20 APRIL 1867, Page 21

The Wife's Litany, and Other Pieces in Verse. By John

Rutter Chorley. (Chapman and Hall.)—Mr. Chorley tells us that the chief and the most remarkable poem in this volume was composed at the instance of an unusually vivid dream. We can quite believe it, for the closing scene has just that startling effect which belongs to one class of visions, while the rest of the poem wants working out and reality. It would have been well if Mr. Chorley had taken more pains in this regard, as we should then have been able to praise the whole poem more cordially than we can now praise even the most striking part of it. As it now stands the characters are deficient in firmness of drawing, and the supernatural agencies come in without due preparation.