IN CAP AND BELLS.*

FROM his recent contributions to the columns of various papers, and in particular to those of Punch, Mr. Seaman has gleaned a sheaf of topical and satirical verse that can hardly fail to enlarge the already goodly company of his admirers. As it is the obvious function of the critic to criticise, we might point out that some of the pieces would have gained by com- pression; that a full appreciation of their dexterity implies a more exhaustive study of the works of our minor poets than is commonly undertaken by any one outside the ranks of profes- sional book reviewers ; and lastly, that too much ability is squandered in pillorying the ineptitudes of one poet in particular. But having justified his existence by these pre- liminary carpings, the critic can address himself without re- serve to the congenial task of eulogy. Mr. Seaman, if we remember aright, wrote one of the very best serious poems on the Jubilee. How successful he is in travestying the man- nerisms of the official Muse on that occasion may be gathered from his elaborate imitation of Mr. Alfred Austin's ode, from

which we may cite the following stanzas :—

"The bulbous crowfoot drained his dewy cup; The saxifrage enjoyed a morning crawl; The ampelopsis slowly sidled up

The garden wall.

Her petals wide the periwinkle flung; Blue gentian winked upon unweaned lambs ; And there was quite a pleasant stir among The cryptogams."

Mr. Swinburne's indignant repudiation of the unsolicited honour of inclusion in the ranks of an English Academy of Letters is caricatured in one of the happiest pieces in the collection :—

" Shall I make virtuous sport for Vandals,

I that mixed in the MEenads' maze, Shod in the sheen of my winged sandals, Fellow of fauns by woodland ways P Shall I parade in a vulgar buskin With ruminant Stubbs and stolid Ruskin, Not fit to hold two halfpenny candles To LC. S. in his palmy days ?"

The parody of Mr. George Meredith's poetic style is very clever, though it would serve almost equally well as a skit on Mr. Francis Thompson, but the ballad "after Mr. Newbolt," suggested by the voyage of Prince Henry of Prussia to the Far East, is a really brilliant absurdity. The Kaiser, it should be * In Cap and Bells. By Owen Seaman. London : Jo:n. Lone. (3e. ad.) added in this context, acts as a veritable cestrus on Mr. Seaman's satiric imagination; as he sings :—

" I do not deem That one could light upon a lovelier theme."

But perhaps the best thing in this highly entertaining volume is the piece entitled "Resignation," with the sub-titles "Morte d'Harcourt; or, The Ballon d'Essai." The opening lines are irresistible :— " Then murmured Harcourt: Place me in the car.'

So to the great balloon they strolled along.

And those three knights, the doleful Jean l'Honnete, Sir Bel-champ Porte.drapeau, Sir Cop-la-ponle, Over the side heavily hoisting him, Took out their handkerchiefs, and wept therein.

But he that had the sternest eye of all And wettest, he the penman, Jean Nionnate, Arranged the Chieftain's head upon his lap. And loosed his morion and chafed his chin Duplex, and ran his fingers through the locks That like a lion's or the rising sun High o'er the field would flame with ardent fringe.

Then he unlaced the cuirass, letting out

The breath in grievous pants ; and dropped a hint,

Darkling, of foul play, mentioning no names.

So like an extinct mammoth Tay the Chief ; Not like that Harcourt who, from head to heel Plantagenet though all his azure blood,

Let off his Budget underneath the eyes

Of gracious ladies beaming through the grille."

The rejection of the proposed School of Honours in Agriculture at Oxford inspired Mr. Godley with one of the happiest pieces in his Lyra Frivolo. Here is a sample of the Cambridge rhymer's treatment of the same theme :— "Ford of the ox ! whose ancient name Is full of fine bucolic feeling,

How could you thus ignore his claim, The learned farmer's, lowly kneeling ?

He spoke of ensilage and germs, Of fallow land and pigs in clover ; You answered in derisive terms, And lightly passed his Georgics over.

He proffered butter-churns ; he knew The patent cream-extractor's odd use; He tested milk; but you, you threw

Cold water on his dairy produce.

He wove for you a Cereal crown, And craved in turn an Honours title ; You knocked his cornucopia down, And gave him beans for cold requital."

At the end of the volume Mr. Seaman gives agreeable evidence that in the domain of memorial and complimentary verse he has the knack of combining felicity of phrase with a whole- some avoidance alike of adulation and of excess. The "In Memoriam" lines to Lewis Carroll, with the graceful refer- ence to Sir John Tenniel, are particularly happy. So far, at any rate, the quality of Mr. Seaman's verse has not suffered in the least from the weekly tax imposed on his genial Muse by his admission to Mr. Punch's "table," on which he has conferred fresh lustre and distinction.