ADVERTISEMENT.
Before submitting this poem to the judgment of the
public, it is necessary that the editor should give a brief
account of the manner in which it was composed. He
hopes that will prove, to the candid and intelligent, a
sufficient apology for the defects with which he is well
aware this juvenile production abounds.
It was written in separate portions, by the late Rev.
James Wallis Eastburn, and himself, during the winter of
1817–18, and the following spring. Mr. Eastburn, in
1816, went to Bristol, Rhode-Island, to pursue the study of
divinity under the direction of the Rt. Rev. A. V. Griswold,
Bishop of the Eastern diocess. He was constantly in the
habit of amusing his hours of relaxation with poetical composition;
and the local traditions connected with the
scenery, in his immediate vicinity, suggested to him a fit
subject for his favourite employment. He often mentioned
in the course of his correspondence with the editor, his intention
of making some of the adventures of King Philip,
the well known Sachem of Pokanoket, the theme of a poetical
romance. In the year following, when he visited New-York,
the plan of the proposed story was drawn up in conjunction.
We had then read nothing on the subject; and
our plot was formed from a hasty glance into a few pages
of Hubbard's Narrative. To quote a simile from that
crude historian, we began, like bad heralds, to meddle with
the charge before we had blazoned the field; and, though
the action of our fable only occupied the space of forty-eight
hours, we were led into several inconsistencies, in the general
outline first proposed; from which no departure was
afterward made. After Mr. Eastburn's return to Bristol, the
poem was written, according to the parts severally assigned;
and transmitted, reciprocally, in the course of correspondence.
It was commenced in November, 1817, and finished
before the summer of 1818; except the concluding stanzas
of the sixth canto, which were added after Mr. Eastburn
left Bristol. As the fable was defective, from our ignorance
of the subject, the execution was also, from the same
cause, and the hasty mode of composition, in every respect
imperfect. Mr. Eastburn was then preparing to take
orders; and his studies, with that view, engrossed his attention.
He was ordained in October, 1818. Between that
time and the period of his going to Accomack county, in
Virginia, whence he had received an invitation to take
charge of a congregation, he transcribed the first two cantos
of this poem, with but few material variations, from the first
collating copy. The labours of his ministry left him no
time, even for his most delightful amusement. He had
made no further progress in the correction of the work,
when he returned to this city, in July, 1819. His health
was then so much impaired, that writing of any kind was
too great a labour. He had packed up the manuscripts, intending
to finish his second copy in Santa Cruz, whither it
was recommended to him to go, as the last resource, to recruit
his exhausted constitution. He died on the fourth day
of his passage, December 2d, 1819.
He left among his prayers a great quantity of poetry, of
which his part of “Yamoyden” forms but small proportion.
His friends may think proper, at some future period,
to make selections from his miscellaneous remains, and arrange
them for publication. It was their wish, however,
that this poem might be first published, and they were
determined in that wish by the approbation of a gentleman
whose talents and learning are universally respected in this
community. The editor was therefore induced to comply
with their request, and undertake the correction of the manuscript.
His labour, in so doing, has not been trifling. He
had no right to make any alterations in the original plot; or to
destroy his deceased friend's poetical identity. He has endeavoured
to remove as many errors, in point of matter or expression,
as was consistent with these necessary restraints.
From looking over several books, whose subjects were connected
with that of the poem, he has been led to make
some additions to the original matter. The principal of
these, in point of bulk, are,—the verses in the commencement,
relating to the previous history of the Indian wars;—
the Sermon introduced in the third canto;—the Ode to the
Manitto of Dreams, in the fourth; and the introduction of
the Mohegan, in the fifth and sixth. The last alteration
was always contemplated by Mr. Eastburn, who had made
the heroine perform the journey alone. The editor mentions
these portions as his own, because they were hastily added
in the course of transcription, and printed as soon as written;
and if they are defective, the discredit should attach to
himself alone. The particular property in the rest of the
poem, belonging to each author, it would be endless to particularize.
Notice is taken in the notes of many errors, the
principal of which is the subject of the fourth canto. The
few notes marked E., were found among Mr. Eastburn's
papers. The rest have been added by the editor.
Plura, quidem, mandare tibi, si quæris habebam;
Sed vereor tardæ causa fuisse moræ.
Quod si, quæ subeunt, tecum, liber, omnia ferres,
Sarcina laturo magna futurus eras.
The poem, in the main, is still to be considered as having
been written three years ago; when the age of Mr. Eastburn
was twenty, and that of the editor eighteen years.
The latter had scarce attempted versification, of any kind,
from the time when the draught of “Yamoyden” was finished:
and nothing but the circumstances he has stated,
could have induced him to resume the practice, or appear
as the author of a poem. As to his individual reputation, on
that score, he believes, he is sincerely and perfectly indifferent:
but it would be folly to deny, that he could not, without
pain, see this joint production, now consecrated in his
memory by the death of his friend, meet with unfair criticism
or sullen neglect.
November 20th, 1820.
