Holy Seasons. By the Rev. Thomas Tylecote, B.D. (Longmans.)— This
is a charming little book of verses, written for the several festivals
and notable occasions of the Christian year. It is doubtless treading oh dangerous ground to follow where Koble as chief minstrel has gone before, but it is not too much to say that the author and authoress of
Holy Seasons—for we learn from the preface that the volume is the joint work of Mr. Tylecote and his daughter—have preserved their own originality, and have produced a modest little book of verses, which many will delight to read, and some of which may be considered worthy of a place in those collections where Keble's immortal lyrics occupy the foremost rank. We almost think that we can separate the father's from the daughter's verses in this little book, and that we detect ha some of the latter the womanly tenderness that was so great a charm in Miss Procter's Legends and Lyrics. This is especially the case in the verses entitled "Summer," which are very musical, and in the follow-
ing, from a little poem on "The Burial of the Dead " '. Bat oh ! the gathering darkness, The long and weary night, The blank and cheerless morrow Bereft of love's pure light! And oh! the vain heart-longings, The bitter, fruitless tears, The depth of hopeless sorrow, The length of lonely years!.
"Yet hush ! thou troubled spirit, Be calm, thou restless will, For thee come o'er the waters Those sweet words, 'Peace, be still! '
For thee those angel whispers, That breathe the hope ere long' With them to share the palm- wreath, To sing the conqueror's song." " When autumn leaves are falling And golden gleams the West, We seem to lay more gently Our dear ones down to rest ; Safe in kind Nature's bosom We lay them down to sleep, And pray that holy angels Round them their watch may keep.
"The Cross, our faith's sure token, We plant above their head, And flowers to breathe the frag- rance Of hope around their bed.
Soft may the church's shadow Fall on their quiet grave, Softer blow there the breezes, Greener the long grass wave.
In a word, this pretty little volume is a valuable contribution to the lyrics and carols of the Church of England; and besides, as is not always the case with books of its class, it is beautifully printed and bound.
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