Page:Doom of the Great City - Hay - 1880.djvu/63

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NEWMAN & Co.’s RECENT PUBLICATIONS.
9

First series, cloth, 8vo. 3s. 6d.

Sketches of Cambridge.

In Verse. By Julian Home.

“The ‘Sketches of Cambridge’ have exceptional merits. They are true to nature, when they approach her, and have a subtle tenderness for humanity, a longing for something nobler than the every-day life. Some of the verses are suggestive of the highest genius, more melodious than the lyric of Swinburne or Shaughnessy. Julian Home has a great future before him. We have given an outline of the book to our readers. We have given it also praise that we rarely accord.”—Oxford and Cambridge Journal.

‘Sketches of Cambridge’ present themselves in a tastefully bound volume, as a first series,—the present appearing as introductory odes to the Colleges. Julian Home, their creator, dedicates his verses to the Laureate, and, indeed, from his style, seems to have picked up much of the Tennysonian glow of expression. He writes as a poet who has warm sympathy with his subject, and there is a mellow cadence in his rhythm, as he tells us of—

When the gorgeous gloom was creeping,
And the lilies dreamt, a-sleeping,
And the summer stars were peeping
Shyly one by one.’

There is, moreover, an interest in these verses, as they tell of the histories of the various Colleges, and of the great disciples who, from time to time, thronged in them.”—Perthshire Journal.

“This issue, which is the first of a series, is chiefly composed of odes to the various Colleges; and as the names of the great men, at one time scholars within the classic walls, are apostrophized, the verses become, as it were, histories of the places. And Julian Home writes in a soft and sympathetic strain.”—Derby Daily Telegraph.

“In ‘Sketches of Cambridge,’ Julian Home has woven some very pretty stanzas. They are dedicated to the Poet Laureate, and approach the similitude of his verse-making. The present issue only presents the first series, and is chiefly devoted to apostrophizing the seats of learning, and recalling the names of the students who, leaving the shrines, have become famous. The measures of the various odes differ, but all have a genuine ring about them. The cadence falls smoothly.”

“These sketches are by no means untuneful. In some we have noted much pathos, and considerable poetic feeling. The rhythm, too, is good.”—Land and Water.

“Mr. Home must be congratulated on the publication of his book. The ‘Sketches of Cambridge’ are truly delightful, and have the genuine ring of poetry. He possesses the power to paint vividly either external objects or mental impressions. In the verses on St. John’s College there are some fresh and charming pictures. It was a happy idea of the poet’s to introduce Dr. Lightfoot’s last sermon, and we must give it a full meed of praise. We have little doubt as to Mr. Home’s future success.”—University Journal.


8vo. cloth. 5s.

Home they brought her Warrior dead.

By Julian Home, Author of “Sketches of Cambridge.”

An In Memoriam to the late Prince Imperial of France.