But the best thing in the book is the last quatrain of its epilogue:
6 Nowa stream to ford and a stile to clamber;.
Last theinn, a book, and a quiet corner...
Fresh as Spring, there kisses me on the forehead
Sleep, like a sister.””
—The Academy,
‘©The Tale of Archais’ describes the meeting and love of
_ Archais, daughter of Lamia and Charicles, and the means by
which, with Aphrodite's aid, they eventually succeededin averting
the curse of Zeus. ‘A Gentleman of the University of Cambridge’
wields a powerful pen, and much of his work is exceedingly
beautiful. Unfortunately, we are unable to quote at any length,
through want of space. The two stanzas appended are from the
song on page 19:
‘Ere the grape of joy is golden
With the summer and the sun,
Ere the maidens unbeholden
Gather one by one,
To the vineyard comes the shower,
No sweet rain to fresh the flower,
But the thunder rain that cleaves,
Rends and ruins tender leaves.
‘ All the subtle airs are proven
False at dewfall, at the dawn
Sin and sorrow, interwoven,
Like a veil are drawn |
Over love and all delight;
Grey desires invade the white,
Love and life are but a span;
Woeis me! and woe is man !
“In conclusion, as far as descriptive power and beauty of
thought are concerned, we consider that the author of ‘ The Tale
of Archais’ holds the first place among the latter-day poets.
But there are passages in the book in our opinion quite unsuit-
able for the perusal of the white maidens of England, to whom
it is dedicated. We do not know whether the poet is an up-
holder of ‘Art for Art’s sake,’ which means that it is better to —
paint an immoral picture well than to paint a moral picture
badly. If this is the case, we would counsel him to abandon this
dangerous fallacy, and.to devote his undoubted genius to the
task of becoming a great poet in the true sense of the word.
He can do so if he will."—7he Cambridge Magasine.
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