“ Ham . N ot this by no means, that I bid you do : L et the bloat king. . . . . M ake you to ravel all this-matter out. T h at I essentially am not in madness, But mad in craft, ’twere good you let him k n o w : F or who, that’s but a queen, fair, sober, wise.” In the fourth act, scene iv., line 39, we have an important em endation:— “ .............. I do not know. W h ile yet I live to say, ‘ this thing’s to do ’— Sith I have cause, and will, and strength and means T o d o ’t— examples gross as earth exhort m e." W e are constrained to notice in several passages, what seems almost a fault in sense o f rhythm, a deficiency o f ear. W e are certain however that Mr. Mull can satisfactorily explain the seeming fault in the following passages :— “ W hy this same strict and most observant watch ? W h y so nightly tolls the subject o f the la n d ? ” (A ct I., sc. L, L 72.) And— “ For use almost can change the stamp o f nature, A n d t e t h e r the devil, or throw him out.” (A ct I I I ., sc. iv., L 169.) A s for the text, it is excellently printed, and, were it not for the references to notes in the body o f the text, would be the most readable we have seen. In the margin are notes explanatory o f verbal obscurities, while variants are noticed at the foot o f the page. W e have given the most interesting o f Mr. M ull’s emendations, but every student o f Shakespere ought to lose no time in securing this book, and studying it throughout N ext month we hope to notice an annotated edition o f “ Paradise L ost,” Books I. to V I . by the same author. “A
f
T R IL O G Y
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C O M E .” *
H E first part o f the Trilogy, the “ Vision o f Rhadam anthus,” gives us a glimpse o f Elysian fields. T h e heroine :—
“ . . in a trance o f m ystic sleep,” visits the realm o f “ chaos and dark night,” the darkness opens, disclosing the blest regions beyond, and herione speaks, “ What chanced I know not, nor remember more U n til awaking on an unknown shore, In the rich setting o f a glorious sea W hose fadeless splendour was as fair as free, A n d breathed upon by an immortal w ind.” *
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“ A Trilogy of the Life to Com e/'and other Poems, by Robert Brown, Jun., F.S.A.
N u t t , 18 87.
D a v id