In this essay, William Fulford discusses Alexander Smith (1829-1867), a
contemporary poet associated with the Spasmodics. Fulford focuses primarily
on Life-Drama and, like other contemporary reviewers, saw
great potential in Smith’s work. Though he criticizes Smith for
not being sufficiently widely read, and for his narrow range of meter and
metaphor, the review is overall a favorable one. Fulford concludes:
“Weighing its merits against its defects, seeing that the former
are the excellencies of great genius, the latter faults such as experience
and care may amend, my hopes of the future greatness of its author are very
high.” (558).
Notable in this essay are Fulford’s comments about
Smith’s youth. Much of Fulford’s criticism stems from
his feelings of Smith’s immaturity, and he argues that Smith
“must find appreciation principally with the young”
(548). Fulford was two years younger than Smith, and would have been
approximately the same age when writing this review as Smith was when he
wrote Life-Drama.
First printed in
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
.