video
format. (Answer: True)
LAB ACTIVITY
• None
BOXES
• None
FIGURES
• Figure 8-14, Figure 8-15, Figure 8-16, Figure 8-17, Figure 8-18
TEACHER TIP
Mention to the students that a browser uses the first source it finds in a format it supports.
Remind the students that by default, media players show the first video frame as a preview of the
video’s content when the player initially loads a video file.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Quick Quiz:
• True/False: The poster attribute is used to define the video’s preview image. (Answer: True)
• True/ False: The media player shows the last video frames as a preview of the video’s content
when the player initially loads a video file. (Answer: False)
LAB ACTIVITY
• Have the students use an editor of their choice to modify the file they created in the last lab.
Follow the instructions from the following section:
o HTML 604 “To embed a video file into the web page”
o HTML 606 “To set the video’s poster image”
BOXES
• Tip: A WebVTT file has the file extension .vtt (HTML 608).
• Tip: Cue text entered on multiple lines in the WebVTT file will also be displayed on multiple
lines when played back (HTML 608).
• Tip: To center the cue in the video window, set the line and position values to 50% and the
align value to middle (HTML 611).
• Tip: Ruby text refers to annotative characters placed above or to the right of other characters
and is often used with Chinese or Japanese symbols (HTML 613).
FIGURES
• Figure 8-19, Figure 8-20, Figure 8-21, Figure 8-22, Figure 8-23, Figure 8-13, Figure 8-24,
Figure 8-25, Figure 8-26, Figure 8-27, Figure 8-28
TEACHER TIP
Remind the students that the default attribute is required even if the track list contains only one
track. Also, stress that the list of cues is separated by a single blank line after the cue text.
Inform the students that the cue pseudo-element formats all of the cue text in the media clip by
default.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
• Class Discussion:
Ask the students to express their views on the necessity of adding a text track to a
video/image.
• Quick Quiz:
o Fill in the blank: Tracks are stored as simple text files written in the _____ language.
(Answer: Web Video Text Tracks or WebVTT)
o True/False: By default, a cue is placed at the top-right corner of a video window.
(Answer: False)
LAB ACTIVITY
• Have the students use an editor of their choice to modify the file they created in the last lab.
Follow the instructions from the following section:
o HTML 608 “To create a track file”
o HTML 609 “To add captions to a video clip”
o HTML 611 “To position the track cues”
New Perspectives on HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, 6th edition Instructor’s Manual Page 7 of 12
BOXES
• Tip: To hide the Flash player, set the width and height values to 0 (HTML 618).
• Proskills: Problem Solving: Tips for Effective Web Video (HTML 620)
FIGURES
• Figure 8-29, Figure 8-30
TEACHER TIP
Inform the students that the most-used plug-in for video playback is the Adobe Flash player. Use
figure 8-29 to discuss about the various parameters recognized by the Adobe Flash player.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
• Class Discussion:
Ask the students to list and describe any three parameters recognized by the Adobe Flash
player.
• Quick Quiz:
o True/False: The most-used plug-in for video playback was the Adobe Flash player.
(Answer: True)
o True/False: The inline-frame element is used to mark iframes. (Answer:
False)
LAB ACTIVITY
• None
• Using figure 8-35, compare the transition results of background color with different timing-
functions.
• Discuss the syntax of the cubic-bezier function.
• Explain the advantage of Cubic Bezier curves.
• Explain the syntax to delay the start of a transition.
• Discuss the effect of a hover transition.
• Discuss the limitations of transitions.
BOXES
• Tip: To specify a time in milliseconds, use the “ms” unit (HTML 624).
• Insight: Properties Affected by Transitions (HTML 626).
• Tip: You can also set the properties affected by the transition and their duration using the
transition-property and transition-duration styles (HTML 626).
• Tip: You can also define the timing-function using the transition-timing-
function property (HTML 626).
• Tip: You can also define the timing-function using the transition-delay property
(HTML 629).
