21 APRIL 1923, Page 23

Arthur : A Tragedy. By Laurence Binyon. (Heinemann. 6s.) This,

of course, is drawn from Malory, and it is a very skilful dramatization of the events leading up to the ruin of the Round Table Fellowship. The guilty passion of Launcelot and Guenevere is the acid which dissolves all Arthur's endeavour to consolidate the kingdom. Mr. Binyon does not succeed in removing that taint of priggishness which has hung over Arthur since Victorian times. His verse is always adequate to the occasion, and if it at no time soars to great heights, it keeps a level which is only one step below poetry.