expression, and the workings of that spirit of selection which is the
secret of style. In the case of poetry, as in the case of the other
arts, what may appear to be simply technicalities of method are in their
essence spiritual, not mechanical, and although, in all lovely work, what
concerns us is the ultimate form, not the conditions that necessitate
that form, yet the preference that precedes perfection, the evolution of
the beauty, and the mere making of the music, have, if not their artistic
value, at least their value to the artist.

It will be remembered that this sonnet was first published in 1848 by
Lord Houghton in his Life, Letters, and Literary Remains of John Keats.
Lord Houghton does not definitely state where he found it, but it was
probably among the Keats manuscripts belonging to Mr. Charles Brown. It
is evidently taken from a version later than that in my possession, as it
accepts all the corrections, and makes three variations. As in my
manuscript the first line is torn away, I give the sonnet here as it
appears in Lord Houghton's edition.

ANSWER TO A SONNET ENDING THUS:

Dark eyes are dearer far
Than those that make the hyacinthine bell. {74}

By J. H. REYNOLDS.

Blue! 'Tis the life of heaven,--the domain
Of Cynthia,--the wide palace of the sun,--
The tent of Hesperus and all his train,--
The bosomer of clouds, gold, grey and dun.
Blue! 'Tis the life of waters--ocean