15 AUGUST 1896, Page 27

The Poetry of Pathos and Delight from the Works of

Coventry Patmore. Selected by Alice Meynell. (W. Heinemann.)—Mrs. Meynell warns us that she has not attempted to select " best passages." She is quite right. Coventry Patmore does not need any such choosing. He is curiously level in quality. " What has been intended is to select passages in which the poet has dealt with two things—delight and passion." The idea is excellent, and has been well carried out. There are one or two things which we should not have ourselves included, the mystical " Sponsa Dei," for instance, but the volume is one that will be welcomed by many readers.