New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-03-26
NEW PUBLICATIONS,
POETRY AND VERSE.

Tm6MrsoS. I2m,. PIP. 4os. Chicago; Jansen
poTWs nv WILLIAM wErMoRE STORY. 2 vols.
i6no pp vi, 27l; v. SIG. housaton' Nil'n
~ TIE KINGS GARDEN, and Other Poems. BY
JAMES BERRY BENsEt- l6mo PIP lo5' H. Lo'"'op
60. go.
HYMNS BY Iopx Henry SgwMIS,c I'D lS"O''
DID oS2. T. r. Dalton CO.
vFRsFs foundations from the German ana llymns.
By W. H. FUKNLss. l6mo. PIP w., So lough'on'
TIE Two VOICES Poem. Of the Mountains ard tho
Sea. selected by JonN W: CHADWICK 1omo ~
20o Troy: H. b. Minis Co
l67. Charles Scrbners Soma
A nuyDLE OF sONNETs and Other Poems by
HENRr HAErsnoHNE' lO"o' Pr --i' io''''
A BOOK OF VERSES. ACOUSTIC MRNDoN LORD
~ PRIVATELY printed. l@mO. Pl. %. Cambridge
SONGS OF SLEEPY HOLLOW. and Other Poems
sTnrbgN HENKH TnAfhK LIMO PIP K 49, We
p Putnain's Sons.
AMERICA. AMI Other Poems BY nsNRr H Snn.
rur SKELETON AND THE ROSE. aud Gems by the
Wayside. BY Ht>hr FLANK. l2mO. PIP l59'
1NyoRTNLTrY INHERENT IL NATURE. BY
wARRrS SUMNER BARLOW lGmo. PIP 3s Fowler
u Wells co.
There is enough vigor and individuality in the
work of Mr. Marley to redeem the obvious mistakes
of the little volume in which he makes what we
nresume to be his first appeal for critical judgment
lilo does not yet know his own mind. lie has
become euamored with one after another OF long
line Of English poets. from Shakespeares day 10
ours. aud he has followed tho most cur'ously
diverse models unable to fix his taste or to deter
mine the quality of his poetcal gilt. The Tragedy
OF Sylvan" which he presents rs his hrst claim 10
attention is the greatest of his errors. 1t Is the
result of a snrfoit of Elzabcthan dramas incudlhg
the more artificial and least valuable dialogues Ill
Shakespeare; and both IN motive ana IN literary
stvlo il belongs to a school which poetry long ago
nff Nnn hnkN 81
and-dagger The devilish malgnity OF jealous
woman brings Oh. in the crudest manner, whole
sale slaughter in the last scene Innocent and guilty
sharing alike in the disaster. Action is not devei-
ooed from character nor catastrophe from the rate
fnl oppoSitOn aud interactiOn of character ana
Circumstances; but the effects are produced merely
bv the strenuous exhibition of primitive passions
and the accumulation of physical horrors. inns
method belongs to .he embryonic period OF the
English drama. 1t is irrecOncllable with art; ana
poetry can no more return to 1t than social custom
can 20 back to the time of rush-strewn HoorS ana
Gar,nr torches But if Mr. Marley has chosen a bad
model his work nevertheless deserves serious
attention Whatever its faults, it is not the
vorl, of a weakIing The tragedy is pitched IN a
bigb kov and sustained there with tTmness and
force which give unmistakable proof OF poetic
strength The affected style, borrowing the con-
ccits the indirectiOus, the tiresome word-lehcihg
OF the sixteenth and seventeenth century phrase
makers is an ill-udped attempt TO copy anUQuateu
forms but il shows literary aptitude when
under better Influences may yield notable results
The short poems, songs and fragments winch III
the second half of the volume are mnch more
satisfactory than the tragedy. From Marlowe ana
Webster to Keats and Shelley is a long step bnt
Mr. Varley has fallen under the spell OF the later
pocs as fully rs of the carly paywrghts. Not that
we lind much fault with him for it. lie could not
learn from masters more likely to encourage what
is hest in him. aud to attunc his fresh strong voice
10 songs of spiritual beauty aud earnest leeHhg'
His perceptions of eternal nature are Keen MS
facnty of description is above the common, but he
rarely satisfies himself with the Landscape verSeiets
in which so many Of the minor American poets
take a complete aud ingenious pleasure; he loves
to search for the deeper significance Oh every
picture. lie needs industry and persistence There
are too many specimens of unfinished work III his
collections a new poet should not give us the irag-
Ineuts that he has thrown aside. There is some
unpardonable carecssness in his versdcation so
that the effect of ms poetry upon the Whole IS not
musical although there can be no doubt that the
melodies of rhyme and metre aud the nice choice oil
words are quite at his command when he taxes
pains There is an air of distinction about the
music of the opening stanzas oil Absence ) ana
vet Mr. Varey perpctratcs such lines as the second
Of these:
Lest conscience with a too excessive care
scrupuoLs Tor small thugs forget tile great
md still worse, the folio wing couplets, which
occur in the same piece:
A brightness on some errand hithcr sent;
Beneath Tie sun ca ual luhdbi AIT ,,
Not to our manners born AS one who with no
Compulson e'cr could breathe au atmosphere OF woe
Mr. Narley must remember that one cannot even
write good poetry without labor.
Mr. Slason Thompson the compiler OF verses from
"The Humber Poets" describes himself as " a
prose thinker" and informs Us That the volume no
now offers consists IN the main OF the contents oil
his scrap-boOk. Far from setting uD high stand
ard of poetical merit, be frankly declares THAI he
has thought it claim enough for admission to his
collection that piece contains 9nything wofth
rescuing from oblivion '-even the suggestion OF
good idea. Tbs extreme latitudinarilnism, how
ever does not prevent his hoping that II we DIS
cover in his pages the evidence of" discriminating
Judgment" We will attribute 1t to an early study
of MIR Francis Turner Palgraves Golden
Treasnrv'" Mr. Palgravc need aOi be uneasy we
have found nothing in Mr.. Thompson that reminds
ma of The Golden Treasury" in the slightest
denree The collector of the humber verses III fact
seems TO have started with the deliberate intention
of not making too good book. It's not WELL he
thinks 10 read the best poetry too often. lhere
come hours to every lover of poetry when he wishes
for some simple and heartfelt Law something that
shall speak from out mind feeling the everyday
cares of life amid the multitude and not from the
heights TO which the masters proudly stopped.
The idea that truth and sympathy are more at home
in the newspapers than the heights or that the
best poetry makes. as Mr.. Wegg remarked special
strain upon the intellect, could only have occurred
to very prose thinker indeed II 10 The Btdther-
,lite theory of art-that PLAIN people can't under
stand your high toned pictures poetry. music and
religion and that 1t is rather to their credit that
they can't Mr. Thompson has almost disarmed
criticism by the acknOw edgmcnt that he has
worked in wholly uncrltcal spirit. One could
safely guess from his preface what sort OF book he
had made. He has collected. between four and hve
IL l-.EtL ..., ..t,nn ,Llnnll a II