Page:Athletics and Manly Sport (1890).djvu/536

 THE

STATUES IN THE BLOCK,

AND OTHER POEMS. BY JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. From The Boston Daily Advertiser. "Mr. O'Reilly excels in dramatic poetry. When he has an heroic story to tell, he tells it with ardor and vigor; he appreciates all its nobleness of soul, as well as its romantic and picturesque situations; and his 'Song for the Soldiers,' and 'The Mutiny of the Chains,' in his last volume, show with what power he can portray the daring and heroism that have stirred his own heart, he writes with ease and freedom, but his poems of love and of discontent are not superior to those of other well-known English poets. His best work in this way are 'Her Refrain,' a sweet, tender poem, true to life; and 'Waiting,' that is far more impassioned. The cynical verses and epigrams scattered through the book are piquant, and enhance its sweetness, as bitter almonds do the richness of confectionery. There is another side still to Mr. O'Reilly's poetry, and it would be easy to represent him as chiefly religious, earnest, and tender. His poems abound in passages like the following from 'Living':—