The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-06-23

moving of time. The owner of the ready
wit Is ever q welcome guest on all social
occasions, but his inspiration is too often
of and for the moment, and is dissipated
as quickly as the shower OF sparks at an
evenings fireworks. In the man of real
power the disposition to find instant ex-
preston as the passing event may call it
forth is to be regretted. he gives to the
few what belongs to the many, and his
triumphs are as feeting as the actors,
and, to large extent, exist in memory
only. This thought has come to us the
more wildly as we have been reading DIR.
Holiness latest sheaf OF verse. "Before
the Curiew" (Houghton. Mifflin & Coz,
with it's subtitle of other poems, chiefly
occasional, and have glanced through
the volume Of his collected poems and
noted how many of his verses are Of the
post-prandial order. Had DR.. Holmes
been less complaisant, had he complied
more rarely with requests for after-din-
ner.or class or reunion poems, while the
amount of his verse would have been Sc
riously diminished, the general level
would have been much higher. Certain
Of his poems glow with inspiration of the
Hottest kind, and it is when we read
these we feel passing impotence that
he has allowed himself to write SO
comparatively rarely in this strain. In
the present volume the tender, pathetic
opening and closing stanZas Of Before
the Curfew," are in his best vein. Take
these lines for example:
Well, let the present do its best,
We trust our Maker for the rest,
AS on our way we plod,
Our souls, full dressed in fleshly suits,
Love, air and sunshine, flowers and fruits,
The daisies better than their roots
Beneath the grassy sod.
Not bedtime yeti The full-blown flower
Of all the year-this evening hour
With friendships flame is bright;
Life still is sweet the heavens are fair,
Though fields are brown and woods are bare.
And many joy is left to share
Before we say goodnight"
The title poem is the one written for
the reunion of the class of Harvard, 1929,
in 1882. There are sig more poems for
similar meetings of the class, the best OF
which where all are good; being the one
for this year Of grace entitled, "The An
gel-Thief," which we should like to quote
entire, but must be content with simply
giving the last stanza:
$50 as from year to year we count our treas
ure,
Our loss seems less, and larger look our
gains,
Times wrongs repaid in more than even
measure,
We lose our jewel but we break our chains.
Comparing this group Of seven poems
with previous ones addressed to the au-
thor's class, one finds the deeper tones
predominating in these later verses, and
this fact must give these stronger hold
on the affections of his readers, while it
most certainly adds to their literary
quality. To our thinking, Before the
Curfew" had been better il the tone OF
the first and last stanzas could have been
kept all through. True, we can listen
delighted while
Holiness rockets curve their long elipse.
but when it is Holmes of 1.-THE Voiceless,'
"The Chambered Nautilus and "The 81
lent Melody" who speaks to us, we listen
with soul not ear, and as when
1.-THE tidal wave of deeper souls
Into our inmost being rolls,
And lifts us unawares
Out of all meaner cares"
We have not left ourselves room to
speak of the remainder of this little vol
ume with its pretty exterior, but the
PREDATORY stsnzas, which are among the
| poets very best, must be noted here.
'AT MY FIREsIDE.
| "Alone, beneath the darkened sky,
With saddened heart and unstrung Tyre,
| I heap the spoils of years gone by,
And leave them with a long drawn sigh
| Like driftwood brands that glimmering lie,
Before the ashes hide the fire.
LET not these slow declining days
The rosy light of dawn outlasJ
Still round my lonely hearth it plays
And gilds the east with borrowed rays,
While memorys mirrOred sunset blaze
Flames on the windows of the past.
The deepened tone, of which we before
spoke, is felt throughout the book, and
lifts it, in spite OF the implication in the