Such lovely fancies as

and

abound all through the book. And here it is[Pg xxv] as well to mark the decision of our poet, even in trifles. The breeze he speaks of is not hushed, or still—none of the usual epithets are applied to it—it is "slain," as utterly and as pitifully as though it were a murdered child. This originality of conception is remarkable, and comes out in such lines as

[Pg xxv]

where the word "unpack" is singularly appropriate, and again—

and beautiful and dainty to a high degree is the quaint "Retrospect," where the lover enthusiastically draws the sun and moon into his ecstasies, and makes them seem to partake in his admiration of his lady's loveliness.[Pg xxvi]

[Pg xxvi]

A graver and more philosophic turn of mind will be found in "A Song of Servitude," and "A Rhapsody of Death;" but, judged from a critical standpoint, Eric Mackay is a purely passionate poet, straying amongst the most voluptuous imaginings, and sometimes seeming to despise the joys of Heaven itself for the sake of love. Thus he lays himself open to an accusation of blasphemy from ultra-religious persons, yet it must be remembered that in this respect he in no way exceeds the emotions of Romeo, and Juliet, Paolo and Francesca da Rimini, or any of those lovers whose passion has earned for their names an undying celebrity.

In closing the present notice we can but express a hope that this volume of Eric Mackay's poems may meet with the welcome it deserves from true lovers of Art; for Art includes Poetry; and Poetry, as properly defined[Pg xxvii] is one of its grandest and most enduring forms.

[Pg xxvii]

G. D.

⁂ Some of the miscellaneous poems in this collection (including "Beethoven at the Piano") were published by the author a few years ago, under a pseudonym, now discarded.

 

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LETTER I.[Pg 2Pg 3]  PRELUDE.

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