Literary Gossip.

LITERARY GOSSIP .

TENNYSON'S neiv poem , entitled " Despair , " published in the November number of the Nineteenth Century , gives us another taste of the Laureate ' s power in depicting the extremity of human passion . The subject is unlovely , but it is treated in a masterly manner . Oscar Wilde ' s gorgeously got up volume of poems has passed into a second editionspite of the manner in ivhich so much meaningless ancl sillrhyming

, y is intermingled with not a little unaffected and genuine verse in its pages . Its author is the pet of the aesthetic drawing room ; hence , doubtless , the run his book has enjoyed . Mr . Wilde is clever enough , but he has beeii spoiled by society ' s praise . If he would only give up his morbid affectation he might achieve a permanent success .

Through Macmillan ' s Miss Christina G . Rossetti has g iven to the world a new volume of verse , with the title of "A Pageant , and other Poems . " It is , we must confess , a little disappointing , displaying most of the fair writer ' s shortcomings and feiv of her distinguishing , excellencies . The chief fault evinced is unnaturalness . She should assert her own individuality , ancl not be content to so often echo the method and idealism of others . "The Months " in the " Pageant " which furnishes the title are quaintly conceived

and tolerably well worked out . The " other poems " are mostly short and of varying merit , and many of them are marked Avith deep religious feeling . " Johnny " and " Brandon ' s Both " are simple and very pretty ; but perhaps the best bit of poetry to be found in the whole two hundred pages is contained in the eight lines headed "Buds and Babies . " Here they are :

A million buds are born that never blow , That sweet with promise lift a pretty head To blush and wither on a barren bed , And leave no fruit to show . Sweet unfulfilled . Yet have I understood One joy , by their fragility made plain : Nothing was ever beautiful in vain , all in vain

Or was good . The new " Birthday Book , " designed by Princess Beatrice , ancl splendidly produced by Smith , Elder , and Co ., is the sensation of the season . The price is two guineas , ancl the volume is one of the handsomest issued from the English press for many a clay . Art and Letters : an Illustrated MonthlMagazine of Fine Art ancl Fiction

y ( Remington ancl Co . ) , is quite a journalistic novelty , being a combination of high class fiction and art literature , together with news notes ancl critiques on innumerable themes appertaining to art and letters . It has been deservedl y well received , and will , we trust , become a permanent periodical .

Dr . William Howard B . ussell , the veteran " war correspondent , " who has been across the Atlantic of late in company with the Duke of Sutherland , will shortly send to press an account of what he saw in America , under the title of " Hesperothen : Notes from the Western World . " We are glad to notice that the popular sixpenny monthl y known as The Burlington will for the future be published by Messrs . Chapman and Hall ,