• Insight: Creating an Asymmetric Transition (HTML 634)
FIGURES
• Figure 8-31, Figure 8-32, Figure 8-33, Figure 8-34, Figure 8-35, Figure 8-36, Figure 8-37,
Figure 8-38, Figure 8-39, Figure 8-40, Figure 8-41, Figure 8-42
TEACHER TIP
Inform the students that two transitions can involve totally different effects and durations. Remind
the students that another way to visualize a timing function is as a graph.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
• Class Discussion:
Ask the students to differentiate between ease-in and ease-in-out keywords.
• Quick Quiz:
o True/False: A transition can be run in a loop for an infinite number of times. (Answer:
False)
o True/False: The hover effect is instantaneous with no intermediate steps. (Answer:
True)
LAB ACTIVITY
• Have the students use an editor of their choice to modify the file they created in the last lab.
Follow the instructions from the following section:
o HTML 629 “To define the initial and end state for the navigation links”
o HTML 631 “To define styles for the navigation links”
New Perspectives on HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, 6th edition Instructor’s Manual Page 9 of 12
BOXES
• Insight: Stepping between Key Frames (HTML 640)
• Proskills: Problem Solving: Safe Animation and Motion Sensitivity (HTML 650)
FIGURES
• Figure 8-43, Figure 8-44, Figure 8-45, Figure 8-46, Figure 8-47, Figure 8-48, Figure 8-49,
Figure 8-50, Figure 8-51, Figure 8-52, Figure 8-53, Figure 8-54, Figure 8-55, Figure 8-56,
Figure 8-57, Figure 8-58
TEACHER TIP
Have a discussion with the students about animation and its usage. Remind students that once an
animation has been defined and applied to an object, it will run automatically when the page is
loaded. Have a discussion with the students on how to control an animation using the check box or
playback icons.
Remind the students that any timing value entered for the last key frame is ignored because there are
no key frames to transition to.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
• Quick Quiz:
o Fill in the blank: The sequence of changing images is known as _____. (Answer: key
frames)
o True/False: An animation can contain only two styles defined at the initial and end
states. (Answer: False)
LAB ACTIVITY
• Have the students use an editor of their choice to modify the file they created in the last lab.
Follow the instructions from the following section:
o HTML 636 “To create the spin animation”
o HTML 639 “To apply the spin animation”
o HTML 641 “To create the animation check box”
New Perspectives on HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, 6th edition Instructor’s Manual Page 10 of 12
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On the beleaguer’d wall,
And dark their slumber, dark with dreams
Of slow defeat and fall.
Yet a few hearts of chivalry
Rose high to breast the storm,
And one—of all the loftiest there—
Thrill’d in a woman’s form.
THE WANDERER.
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF SCHMIDT VON LUBECK.
TO CAROLINE.
When thy bounding step I hear,
And thy soft voice, low and clear;
When thy glancing eyes I meet,
In their sudden laughter sweet—
Thou, I dream, wert surely born
For a path by care unworn!
Thou must be a shelter’d flower,
With but sunshine for thy dower.
“The [American] collection of Mrs Hemans’ Miscellaneous Poems opens with verses
in honour of the Pilgrim Fathers. She has celebrated with solemnity and truth the
circumstances which gave sublimity to the glorious scene of their landing; and
their descendants cannot be but pleased to see the devotedness displayed by
them introduced into poetry, and incorporated among the bright examples held up
by the inventive as well as the historic muse for the admiration of mankind.
