—Poetry for Children. By Charles and Mary Lamb. Edited by
R.11. Shepherd. (Pickering.)—Some of the poems in this volume have, un- less our memory deceives us, been included in recent collections ; but most of them have doubtless fallen into oblivion, and deserve, it is equally certain, to be rescued from it. We perfectly agree with the editor when he says that "we shall probably go far before we find any other compositions of the kind that so perfectly fulfil their purpose, and that are so fit to form the minds and manners of our boys and girls." Boys and girls are doubtless much older in mind than they were in the days of the Lambs ; to us this seems a fault rather than otherwise, and unhappily much of the literature speci- ally written for them has a tendency to exaggerate it. We hope that there are still some young minds to appreciate the delightful simplicity of the contents of this volume. We shall give as a specimen "Horatio," both because it is very good and because it is short, though we fancy it will be known to some of our readers :— "Horatio, of ideal courage vain,
Was flourishing in air his father's cane, And, as the fumes of valour awell'd his pate.
Now thought himself this hero, and now that?
"And now," he cried, "I will Achilles be.
My sword I brandish ; see the Trojans flee!
Now I'll be Hector, when his angry blade
A lane through heaps of slaughter'd Grecians made !
And now my deeds still braver I'll evince;
I am no less than Edward the Black Prince.
Give way, ye coward French!" As thus he spoke, And aimed in fancy a sufficient stroke To lix the fate of Crecy or Poictiers (The Muse relates the Hero's fate with tears), He struck his milk-white hand against a nail, Sees his own blood, and feels his courage fail.
Ala! where is now that boasted valour flown, That in the tented field so late was shown.
Achilles weeps, great Hector hangs his head, And the Black Prince goes whimpering to bed."
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