5 JANUARY 1918, Page 27

The Lyrical Poems and Translations of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Arranged

by C. H. Horford. (Chatto and Windus. 12s. 6d. net.)— This fine volume, a small quarto printed at the Florence Press in good type and with broad margins, contains Sholley's lyrical poems arranged for the first time in their chronological order, with the verse-translations of the Homeric Hymns, the " Cyclops," and other pieces at the end of the book. Professor Herford in his Introduction urges with reason that his arrangement is preferable to Mrs. Shelley's distinction between " principal " and " miscellaneous " poems and "fragments," which was based ultimately on the foot-rule. He admits that it is not easy to classify all Shelley's poems as either lyrical, narrative, or dramatic ; pure poetry defies analysis. But

Epipsychidion " and " Adonais " may reasonably be severed from the larger works and included, as they are here, in the lyrical series. It is profoundly interesting to have tho wonderful lyrics, complete or fragmentary, in their proper sequence. The text is, in the main, that of Mr. Hutchinson's standard Oxford Shelley. We trust that Professor Herford will complete his edition.