1 DECEMBER 1883, Page 22

Pilgrim Sorrow : a Cycle of Tales. By Queen Elizabeth

of Roumania. Translated by Helen Zimmern. (T. Fisher Unwin.)— The Queen of Roumania has achieved some literary distinction, under the pseudonym of "Carmen Sylva." And, indeed, these tales show some considerable power of composition, and are written in a graceful style, to which Miss Zimmern has contrived to do justice in her translation. But they are coloured with a hue that is not unlike pessimism. We do not wish young folk to think that this is the best of all possible worlds ; but the melancholy of "Carmen Sylva's" tales is more unwholesome, we cannot but think, than even the most unseasonable lightheartedness.