New-York tribune., 1874-11-21
BOSTON.
LITERARY NOTES.

LITERARY NOTES.
THREE NEW BooKs-"ECHo OF THE Foof,hnn 1..'S,,
BY BRET HARTE-" CHILDHOOD soN'S' W."
ILLUSTRATIONS BY LUCY LARcoM- Ten DA''
IN SPAIN" by MISS KATE FIELD.
irRom REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE .hiooshI
Boston, Nov. 19.-Yet more poems uo" Vno
press of j. r. Osgood Co. One wouid 'n,uA 'ue'a
presses would forget how to print prose- auu 'no
,s -. ,,ou,soives nm In rhymed lines over night.
.e ,,n,a Tho nav Issues are Bret Hartes "Echoes VI
,,o roo, unls /, and Childhood Songs" by Lucy Lar
pom II Is too late In the day to talK critcaS aoou
Rret U,rte as q poet. The prices the magazines anu
aners nav him arc the evidence oil the vaiue tney pu'
non his work. and shining success one can only ahe
n ones hat And yet It is as writer OF prose taies
aha. Rrt Uarte will be longest known; for that Is the
acid in which he has simply no rival For tender hu-
nanity for delicate satire. for large charity tor
vigorous individuality OF expression, 1or sucn
touches In describing o landscape as make you
hold your breath a moment when you come TO them'
lust as you do when you have climbed some blu and see
the glory Of the sea and land spread out before you
Bret Harte has no peer OF course he carries these
qualities n.o his poems and adds TO them charming
facility versicaton, but, the whole, rhyme rather
fetters the rares qualities Of his genius than gives IL
wings to fly with. And yet we're Bret Harte less e1-
ceptionally good as O prose writer, he would make
brilliant name poet His first volume, containing
"Uer LETTER. Ccely" DoT's Flat" Flynn OF Viz
Cipia" and their companions. was something which
must i've because OF its own inherent vitality. IL was
n fresh and delightful sensation East anu
West Poems" poor enough as whoo !;
for that volume the scrapbag OF all
The authors former years but the general barrenness
was relieved by such legends "a Greyport Legend
and "A Newport Romance" that charming story Oh
ghostly grace.
The verses which were little than padding hav-
ing been used up IN East and West Poems," the
present volume has the advantage of being entirely the
vim
artistic culture 1t has all been written within the last
year or two and 1t is nearly all good and much OF II
great deal more than good. Many or the poems-the
best OF them, ndeed-have already been copied from
time to time IN THE TRIBUNE; but some OF them' Wh'ch
were too long for that purpose, will be an absolutely
fresh delight to the readers Of the book. Ramon "
everybody read two or three months ago in THE
TRIBUNE II OF Mr. Hare's most vigorous poems
For the King" would be worth more for the rest
of us had it had the good fortune to be written oeiore
Browning's "Statue and Bust" like "Don Diego OF
the South but think its precise significance belongs
10 the list OF things that fellow can find out LuKe:
In the Colorado Park of the subest, most sug-
gestiye and exquisite n this or any other
yelume of Mr. Harte's. The mans want OF eomprehen-
son Of the who loved him. his blindness to her
love- and yet bis memory Of her, that was the one
golden thread OF poetry the rough homespun OF his
nature are all rendered nobody but Bret Harte could
render them Cant you see her, she stood there in
his path
Like little waver o. mist got up the hill with the
Miss Mabel it was, all alone-wrapped up in mantle
And she stood there straight in the road with toucho
1--WE are eoing to-day" she said. "and thought
To you n your own house, Luke,-these woods and the
bright blue sky o No.,
You We always been klnd 10 u.s. Luxe anu papa n's
found you sin ,,... ,o,,.,
As good the air he breahes and wholesome as Laurel
SAND re,u alvave think of ron Inke the thing we
The bslsam that dwes in the woods the rainbow that
lives In the spray
And yoa'u sometimes think Of me- Luke, as you know
Won once used TO saw
a rinesmoke blown through the woods. moment. but
never TO stay"
"Tne Babes in the Wood" is another fine poem; full
Of that bloodred humanity which is, perhaps HaIte's
best GIFT "After the Accident" The Ghost that Jim
Saw,"" The Idyl of Battle Honow"-you'd know them
all any where the work Of the who wrote Dows
Flat" aud Tom Flynn"
Half an Hour Before Supper" is capital in quite
another way One of the best poems in the volume is
Grandmother Tenterden." 1t is legend OF the sea
own cousin 10 Greyport Legend" in East and West
Poems" 1t is fine, and 1t would have boon perfect had
Mr. Harte but had the sefcOntrol TO stop when he was
artisticay through and the explanatory ana
eonsolaory last which seems to me like ending
fascinating ghost story with neghbor Joness white
horse As have given you no complete poem, will
capture a little song which. doubt, have heard
sung in your chimney. aud then turn reluctantly
from this pleasant volumes
WHAT THE CHIMNEY SANG.
over the chimney the nght-wiDd sang
And cbanted a melody one knew;
And the Woman stopped as the babe she tossed,
And thought OF the one she had long since lost,
And said, her tear-drOps back she forced,
81 hate the wind In the chimney"
Over the chimney the nght.wind sang
And chanted "A melody no one knew;
And the Children said as they closer drew,
"'Tis some witch that is cleavlng the black night
through
'Tis q fairy trumpet that Just then blew
And we fear the wind In the chimney"
Over the chimney the nght-wind sang,
And chanted a melody no one knew;
And the Man, as be sat on his hearth below
Said TO himself, 1t will surely snow,
Aud fuel is dear, and wages low,
And HI stop the leak III the chimney"
Over the chimney the night-wind sang
And chRnte1 a melody no one knew;
But the Poet listened and smiled for ne
Was Man, and Woman. and Child, all three,
And he said, " 1t IS Gods own harmony,
THIS wind that sings in the chimney"
Lucy Larcom's "Childhood Songs" Is full Of fasci-
mating pictures, and equally fascinating poems.
would make Christmas present OF to every child and
every child-over in the country, II could. Here are
che graceful lines with which 1t is prefaced:
bring you these little song blossoms;
aV. hi Ha1