a physician, who had already attained some distinction, and who
might, if long life had been granted to him, have risen to eminence. But his range of culture reached fur beyond the literature of his pro- fession. A paraphrase of the first and part of the second book of Lucretius shows no mean scholarship ; other poems have a tinge of the genuine classical feeling, while in some, again, we have proofs of acquaintance with philosophical thought. All are full of the earnest) questioning spirit of the present day. It is difficult to say which shows the most power. Perhaps the most vivid and picturesque is "The Fortune-Teller," a strongly marked sketch of one of the by. scenes in the French Revolution. "The Cilician Pirates" is not far behind. We must notice a remarkably interesting "Essay on Medi-
chic," in which the history of the science and art is vigorously sketched. The description of the practice of the Asclepiads of Cos is noteworthy. —A Life's Idylls and other Poems. By Hugh Conway. (C. Kogan Paul and Co.)—Mr. Conway always keeps above the average level of the verse-writers of the day, a level, it must be remembered, itself of fair elevation. Sometimes he achieves a most decided success. "Dead by the Way," for instance, gives expression, though it would admit of some improvement in form, to a striking thought, the pathos of the fate of those who die before they can grapple with the work of their lives. "Matched," again, gives a really poetical treatment, playful banter with a touch of gravity, to the recollections of a flirtation. "Rock or Sand ?" is a vigorous expression of the modern questioning of ancient beliefs. Mr. Conway must polish and prune, and write as one who would be judged, not by those who know him, but by the world.-.----Waifs and Strays. By Mrs. Alfred M. Miinster. (Marcus Ward.)—Mrs.Mfinster recalls to our minds Mrs. Hemans. There is much of the same sweetness of versification, broken, however, here and there by a jarring line, which Mrs. Hemans's ear would never have passed. There is tender and graceful sentiment, and some fine word-painting. Her descriptions of scenery are remarkably vivid, and studied with a carefulness which is quite modern. The impression left by the whole is of sweetness, rather than of strength. Nearly every poem has merit, but not one of them makes its mark.—The Truce of God,. and other Poems. By William Stevens. (C. Regan Paul and Co.)— Mr. Stevens has looked diligently, and not in vain, for subjects that lie beyond the common track. But he seems to us to treat those that are of a more ordinary kind with more success. "The Truce of God," which is the chief poem of the volume, wants vigour and compression. Thechoice of octosyllabic metre is unfortunate. It does well enough for an occasional poem, but genius is wanted to rescue it from sinking into tedium and common-place when a more ambitious effort is made. "The Portrait on the Easel," on the other hand, fashioned after the model of Mr. Tennyson's homelier poems, tells a simple story in blank verse, which is modulated with some skill, and escapes mono- tony, if it scarcely reaches melody.—Phidias, and other Poems,. by E. M. Thompson (Remington), is a volume of respectable verse.
For Poems, by the Hon. E. Cranstone (Moxon), we can hardly say the same. It is perfectly respectable, indeed, but it is, occasionally at least, scarcely verse. On page 24, we find in successive stanzas, as rhyme, " cheek " and "weep," " him " and "sin." We have not found anything above a quite moderate level of thought and expres- sion.—The Lay of the Bell, and other Ballads of Schiller. Translated into English verse by Andrew Wood, M.D. (Nimmo.)—Dr. Wood essays a task which has been attempted more than once before, but does not achieve a success. His verse is prosaic and unmusical. It is difficult to understand how a man of culture, and acquainted with books, as Dr. Wood must be, can suppose that any reader could find a pleasure in such dull and spiritless compositions.—We can say nothing in praise of E/viser, a poem, by "W. E. C." (W. Poole), a narrative, told in tedious verse, of what is called in the hymn-books "common metre."-- We turn with relief to Songs of Society (Picker- ing), in which Mr. W. Davenport Adams has collected, supplying at the same time brief notes and an introduction, some hundred and twenty more or less famous specimens of vers de societe. Ranging, in point of time, from the beginning of the last century to the present day, some fifty authors are laid under contribution. Many of these " Songs " are of the best quality ; few are unworthy of their plaee (of these, "A Legend of the Divorce Court" is certainly one), but the selection is a good one. It makes a very pleasant volume, easily held in the hand, and pretty sure, wherever one opens it, to yield something worth reading or renewing acquaintance with. We- should have been glad to see more of Mr. Calverley's work. He is, to our mind, at least the equal of any writer of this kind of verse, whether past or present.—We have also received. The Syrens, and other Poems, by Mary Ann Jevons (Kent), a thin. volume containing some graceful and thoughtful verse, as well as some that is hardly so good.—Wild Flowers, by Sarah Grant Franz (Mac millan), which publishes a letter from Lord Macaulay, characteristic- ally kindly and sensible—Ballads. By the Lady Middleton. (C. Kegan Paul.)—This book must not be dismissed without notice. The ballads are spirited ; the poems of sentiment graceful, though want- ing in vigour ; the "Fables," with their vein of refined satire, the best thing in the book.—Ambition's Dream, "anew and revised edition." (Griffith and Farran.)—Williant of Normandy, 4Ac. By Robert Mitchell. (Effingham Wilson.)—The Last Plague of Egypt, and other Poems, by the Rev. Joseph B. McCaul (Longmans), is a volume of smoothly-flowing verse, with some traces of humour and pathos. Mr.. McCaul should know that if he uses thyme at all, he should use it sufficiently. In a stanza where the lines are of the length of heroic- verse, it is not allowable to make the second and fourth only rhyme. Properly speaking, the only stanza where this is per- missible is that where verses of eight and six syllables alternate,. and this means that the two lines may be read as one.— Croes y Breila; or, the Exercises of Many Regular Weeks. By B. W. Essington, M.A. (Bemrose.)—Mr. Essington has published here some fragments in prose and verse, the prose being, we think, Paterson (H. S.), Studios in Life, Lectures. 12mo (Hodder & Stoughton) 2/6
the better of the two, and the most meritorious of the verse being
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