And to watch you sink by the fireside now
Back again, as you mutely sit

Musing by fire-light, that great brow

And the spirit-small hand propping it,
Yonder, my heart knows how!

So, earth has gained by one man the more,

And the gain of earth must be heaven's gain too;
And the whole is well worth thinking o'er

When autumn comes: which I mean to do

One day, as I said before.

260

265

My Last Duchess.

FERRARA.

This poem-published in Bells and Pomegranates-is the first direct progenitor of Andrea del Sarto and the other great blank-verse monologues; in it we see the form, save for the scarcely appreciable presence of rhyme, already developed. The poem is a subtle study in the jealousy of egoismnot a study so much as a creation; and it places before us, as if bitten out by the etcher's acid, a typical autocrat of the Renaissance, with his serene selfcomposure of selfishness, quiet uncompromising cruelty, and genuine devotion to art. The scene and the actors in this little Italian drama stand out before us with the most natural clearness; there is some telling touch in every line, an infinitude of cunningly careless details, instinct with suggestion, and an appearance through it all of simple artless ease, such as only the ery finest art can give.

THAT'S my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will 't please you sit and look at her? I said
"Frà Pandolf" by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance,

5

3. Frà Pandolf.—An imaginary artist, as also Claus of Innsbruck in the last verse.

But to myself they turned (since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there; so, not the first
Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, 't was not
Her husband's presence only, called that spot
Of joy into the Duchess' cheek: perhaps
Frà Pandolf chanced to say "Her mantle laps
Over my lady's wrist too much," or
Must never hope to reproduce the faint
Half-flush that dies along her throat:" such stuff
Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough
For calling up that spot of joy. She had

"Paint

A heart-how shall I say?-too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.
Sir, 't was all one! My favor at her breast,

25

The dropping of the daylight in the West,
The bough of cherries some officious fool

Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule

She rode with round the terrace-all and each

Would draw from her alike the approving speech,

30

Or blush, at least. She thanked men,—good! but thanked

Somehow I know not how-as if she ranked

My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name

With anybody's gift. Who'd stoop to blame

This sort of trifling? Even had you skill

35

"Just this

In speech-(which I have not)--to make your will
Quite clear to such an one, and say,
Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,
Or there exceed the mark"--and if she let
Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set

Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse,
-E'en then would be some stooping; and I choose
Never to stoop. Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt,

40

Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive.

Will 't please you rise? We'll meet

The company below, then. I repeat

The Count your master's known munificence
Is ample warrant that no just pretense
Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;

44

50

Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowed

At starting, is my object. Nay, we'll go
Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though,
Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,

Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!"

55

com

45. I gave commands.-It is not necessary to suppose that the " mands" were for her death. Prolonged cruelty would have served his pur

pose.

54. Notice Neptune.-As they are about to descend the stairs, the soulless old virtuoso calls the envoy's attention to a work of art in the courtyard below, of which he is especially proud.

AMERICAN LITERATURE

By J. W. ABERNETHY, Ph.D.

Principal of Berkeley Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y.

510 pages, 12mo, cloth. Price. $1.10

The author's long and conspicuously successful experience as a teacher, and the time and thought he has devoted to the work encourage us to believe that this book will be particularly adapted to the varying needs of his fellow-teachers.

The plan of the book includes a brief account of the growth of our literature considered as part of our national history, with such biographical and critical material as will best make the first-hand study of American authors interesting and profitable. One of the most interesting features of the book is the supplementing of the author's critical estimates of the value of the work of the more important American writers with opinions quoted from contemporary sources. Other strong points are the attention given to more recent contributions to American literature, and the fact that Southern literature is accorded a consideration commensurate with its interest and value.

The pedagogical merit of the book is indicated by the care which has been given to the production of a teaching apparatus which is at once simple and entirely adequate. At the end of each chapter, two lists of selections are provided for each important author, one for critical study, the other for outside reading. Lists of reading material for the historical background also are given. Study along the lines indicated will lead to a closer correlation of history and literature than is usually secured, and to a more just appreciation of the literature.

The books included in the list at the end of the work constitute an ample and fairly complete library of biography and criticism for students of American literature.

From G. Herbert Clarke, Professor of the English Language and Literature, Mercer University, Macon, Georgia:

"Probably my good will towards the book is best shown by the fact that I have adopted and am now using it in a class of fifty-five sophomores. The author knows his facts, relates them simply, and shows a not inconsiderable appreciation of literary forms and resources. In addition I find his character analyses judicial and catholic and couched in even diction rather than, as is so often the case in texts of this kind, in canting rhetoric."

MAYNARD, MERRILL, & CO., Publishers

KELLOGG'S

EDITIONS

EACH PLAY IN ONE VOLUME

Text Carefully Expurgated for Use in Mixed Classes

With Explanatory Notes, Examination Papers, and Plan of Study (Selected)

BY BRAINERD KELLOGG, LL.D.

Dean of the Faculty and Professor of the English Language and Literature in the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, and author of a "Text-Book on Rhet oric," a "Text-Book on English Literature," and one of the authors of Red & Kellogg's "Lessons in English."

The notes of English Editors have been freely used; but they have been rigorously pruned, or generously added to, wherever it was thought they might better meet the needs of American School and College Students.

We are confident that teachers who examine these editions will pronounce them better adapted to the wants of the class-room than any other editions published.

Printed from large type and attractively bound in cloth.

Besides the desirable text-book features already described, each volume contains a portrait of Shakespeare, his birthplace, editorial and general notices. introduction to Shakespeare's grammar, a plan of study for perfect possession of the play, introduction to the play, and critical opinions.

The following volumes are now ready: