New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-08-17
longcd to great by supernatural means, is re-
stored TO the vigor Of manhood by a beautiful ray
W no loves him:

A. though % rect him Is ne drew ahl-ii
Stammcrinr he said " Who art thouf How ami
- Cuct al all nv evils tuduonN
Tint ccr;auly fen no mightcr 'rben
and Nr hGclirqrd rush Of bcafen mon
Ab,n nc orcoied ne aIc-tor'l Or'HdmmS
This is erlendd. His mraculously restored
strength brings to the hero's mind, not the time OF
victory. but ina! when the might OF mInd ana man
hooI rose ND in him to face defeat. And & at phrase
",ba backward rush OF beaten men, what picture
in four words It is of the tumultuous rout OF SOL
diers reooing from victorious foe! la both these
passages man OF conspicuous bravery Is telling the
same moral and mental experience. although under
differing circumstances; but IN one we have rough
careless crude thought. affected phrase
oogy; in he other picture unoquallcd hy Chancer'
unsurpassed in it kind by Homer, presented 10 Us
in verse which has beauty in It's mere rhythmc
now Mr.. Blowning's "Chvt' is an apparently III
territorial aggressive example of the most objection
able features of his style III more than usually
aggravated form.
Muleykch the Arabian idyl. is intended ~ a PIC
ture Of unselsh love and admiration, the oDlec' oi
winch is q marc uueonailed in beauty and in speed
Her owner keeps her with hun in his tent ana re-
fuses to sell her at any pnce She is stolen from
him in the neht and he, sprngng upon her sister
who is inferior only to her, pursues the thief. As
Muleykch is unaccustomed to her new rider, and
he does not know how to bring her to her highest
speed her owner gains upon him and overtakes
him. when. grcved to see his priceless peafI
beaten even that he might regain her he oaIis o"'
-"Dog DUH. damned son of tie dust.
Pearls left fink"
Thus managed Pearl shoots away and is lost For
this folly he is ug fully sco1ed at by his compan-
ions:
And they ieerea him ono and all: "roor Hos yn Is
How csr bad he wrought himself his ruin fortunes
To lave simply held his TONGUE were task for boy or
And here we're Muykcn again. the eyed like an ante
The child heart by day and the wife of his breast
aud ne beaten in speed" wert Hoseyn: "You have
never loved my Pearl
Surely this IS mere fanciinl extravaganza, winch
does not awaken sympathy. Adapting one Of
Shakcspeare's songs to the OCCASION we must all
say
Such friendship IS feigning,
such loving. mere folly
We cannot 90 over this volume-uHhappy embodl-
ments If is Wu.eis worst iuIOsyncraci@S-in de-
tail but We must remark upon notable ahectafloh
in the Italian idyl, "Iclro Of Alamo In this
poem the author has plainly proposed TO himself
the task of making a series of roesque double
rhymes with the hope of attaining humorous Ell
feet. as well as Of showing his mastery OF language
Thus We have Tor example:
Many scholars seek ne promise mOunt- and md'cets
Here Il ana ~ witness no" they sl"' VIVA i' al"
Dry GIsal that re gained me- truly should '''''e
And inst SO we have "impulse" Ihymug with
| Ijmb-nul.r" "lnceusc" wIth "Wn sense"
" tractatc" with "exac; eight" "pass1-e' with
Grass az" treatment" with feat meant
virtues" with dirt-shoei,' ctc~ ETC., III every
stanza of The longest poem OF The SIN bnf spch
rlyming is eflcc i've only when IN" forced iNme
presents an idea humorous III itself and of natural
-. Z f.Ta IL rffNp
the cacn There H. on the contrary, constant con-
,ciousaess that the writer putting himself and us
under severe constraint, and is sacrificing TIE
natural noN of his thought for The sake OF these
| uneouth and extravagaut and altogether unIneau-
! nq tricks with words. The result IA depnr3D.e.
!. is not thus that Butler and Hood and Lowell use
! their quaint double rhymes.
The last OF tie idyls PAN and Luna is
an almost, quite, disgusting Ihymed
| narration of one of the least lovely
stories of classical mythology. Luna tho Maid
Moon,' when conccaiedin acoud Is surprised ana
rayished bv Pan. the satyr-dcmsod NOT the greater
and older god whose death gave shade TO ihe uni
we're. And thus coarseiy, although graphically,
does Nh Browning tell the climax of lhs story;
so did G.r-Noon. 10y her Just atinen;r
Bruised ~ the breast II Pan, haf god nrt brute,
! Rtked nv h4 b,isily boar ward while hc tapped
Never say. kissed ner! thai were 10 polluie
LIVES laucuage--which mOrcp. or proves rlapt
! 10 tell now she rccoied-as Who lind, tIosns
Where she sought ho"ci--"Acn Ieeih-' she tou'Heo-
horns!
The roughly dashed of picture hcreprcscnted 1850
coarsely brutal that shrink and shudder as We
bring il BE- fore cur readers even 70 pass upoa the
sentence of critical condemnation. 1t is shocking.
II ant II is the lowest and grosscSt form Of art. We
cannot bat ak, Is this BrowHing the Browning
whose delicate and subtle tonch has thrilled rs M
former years Qpantom mHiaias ab lilo! The case is
made no better by tho writers expression OF his dis
like oil tie proceeding winch he has portrayed. 1t
should not have been painted.
But Mr. Browning iauciss that he has his
answer to all such criticism rs ours, which
evidently ms better sense leads him
70 expect. That answer he gycs in his cpiiogIc
which - a contemptuous defiance 81 contemporary
Judgment. and declaration that postcrlty VII! adj
mlre his coarse aud ragged work After four lines
in which he sccrnfu,ly utters his estimate OF a
quick-receptye" "poct-soul,' he says:
Indeed!
Rock = the song-so rather, surface herd and bare.
Vainiy both expend.--fe~ flowers awaken there;
Qaiet in lis cleft brood>-8naj tIe aficrase
Knows ana names "a plne u nauJhs hei'. go.
4 poor apology and VAN p.oyhccy Mr.. Brown
ing's pre- Is mere scrub; and p0stcrity wll clear
away that il may delight Itself in the swcct"r and
uobler beauty OF the earlier PRODUCES % ms rich and
virgin SOIL There is 30 moro futile oXDcctaton
than this Of fame ssad in life and gained III ait,r
ages The writer who fails TO win the ear Of las
contemporaries never wins that OF postcrity.
A story is told among the English and American
residents Of Rome that Elizabeth Barrett Browning
saw and dcpored the tendencies OF her beloved nus
bands style, and said to HIM one day: Brownng'
YOU have started q road, which, II yoH PuiNuoIt
will lead you to destruction" II not true tha STORY
should be true The end has justified such pro-
| ,L..,. Tho sthi,ct of II has become culW1rcd Of
| ms own deficiencies. and has cndeavored 10 exag-
! cerate his faults and weaknesses INTO style
which would at least delight his own cgOi5In. lie
| -. .,.o.ot..I IN. ,..-uf n1nn.trn.itA VI IIcil