New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-12-23
MOVIES ON BOOKS.
pBBBB NEW vaAsniFs or tRkss=fHs
sf'"nn sfsIaS PAaH FIRST Fetie


Tho appearauae of three volumes vi pee'li ny
.hro s' diiereut livery alfereat writer's OF eeNNs
,r,,n,. throe weeks is fact wevih tho not'ee 81
those croakers who complain OF the decay 81 poe'e
literature In tins prosaio age MIR. bFo"hhsS
"Ferisbta,s Fancios" and "A Midsummer nun
day. by Mr.. swinburne were publisheooh INC e""o
day and may stand for brilliant examples OF '"o
contrary and totally irreconoilaoe oonoep,'o"so'
noetry and poetic method. As wilfnl ana vigorous
as ever Is the apt and comprehensive commeht oono
critic of Mr.. Brownng's latest poem; WHO" ,o',
enthusiastic admirer describes ~ 'o'S"'e
treatise in parabcs Of moral philosophy Lofd
Tennyson's "Becket" came out yesterdays was
copiously reviewed in the penny press on the same
morning. and still more copiousy at thrcepence II
Won cared TO wait till to-day. The reviews are
culogistic enough but the general opinion Is VOL
exprcssed by the writer who remarks that 'ho
noe, Of "In Memoram," of MAUD ana OF the
"Idyllsr has no rival to fear in the author Vi
"Iiarold" and of Beckett"
The title of Mr.. Swinburnes voium'
gives no hint of that portion OF i's
contents which not few American reauc,S
will think the most interesting and timely OF ALL
The other poems" include the pohticai lyrics
some of which were first published in tho daily
prcss and drew down on the author head storm
of INDIGNATION from writer's in Others of the dairy
prcss Inv whom n contract for keeping all things as
they were has been undertaken. and is ehecu'eu
with. if nothing else. ZEAL Here Is the famous
"yos Dees Laudamus," called out by that wohuei-
ful article in The Saturday Rcrier on lenhyson
elevation TO the Peerage. with the wohdeIiui
passage embodying the opinion that no man Nv
ing or who ever lived not Cesar or fercies' h''
shakespeare or Michael Angelo, could confer honor
more than he took on entering the House oi
Lords ~ n sentence we'll worth embalmng Tor pos
tertv "Clear the way" also, first saw the h9ht
an an eveninc iournal but not. think the more
admirable Twilight OF the Lords ana certainly
NOT word for the Country or word lrom
the Psalmist., There is nothing in the literature
of tho Common wealth which surpasses these I'D
feryor of protest against privilege OF brn anu 'ne
rule Of the peers over the peopie
nothing of course, which approaches l'ncih
in brilancy of versiication ana hanuiinS'
All that has been appealed to in behalf OF the
Io,ds-nrescription. lineage services, the charm of
ancient association and a poetic past-hecome Iii
Mir Swlnburne's hands so many weapons OF con-
temnt and wrath Long since 1T has been known
TO everybody who cared to know that Swmpurhe
was q republican His republicanisn here IS turned
10 democracy, with definite mission to assail the
aristocrat, and the four or five noble poems I'D
which he fulfls this latest mission are among 'he
few exceptions TO the prevailing mediocflty OF
purely political verse.
In defeating Beckett to his successor of to-day,
lord Chancellor Seborne, Lord lennyson assures
him that the drama was "not intended IN its pres
ent form TO meet the exgencies of our modern the
atre" II must be inferred from this statement that
the drama when submitted to NJ. Irving win
vipw TO tep,esentatiOn on that leading modern the
a,te known as the lyceun, was not IN its present
form but IN su,ne other form For one thing IT was
Shorter let ne hope. Nou have sir Irving among
Asu, ask hint .u 49,,
1hofief ~ loneef n is dnlchlt IS believe tsat
<psstst Wheihei ~ iis present bf any similar
sa,iN eBra w. ee6d ae,int rlat. " Is hhe poenh
tWi NeiikeY ~ Ne iNl N80hnst stltnodh iot W We
eeiieg eteWiNe slow Mas ,hp rttiNs ~ lehhtsNn
eyer d,s@sijg. e,ile Vt distinction WniAs w q
iNndpn iapeg 10 pleased ~ sat lAat Nbarhet' is
0gsma vi great pNWer as welt 10 q paem el sweat
aud varied hGautY. tie ingenlNWsR HsseNe'4 i.F
this opini0n by a Comparison between Nthe' F''F
ODDS aud the present, remaThing 'ha' 'hN'p ""''
been times ia the history at the LhBlsh ""N'"
when no play Of Shakespeare would nave ho'o 'no
stage for a week. Ii is doubtful, continues ne
whether Hermann III an English dress would al
tract an English audience, and 1t is certain 'ha'
Racine appeals Tor the most part to a taste that S
moi English Yes but In neither case Is II the dIa-
matte element which Is wanting, nor the want OF IL
which would hinder Hermann or " Ihodre' rom
holding an English audience II acted III hnsh'n'
1t is the poetic form and not The dramatic
OF undramatic quality which is alien to the
English. and which leads The English Phillstine to
declare an grily that the French do not know waa'
noctrv is Extremes meet and the French Phllis-
tine can beat the English on his own ground
though when he does commonly call him
Chauvinist, or more properly, Chauvin.
"Where is there poetry like that OF
Racine ~ cried Thiers TO Senior, and when
Senior asked him if he put Racine above Shakes
peare Theirs replied: 81 cannot compare nm
with Shakespeare whom read only In tranSia-
tions; but put him above Homer; put nm
above Virgil, whom he most resembles; put hln'
An short. above all know" If Senior had but
asked Theirs why he set Racine on this PEDESTAL
no doubt he would have answered because OF the
perfection of poetic form in Racine He is the most
fautless of writers, the most accurate in his un-
VARYING conformity to the canons of French verse,
which are as intricate as they seem arbitrary.
Frencbman derives q kind of intellectual pleasure
from the purity of style and strict obedience to the
laws Of prosody, of which an Engiishman knows
little and on which he sets but slight value Ra-
cines AleXandrines bore him for the very reason
that they delight Theirs. and Theirs 1t may be SAID
In passing was no mean critic Like nearly every
Frenchman in public life of whom have known,
he cared for literature and for art and understood
them Tennyson. in his way. is perhaps as great
an artist in words and in metres as Racine, but Ra-
cine was n dramatist and Iennyson is not and no
number of columns of confused laudation III daily
paper will ever bridge the gulf between the two
qualities of mind or the two forms of poetry.
This week on Friday begins the sale of the Sys-
ton Park Library. Like the Sunderland aud
Hamilton Beckford collection. this has been
much commented on by the press in adj
vance of the SALE in tone well CAL
cula.ed to kindle the enthusiasm of the book buy
ing public. II certainly contains Il large number
of rare aud remarkable volumes about which