just a slight defect in this respect in some of his poems, though not in those quoted in this volume. The defect becomes more apparent if they are compared with sonnets like those by Mr. D. G. Rossetti, but it is only fair to add that even the sonnets of Shakespeare or Milton seem to lose somewhat of their grandeur when compared with Mr. Rossetti's Refusal of Aid between Nations, or his noble sonnet entitled The Sun's Shame.

Page 190. The author of this sonnet, The British Oak, -which Southey pronounced to be one of the best in the language—was born in humble life, and is, perhaps, not unworthy to be ranked with such poets as Clare and Bloomfield. The late Mr. Lower, in his Worthies of Sussex, stated, somewhat extravagantly, that The Oak had rarely been excelled in the whole round of English poetry. It is, however, chiefly remarkable as being the composition of a poor labouring man. We have to thank the Rev. Thomas Agar Holland, who was personally acquainted with the author, for kindly calling our attention to it.

Page 202. Solitude. This sonnet, quoted in the "Athenæum" for 1842, has not been included in pre

vious sonnet-anthologies; it is, however, one which will bear comparison with the best, and has somewhat of the calm serenity of Lord Hanmer's Pine Woods. (See page 24 of English Sonnets by Living Writers.) It is taken from his Rhymes and Roundelays, published in 1841. Miss Mitford, in her Recollections of a Literary Life writes: "Mr. Noel resides in a beautiful place in that beautiful neighbourhood (Taplow), leading the life of an accomplished but somewhat secluded country gentleman ;-a most enviable life, and one well adapted to the observation of nature and to the production of poetry, but by no means so well calculated to make a volume of poems extensively known."

There is a quaint and striking poem by Noel entitled The Pauper's Drive which is perhaps the most popular of his compositions, and which is included in Mr. Thomas Solly's Coronal of English Verse.

Page 211. Brother and Sister. These two Shakespearian quatorzains are fairly representative of George Eliot's surpassing genius, and her deep insight into human nature and the eternal forces from which it springs.

Page 213. A Disappointment. This is said to have

been the author's scle composition in verse.

It is a poem

that lingers pleasantly in the memory: indeed, it is a dainty creation of a sweet and delicate beauty, and, in the words of the Portuguese aphorism, 'tis shut with a golden key. It has been previously published by Proteus' amongst his own very remarkable sonnets.

Page 216. George Morine died at the town of Doncaster in 1872, aged sixty-three. His poems were printed for private circulation only. We have to thank the Rev. R. Wilton for bringing them to our notice.

CHISWICK PRESS :-C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT,

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

ENGLISH SONNETS by Living Writers.

Selected and

Arranged, with a Note on the History of the Sonnet. Fcap. 8vo, 4s. 6d.

Opinions of the Press.

ATHENÆUM.

Quite a little treasury of poetic wealth."

ST. JAMES'S Gazette.

"Those interested in this form of verse have reason to be grateful to Mr. Waddington, since he gives them in one delicate little volume a large number of copyright sonnets by various hands. Many of the examples he has chosen are of great beauty, as is to be expected in a collection taken from the works of Tennyson, Swinburne, Matthew Arnold, Frances Anne Kemble, D. G. Rossetti, Lord Lytton, Sebastian Evans, and many others. Two sonnets by Mr. Waddington himself are placed by him at the end of the volume, as he says, 'in order not to offend any author by placing him at the very end.' This, for a poet, is a very modest reason; but we must accept it as the true one. In any case, the last sonnet in the book excels the last but oneand that may compare favourably with many that take precedence of it. His note on 'The Sonnet, its History and Composition' is well written and valuable."

THE ACADEMY.

"Never in England, except in the Elizabethan time, and hardly ever out of Italy, except in France at the same period, and again in our own day, would it have been possible to get together such a collection. Nor is it remarkable only for bulk and for general formal excellence. It is invidious to specify individuals in such a case; but the sonnet work of Mr. D. G. Rossetti alone would be enough to enable any age to hold up its head with the best in this kind, and not a few of the many writers whom Mr. Waddington has laid under contribution come very close to Mr. Rossetti."

THE SATURDAY REVIEW.

"This selection is a singularly attractive one, and its value is enhanced by the interesting Note,' as the editor modestly calls it, on the history of the sonnet which is appended to the volume."

PALL MALL GAZETTE.

"We think that the editor has done his work very well indeed, and we are sure that revilers of contemporary poetry ought to feel themselves somewhat put to shame by this collection of contemporary poems in a form which has been sanctioned as the subject of special thought and special care by almost all the greatest poets of the last 400 years. The critical opinions expressed in Mr. Waddington's note on the sonnet are almost wholly sound, and, in especial, he is perfectly right in remarking on the great inferiority of Milton's sonnets to those of Shakespeare and Wordsworth. Nowhere to our knowledge is the history of the sonnet better put in a short space.'

NOTES AND QUERIES.

"

"Mr. Tennyson, who is here represented by Montenegro,' is notoriously not at his own level in this form. Mr. Matthew Arnold and Mr. Rossetti are more fortunate, and it is difficult to say which is the better. Next to these two masters comes Mr. Longfellow, whose sonnets on Dana's burial, and the Ponte Vecchio at Florence, are among the best work of his tuneful and serene old age. After these, again, there are a crowd of writers, most of whom follow them at no long interval. The sonnets of Mrs. Kemble, of Archbishop Trench, of Mr. J. A. Symonds, Prof. Dowden, Mr. E. Gosse, and Mr. George Macdonald are of a high order of excellence. Many of the best examples in this volume are suggested by famous names. Such are Mr. Ernest Myers's Milton, Mr. Watson's Beethoven, Mr. Lang's Homer, Mr. Brodie's Keats, and Mr. Richard Garnett's Dante. Of other writers whose work we have found especially attractive may be mentioned Mr. O'Shaughnessy, Mr. Aldrich, Mr. Monkhouse, and Lord Hanmer, whose Old Fisher is as clear-aired as Theocritus.

The selection is made with great skill, and (we suspect) with much critical restraint. It is also rendered more valuable by a careful Note upon the Sonnet, in which, as well by examples in the body of the book, the editor shows that he himself possesses a practical and very successful knowledge of the form."

SPECTATOR.

"Mr. Waddington has executed his task with care and judgment, and we believe that his book will prove a pleasant possession to a not inconsiderable number of readers. At one time, a sonnet must always be addressed to the eyebrow, or some other possession, of a mistress; then the fashion changes and people weary of a succession of short poems, each setting forth some quality of the adored one.