— Verses Wise or Otherwise. By Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler. (Cassell and
Co.) —There is a freshness and brightness about these poems which will at once attract the reader. Of melancholy rhymers we have enough and more than enough ; but a singer who can be gay on occasion, and when she is thoughtful is not dismal, who has new ideas, and can give them an expression which is not hackneyed or stale, is as welcome as rare. Here is a little piece which says an original thing in a really effective fashion :—
" A FORSAKEN IDOL.
Jacob buried his gods at Shee.hem- Cest-oll idols of stone a-id ; Well he wet they would ne'er bespeak him Further evil nor future coed: Nevertheless he could not treat them, Just like pieces of wood and stone.
When he thought how he'd tried to seat them
Up aloft on an altar-throne.
Once an idol I fondly cherished, Which was known by the name you bear ; But my faith in its virtues perished
When I foand it was false as fair: Nevertheless I could not bretk it Like an image of worthless clay, When I thought how I'd tried to make it All I ever could hope or pray.
In my heart—down a shady hollow
Where the willow of weeping waves— Hide false gods, I was wont to follow,
Out of sight in forgotten grave. There you lie with no name above yea, With tin epitaph false or true, Save the fact that I used to love you Ere at Sheehem I buried you."
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