er character of appeal and
vivacity: an exhortation.

This passage, which, as a demonstration of method, is not altogether
meaningless, even without the text beside it, shows the accuracy and
nicety of his criticism. And _Avril_ contains a number of similar
observations which are valuable in the extreme as aids to judgement and
pleasure. But the book has written all over it a confession, that this
is a department of writing which the author is content, comparatively,
to neglect. The essays are short and, again comparatively, they are
detached: they examine each poem by itself, not in its general aspect.
And it is, too, a singular example of book-making: there are more blank
pages, in proportion to its total bulk, than one could have believed
possible.

The rare studies dealing with poetry which one finds among his general
essays also bear witness to his discrimination and determined judgement.
The essay on Jose-Maria de Heredia in _First and Last_ is a remarkable
example of these, a remarkable analysis of a poet who is, if not
obscure, at least reticent and difficult to like, and in whom Mr. Belloc
sees the recapturer of "the secure tradition of an older time." And this
essay relates the spirit of a poet to the general conception of Europe
and its destiny.

Such a relation is rare. Poetry seems to lie, to an extent, apart from
Mr. Belloc's definite and consistent view of life. He takes other
pleasures, beer, walking, singing and what not, with the utmost
seriousness: this he treats, at bottom, casually and disconnectedly. We
can just perceive how he links it up with his general conception of
life, but we can only just see it. The link is there, but he has never
strengthened it.

And when we turn from his opinions on other men's poetry to his own
compositions, we find the same broad effect of casualness varied with
passages of singular achievement. His verse is very small in bulk:
between two and three thousand lines would cover as much of it as he has
yet published. Within this restricted space there are numerous
variations of type, but these, in verse, are so subtle and so fluid that
we are forbidden to attempt a rigid classification.

What, then, is our impression on surveying this collection of poetry? It
includes a number of small amusing books for children, a volume called
_Verses_ and a few more verses scattered in the prose, most notably (as
being not yet collected) in _The Four Men_. The general impre