21 DECEMBER 1907, Page 25

SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.

[Under this Lending we notice such Books of the week as have not been reserved for review in other formal Humours of the Fray. By Charles L. Graves. (Smith, Elder, and Co. 3s. 6d. net.)—Mr. Graves's connexion with the Spectator, and the fact that a considerable number of the poems in this little volume appeared in our columns, forbid criticism, or rather the warm appreciation which the present writer would have liked to render to his colleague's Muse,—an appreciation which, indeed, abstract justice demands. As it is, all we can do is to put up. a finger-post to Humours of the Fray, and ask our readers to judge of the merits of the volume for themselves. Frankly, if they are not delighted, and do not find in it a true fountain of hearty laughter, we shall be surprised. The title is a very happy one, and must, we think, be considered a distinct improvement on the

phrase upon which it is based,—a phrase to be found in Matthew Green's poem "The Spleen." Green talked about " the folly of the fray." "Humours of the Fray" is a distinct improvement.