In the following pages, the writer for the most part deals with small subjects in an unelaborate manner. He leaves the highways of literature, and strays into the fields and lanes, picking here a flower and there a leaf, and not going far at any time. There is no endeavour to explore with system, or to extend any excursion beyond a modest ramble. The author wanders at haphazard into paths which have attracted him, and along which, he hopes, the reader may be willing to bear him company.
CONTENTS.
| PAGE | ||
| PAPER-KNIFE PLEASURES | [1] | |
| RUSKIN AS POET | [10] | |
| ELECTIONS IN LITERATURE | [19] | |
| FAMILIAR VERSE | [28] | |
| SHAKESPEARE’S ENGLAND | [36] | |
| HEREDITY IN SONG | [44] | |
| STINGS FOR THE STINGY | [51] | |
| DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD | [59] | |
| SERMONS IN FLOWERS | [66] | |
| ‘DON QUIXOTE’ IN ENGLAND | [74] | |
| BEDSIDE BOOKS | [83] | |
| THEIR MUCH SPEAKING | [91] | |
| PEERS AND POETRY | [99] | |
| THE PRAISE OF THAMES | [107] | |
| ENGLISH EPIGRAPHS | [114] | |
| THE ‘SEASON’ IN SONG | [123] | |
| THE ‘RECESS’ IN RHYME | [131] | |
| JAQUES IN LOVE | [139] | |
| MOCKING AT MATRIMONY | [148] | |
| PARSON POETS | [156] | |
| THE OUTSIDES OF BOOKS | [164] | |
| THE NOT IMPOSSIBLE SHE | [172] | |
| NONSENSE VERSES | [180] | |
| SINGLE-SPEECH HAMILTONS | [188] | |
| DRAMATIC NOMENCLATURE | [196] | |
| PUNS AND PATRONYMICS | [203] | |
| ‘YOURS TRULY’ | [209] | |
| POSTSCRIPTS | [217] |
BY-WAYS IN BOOK-LAND
PAPER-KNIFE PLEASURES.
