The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1876-01-08
LITERATURE.

GKIEK wALLY: A TALR OF THE rYRoL From the German
OF Wilhemipe Won Hllern New York: d. Appleton
a Co.
This remarkable book possesses freshness and
novelty which surprise and delight the reader from be-
ginning to end. Il has an interest and fascination
which hold him captive and TO those who have
dered the Tyrol, Alpenstock In hand, who
recognize how faithfully the authoress has depicted
the simple traditional habits Of laborious peasant life
yet with vein OF unconscious poetry which refnes
but does not eGace the "touch Of nature II has
double charm II is book say OF painting,
with an atmosphere and that atmosphere is the cold,
pure, inspritng mountain breath Of the TyroL Full
Of sorrow and hearbreak yet with bursts Of sunlight
aud sprlngtime like those which CLINT the mountain
peaks, this little Alpine story is from the hand of
genius II is full of the freshest nature and rises
from reading with the invgorated feeling that is
produced by long mountain tramp Here Is lovely
description OF the church bells sounding from half
awakened village
Carefully, without losing note, did winged angels
carry The devout sound through the air into the noun
tain, where IT sounded TO Wally like the voice Of
child in prayer. II seemed also to have awakened the
sun Ike mother aroused by the sweet spings OF her
child he opened his eyes, and the rays of his first
glance shot up the hills ROWING the brows in the
East with an unreasonable shaft Of fire The dense
gray mist in the heavens melted into clear azure; the
rays shot nightly the sky and at last the sun
rose in his full glory the mountain peaks wrapped
tho earth The mountains stripped themselves of their
veil OF mist and bahed themselves in the flood of light
All seemed 10 heave and bubble in the abysses far be-
meath though the clouds OF heaven had cast them
selves down there.
~ have been with Nature, and she has given me
new life " says Herder The heroine is a beautiful
gianess strong those Morse madens who ht
brides for the Vikings Tied to a rope she lowered
over precipice to capture young eagle, and she
bears the cruel blows of cruel peasant father without
a Yet when love comes she is a very woman,
with all a womans tender weakness and sacred tears
She terds her sheep the bleak mountain top, her
only companions eternal and solitude while she
nourishes loves Gre in her heart and you follow the
Geler-Waly through her sorrowful pilgrimage with
love and pity and hope. With a and touch
ing chord OF religious feeling vibrating through
the story you presented amid the simplest
peasantry with the great elements which mako
tragedy-love despair, cruelty, jealousy. hope and
happiness-whle through II all blows the keen air OF
the snowy mountain peaks, and one can realize the
Chamois hunters madness; for after living in this
rarefed atmosphere with the syren, it is hard to
back to the valley. The young translator who
thus makes her graceful debut in literature shortly
after her first appearance the highest circles OF
society scarcely awarded much praise for her
clear idomatc English and her wonderful 6delity to
the vigorous language and OF the original. She
has also shown and skill in selecting her first
book for translaon for the plot and construction of
the story admirable, the reader Is continually
baffed tormonted, surprised and pleased and wo
only hope to have stories of Whelmne Won Hill
lern fresh and the Geier -Waly, and above
all, translated by the same pen.