1 24 ADVERTISEMENT. instead of following, Marmion, and the Lady of the Lake, would have contributed, as effectually as they have done, to the establishment of Mr. Scott's high reputation. Whether, timed as it now is, it be likely to satisfy the just expectations which that reputation has excited, is a question which, perhaps, will not be decided with the same unanimity. Our own opinion is in the affirmative, but we confess that this is our revised opinion; and that when we concluded our first perusal of Rokeby, our gratification was not quite unmixed with disappointment. The reflections by which this impression has been subsequently modified, arise out of our general view of the poem; of the interest inspired by the fable; of the masterly delineations of the characters by whose agency the plot is unravelled; and of the spirited nervous concise. ness of the narrative."— Quarterly Review, No. xvi.] ROKEBY. CANTO FIRST. THE Moon is in her summer glow, When Conscience, with remorse and fear, 1 [See Appendix, Note A.] 1 Then from old Baliol's tower looks forth, II. Those towers, which in the changeful gleam And calls her furies forth, to shake The sounding scourge and hissing snake; 8 1 [This couplet is not in the Original MS.] 8 [MS." Of feelings real, and fancies vain."] |