The Portland daily press., 1874-05-30
THE PRESS.
SATURDAY MORNING. MAY 80. 1874
Recent Publications.


'ower or skill previously unrecognized in its
uthor. Tosay, as we surely may, that in
wisdom, vigor, keen and forcible analysis of
human thought and emotion, George Eliot
frequently reaches here her accustomed en-
to say very much. But, it seems
o us, her prose is usually as poetical as her
'erse. The rapid fancy; the glad recogni-
ion of the bodily beauty of words; the un-
efecting passion, made of many emotions
Welded together by their own quick flame,
hat characterize the essentially lyric poet
ire directly opposed to the depth, complexity
md weight of her manner of thought. Her
Use of language is entirely unaffected. She
axes, apparently, no delight in curositIes of
'hyme or rythm; words are with her, sub
lued to the expression of thought with
which they are charged to their utmost ca
oacity. The wonders of earth and air, the
mysteries of seas and stars, she leaves un-
sung except as they illustrate and heighten
he play of human emotion and action.
And, through this very excess of purpose M
her poetry-the reader is left half longing for
such verse as that of William Morris, full of
sweet iteration and of the warm languor of
summer day.
"The Legend of Jubal," which gives the
title to the volume, is the finest and most
of the poems collected in it.
The life of the early men of the earth, al
most unlimited by space or time, opens an
ample field for the poets vigorous and nobly
imaginative description. The knowledge of
death, that gave increased value and mean
ing to life: the longing of these first men to
leave some record of themselves for men to
be; the inspiration of music that came to
Jubal in the measured beat of the hammer,
the songs of birds, and lastly in the dramatic
cadences of human speech; and his artists
desire for a free place where the fires Of
heaven shall meet the deep waters of the
world-all these things are told in grand and
verse. The close of the poem,
where Jubal returns to his native country
old, voice and heart alike broken-ane, un-
by the musicians who had as
sembled to celebrate festival in his honor, is
beaten with their flutes, driven away to die
the clear forms and rapid, vigor-
Gus action of an antique basso-riliepo.
Agatha" a genre sketch of German peas
ant life, of which the central figure is pious,
old woman; and "Armgart"
a study-a little inflated in style, it seems to
the nature of an ambitious, gifted ar
tiste; are far inferior 70 the "Legend of Ju-
bal, though from the nature of their respect
i've subjects, comparison is of course hardly
practicable.
''How Lisa Loved the King" is an exquis-
ite poem, founded upon one of Boccaccio' s
tales and displays the entire acquaintance
with Italian life of those times and the skill
ful, unostentatious use of rich stores of leaSn
ing that added so much charm to the au-
thors ''Romola" the story is told in
the tender, simple style that BELTS it. The
Canzone of Minuccio is in the very spirit OF
the Italian verse of those days, and possesses
singular lyric beauty.
"a Minor Prophet" expresses much phios-
ophy and philanthropy through the medium
of somewhat ponderous playfulness-but, at
loase in part vonturo TO Thinks not poe
try.
Brother and Sister" is exceedingly realis-
tc-but contains graceful lines among some
rather unpoetical ones.
'.Arion" is strong, clearly defined and i'm
pressive, and gives fresh evidence of the skill
of the masterhand, which can easier carve
Colossus than ckerrystone.
1.-TWO Lovers" is, if we may say so of any
thing of George Eliots-commonplace in
treatment.
In s'Stradivarius" and "Oh may join the
choir invisible the noblest traits of the po-
cts genius are apparent.
Tie volume will be eagerly read by the ad-
mirers of George Eliot-and who does not
count himself among them? AS a poet, 1t
seems to us, she will hardly take as high rank
as in the department, really more difficult. Of
prose. The traits that make her one of the
greatest of modern prose writers are not
those that give the utmost success in verse.
An impelling force in.the one-they are al
times weight upon the wings of the other.
'The Legend of Jubal and other Poems"
is published by James R. Osgood and Co..
Boston. For sale by Bailey & Noyes.
PASSAGES FROM THE LIFE OF CHARLES KNIGHT.
Boston Estes and Lauriat. For sale by Dresser
g. Mcclellan.
IA modest and manly record of his most
fruitful and earnest work." is the opinion
passed upon this volume by the American
editor, an opinion which will be very gener-
ally concurred in. Knight himselfsays in the
preface to the English edition that it occurred
to him that certain passages in his working
life of fifty years might have an interest for a
wider circle than that of his family and i'm
mediate friends. This remark is the keynote
of the work.
1t is certainly very entertaining. 1t could
scarcely be otherwise treating as it .does Oi
literature, and men of one of the most inter-
estng periods, literary, social and political, in
English history. The author enjoyed, be-
cause of his occupation, peculiar facilities for
becoming acquainted with the noteworthy
people of those times. A publisher and an
author himself he formed intimate acquaint-
ances with the men whom the world has
agreed to regard as famous in letters. II not
one of the Dii Mqjores himself, he was per-
mitted to sit at their tables.
His working life, he tells us, began in 1912,
when he went into Journalism, at that time
ust coming into repute as an avenue to liter
ary circles. In 1920 he started the expert
ment, since so successfully carried out in the
''Penny Cyclop@dia" and other publications,
of cheap miscellanies. The history of the un-
dertakiug, its initial failures and its final sue
cess, is, as detailed by him, of great interest.
In 1924 he established ''The Quarterly Maya
zine," and thus made the acquaintance OF
Macaulay, Praed and others of the remarka-
BILE knot of Cambridge students who became
the chief contributors to that periodical. In
1927 he became connected with the Society
for the Diffusion of Useful knowledge, con-
nection that lasted for twenty years. 1t was
a period OF wonderful progress, a complete
political and social revolution, and to keen
observer like Mr.. Knight, furnished abundant
for entertaining "reminiscences OF men
and manners and events. 1t was during this
period that the "Penny Magazine" and the
Pictorial History of England" publications
20 well known in connection with Mr..
Knights name, were projected and carried on.