The Portland daily press., 1884-11-07


''Garden Talk between the Pink and The
Potato is droll bit of morazng, bright in
both rhyme and reason. We give the first
two and last two verses:
"Ssid Pink to Potato
Ills not good way to
Live all the time under ground
30 rouse up and rise up,
And wake all your eyes up
And look at the beauties around
The rubicund poppy
Though little too foppy,
And rather hard drinker OF dew:
And the bee with his flute,
In his buff coored suit
Are far more happy than you
The potato replies:
"With quiet surrounded,
Well rooted and grounded,
In vjgor substantial and true.
We boast not the graces
OF delicate faces
Like the lilies, the roses and you.
My dear little Pink it
Strange you should think 1t is
Beauty alone can delight;
For life is completer
And sweeter and sweeter
The farther you live out Of sight"
The sonnet on Professor Packard is fine
effort
The stranger to the author, who turns the
leaves 10 this volume of poems, finds some
lovely lines, and when the reviewer has assoc
citation to guide him by friendships pleasant
ways there must be real delight in the CLEAN
ing.
"Stuff and Nonsense is the suggestive
title of as absurd melange as it has ever
been our good fortune to encounter. Scrb-
ners publish It. and Frost is the perpetrator.
There are ga Tale OF Cat" ''The Balloon
ists," ''The Power of the Human Eye"
'sThe Awful Comet and other equally ludi-
crous themes, set forth by pencil worthy
OF Punch, only far more extfavagant than
Punch in his widest revels. The iilustra-
ton, for instance, of
"There once tall red famingo,
Who said by the great jumping Jingo
I've been in this cline
An uncommon long time,
But haven't yet U. astered their lingo
and Of
This poet supposed if he gave
His works TO aa Indian brave
The red man would melt
With The joy that he felt
The poet, alas, fills the gravel
are masterpieces of comic art. With its cap
and-b bells cover and general monkey-shine
aspect we commend "Stuf and Nonsense
to all lovers of laugh.
Very near the publication of Bayard Tay-
lor's Life comes a smallvolume of his poems
called melodies OF Verse; To those who
only knew Mr.. Taylor as prose writer and
chronicler of travels these poems will open a
new delight. The little book is bound in
white parchment, with thick, uncut leaves,
and redlettered on the title-page-a pretty
binding ia which we have welcomed Aldrich
and several other favorite poets heretofore
The selection consists of opening "Improvi-
sations," number of beautiful songs, and
Lyrics from Prince Deukalion." The best
known among the short poems is
PROPOSAL.
The violet loves sunny bank.
The cewslip loves the lea,
The scarlet creeper loves the elm,
But loVe-thee.
The sunshine kisses mount and vale.
The stars they kiss the sea;
The west winds kiss the clover bloom,
But Kiss thee.
The oriole veds his notified mate
The hly's bride O. the bee;
Heavens marriagering is round the earth
Shall wed thee?
Love and Mirage" now published by Har-
pers, is well written, clearly drawn ro-
nance. Its ending is sad, and the story
throughout is not an agreeable or cheering
one, being rather of the distressed and STACEY
order. Not to be accused of straining at
gnat, we were yet struck by an opening
phrase, heading a chapter aud several times
repeated, 'Eyes blue as alkanet." 1t seems
what we call far-fetched-true alkanet Yields
yellowdye, its root red pigment; false al
kanet, when combined with alum, brilliant
violet. However, perhaps it is our igno-
rance-theTe may be such German or Eng
lish expression in common use, in which
case our separating colors in word-paint-
ing, as we have just done, is uncaled for.
Love and Mtrage'i is written anonymous
ly, and must make its friends without preju-
dice. 1t is readable, if somewhat melolra-
matte sketch and will serve It's purpose by
pacing new love story ON sentimental
shelves.
Ground About Rio' is a spicy, breezy
narration, thrown into the form of story,
detailing the experiences of party of North
Americans at Rio de Janero. Mr.. Carpenter,
its author, has written on various subjects
for the magazines and has bad opportunities
for making special study of Brazil. In his
book, dialogue and nonsense chats are inter-
spersed with entertaining descriptions of
the people, customs and scenery of Rio,
while '''Fhe Naturalist" adds observations
on the flora and fauna of the region. There
is really good deal of information about
Rio to be gained in a reading, SO that the
fault of the book is the more to be regretted,
which is, slangy, provincial, coarse tone
pervading the conversations throughout It
is pity that what proves an amusing story
vation and refinement.
The subscribers to Harper's Monthly who
have read with so much pleasure Blacks
novel, judith Shakespeare" will be glad to
see the story in book form, embellished as it
IS by Abbey's attractive illustrations. Ju-
dith is our Shakespeare's daughter, and 1t is
said Mr.. Black has taken great pains to ver-
iiy his pretty fiction. The result is most
arf chi IN nE unrIr Tg,1 s.,k
phere of the Elizabethan age is wonderfully
ha' died as the background of the picture,
and The interest of the plot never flags. Mr..
Blacks novel, "White Wings" was not es-
pecially successful, a. least compared with
his earlier stories, but "Judith Shakespeare
is altogether fresh and new In its oldtime
beauty and will be literary acquisition.
The No Name Series has been on the
whole an unusually popular and agreeable
set of stories, and "Almost Duchess" may
rightly be esteemed as brilliant and spark
ling as anyone on the list of its predeces-
sors. 1t is well written, showing tact and
sympathy in the author, as he deals with his
varying types of character. The scene of
the story is laid in England, but what pity
TO sketch the outline, when the novel-lover,
this volume in hand. will at once detect the
Elusive, but unmistalr gable touch of the gen.
uine story-teller and will want to read from
the four-leaved clover to the horseshoe,
Mr.. Henty wrote of the Crusades in his
"Boy Knight' aud now in 'Jack Archer
of the Crimea. An English midshipman,
whose career takes him through the battles
of B llaklaVa and Inkarman aud the capture
OF Sebaso pol, is an ideal hero for boy read
ers and Jack Archer will have host of ad-
mirers. Fine print, 800 pages, illustrations,
thrilling adyentures-how the youngsters
will gloat over itl-and it is story which
will do them no harm, provided they use
such material as the occasional substitute
for better worthwhile mental diet