“Here is a poem which will startle the critics throughout the kingdom, and give them pause before they venture to utter their opinions, so much there is of daring both in the conception and execution.”
— Manchester Times
“English literature has no example of daring equal to Festus.”
— Arthur Mee, author of The King's England
“There is matter enough in it to float a hundred volumes of the usual prosy poetry. It contains some of the most wonderful things I ever read.”
— S.C. Hall, Editor of The Art Journal
“In inspiration, in prophecy, in those flashes of the sacred fire which reveal the secret places where time is elaborating the marvels of nature, [Festus] stands alone. This book is a precious, even a sacred book….England has now only two poets that can be named near him.”
— Margaret Fuller Ossoli
“There are passages of this work, figures of speech, images of tenderness and sublimity, thoughts of grandeur, expressions of fervor and reverence, alive with the very soul of poetry, instinct with celestial fire, strong, deep, intense—worthy of the masters of song.”
— The United States Magazine and Democratic Review
“There is no more enthusiastic admirer of Festus than myself.”
— Mary Howitt, author of The Spider and the Fly
“What power! What fire of imagination, worth the stealing of Prometheus! A true poet indeed.”
— Elizabeth Barret-Browning
“A most remarkable and magnificent production.”
— Lord Lytton
“His place will be among the first, if not the first, of our native poets.”