The nature of poetry.--The significance of Russian literature.--Anton Tchehov.--Marcel Proust.--The break-up of the novel.--English poetry in the eighteenth century.--A note on the madness of Christopher Smart.--Poe's poetry.--Matthew Arnold the poet.--English prose in the nineteenth century.--The creation of Falstaff.--Coriolanus.--Flaubert and Flaubart.