New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-12-21

is gwen in the fact tuat number of his songs nave
| been set to music in England, which is MS native
country. When one considers the character OF the
majority of modern drawing room lyrics, one can pu
| marvel at the hardhood of the man who. haVlhe
written many of these strange songs, seeks TO INK
his name with the authorship thus publicly. In the
poem called "The Wandering Jew Mr.. Cowah
seems to have COMPOUNDED that mythical person
with the Flying Dutchman, and to have enans'"
the habitat of the latter for no concevaole rcsoi'
from the Cape of Good Hope to the neighoorhoou
of the Norwegian Maelstrom. Such Liberties shouiu
not be lightly taken especially in an age which de-
lights to shater all legends and traditions. III
Justice to the author however, it must be said taV
ms songs are not all as bad the average ana haV
| il his thought il spread thin it is at ali events
spread with mathematical precision as loi
RHYMES of q Barriser' an anonymous aspHan'
| for the BAYS appears mOdestly enough. III hl'o
parchment covered brochure. with some Vi'nei'.''
sonnets, poems of various metres and lie" 'i""s''
tons from Horace. The work shows rehhemeh. an"
taste but very little poetic sense. The tralsia''on'
are rather crude and in one or TWO places ""'"
tellIgible. Translation of poet into poetry III "n
other language is so difficult that only anew hrStra'o
poets have succeeded in it, and even then 'hcS nav
often gained their success by informing 'hc
tiop with new life drawn from their own genius
plished such feat for, as his original verses SHOW
he lacks inspiration
Mrs. Corbett's Rustic Rhymes and Ballads " is
little volume. dainty printed, of stories IN verse
after the model of the Carleton Ballads. III Is the
dramatic element in such verse far more than the
poetlcal which constitutes their attraction. lhey
appeal TO the fundamental social emotions. Nheh
a touch of the comic IS introduced they are apt 10
| decline into vulgarity. Simple pathos may nov"
ever be expressed through this medium very
effectively. II is Of course in the nature OF re
currence TO the rude and homely lyric verse OF
nascpnt civilizations but rs IN all communities there
| still remains u considerable element when mas
not passed this stage. snch balladroetty is sure VI
an aprieeiati,e audience, aud II "a distinctly morn
useful than tho forms IN which the dull ti,olii OF
perverted culture 10 pfoluscly expressed ~ THESE
| days
| II 10 always bad san when al unknown an'h"'
| publshes his own portrait At the beginning oi
hook, This has been done hY slokely H. llhhni'
who, as his publisher stales in an Apologize preface
| Is "not yet nineteen years OF age III Tue pou'
own preface he maniiests his youthulness by
volohsaihg u definition OF poetry, ana by hurting
some whitening reproaolies upon mot only tho
army OF obscure and local poetasleIs' but many WHO
| have been widely recognized as poets because
| their avowed object was to simply hdch' MT
| Fisher yehemently disclams any didactic purpose.
| lie SAWS he has been accused of not having such
purpose. but he is proud of this main fault, ana
| he adds loftily, a. enthrone 1T in my heart as
| virtue" HIS poems, he frankly observes, are chill
| dren of passion, nothing more" And he hopes tha'
| they may he instrumental in making humanity
| better and KINDER We hope too, but we are not
without serious msgvngs having alas, long since
lost the sangune expectations OF impuisIve ana en-
erpetic nineteen Our young poet is 1t seems, also
preacher and therefore he is certain TO have early
| and plentiful experience of the stubbornness oil
mankind AS to his poetry, 1t is red0lent OF
| adolescence but not we regret to say OF genins.
lie can make rhymes fluenty enough, but his Muse
is callow and his thought is shallow and trlte Ills
| children of passion" ale small credit TO ther
| parent. for the passion they represent is hoin@o-
pathic in quantity as one might say TWO
hundredth dution. in fact II Mr. Sokcly ). Fisher
can put away the selfsut1icency which at present
evidently binders him from seeing his own short
comings. and if he will cultivate more modest way
of dealing with obscure and local poetasters it is
possble that in time he may rise above their in
glorious ranks himself But he has not done so yet
1t is stated in a preliminary sketch that the
authoress of Marianne is native oil hhode
Island. but by adoption Westerner" PEORIA
Illinois received her. " Here she engaged in
arduous and unremiiting study, laboring to deserve
the esteem of the gifted and cultured people with
whom she had east her lot" And with this laudaDie
motive she wrote the very remarkable poems con
tanned in the volume before us. Nothing but eX-
tracts will begin to convey an idea OF the quality oil
" Marianne" and here are a few:
ThGmoon full-orbcl rose over Palestine
When David to the housc-tOp moved his harp,
Bo0tes waned paer while the stars decline,
Arciurus gittoring on his garter sharp
And few the maIshal- of the starry wards
',t,,tr epn- lac {.
But when the bard makes melody with the
God Gets the praises of the inspiring sport.
His Harp SURVIVES the Royal jew
Tho swoopins winds across the spiccryy snare
The aromatic smells OF r'dOcnt wood,
Camphor. cinnamon. ca>sia are incense there
And thc tai aloe soaring into the Hood
of peirlaceous moonlight stimulates the air
Witch scarcely sough~, 50 heavy with ye-per
T,. cgjanius growing 10y the pool, dill spare
4 sricy breath. with sweet scOaCcOus dIenfs
az narl and Jicd's basanIc tree balm sweet
Were All which filed this festival retreat
Further on are encountered doves possessing n
Sc weird COO" people talk like blasting iron.
whatever that inny be: other people are wrestling
with constructing passions; the moon with her
,,ild ,roraut rav" fixes lu'csccnt medium softly
co,lo1 ~ ont MI Heaven" we meet woe stained
"a ,,i,, oore and are toll. ~ orr profound be-
rili.r,re,,t tha' Alariamnc's HELPLESS neck nrst
.,,.e tno trrr ferrous axc - as though anv r'ional
,-,na.e corll Or satvrl VS. t1 ercerfrir ar preti-
taf. tlatiamne Is u8' tho lir tlst r0. n tie
tast. tBartet Uhrn ort pO'es seti fairly rs
H,s su-.rv ,hr rf' i-e so 900 Ntst 49, r1'rr'e.
~ y-Nie tv, esyt tt. llrt i9s yf--i'rrr
1884 HtNta'2'
bi..e. .ta .Lai.. tae rR l. 90
az o.. 4Lr4l D 40 VA lh.,. & Iii,
Al b .. 4 u