Selections from Notices of former Editions of BABY MAY, AND OTHER POEMS. From Miss MITFORD'S RECOLLECTIONS OF A LITERARY LIFE.' 'Of all writers, the one who has best understood, best painted, best felt infant nature, is Mr. Bennett. We see at once that it is not only a charming and richly-gifted poet who is describing childish beauty, but a young father writing from his heart. "Baby May" is amongst the most popular of Mr. Bennett's lyrics, and amongst the most original, as that which is perfectly true to nature can hardly fail to be. The "Epitaphs for Infants" are of great sweetness and tenderness. "The Seasons," four stanzas on a subject so lackneyed that many writers would have shrunk from attempting it, would make four charming pictures.' From the DAILY TELEGRAPH. "Baby's Shoes" is worthy to rank with "Baby May," which, from its completeness and finished charm as a picture of infancy, is one of the most exquisite among the whole of Mr. Bennett's productions.' From the WEEKLY DISPATCH. 'Some of his poems on children are amongst the most charming in the language, and are familiar in a thousand homes.' From the EXAMINER. that love of children few writers of our day have expressed with So much naïve fidelity as Mr. Bennett.' From the ILLUSTRATED TIMES. The poems about children (especially the charming one entitled" Baby's Shoes") are as good as anything of the kind that has ever been written.' From the LEADER. 'Here we find the sweet song of "Baby's Shoes," which has been so frequently quoted with enthusiastic recognition.' From the ECLECTIC REVIEW. 'We confess, of all things small, we love babies; and we derive more poetical inspiration from baby watchings and baby nursings than from any other class of sub-adorations; and we further confess that we never met with more truthful descriptions of them than we find in this volume. Memory itself is not so faithful, though it is capable of appreciating the fidelity of the artist.' From the ATLAS. 'Would you have a poem on domestic subjects, on the love between parents and child? How charmingly is that brought out in the little poem entitled "Baby's Shoes."' From the GLOBE. 'We know Mr. Bennett as the sweet singer of the domestic hearth, as one ready to hail each aspect of nature and her influences in words as fresh as her flowers, in music as soft as the voice of her birds.' From CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL. "In Mr. Bennett's descriptions we seem to hear the very jerk of the cradle breaking the sweet monotony of the mother's song. "Baby May" is a poem with which every woman, and every man with a heart within him, is charmed at the first reading, quite apart from its perfectness as a work of art. Who but a real poet could have made such a subject as the following ("Baby's Shoes") awaken thoughts at least deep enough for tears?' From the GUARDIAN. Those readers who do not as yet know "Baby May" should make her acquaintance forthwith; those who have that pleasure already will find her it good company.' |