It would be invidious to institute critical comparisons between the styles of these four friends and their respective merits. It may, however, be remarked that Mr. Manmohan Ghose's work possesses a peculiar interest on account of its really notable command of the subtleties of English prosody and diction, combined with just a touch of foreign feeling. The artful employment of imperfect rhymes in "Raymond and Ida" illustrates what I mean. Occasionally, too, Mr. Ghose produces exactly the right phrase by means of a felicitous [x]simplicity. Notice the line which I have italicised in the following stanza:

[x]

"In the deep West the heavens grow heavenlier,

Eve after eve; and still

The glorious stars remember to appear;

The roses on the hill

Are fragrant as before;

Only thy face, of all that's dear,

I shall see nevermore!"

Take, again, these two lines:

"Forget the shining of the stars, forget

The vernal visitation of the rose."

There is but one piece of blank verse in the book. This prologue to "Orestes," by Mr. Stephen Phillips, has strength, is firm in outline, somewhat tardy in movement, fit for sonorous declamation. The gravity which I have indicated as a ruling quality of all these youthful compositions makes itself felt [xi] here in its proper place. We might have wished, perhaps, for more of joyous accent in the ode to "Youth," by Mr. Laurence Binyon, which dwells less on the rapture of youth than on its sadness—the melancholy of Theognis over youth's decay:

[xi]

"O bright new-comer, filled with thoughts of joy,

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