4 JANUARY 1902, Page 26

In " The Bibelots " series, edited by J. Potter

Briscoe (Gay and Bird, 2s. 6d. net), we have Persian Love Songs, containing translations and paraphrases from some fifteen poets, of whom the best known names are Ferdusi, Omar Khayylim, Sadi, and Hafiz. " Love Songs "as a descriptive title for the contents of the volume is scarcely appropriate. It does not apply, for instance, to Esseli of Tfts's "Dispute between Day and Night," and still less to Ferdusi's savage satire on Mahmoud of Ghazni. The same criticism might be passed on other of the poems included. It is not impossible, however, that they may be all the better worth reading, for it is not to the East that one would go for love songs.