Rinaldo. By Chandos Hoskyns Abrahall, Author of "Arctic Enter- prise,"
&c. (Hodson and Son.)—Mr. Chandos Hoskyns Abrahall, who has already written one or two poems on or about Sir John Franklin, has at length taken a more ambitious flight, and has produced " a dramatic poem, in three acts." The scene is laid on the coast of the Adriatic, and in a forest near Venice ; and the date, which is by no means clearly indicated, is, as far as we can make out, by no means recent. The work is an indisputable tragedy, since, before it is over, nearly every- body has killed and been killed by everybody else. By a bold stroke of ingenuity, the author makes the heroine, after having been poisoned, go mad for two or three pages before her death. The leading charac- ter, who is somewhat vaguely described as " Rinaldo, a Guardian," is an awful ruffian, who not only commits several murders, but also bestows upon his nephew advice which reminds us strongly of Sir Giles Overreach's instructions to his daughter. Mr. Abrahall's blank verse is not positively bad; but we fear that he has, in the present instance, somewhat overtasked his powers.
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