The Golden Link: a Poem-Romance. By John Wray Calmer. (Sampson
Low.)—This pretty little volume tells the story of an enor- mously rich City man, who marries the lovely daughter of- a rained nobleman. The match is not destined to be a happy one ; for, though both Lady Mary and Mr. Repton think at first that they love each other, it turns out that they are mistaken, and Lady Mary allows her- self to become fond of one Lord Arthur Valance, a gay young artillery officer, who visits at their house. Mr. Repton finds this out, and proceeds to act as follows :—He lives in Sussex, not far from the sea ; and near his house is a big gun, at which Lord Arthur is in the habit of exer- cising his men. One dark night Mr. Repton tampers with this piece of ordnance, by chemical means, with such effect that, the next time it is fired, it bursts and blows poor Lord Arthur to tatters, upon which Mr. and Lady Mary Repton both go mad, and the former commits suicide. This ingenious story is told in very fair blank verse, which shows that its author possesses some ear for rhythm and some power of expression. We should like, however, to know the meaning of the verb "to glime," and of the adjective "smooth." The following lines are a fair sample of Mr. Culmer's verses:—
" She whose heart wanders has no heart at all For any but the one to whom it strays ; The bird that leaves its nest will slay its young ; And scarlet, from the first, were frail ones' robes, As if to prove that blood itself would flow Whene'er it came between them and their loves."
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