“Freedom, not licentiousness—religious freedom, not the absence of religious rites
—was the object for which the fathers came. An air of earnestness was thus
originally imparted to the character of the country, and succeeding ages have not
worn it away. Though it may suit the humour of moralisers to declaim against the
degeneracy of the times, we believe that the country has of late years made
advances in moral worth. We infer this from the more general diffusion of
intelligence, and the higher standard of learning; from the spirit of healthy action
pervading all classes; from the diminished number of crimes; from the general
security of property; from the rapid multiplication of Sabbath schools, than which
no discovery of our age has been more important for the moral education of the
people; from the philanthropy which seeks for the sources of vice, and restrains it
by removing its causes; from the active and compassionate benevolence, which
does not allow itself to consider any class so vicious or so degraded as to have
forfeited its claim to humane attention—which seeks and relieves misery wherever
it is concealed, and, embracing every continent in its regard, has its messengers in
the remotest regions of the world. Religious freedom is the last right which, even
in our days, the inhabitants of this country would surrender. It would be easier to
drive them from their houses and their lands, than to take from them the liberty of
worshipping God according to the dictates of conscience. There is no general
assertion of this right, and no energetic display of zeal in maintaining it, solely
because it is menaced by no alarming danger.
“In a state of society like ours, there may be little room for the exercise of those
arts of which it is the chief aim to amuse and delight; and yet attention is by no
means confined to those objects which are directly connected with the
advancement of personal or public wealth. For the costly luxuries of life, and even
for its elegant pleasures, there may as yet be little room; and still the morality of
the nation be far from forming itself on the new system of morals devised by our
political economists. There has been no age—we assert it with confidence—there
has been no people, where the efforts of mind, directly connected with the
preservation of elevated feeling and religious earnestness, are more valued than
they are by the better part of our own community. We can no support, or we hold
it not best to support, an expensive religious establishment; but every where the
voice of religious homage and instruction is heard: we cannot set apart large
estates to give splendour to literary distinction; but you will hardly find a retired
nook, where only a few families seek their shelter near each other, so destitute,
that the elements of knowledge are not freely taught: we cannot establish
galleries for the various works of the arts of design; but the eye that can see the
beauties of nature is common with us, and the recital of deeds of high worth
meets with ready listeners. The luxuries, which are for display, are exceedingly
little known; but the highest value is set on every effort of mind connected with
the investigation of truth, or the nurture of generous and elevated sentiments.
“Where the public mind had been thus formed, the poetry of Mrs Hemans was
sure to find admirers. The exercise of genius, if connected with no respect for
virtue, might have remained unnoticed; the theory, which treats of beauty as of
something independent of moral effect, is still without advocates among us. It has
thus far been an undisputed axiom that, if a production is indecent or immoral, it
for that very reason cannot claim to be considered beautiful.
“We do not go so far as to assert, that there can be no merit in works of which the
general tendency is immoral; but the merit, if there is any, does not lie in the
immoral part, in the charm that is thrown round vice, but rather in an occasional
gleam of better principles, in nature occasionally making her voice heard above
the din of the dissolute, in the pictures of loveliness and moral truth that shine out
through the darkness. Amidst all the horrors and depravity of superstition, the
strange and the abominable vagaries of the human imagination, exercised on
religion in heathenish ignorance, the observing mind may yet recognise the spirit
that connects man with a better world. And so it is with poetry: amidst all the
confusion which is manifest where the heavenly gift is under the control of a
corrupted judgment, something of its native lustre will still appear. When we see
the poet of transcendent genius delineating any thing but the higher part of our
nature; when we observe how, after borrowing fiendish colours, he describes
states of mind with which devils only should have sympathy, rails at human nature
in a style which spiteful misanthropy alone can approve, or gives descriptions of
sensuality fit only for the revels of Comus; when we see him ‘hurried down the
adulterate age, adding pollutions of his own,’ we can have little to say to excuse or
to justify an admiration of poetic talent, till we are reconciled to human nature and
the muse by the pure lustre of better-guided minds.
“In what view of the subject can it be held a proper design of poetry to render
man hateful to himself? How can it delight or instruct us to see our fellow-men
ranged under the two classes of designing villains and weak dupes? Or what
sources of poetic inspiration are left, if all the relations of social life are held up to
derision, and every generous impulse scorned as the result of deluded confidence?
