The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1874-11-07
THE PRES S.
SATURDAY MORNING NOV. :, 1874
Recent Publications.

For sale by Bailey s. Noyes.
Within the limits of this volume, Mr.. Al
drich includes those of his poems that he
cares to retain-leaving the others to drift as
tie current of popular fancy may bear them,
whether floating through the placid shadows
OF country newspapers, or safely anchored in
scrap-books and odd corners Of work-baskets.
''Cloth of Goid'' is the name given to the
first part of the volume; and, after poeti-
cal description of the process of weaving
verse-scarcely specific enough for purposes
Of the patent offce-it is made up of short
poems on oriental themes. Some of these
are exceedingly graceful, other have less
merit. One of the "Songs from the Persians'
is charming enough to have been written by
Hafiz himself, and combines with its oriental
fervor the refined fancy of our own time and
hemisphere. "The Sheik's Welcome and
GA Turkish Legend" are vigorously written,
and models in their way.
In the second part of the volume our adj
miration is enlisted for the medieval legend
of sFriar Jerome's Beautiful Book'-one of
Mr.. Aldrich's finest efforts. "Palabras Carl
nosas" is exquisitely warm and dainty.
Lyrics xgToup Of three little songs, rath-
er in the vein OF Tennyson's 'Maud," are
musical and graceful; and the conventional
thread of the nothingness of everything,
upon which these pretty pearls are strung,
need trouble the reader but very little. The
"Epilogue" is very beautiful in thought and
expression. "Pampina" is poem of real
beauty and finish.
In the fourth part reappears the longtime
favorite, 'Baby Bell;;" which, often as it has
been read, never loses its charm, but remains
always fresh rosebudpoem. The 'Invoca-
ton to Sleep is fine in imagination and
form. In the
Dolores, Hebe, Circe,
Pretty Spanish Girl,''
Without a bit of mercy,
we at once recognize Ihackeray's "Peg of
Limavaddy '-transplanted to Nevada, among
sagebush and sherry in place of peats and
potheen. But Mr.. Aldrich's management of
the verse is so good, the poem so spirited and
the double rhymes so clever that we welcome
the appearance of the merry Irish girl in her
Spanish costumes. Mr.. Aldrich's apprecia-
tion of recognized literary models, however,
sometimes leads him into regions quite for
eign to his own talent, which is graceful, SYM
pathetic, and readily rises to the level.o of his
theme, so long as thai theme is within the
limits of legitimate art. But when he pro-
poses to himself, in his own words, "to walk
with demons, gnouls and things"-the prom
enade, however interesting to the poet, is
hardly enjoyable for the readers who follow
him. A couplet in his "Glamoure" seems
to us to afford good little moral for the poet
himself:
Ho! thou art lost,
Thou lowest ghost
We hope that in future he will be content
to subdue his admiration for the spectral
school of poetry, and trust to the merit of
his own original talent.
"Judith'' is the longest aid most important
poem contained in the volume, and is, in
many respects, one Of the best-giving proof
that Mr.. Aldrich is not only exceedingly hap
py in graceful lyric verse, but has also the
force and breadth of treatment requisite for
the large proportions Of an extended poem.
His management of blank verse is excellent; /;
=anu sss sHse prayer VI Juurtn anu ner song OF
the Vine, the same unrhymed measure is
skillfully made to produce opposite and equal
ly fine effects. His descriptive power does
not retard, though it greatly embelishes the
march Of the dramatic action. The charac-
ter of judith, while retaining the Anazonan
strength which the Biblical record associates
with her, is shown in this poem in another
and more womanly phase; and the brief con-
test Of passion and patriotism, with its tragic
ending, gives a human interest to this calm
figure thai has come down to US through the
ages.
We have refrained from quoting from the
volume, in our notice, because we hope to
transfer to our columns some Of the poems
that have especially charmed us. And we
cordially recommend to our readers this book,
sufficiently varied to suit all tastes and fine
enough to please the most fastidious.
AFTER THE BALL, and Other Poems BY Nora
Perry. Published by j. R. Osgood & Co., Boston.
For sale by Bailey s. Noyes.
Miss Nora Perry is one of the most musi-
Cal and graceful among our writer's of verse.
She plays all sorts of merry tricks with
rhymes, tossing words about in tuneful jiu-
gle-yet very rarely forgetting sense in sound.
Her talent is essentially feminine, but with
its delicacy has no lack of strength. "After
the Ball." the ttle-poem of the present vol
Nd sr, he
some years since, but its grace of description
and tender, natural feeling are always fresh.
ssThe Last Ride'' is a spiiited picture of ro-
nance and chvalry, of which the lively COL
ors are subdued by the tragedy which shadows
it. s'The Romance of Rose" is one of the
legends that spring up even in the unpropi-
tious soil Of New England, and is told with
the clearness and vividness that are the charm
of true ballad. "The Garden of the Lilies' is
especially beautiful-vague, shadowy and en-
chanted. The musical iteration of words, the
richly colored phrases, and the underlined mys-
terry of its theme combine to form real and
powerful charm. Gan Acquaintance" and
"Half an Hour'' are dainty genre sketches in
modern style. "Apple-blossoms" is airy and
musical enoughto be sung by bobolnk tenore
SOLO, with blasbells obligati. 'sIn June" re.
calls the lovely manner of Jean Ingelow's
pastoral poems.
As an example of Miss Perry's ringing and
animated verse, we transcribe the following
poem:
RIDING DOWN.
o, did you see him riding down
And riding down, while all the town
Came out to see, came out to see,
And all the bells rang mad with glee?
Q, did you hear those bells ring out,
Ire bells ring out, the people shout,
And did you hear that cheer on cheer
That over all the bells rang clear?
And did you see the waving flags,
The futtering flags the tattered flags
Red, white and blue shot through and through,
Baptised with battles deadly dew?
And did you hear the drums gay beat.
The drums gay beat, the buges sweet,
The Cymbars clash, the cannOn's crash
That rent the sky with sound and flash?
And did you SEQ me waiting thore
Just waiting there and watching there,
One little lass amid the mass
That pressed to see the hero pass?
And did you see him smiling down,
And smiling down, as riding down
win slowest pace, with stately grace
lie caught the vision of face
My face uplifted red and white
turned red and white with sheer delight
10 meet the eyes, the smiling ewes,