, silently,
With a silent company,
To Damascus' gates drew nigh.

* * * * *

And his eyes, too, and his mien
Were, as are the eagles, keen;
All the man was aquiline--

are two strong, simple verses, and indeed the spirit of the whole poem is
dignified and stately. The rest of the volume, however, is
disappointing. Ordinary theology has long since converted its gold into
lead, and words and phrases that once touched the heart of the world have
become wearisome and meaningless through repetition. If Theology desires
to move us, she must re-write her formulas.

There is something very pleasant in coming across a poet who can
apostrophise Byron as

transcendent star
That gems the firmament of poesy,

and can speak of Longfellow as a 'mighty Titan.' Reckless panegyrics of
this kind show a kindly nature and a good heart, and Mr. Mackenzie's
Highland Daydreams could not possibly offend any one. It must be
admitted that they are rather old-fashioned, but this is usually the case
with natural spontaneous verse. It takes a great artist to be thoroughly
modern. Nature is always a little behind the age.

The Story of the Cross, an attempt to versify the Gospel narratives, is a
strange survival of the Tate and Brady school of poetry. Mr. Nash, who
styles himself 'a humble soldier in the army of Faith,' expresses a hope
that his book may 'invigorate devotional feeling, especially among the
young, to whom verse is perhaps more attractive than to their elders,'
but we should be sorry to think that people of any age could admire such
a paraphrase as the following:

Foxes have holes, in which to slink for rest,
The birds of air find shelter in the nest;
But He, the Son of Man and Lord of all,
Has no abiding place His own to call.

It is a curious fact that the worst work is always done with the best
intentions, and that people are never so trivial as when they take
themselves very seriously.

(1) David Westren. By Alfred Hayes, M.A. New Coll., Oxon. (Birmingham:
Cornish Brothers.)

(2) The Unknown Madonna and Other Poems. By Rennell Rodd. (David
Stott.)

(3) The Wind and Six Sonnets. By James Ross. (Bristol: J. W.
Arrowsmith.)

(4) Saul of Tarsus. By Isaac Sharp. (Kegan Paul.)

(5) Highland Daydreams. By George Mackenzie. (Inverness: Office of the
Northern Chronicle.)

(6) The Story of the Cross. By Charles Nash. (Elliot Stock.)

M. CARO ON GEORGE