“To demand that what is called poetical justice should be found in every
performance may be unreasonable, since the events of life do not warrant us in
expecting it; but we may demand what is of much more importance, moral justice
—a consistency of character, a conformity of the mind to its career of action. It
may not be inconsistent with reality, though it is with probability, that an
unprincipled miscreant, governing himself in his gratifications by the narrowest
selfishness, should be successful in his pursuits; but it is unnatural and false to
give to such a nature any of the attributes of goodness. Vice is essentially mean
and low; it has no dignity, no courage, no beauty; and while the poet can never
impart to a production, tending to promote vice, the power and interest which
belong to the worthy delineation of honourable actions, he can never invest a false
heart with the noble qualities of a generous one. Observe in this respect the
manner of the dramatic poet, who is acknowledged to have delineated the
passions with the greatest fidelity. Shakspeare describes the mind as gradually
sinking under the influence of the master-passion. It stamps itself on the whole
soul, and obliterates all the finer traces in which humanity had written a witness of
gentler qualities. Macbeth is a moral picture of terrific sublimity, and an illustration
of that moral justice which we contend should never be wanting. The one strong
passion moulds the character, and blasts every tender sentiment. When once
Othello is jealous, his judgment is gone; the selfishness of Richard leads to wanton
cruelty. In one of Shakspeare’s tragedies, not a crime, but a fault is the foundation
of the moral interest. Here, too, he is consistent; and the irresolution of Hamlet
leaves his mind without energy, and his contending passions without terror. We
might explain our views by examples from the comedies of the great dramatist,
but Macbeth and Richard furnish the clearest illustration of them. And it is in such
exhibitions of the power of vice to degrade, that ‘gorgeous tragedy’ performs her
severest office; lifting up the pall which hides the ghastliness of unprincipled
depravity, and showing us, where vice gains control, the features, that before may
have been resplendent with loveliness, marred and despoiled of all their sweet
expression.
“There can, then, be no more hideous fault in a literary work than profligacy.
Levity is next in order. The disposition to trifle with topics of the highest moment—
to apply the levelling principle to the emotions of the human mind, to hold up to
ridicule the exalted thoughts and kindling aspirations of which human nature is
capable—can at best charm those only who have failed to enter the true avenues
to happiness. Such works may be popular, because the character of the public
mind may for a season be corrupt. A literature, consisting of such works, is the
greatest evil with which a nation can be cursed. National poverty is nothing in
comparison, for poverty is remedied by prudent enterprise; but such works poison
the life-blood of the people, the moral vigour, which alone can strive for liberty and
honour. The apologists for this class of compositions, in which Voltaire and La
Fontaine are the greatest masters, defend it on the ground that it is well adapted
to give pleasure to minds which have been accustomed to it, and that foreigners
need only a different moral education to be able to enjoy it. Now, without wasting
a word on the enormity of defending what is intrinsically sensual, we reply merely
on the score of effect. He who adapts his inventions to a particular state of
society, can please no further; he depends on circumstances for his popularity; he
does not appeal to man, but to accidental habits, a fleeting state of the public
mind; he is the poet, not of nature, but of a transient fashion. The attraction
which comes from the strangeness or novelty of the manner is of very little value.
On the most brilliant night a meteor would be followed by all eyes for a while; and
why? Because it is as evanescent as bright; we must gaze at once, or it will be too
late. Yet the mind soon returns to the contemplation of the eternal stars which
light up the heavens with enduring lustre. Any popularity, obtained by gratifying a
perverse taste, is essentially transitory; while all that is benevolent and social, all
that favours truth and goodness, is of universal and perpetual interest.
“These are but plain inferences from facts in the history of literature. The plays of
Dryden were written to please an audience of a vicious taste; they may have been
received with boisterous applause, but nobody likes them now, though in their
form not unsuited to the stage; and as for the grossest scenes, any merit in the
invention is never spoken of as compensating for their abominable coarseness. On
the other hand, Milton’s Comus, though in its form entirely antiquated, has the
beautiful freshness of everlasting youth, delights the ardent admirer of good
poetry, and is always showing new attractions to the careful critic. And where lies
this immense difference in the lasting effect of these two writers? Dryden, it is
true, fell far short of Milton in poetic genius; but the true cause lies in this,—virtue,
which is the soul of song, is wanting in the plays of Dryden, while the poetry of
Milton bears the impress of his own magnanimity.
