2 JUNE 1917, Page 16

Strange Meetings. By Harold Monro. (The Poetry Bookshop. Is. net.)—Mr.

Monro's new poems are full of ideas, but too often lack poetic form. The title-piece consists of twenty-one brief sections, each in a different metre or rhythm ; it would need a very great poet to make such a medley attractive. The set of sonnets in the Shakespearean style entitled " Week-End " is cheerful and ingenious, suggesting the keen sense of adventure that one has in going to the lonely cottage from Saturday to Monday, the welcome that the inanimate things seem to give, and the mystery of the peaceful night when " All the trees Stand in the dark like lonely sentinels." Mr. Monro should give freer rein to his gay humour. A twentieth-century Cowper is much needed.