Alice Rushton, and other Poems. By Francis Reynolds. (Longmans.) —This
is a volume of carefully written verse. The anther shows culture, good taste, tenderness, and purity of feeling, and yet we cannot say that ho has made out a claim to be called a poet. We have not found a striking or original thought, or, wo might almost say, a line of conspicuous excellence throughout those 400 pages. To put the truth plainly, though we should be sorry to be offensive, Mr. Francis Reynolds is a feeble imitator of Mr. Tennyson. The principal poem in the volume is, in our judgment, the weakest. The story of "Alice Rushton" reminds us in a way of " Aylmer's Field." We have a pair of lovers of unequal rank ; an uncle, loss stern, however, than Sir AylmerAylmer, who disapproves the match, but gives way; and a death by a broken heart, the young lady refusing her lover in order that she may not hinder his advancement. This painful and, wo should say, unlikely story is not made attractive by the telling. Tho blank verse in which it is written is peculiarly feeble and nerveless. The " Musings " are passable imitations of the "In Memoriam." The "Manx Sketches" are, perhaps, the beat things in the volume.
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