losophic and patriotic poems, some of which are very spirited, and one, the 'Hymn of the Banished,’ an extremely fine one. The copies of the work sent to Havana had these patriotic poems taken out, as otherwise they would have been seized by the authorities; so that most of the copies of the work existing are deficient with regard to them. In the place of the odes thus taken out, another poem, 'On Immortality,’ was inserted, which, however, is principally taken from the Seventh Book of Young's Night Thoughts, though not so stated. The other principal poems, in respect of length, are, 'On the Worth of Women,’ and 'the Pleasures of Melancholy.’ Of another very fine ode, 'To Niagara,’ a very excellent translation into English blank verse has appeared in the United States Review.
In the preface to the second edition, he states that he had been induced to undertake it, upon finding that several of the poems in the first had been reprinted in Paris, London, Hamburg and Philadelphia, and had been received with much favour in his own country, where the celebrated Lista had pronounced him "a great poet." There can be no doubt that other editions would have met with very favourable reception, had it not been for the circumstance of his being considered an author obnoxious to the Spanish government. As it is, the Creoles of Cuba have manuscript copies of his poems circulating amongst themselves, generally faulty as dependent on the taste of the individuals who had copied them. The effect of this is apparent in the only edition I am aware of, that has been published in Spain, that of Barcelona, in 1840, acknowledged to be taken from a manuscript copy, in which not only are some of his best compositions omitted, such as the 'Lines to his Horse,' and the poem entitled, 'The Season of the Northers,' but some others, for instance, the ' Ode to the Sun,' are given imperfectly. In
