“You have been very patient and considerate, and I think you believed that I would not lose any time in reading your Romance, for a Romance it is, and a most original one. I have read it all, that is, to 964. I should like to see the conclusion.
“The story of Al-Kyris is a magnificent dream, the product of a rich imagination, the story rising towards the close to considerable power. The design, the method, the treatment, all are original, and the fancy has an Eastern richness, and, I presume, a legitimate basis in fact.
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“There is so much in the work that I could write yards upon yards about it. The fine drawing of Sah-Lûma, its consistency, and the moral taught by him; the character of Lysia, typifying Lust; that of poor Niphrâta, of the King, and the finely conceived character of Theos; the scenes, one after the other, in rapid succession, ending in the fall of Al-Kyris, should give you a status as a writer of no ordinary character.
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“There can be no doubt that it is a most unusual work, a daring and sustained flight of the imagination. You will have to rest after it, for some of your life has gone into it.”
“March 14th, 1889.
“You must bear in mind that in giving an opinion I am bound to have an eye upon what I deem defect, rightly or wrongly. I have no need to call your attention to merits—if I had, I could write a quarto letter on the merits of Al-Kyris, in which I include, by the way, the beautiful scene on Ardath, and the first introduction of Edris. So in the epilogue I quite agree with your critic in his high admiration of the Cathedral scene, and the reappearance of Edris.
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