Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-02-21
Literary Notes.

land who has not?) will hail this book with pleas
ure. II differs In some essential points from 1t
popular prot type, and can hardly be called q
successful an effort but IL Is very entertaining
book, and will he perused with pleasure by ever
one In whose way II may fall We think the It'll
OF the book expresses It's character quite correctly
Whetherthe "more so" attachesany additional In
terost, OF course must he left to the reader to de
termnc for himself The story Is certainly yer,
graphic delneation Of youthful freaks follies ant
foibles, and, In the very nature of things can no
fail to be exceedingly pc nlar 1t is just the bool
to spend pleasant afternoon or evening over, o.
to take on journey.
| THANKFUL BIossoM-A ROMANCE or THE JER
sEYs. BY Bret IIarte Boston. j. X. osgood & Co
Whatever may be the general opinion Of some O
Bret Hartes poetry, we have yet to learn Of any
one who does not admire his prose. This tale /,
a revolutionary one, and is quite as fascinating a,
his previous ones. The heroine is n country belle
OF Jersey, who has recreant lover, or rather a
treacherous, or perhaps better, both After hei
sweetheart is arrested for mutinous conduct the
heroine rides to General washingtons quarters al
Morristown, n. j., and interviews the commander.
in-chief With what success, 1t will be necessary
to read the book to learn, rs we don't propose to
tell At any rate, the story ends just rs one would
like to have 1t, and II anybody wants to enjoy a
pleasant hour we advise them to purchase and
read this charming story.
TALES FROM Two HEMspHEREs. By H. II.
Boyesen. Boston; J. X. Osgood & Co.-This IL a
collection Of beautiful tales, the scenes of which
are placed in the two hemispheres. These short
stories, in the beauty of their sympathy for hui
man trial. the intensity of their feelings, and in the
elegance Of their composition certainly deserve
| a high rank in this class OF literature Each one
is replete with strikingly fine descriptions and
they all abound with true, genuine pathos In
deed 1t would be difficult to find more pathetic
tale than the first one in the book, "The man
who lost his name" The perusa OF this little
story is certain to leave a sort Of tender sadness
in ones mind, which is really far higher appre-
citation and enjoyment of its fine portions than
the more common satisfaction derived from ro-
mances with happier examinations We cannot
speak too highly OF these gems Of romance, and If
any OF our readers should read them they would
be certain to think we have done them scant
justice.
RIsMET. Boston Roberts Brothers.-'This is one
of the " No Name" series. The idea of the 4" No
Name series is to publish anonymously, a list of
novels by the most eminent authors The first
| one OF the series was Mercy PhHbricks Choice, ="
which was cordially received by the reading pub
lie generally. This last one is powerfully writ
ten story the scene of which is on the Nile which
seems to have exercised on the story peculiar
''sc'na.ing inhuence, winch the mention OF Its
na'he Always produces lherelsa peculiar charm
aoou. .he romance rendering II highly improbable
'na', once taken up, II VIII be laid down until
hhisheu' In some portions OF the book there is a
| surprising Vlgor, ana all through the story, from
beginning TO end, there is remarkable freshness,
which cannot TAIL to make the novel an exceed
hg'y popular one In presenting this series OF re-
arKaole novels TO the public the Roberts Brothers
nave laid hovel-reading people under n very great
oohe"uon' "hich only liberal patronage can re-
| pay Inc getting up oil these books is de-
ciueuly peculiar, the Dihdlng being perfectly black
WIFI reu NOMINATIONS giving them an odd ap-
pearahce' ont sun IN quite good taste Wepredict
large SAFE ior THESE very acceptable novels.
HAROLD. A drama BY Alfred Tennyson. Bos-
ton: r. Osgood & Co.-This is Mr.. Tennyson's
celebrated dramatic poem, and very forcible
ana magnihcent one 1t is, too. Hardly, in our
opinion, equal to Queen Nab, still decided
/
Harold are not susceptible of the same dra-
| matte elect as those in queen Nab Edward
the Confessor and William OF Normandy, are no
such dramatic characters az Mary and Philip of
Spain The only writer who has really done the
subject justice is L. a. Freeman. the historian
The poem is almost without hero, for Harold
is represented as somewhat unreliable and vacl-
lating, which is rather new departure from most
historians. Edith, who is the real heroine OF the
drama, is considerably idealized from history
She was a discarded mistress of the king. In
this we think Tennyson has followed Buwers
Harold" Although we think q" Harold " infe-
| rior to Queen Nab" yet 1t is a very powerful
and complete effort. In some parts it ascends al
| most to the sublime but in Others it is almost
correspondngy commonplace. But it very far
removed from mediocrity. OF course, everybody
will want to read the latest work of England =
greatest living poet, and no one will read it and
lay 1t down with the impression that it has not
| been remuneratiye job. 1t is certainly grand
| poem, but this is no more than we have right to
expect OF Alfred Tennyson.
| POEMS OF PLACES. Edited by II w Iongfel
low. Boston: J. r. Osgood & Cove have had
occasion to notice some of this edition before-the
| volumes relating To England and Ireland We
| now have the Measure of looling througb five
more yolumes-three of Scotland and two of
France OF the three volumes ON Scotland only
the first two relate to Scotland alone. the third
containing poems of Scotland, Denmark, Iceland,
Norway and Sweden. Among the poems in these
Volumes those of Burns, Scott, Campbell and
Wordsworth, figure conspicuously and several
American poets also represented Longfel-