Great English Poets. By Julian Hill. (E. Grant Richards. 3s.-Gd.
net.)—The poets whom Mr. Hill admits into his Pantheon are nineteen in number. Wo have no positive complaint agaiust his selection, except, perhaps, that Chatterton fills a place which might have been more worthily occupied. To the " wondrous boy that perished in his pride " what Cicero says of boys in general might be applied,—non res sed apes. " The time has come "—so Mr. Hill flimsies the Chatterton chapter—" to dry our eyes and read him." But there is the difficulty ; people do not read him, except in anthologies. If this is to be the test, Matthew Arnold has the better claim. Anyhow, it might have been well to give us the round number and include the poet of " Sohrab and Rustum" and of " Thyrsis." Mr. Hill touches on the subject iu his prefatory " Note," and makes concessions as to this " reading " test Which surprise us. "It may be true that Shakespeare and Milton aro more praised than read." Surely some parts of Shakespeare are as widely read as any poetry in the language. The fact is that very few people, comparatively with the whole population, read anything but the newspapers, and the proportion of these who read poetry is small. Mr. Hill's volume is very pleasant and informing. It will do something, we hope, to lessen the reproach that we praise rather than read.
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