On the whole, to those who watch the culture of the age, the most
interesting thing in young poets is not so much what they invent as what
masters they follow. A few years ago it was all Mr. Swinburne. That era
has happily passed away. The mimicry of passion is the most intolerable
of all poses. Now, it is all Lord Tennyson, and that is better. For a
young writer can gain more from the study of a literary poet than from
the study of a lyrist. He may become the pupil of the one, but he can
never be anything but the slave of the other. And so we are glad to see
in this volume direct and noble praise of him

* * * * *

Who plucked in English meadows flowers fair
As any that in unforgotten stave
Vied with the orient gold of Venus' hair
Or fringed the murmur of the AEgean wave,

which are the fine words in which this anonymous poet pays his tribute to
the Laureate.

(1) Echoes of Memory. By Atherton Furlong. (Field and Tuer.)

(2) Sagittulae. By E. W. Bowling. (Longmans, Green and Co.)

(3) Tuberose and Meadowsweet. By Mark Andre Raffalovich. (David Bogue.)

(4) Sturm und Drang. (Elliot Stock.)

In reply to the review A Bevy of Poets the following letter was published
in the Pall Mall Gazette on March 30, 1885, under the title of