New-York tribune., 1885-07-17


him to 40 bold o disclosure OF the seit'
copceit which he shares with many
less candid or moro prudent @"'.o'''
As might have been expected from such preiao0,
the pIays are very bad Many inteingen' anu
imaginative children of ten or twelve have Wr'Von
much better in fact but fortunately chiidren usu
o,,v have narents or guardians who save them from
the fol,v of publication. Mr. Welcker has appar-
emily had no friend to protect him. and so he mas
mt his duh and silly rubbish into print ana mas
written himself down an ass in the ridiculous
duction and all this without let or hlndrahce' no
curiosity his book may perhaps be thougnI "o.'n
having by somc collector, but 1t certainty HA'
nothing to do with literature. ,,.
"Verses of a Colegian" are in no way credl'apio
70 him. Cruder rhymes seldom find their way into
print. colegian, too, should know soru'ns y.
scansion. but this one clearly does not his verses
holt and bohble deplorably He has no ideas. MS
range of reading has been very narrow, ana even
uvenile innocence and self-satsfaction can scarce
excuse the attempt to give permanent form 10 such
immature and worthless essays Young men WHO
have no more of the divine afiatus than TINS one
possesses would do well to confne the nnlction oi
their verses TO the home crce-provded the ia',er
can be induced to endure the punishment
Mr.. Denton j. Snidcr some time ago wrote 1a1riy
interesting sketch of tour in Greece. and now no
has attempted poem in Spenserian stanzas ana
many cantos under the title "Aaamemnon
Daughter" The classic legend has already oceh
treated by many poets, but Mr.Snider is not poet
and therefore perhaps he thought the heid an oPe"
one With the sincerest desire to catch the Grecian
snrit he has failed quite sigaly. His stanzas are
not even pure English and his ear for rhythm Is
often strangely defective. What can be made Oh
such lines as the following for instance:
Rack of the court she had garden seat" :,
CHS Troians well the beaded cup could ease.
"He was al. what they were yet he was more
"The nations shall renounce 1or one ano'no''
Iti pity too that Mr.. Snder did pot make up MS
mind how he would pronounce lphgenias nanie' ior
sometimes he puts the accent on the penutlmate ana
sometimes on the ante e-penultmate-withs strange ei
fects ProbabIyhe pleased hlmselfin the composition
of his socalled poem but it is very doubtful If any
dis,nterested reader will wade through the long,
confus sed sloyeny and tiresome Affair." and such as
40 will unauestionably regret the time wasted on
the proftless enterprise.
In Fragments from an Old Inn we have the
outpourings of one of those exalted natures WHICH
find relief and consolation In the lavish use OF
capita,s: which are forever burning and moaning
and making desperate though futile efforts TO solve
the Mystery of Being; which are SD seldom appre-
| ciated by the Common Herd; and when a1ect
mixture of Mrs. Hemans and Swinburne rs ,he
most appropriate vehicle of poetic expression.
These hich-fown spirits haunt thesca-shorc winch
as a rule they find dank" and =" drear." All their
hills are "purpe" All their dawns blush"
Light is apt to be ivan " with them, and II they
see n vessel afloat ten to one it is a weird frail
bark.v Wet cheeks, pale lips burning eyes, and
bitter something else, attend them even III theh
melancholy musings, and out OF such sombre medi-
tat;ons proceed verses such as would have caused
Bunthorne to gnash his teeth with envy. In truth
this muse is somewhat morbid, and a little of her
inspiration suflices. The author OF the frag-
mepts has ntersperscd her verses with prose SEN
tences the profundty of which is In inverse ra'fo
to their ndubitable prosiness.
WHY the next volume should be entitled " Sun
shine and Storm" is not clear, though 1t is quite
rs clear as why it should have been published.
The author tells us in the preface that the prlnci-
nal pieces were written after having labored ut
farm life for more than half century, and amid
its con tinued activities, cares and interruptions
Now this constitutes a sufficient explanation oil
the poverty of the work. but IT does not justify the
publication. The labor and anxiety OF farmers
life are clearly not conducive to the evolution OF
poetic feeling much less poetic expression ana
though there may be something out OF the common
in the composition of verses by a hard-w orking
farmer il is scarcely worth while 10 challenge
criticism by putting such to press. As usual
hawks at the highest and hardest subjects
and finds it no more diifcnlt to strike
of poem in three parts on Matter and
Mind than to versfy "Will and Law
in three pages or to describe the Falls OF
Niagara ID a score Of quatraips. As TO the treat
ment of these lofty topics nothing need be said,
but the rhymes arc really better than might have
been expected and for the most part flow along
smoothly enough.
The memoir of Charles T. Brooks which prcfaces
this collection Of his poems was doubtless labor
of love. His friends were wont to say that he
united the salient characteristics of Lamb and Cow
per Certainly he was a clever aud ovable person,
though his poetry cannot be said TO rise above
mediocrity. Ii is however, good Of its kind. We
recognize the divine gift in him. and also genial
sweetness of disposition which adds a charm 20
much of his work. Charles Brooks of
ripe culture and good ingust. He was fond of
translating, and did some very difficult prose work
in that line, especially from the German of FIchtc.
His poetical renderings Of foreign authors, how
ever are less happy than his original verses, his
search for hteralness too often killing the poetic
form of the translation. The original poems are
bright graceful, and informed III many instances
by simple aud sincere religious feeling.
NJ Leonce RabillOn, French lecturer at Johns
Hopkins University, has published translation Of
the Chanson dc Roland from the seventh edition of
Leon Gautier prefacIng it By short history of the
poem. Tho translation is spirited, and the work
was worth doing. The fascination has not yet left
the Valley of ROnceval, and the Death Of Roland
will find eager readers for generations to come.
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