Dreams and Realities. A Volume of Poems. By Walter Cook
Spens. (Edmondston and Douglas).—Mr. Spans is evidently a young man who is by no means devoid of poetical feeling, and possesses a -certain command over well-sounding words. At present, however, we can scarcely award to him a higher position than that of a writer of tolerably pretty verses. He is much too fond of affected forms of ex- pression, such as :— "Sleep calmly on thy angel-guarded bed, Till dawnlight haloes o'er thy saintly head !"
"Sleep sweetly ! May such sleep emblematize The life that shall hereafter be thine own."
"Maiden with the stately mien Of a throne-enlineaged queen!"
and so on. Unless Mr. Spans keeps a strict watch over this tendency for the future, we shall scarcely be prepared to welcome him very warmly when he fulfils the promise which is implied in the following lines :— " I trust again To write, however, with maturer brain, In language of a greater grasp, more true To music, and a more ambitious strain."
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