“We are contending for no sickly morality: we would shut out the poet from the
haunts of libertinism, not from the haunts of men; we would have him associate
with his fellows, hold intercourse with the great minds that light up the gloom of
ages, and share in the best impulses of human nature, and not, under the
influence of a too delicate sensibility, treat only of the harmless flowers, and the
innocent birds, and the exhilarating charm of agreeable scenery; and still less, in
the spirit of a sullen misanthropy, delight in obscure abstractions, find comfort only
in solitude, and rejoice, or pretend to rejoice, chiefly in the mountains, and the
ocean, and the low places of the earth. Their pursuit of moral beauty does not
lead to an affected admiration, or an improper idolatry of the visible creation. The
genius of the poet can impart a portion of its eloquence to the external world, and
elevate creation by connecting it with moral associations. But descriptions, except
of scenes where moral beings are to move, possess little interest. If landscape-
painting is an inferior branch of that art, though the splendid works of Claude
demand praise without measure, landscape poetry is a kind of affectation, an
unnatural result of excessive refinement. Description is important, but subordinate.
The external world, with all its gorgeousness and varied forms of beauty; the
cataract, ‘with its glory of reflected light;’ the forests, as they wave in the brilliancy
of early summer; the flowers, that are crowded in gardens, or waste their
sweetness on the desert air; ‘the noise of the hidden brook, that all night long in
the leafy months sings its quiet tune to the sleeping woods;’ the ocean, whether
reposing in tranquil majesty or tossed by the tempest; night, when the heavens
are glittering with the splendour of the constellations; morning, when one perfect
splendour beams in the sky, and is reflected in a thousand colours from the
guttering earth—these are not the sublimest themes that awaken the energies of
the muse. It is mind, and mind only, which can exhibit the highest beauty. The
hymn of martyrdom, the strength by which the patriot girds himself to die, ‘God’s
breath in the soul of man,’ the unconquerable power of generous passion, the
hopes and sorrows of humanity—love, devotion, and all the deep and bright
springs of affection—these are higher themes of permanent interest and exalted
character.
“Here, too, we find an analogy between poetic and religious feeling. The image of
God is to be sought for, not so much in the outward world as in the mind. No
combination of inanimate matter can equal the sublimity and wonderful power of
life. To impart organic life, with the power of reproduction, is a brighter display of
Omnipotence than any arrangement of the inanimate, material world. A swarm of
flies, as through their short existence they buzz and wheel in the summer’s sun,
offer as clear, and, to some minds, a clearer demonstration of Omnipotence, than
the everlasting, but silent, courses of the planets. But moral life is the highest
creation of divine power. We, at least, know and can conceive of none higher. We
are, therefore, not to look for God among the rivers and the forests, nor yet
among the planets and the stars, but in the hearts of men; he is not the God of
the dead, but of the living.
“Those who accord with the general views which we have here maintained, will be
prepared to express unqualified approbation of the literary career of Mrs Hemans.
Had her writings been merely harmless, we should not have entered into an
analysis of them; but the moral charm which is spread over them is so peculiar, so
full of nature, and truth, and deep feeling, that her productions claim at once the
praise of exquisite purity and poetic excellence. She adds the dignity of her sex to
a high sense of the duties of a poet; she writes with buoyancy, yet with
earnestness; her poems bear the impress of a character worthy of admiration. In
the pursuit of literary renown, she never forgets what is due to feminine reserve.
