New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-24
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MR. WINTERS VERSE.

WANDERERS Being COilectton of the Poems Tc o.
w vU1 cu ~!n sainsurs %? b az Douglas
This charming little edition Of Mr.. winters
noems will be welcomed by many admirers Oh
verse conspicuous for melody and spontaneity. 1he
hool which has been daintily printed by Consta-
III. az the famous Edinburgh Press, contains
.,.htv>three POEMS of which fifteen are now col
lectrd for the first time 1t is consequently, while
not n new work, the fullest collection OF the
authors verse yet made an it must superseoe
rrcyious editions. Mr.. Winter has dedicated the
volume to the memory OF his son. Arthur. ana ne
has amended 70 IL a preface, the modesty Of
which falls below the merit OF the poems so IN
,rodnced. For though Mr. Winter has not devoted
himself to the muse. while the proportion OF hs
verse N his prose is indeed small he is one Of the
few living writer's of poetry whose measures need
no credentials. since they carry in plain view the
hallmark which denotes sterling metal To put
in definite terms the charm which distinguishes
sncb verse from that of the machine poets is not
altogether easy though the difference itself is IN
M vav mjstakable Mr. Winters poetry is of the
kind that sings itself and it has. moreover. the
refinement and polish which only The trained
literary artist can give.
He has attempted few long poems, but the
longest" Love and Death has a sustained
Thought which justifes the belief that his am
bilious should it take that direction, is in no danger
of overaowing his executive capacity. The tenn
perament manifested in his poems is very interest
ing partly perhaps, because it is hardly the modern
temperament What attract us in Mr.. Winter is a
rare sensibility of nature and to human emonons,
Joined with a freshness and buoyancy OF thought
and expression which take us back TO time when
the world was young. Mr.. Stedman has keenly
observed that Mr.. Winters best lyrics have
caught the spirit Of the early English muse Yet
A. is more than this. We should say rather that
his spirit is closely akin to that of the early Eng
lisb muse: to be more exact, of the Elzabethan
muse Inevitably the delicate sensitveness which
breathes through all Mr.. Winters poetry responds
as quickly to the pathos to the Joys OF existence
and his verse shows rapid transition from gay to
grave; while the hghtness and bhtheness which
human fellowship, affection and beauty in all
forms stimulate easily, yield not less readily to
impressions Of dependency when death intrudes
upon the scene or parting engenders sadness
Whether he indites poems or threnodies, how
ever, the dominant note of Mr.. Winters verse is
naturalness Even occasional poems which are
SO often but too obviously of factory make, take
on, In his hands, a characteristic suppleness and
spontaneity. He shares this faculty with DR..
Holmes, in fact His love poems always
toned, high-minded courtesy which is not so much
formal as self-respectng, and which is especially
fascinating in a period when the cultivation OF
manners is so neglected, and brusque and semi
barbarous directness is thought to consist with
goo(,,, reeding Withal, there is a simplicity in
his love poems which enhances their charm
greatly. Everywhere his metaphors are taken
from the face of nature. Everywhere the OBJ
servation and the love of her is apparent The
fresh sweet air of out of doors blows through
his verse The flowers bloom, the grass bends in
the breeze, the garden scents are waited about
and the fair girl sits enshrined amid all this
natural beauty, herself the fitting crown and eli
max of il.
This is Mr.. Winters proper field. When, as
sometimes he turns his hand to melo-dramatic
verse and tries to picture some cynic dying IN
his bitterness he is less successful one feels that
he Is no longer writing out Of his heart, but is
filling gaps in his experience with somewhat vague
,imaginings For he is eminently sane, and the
sharpest griefs cannot betray him into eXtrava-
gances Such griefs he touches with deep feel
ing and solemnity, but with hope, not despair
TO q nature so optimistic, keenly appreciative
of beauty and melody of form and expression,
the future could not be blank gloomy Mr..
Winter has tried many poetic forms, and sue
ceeded in them all He has given us a volume
of verse so good that we cannot but be thankful
for it