ENGLISH PROSODY.
A History of English Prosody from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day. By George Saintsbury. Vol. I., From the Origins to Spenser. (Macmillan and Co. 10s. net.)—The first volume of this important work has now appeared. It aims, as most of Professor Saintsbury's works do, at being a purely external narrative of historical facts. His "History of Criticism" was thought by many to suffer from his not starting from any basis of critical theory. He is, however, faithful to his method. In the present volume he carefully abstains from discussing the basis of metre, thinking, whether rightly or wrongly we do not pretend to say, that it is possible to start with certain conven- tions which will command geneial assent. Little would be gained by expressing any opinion of the work in its unfinished state ; but we shall hope to return to the subject on another occasion. Needless to say, the great erudition we have come to expect from all Professor Saintsbury's work is apparent on every page ; but it is, as he would say, " lacrimable " that he should begin with such a "howler" as that at the foot of p. 20.
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