in
the pathetic notes which tell the old story of true love wounded
and crushed. Nothing can be more artistically appropriate or more
daintily melodious than the following...."--_Pall Mall Gazette_,
October 8th, 1879.

"The poem is, as a whole, tender, simple, chaste in feeling, and
occasionally it rises to a lyrical loftiness of sentiment or
grows compact with vigorous thought."--_New York "Nation"_, March
27th, 1879.

"The writer has gained inspiration from themes which inspired
Dante; he has sung sweet songs and musical lyrics; and whether
writing in rhyme or blank verse, has proved himself a master of
his instrument. He knows, like all true poets, how to transmute
what may be called common into the pure gold of
poetry."--_Spectator_, July 26th, 1879.

THE ODE OF LIFE.

"The 'Ode of Life' ought to be the most popular of all the
author's works. People flock to hear great preachers, but in this
book they will hear a voice more eloquent than theirs, dealing
with the most important subjects that can ever occupy the
thoughts of man."--_Westminster Review_, July, 1880.

"The many who have found what seemed to them of value and of use
in the previous writings of the author, may confidently turn to
this, his latest and, in his own view, his most mature work. It
is full of beauty of thought, feeling, and language."--_Daily
News_, April 8th, 1880.

"Full of exquisite taste, tender colour, and delicate fancy,
these poems will add considerably to the reputation of their
author."--_Sunday Times_, April 25th, 1880.

"The author is one of the few real poets now living. Anything at
once more sympathetic and powerful it would be difficult to find
in the poetry of the present day."--_Scotsman_, May 11th, 1880.

"Next to the 'Epic of Hades,' it is his best work."--_Cambridge
Review_, May 19th, 1880.

"Here is one standing high in power and in fame who has chosen a
nobler course.... The experiment is successful, and though we
must not now discuss the laws to which the structure of an ode
should conform, we rank the poem in this respect as standing far
above Dryden's celebrated composition, but below the Odes of
Wordsworth on Immortality and of Milton on the Nativity, which
still remain peerless and without a rival."--_Congregationalist_,
May 1st, 1880.

"A hi