REVIEW.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 81, 6 April 1867, Page 3

REVIEW.

The Parexcell and', other Poems, by W. Mooke, Pi.enwick.town. Nelson :R. Lucas & Son. It becomes" us" tb welcome with a cordial, and, if necessary, a somewhat indulgent greeting, any competent effort to found a native literature in our colony. Such a claim, we venture to say, should be conceded with spefcjal willingness, wh.en that effort assumes the form and breathes the spirit, though not ! in the highest der greeof true poetry. "Take care of the, beautiful," says Goethe, " the useful will take care of itself ;'*--an advice which, while apposite in ail circumstances, is the most needed when,' as among early colonists, material interests areapttobe overvalued and to be pursued with a too exclusive regard. This volume needs no special indulgence, and for it the author, in his prefatory words, asks none. The poems, about 50 in number, and of varying leugth, are composed in different measures, in the use of all of .which the author shows good taste and great facility. The subjects are still more varied : narration, description, sentiment, satire, allegory — our author's muse copes with them all, and with a good, often a large, measure of. success. The narrative is generally easy , and flowing ; the descriptive pieces, never weak, are sometimes vividly pictorial ; the sentiment is pure and tender, never mawkish, always manly ;. the satire, while well directed, is vigorous and trenchant ; and the allegory, with its wholesome teaching, is pleasantly quaint and humorous. We should have stated that the poems, in nearly equal proportion, are English and Scotch. Of course, one can see in the volume many imitations of other and greater poets, — notably Burns. There is, however, no plagiarism. It was a bold thing in our author to attempt a subject which Burns has handled, and in a similar vien ; yet this Mr. Moore ha's^done in his. "Vente and Uno, with two dogs," and with a measure of success that -makes his poem a very pleasant ou.e. ; One; of the best poems in the volume is on the memory of Burns himself, from which, as well as from some others, had our limits allowed, we would have cited in support of the estimate we have formed of the. book ; but we must defer this pleasing duty till our next. It has our cordial recommendation.: The' volume, which contains over 150 pages, is" very neatly got up, and does" j credit .to the, .'publishers. — Marlborough i Express.-

-~r_; - - -■•■ .'if?'* -■■-■ The Adelaide Observer saysTthat during "the very^ hot days in'the" eaiTy'parTrof : Jahuary the thermometer inside ihe^huts on the Gawler- Ranges stood as high as 122 deg. So great was the r heat that even birds -died from its effect^ arid about 100 sheep were lost out of a flock of 3000 travelling from that locality towards the head of the G«lf. . -, -. ..,.■:.■*.. By returns published by the Victorian Government we observe that during v ""fhe" month of January as many as 922 persons left Melbourne for New Zealand. The mission brigantine Day Spring, after an absence of three years, has returned to Melbourne to refit. She has been engaged in mission work amongst the South Sea Islands, more particularly between New Hebrides, the Loyalty Islands, Samoa, Raratonga, aud the Alicis in the Tokelau group. ,In the execution of her business of transmission she has conveyed as many as 82 persons from -one' lsland tothe other at a time); ;ahd7 has, /nfever. had less than 20 passengers on board. • -