concludes
with her taking the wiser course of going to town to consult her swain's
sister, Cassandra--whose advice, we presume, prevailed upon her to live,
as we can, from other sources, assure our readers she did to a good old
age.

In the 'Hesperides' our author, with great judgment, rejects the common
fable, which attributes to Hercules the slaying of the dragon and the
plunder of the golden fruit. Nay, he supposes them to have existed to a
comparatively recent period--namely, the voyage of Hanno, on the coarse
canvas of whose log-book Mr. Tennyson has judiciously embroidered the
Hesperian romance. The poem opens with a geographical description of the
neighbourhood, which must be very clear and satisfactory to the English
reader; indeed, it leaves far behind in accuracy of topography and
melody of rhythm the heroics of Dionysius _Periegetes_.

'The north wind fall'n, in the new-starred night.'

Here we must pause to observe a new species of _metabole_ with which Mr.
Tennyson has enriched our language. He suppresses the E in _fallen_,
where it is usually written and where it must be pronounced, and
transfers it to the word _new-starred_, where it would not be
pronounced if he did not take due care to superfix a _grave_ accent.
This use of the grave accent is, as our readers may have already
perceived, so habitual with Mr. Tennyson, and is so obvious an
improvement, that we really wonder how the language has hitherto done
without it. We are tempted to suggest, that if analogy to the accented
languages is to be thought of, it is rather the acute ([']) than the
grave ([`]) which should be employed on such occasions; but we speak
with profound diffidence; and as Mr. Tennyson is the inventor of the
system, we shall bow with respect to whatever his final determination
may be.

'The north wind fall'n, in the new-starred night
Zidonian Hanno, voyaging beyond
The hoary promontory of Soloe,
Past Thymiaterion in calmed bays.'

We must here note specially the musical flow of this last line, which is
the more creditable to Mr. Tennyson, because it was before the tuneless
names of this very neighbourhood that the learned continuator of
Dionysius retreated in despair--

----[Greek: eponymias nyn ellachen allas
Aithiopon gain, dysphonous oud' epierons
Mousais ouneka tasd' ego ouk agoreusom' apasas.]

but Mr. Tennyson is bolder and happier--

'Past Thymiaterion in calmed bays,
Betwe