Mr. Beckett closes some very singular stanzas, entitled an Introduction, with the following lines:-- "Give it praise, or blame, Or pass it without comment, as may seem To you most meet; with me 'tis all the same. I hymn because I must, and not for greed of fame." These lines incline us at first to let Mr. Beckett "pass without comment," considering, that, as he says, he cannot help writing; but we are finally decided to observe him more closely, inasmuch as he says it makes no difference to him, thus relieving us of the dreadful fear of wantonly crushing some delicate John Keats (always supposing we had him) by our severe censure. Instead of entering into a philosophical examination of "Hester," we shall present some specimen pearls, making our first extract from the 21st page:-- "The very desert would have smiled In such a presence! yet despite Her dimpled cheek, her soft blue eye, Her voice so fraught with music's thrill, The shrewd observer might espy The traces therein of a will That scorned restraint, the soul of fire That slumbered in her tacit sire." "The traces therein." Wherein? Not in the cheek, eye, or voice, clearly; for it was "despite" all these that he would make the discovery,--they are obstacles, entirely outside of the success. It is necessarily, then, in the "presence," in which the unthinking desert would have smiled unsuspecting, but in which "the shrewd observer might espy" a good deal that was ominous of trouble. Now it is obvious that the writer intended to refer "therein" to the cheek, eye, and voice, a reference from which he barred himself by the word "despite." As it happens, luckily for him, there is a word to refer to, so that his grammatical salvation is secured; but the result is sad nonsense. Page 23,-- "Indeed, it was their chief delight, When combed the far seas feather-white, To steer out on the roughening bay With leaning prow and flying spray, _And gunnel ready to submerge Itself beneath the flaming surge_!" Page 28,-- "nor gave He heed to aught on land or wave; As if some kyanized regret Were in his heart," etc., etc. "Kyanized regret" is good, as Polonius would say; but we would humbly suggest that Mr. Beckett substitute, in his next edition, "Burnettized," as even better, if that be possible. Page 72,-- "in hope, perchance (Like arrant knight of old romance), That _some complacent circumstance Would end her curiosity_." Page 94,-- "Thereafter, she but knew the charm Of resting on her lover's arm, And listening to his voice elate, As he betimes _went on to state The phases in his own strange fate, Since last they met_." Page 100.--Speaking of "those of thoughtful mood," he says,-- "With whom I oft have whiled away The dusky hour upon the deep, Which most men wisely give to sleep."