The Life-boat in Verse. An anthology covering a hundred years, a commentary by Sir John Gumming and Charles "' the Royal National Life-boat Institution by Hodder Selected with Vince. Published for & Stoughton. 25. 6d.MUCH verse has been written about the life-boat service. This anthology of fifty-six sets of verses has been chosen out of 180 collected by the editors, who have each had a long association with the service. The earliest of the verses chosen was written in 1833, the latest in 1935.

Many famous and heroic rescues are recalled in the commentary which forms a useful and interesting addition to the verses themselves.

Only one of the greater names of English poetry appears in the anthology: William Wordsworth, whose sonnet " On Entering Douglas Bay" ends with these lines on the life-boatmen of the Isle of Man and the Institution's founder : Spare, too, the human helpers ! Do they stir 'Mid your fierce shock like men afraid to die ? No; their dread service nerves the heart it warms, And they are led by noble HILLARY.

The Poet Laureate of the Life-boats.

But there are well-known names among the authors : William Canton, Clement Scott, George R. Sims, Fred- erick Weatherly, the song-writer, and Lord Darling. The poet laureate of the life-boat service was certainly Clement Scott. His verses on the disaster to the Southport and St. Annes life-boats in 1886 are perhaps the best ever written on the service : Up goes the Lytham signal! St. Annes has summoned hands ! Knee-deep in surf the life-boat's launched abreast of Southport sands ! Half deafened by the screaming wind ; half blinded by the rain, Three crews await their coxswains, and face the hurricane ! The stakes are death or duty! No man has answered " No ! " Lives must be saved out yonder on the doomed ship Mexico ! Did ever night look blacker ? did sea so hiss before ? Did ever women's voices wail more piteous on the shore ? Out from three ports of Lancashire that night went life-boats three, To fight a splendid battle, manned by Warriors of the Sea ! Then there are his " The Women of Mumbles Head," his " The Lay of the Life-boat," and his " The Wreck of the Indian Chief." Two of these four poems appeared originally in Punch.

So did the frontispiece chosen for the anthology, " Mr. Punch to the Life- boatmen," by the famous cartoonist, Linley Sambourne.

Perhaps even better known than Clement Scott's verses was "The Life-boat," by George R. Sims, a famous recitation in its day : Been out in the Life-boat often ? Ay, ay, sir, often enough.

When it's rougher than this ? Lor1 bless you! this ain't what we calls rough ; It's when there's a gale a-blowin', and the waves run in and break On the shore with a roar like thunder and the white cliffs seem to shake ; When the sea is a hell of waters, and the bravest holds his breath As he hears the cry for the Life-boat— his summons maybe to death— That's when we call it rough, sir; but, if we can get her afloat, There's always enough brave fellows ready to man the boat.

To tie Men of Rye.

And to show the variety of mood and expression in these fifty-six sets of verse on the same subject, let those lines by George R. Sims be followed by an extract from Lord Darling's noble tribute to the life-boatmen who lost their lives at Rye nine years ago : Their names will live, nor died these brave in vain Whose valiant deed shall deeds as high inspire; All sacrifice is greater than the gain, Little the faggot—all the heavenly fire.

Verses by Coxswains.

These verses are by those who looked at the life-boat service from the outside.

Others show it from the inside. There are verses written by two coxswains, David Duncan, of Montrose, and William Potter, of Cahore, Co. Wexford, who describes in detail the launch- of the life-boat and the rescue; but the thoughts and feelings of the life-boat- men at their work find their best expression in the chanties of Captain Craufurd, honorary secretary of the Dungeness station, of which there are two in the anthology. Here is the first stanza of his " Lee Oh." There she shows on the starboard beam, She must be nearly awash below, 'Eaven be kind an' we reach 'er soon, They must be thinkin' us all too slow.

George can flatten the after sheet ? Seems we could pinch a bit closer yet, Hold on, boys, while she takes it green, Keep tha' there Verys light outen the wet.

Grace Darling.

One whole section is given to the work of the women, and the anthology is dedicated to the members of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild " in admiration and respect." First in the section on the women comes Grace Darling. It would be so at any time. It is specially appro- priate in this the centenary year of her great deed. Two poets wrote of her, Wordsworth and Swinburne, but the editors have chosen, in preference to either, the beautiful verses by Henry Thomas Liddell (Earl of Ravensworth), the best of the many written of her : Oh! noble effort, deed of deathless Fame! From which the strength of man had shrunk appalled, But that in woman's heart there burnt a flame By Mercy fired, by Prudence un- enthralled, The flame of Charity, of Faith, and Love, That lights to deeds illustrious the way, Sent by the Holy Spirit from above To sublimate our grosser part of clay, And still in God-like bosoms loves to dwell, Like ancient Vesta's fire, unquenched, unquenchable.

The Tribute of Women, One of the most interesting things which the anthology makes clear is that some of the finest tributes to the service have come from women. Agnes Strickland, historian of the Queens of England, wrote of them. Then there is Eliza Cook's famous " The Boatmen of the Downs " : A boat is on the waters—- When the very sea-birds hide ; 'Tis noble blood must fill the pulse That's calm in such a tide ! And England, rich in records Of her princes, kings and crowns, May tell still prouder stories Of her Boatmen of the Downs.Nor has anything better been written in recent years than Mrs. Nugent Jackson's " Adams of the Goodwin Sands" : Who neither flinched, nor quailed, nor failed, Who often against hope prevailed.

Hero by daring and by deed, Staunch sea-dog of the British breed, Who bold as Caister boatmen be, Never went back for any sea ! ;The Or Miss Cicely Fox Smith's Life-boatman " : Helmeted, knightwise—booted to the knee— Cuirassed to meet the charging cavalry Of seas wind-generalled—medalled from no fight Save that men wage with eternal ocean's might— And Miss Helen Burnside's " Man the Life-boat " is a perfect example of the Victorian ballad.

The majority of the verses are by names unknown. They cannot be better represented in this notice than by the anonymous stanzas written in 1868, caUed " The Life-boatman's Sigh in the Tempest " : Jesu ! bless our slender boat, By the torrent swept along ; Loud its threatenings—let them not Drown the music of a song Breathed Thy mercy to implore, Where these troubled waters roar ! Guide our bark among the waves ; Through the surf our passage smooth ; Where the whirlpool frets and raves Let Thy love its anger soothe ; All our hope is placed in Thee ; Miserere Domine ! It is hoped that the extracts given above may tempt readers ot this Journal to acquire the book itself ; for the profits after meeting the cost of production go to the Institution. The volume is attractively bound, and issued at the reasonable" price of half-a-crown.

There is a special rate for those who wish to purchase a number of copies for sale by branches and Ladies' Life-boat Guilds for the benefit of their local funds..