We perceive a mind endowed with powers to aspire, and are still further pleased
to find no unsatisfied cravings, no passionate pursuit of remote objects, but high
endowments, graced by contentment. There is plainly the consciousness of the
various sorrow to which life is exposed, and with it the spirit of resignation. She
sets before herself a clear and exalted idea of what a female writer should be, and
is on the way to realise her own idea of excellence. Living in domestic retirement,
in a beautiful part of Wales, it is her own feelings and her own experience which
she communicates to us. We cannot illustrate our meaning better, than by
introducing our readers at once to Mrs Hemans herself, as she describes to us the
occupations of a day.
AN HOUR OF ROMANCE.
“The poetry is here as beautiful as the scene described is quiet and pleasing. It
forms an amiable picture of the occupations of a contemplative mind. The
language, versification, and imagery, are of great merit, the beauties of nature
described by a careful observer; the English scene is placed in happy contrast with
the Eastern, and the dream of romance pleasantly disturbed by the cheerfulness
of life. But we make but sorry work at commenting on what the reader must feel.
“It has been said that religion can never be made a subject of interest in poetry.
The position is a false one, refuted by the close alliance between poetic inspiration
and sacred enthusiasm. Irreligion has certainly no place in poetry. There may have
been Atheist philosophers; an Atheist poet is an impossibility. The poet may doubt
and reason like Hamlet, but the moment he acquiesces in unbelief, there is an end
to the magic of poetry. Imagination can no longer throw lively hues over the
creation: the forests cease to be haunted; the sea, and the air, and the heavens,
to teem with life. The highest interest, we think, attaches to Mrs Hemans’s
writings, from the spirit of Christianity which pervades them.
“The poetry of our author is tranquillising in its character, calm and serene. We
beg pardon of the lovers of excitement, but we are seriously led to take notice of
this quality as of a high merit. A great deal has been said of the sublimity of
directing the passions; we hold it a much more difficult and a much more elevated
task, to restrain them. It may be sublime to ride on the whirlwind, and direct the
storm; but it seems to us still more sublime to appease the storm, and still the
whirlwind. Virgil, no mean authority, was of this opinion. The French are reported
to be particularly fond of effect and display; but we remember to have read that,
even in the splendid days of Napoleon, the simplicity of vocal music surpassed in
effect the magnificence of a numerous band. It was when Napoleon was crowned
Emperor in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The Parisians, wishing to distinguish the
occasion by some novel exhibition, and to produce a great effect, filled the
orchestra with eighty harps, which were all struck together with unequalled skill.
The fashionable world was in raptures. Presently the Pope entered, and some
thirty of his singers, who came with him from Rome, received him with the
powerful Tu es Petrus of the old-fashioned Scarlatti; and the simple majesty of the
air, assisted by no instruments, annihilated in a moment the whole effect of the
preceding fanfaronade. And in literature the public taste seems to us already
weary of those productions which aim at astonishing and producing a great effect,
and there is now an opportunity of pleasing by the serenity of contemplative
excellence.
“It is the high praise of Mrs Hemans’s poetry that it is feminine. The sex may well
be pleased with her productions, for they could hardly have a better
representative in the career of letters. All her works seem to come from the heart,
to be natural and true. The poet can give us nothing but the form under which the
objects he describes present themselves to his own mind. That form must be
noble, or it is not worthy of our consideration; it must be consistent, or it will fail
to be true. Now, in the writings of Mrs Hemans, we are shown how life and its
concerns appear to woman, and hear a mother intrusting to verse her experience
and observation. So, in ‘The Hebrew Mother,’ ‘the spring-tide of nature’ swells high
as she parts from her son, on devoting him to the service of the Temple:—
‘And oh! the home whence thy bright smile hath parted,
Will it not seem as if the sunny day
Turn’d from its door away?
While through its chambers wandering, weary-hearted,
I languish for thy voice, which past me still
Went like a singing rill?
