"We are indebted to Eric Mackay for the latest ode to the lark, one of peculiar gracefulness and impassioned beauty. In my opinion, this is a better production than either of Wordsworth's, superior to Hogg's, and, though not so intellectual as Shelley's, rivals it in truth. Mackay's is the lark itself, Shelley's is himself listening, with unwearied ears and tightly-stretched imagination, to the lark. Who is surprised that Eric Mackay's lyric, 'The Waking of the Lark,' sent a thrill through the heart of America? This poem, which appeared in the _New York Independent_, is undoubtedly the lark-poem of the future. From the opening to the closing stanza there is not an imperfect verse, not a commonplace. The sentiment is pure, and the fancy glowing. It is, indeed, an exquisite ode."--_Wintringham's_ "_Birds of Wordsworth._" Edition, 1892. * * * * * "He (the lecturer) ventured to call the author of the 'Love Letters' a new poet. His published volume is a work of immense promise. His fancy is splendid.... The 'Love Letters' are twelve poems, separate, and yet intrinsically one. It is a compound lyric, with an epic theme and somewhat of an epic cast. The theme is the triumph of woman's love. It is the story of love's redemption. It has something of the tone, colour, and luxuriance of Solomon's Song; both, too, have the same theme, though treated in a different way.... The form is charming--as if the sonatas of Beethoven had been translated into poetry! The _denouement_ is reached when Beethoven himself-- 'The giant-singer who did storm the gates Of Heaven and Hell'-- is introduced in a vision. The lecturer gave a number of quotations to illustrate his points."--_Lecture on_ ERIC MACKAY, _by the Rev. Elvet Lewis, at the Hull Literary Institute._ * * * * * "The 'Love Letters' of Eric Mackay are the handiwork of a brilliant metrical artist and poet born.... A beautiful and passionate work; its beauty that of construction, language, imagery,--its passion, characteristic of the artistic nature, and, while intensely human, free from any taint of vulgar coarseness.... The poem is quite original, its manner Elizabethan.... Eric Mackay is a lyrist with a singing faculty and a novel metrical form such as few lyrists have at command. With the very striking poem of 'Mary Arden,' we have at last something new said of Shakespeare, and it is said sweetly and imaginatively."--E. C. STEDMAN, in "_Victorian Poets_," 21st Edition, 1893. Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note, whilst significant amendments have been listed below. P. 10, 'ecstacies' amended to _ecstasies_. P. 19, 'langours' amended to _languors_.