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As for the Queen, we are quite of opinion that Mr. Swinburne has brought that woman to light again. It will not do, perhaps, to peer closely into her portrait as it lies in these pages; if we do, we become uneasily conscious of blotchy workmanship, with lights too sudden, and shades too deep, and broken harmonies of colour. But close the book, and look at the portrait reflected from it into the mind, and none was ever painted of her so true. It is a portrait which painters and historians alike have only confused; it awaited a poet's hand to this day, and now we have got it. So think we, at any rate, and in saying so we do not exhaust the praise which is due to the author of 'Chastelard.' The dramatic force of the scenes in the latter half of the poem remains to be applauded, but that, luckily for a critic who has come to the end of his tether, is a thing which can only be applauded and cannot be described; we give it our homage. But it is very much to the purpose of this article, that just when the poem becomes more dramatic its faults begin to disappear; and before we come to the admirable scene between Mary and Chastelard in prison, we are blinded to whatever remains. The fact seems to be that Mr. Swinburne is less a poet than a dramatist; it is certain that he is capable of writing in a way which entitles him to small consideration as the one, and to great consideration as the other. . . . But in any case it can never be denied that he is a true man of genius."—Pall Mall Gazette, April 27th, 1866.
"The two principal figures stand out boldly, and on them the poet ha£ The scene in which, having sent bestowed all the riches of his genius for Chastelard, she talks to him in a strange wild mood between love and regretfulsubtle and It will not be doubted by any one is fine ness, extremely
who has instinct
the pulse of poetry in his blood that this is noble writing— writing And in the speech of spirit of the Elizabethan Muse.
with the highest
Chastelard, when waiting for the Queen in her chamber, we have something of the large, imperial style of Shakspeare himself. The scene between Chastelard and the Queen in prison is also pervaded with the highest inspirations
....
of impassioned poetry; and though the love-ravings of Chastelard almost pass the bounds commonly permitted to poets, the shadow of fate, lying dark and heavy
In passages such as these, Mr. all, seems to cool and moderate the glow. Swinburne again proves his right to take a permanent stand among our English Of power, he has abundance; of passion, perhaps more than poets enough; of poetry, in its fierce, luminous, and fiery shapes, a wonderful and Whatever his faults, however, he is a man of prodigal richness genius of the most unmistakable mark. We do not know when it has fallen to the ' lot of any poet to produce within one year two such plays as ' Atalanta in Calydon and ' Chastelard '—dramas conceived and written in two totally distinct styles, and with marked success in both He has earned a conspicuous name with singular quickness, and we trust that even greater triumphs lie before him in his onward path." London Review, December 9th, 1865.
"The choruses, in 'Atalanta' were astonishing for their imaginative insight, their richness of imagery, their depth of impassioned thought, the nervous suppleness of their language, and the lyrical flow of their versification; and many of the
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