“Of other spirited, and lively, and pathetic short poems of Mrs Hemans, which form
some of the brightest ornaments of the lyric poetry of the language, we take no
particular notice—for in what part of the United States are they not known? So
general has been the attention to those of her pieces adapted to the purposes of a
newspaper, we hardly fear to assert that, throughout a great part of this country,
there is not a family of the middling class in which some of them have not been
read. The praise which was not sparingly bestowed upon her, when her shorter
first productions became generally known among us, has been often repeated on
a careful examination of her works; and could we hope that our remarks might
one day fall under her eye, we should hope she would not be indifferent to the
good wishes which are offered her from America, but feel herself cheered and
encouraged in her efforts, by the prospect of an enlarged and almost unlimited
field of useful influence, opened to her among the descendants of her country in
an independent land. The ocean divides us from the fashions as well as the
commotions of Europe. The voice of America, deciding on the literature of
England, resembles the voice of posterity more nearly than any thing else, that is
contemporaneous, can do. We believe that the general attention which has been
given to Mrs Hemans’s works among us, may be regarded as a pledge that they
will not be received with indifference by posterity.”—North American Review.
[At the conclusion of “The Records” we gave the opinions of one of our most
celebrated Cisatlantic critics regarding the poetry of Mrs Hemans, and we think it
but right to show now (as has just been done) the general estimate in which her
genius is held in America, as evidenced by the North American Review, the best-
known and most widely-circulated of the Transatlantic periodicals.
Judging from the state of feeling in America—from the ideas of practical
philosophy entertained there—and from the pervading utilitarian bias of its prose
literature, we must confess that, had we been asked to name any votary of the
British muse more likely than another to be appreciated in that country, we should
have had very little hesitation in fixing upon Crabbe. And why? Because his poetry
is characterised by a stern adherence to the realities of life, as contradistinguished
from romance, and because his characters and situations are taken from existing
aspects of society, appreciable by all. In this theory it appears we are wrong; and
Professor Norton has here done his best to account for it. We are most given to
admire what is least attainable; and therefore it is that the spiritual glow which
Mrs Hemans has blent with human sentiment—the imaginative beauty with which
she has clothed “the shows of earth and heaven,”—and the leaven of romance
which she has infused into the communications of daily life, have, as lucus a non
lucendo, been elements of, and not the impediments to, her American popularity.]
HYMNS FOR CHILDHOOD.
[We are quite aware that the Hymns for Childhood were written at a much earlier
period than that which we have here chronologically assigned them. They had
been sent to Professor Norton for the use of his children, and were printed under
his auspices at Boston, New England, so early as 1827. Not, however, having had
an opportunity of seeing the original American edition, we are in the dark as to
whether the hymns in it were the same in number as those published in Dublin
under the eye of the author, or whether she afterwards revised and altered them.
It has been therefore judged best to place them here in the order of publication,
and as they appeared in this country under the supervision of Mrs Hemans herself.
The hymns (as they deserved to be) were very favourably received by the public,
and it is only to be regretted that Mrs Hemans did not from time to time add to
their number. She thus wrote to Mrs Lawrence with a presentation copy of her
little book:—“I send you the fairy volume of hymns. You will immediately see how
unpretending a little book it is; but it will give you pleasure to know that it has
been received in the most gratifying manner, having seemed (as a playful child
might have done) to win criticism into a benignant smile.”—Vide Letter to Mrs
Lawrence, Recollections, p. 354.]
INTRODUCTORY VERSES.
Oh! blest art thou whose steps may rove
Through the green paths of vale and grove,
Or, leaving all their charms below,
Climb the wild mountain’s airy brow;
THE RAINBOW.
“I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between
me and the earth.”—Genesis, ix. 13.
THE RIVERS.
Go! trace th’ unnumber’d streams, o’er earth
That wind their devious course,
That draw from Alpine heights their birth,
Deep vale, or cavern-source.
THE STARS.
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy-
work.”—Psalm xix. 1.
THE OCEAN.
“They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these
see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.”—Psalm cvii. 23, 24.
THE BIRDS.
“Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings; and not one of them is forgotten
before God?”—St Luke, xii. 6.
THE SKYLARK.
CHILD’S MORNING HYMN.
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