The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-08-19
LIGHT OF THE WORLD
Sir Edwin ArnOld's Great Poem
Oh Christianity.
PONTIUS PILATES CHARACTER.
ms ocorn CT the Jews-There Are Some
Strong Dramatic Situations, and Lyri-
cal Beauties Abound.

New YORK, Aug. 1S.-Douglafs SIaden
gives to the Sun description of recent
event which interested the literary world.
of Toxic AT charitable entertainments.
Edwin Arnold gave a reading from his
great unpublished poem, THE Light of the
Wotll-" Hundreds of representative peo-
pie OF Toxic and Yokohama were presents
and the gathering appeared more like a le-
CATION garden party. AS 1.-The Light of
ASIA puts before Christian audiences
Buddhism transmitted with alchemical art
into a poem harmonious, unified and ex-
quisite, so 1.-The Light of the Worldn puts
Christianity before Christians Joined to
the new light of accumulated wisdom of the
east, 1.-THE Light of the World'' expresses
Buddhist homage to Christianity with a
taste which no man living is so competent
to express as Sir Edwin. bred Christian
and saturated with Buddhist lore and ideas.
If 1.-THE Light of Asia'' is Buddhism by
the light O. Christianity, Tho Light of the
World is Christianity by the light of
Buddhism.
To sketch the plot of the poem would not
be fair to him, but one must pay homage to
his characterization of Pontius Plate his
rehabilitation of the stern Roman soldier,
and stole, who made the one faux pas of
crlDglng to the unruly Jewish populace
who were Caesars most GntaIneable sub
lects, and to the romance with which he had
invested Mary Magdelen, aud also as to the
sublime figure he makes of the divine man
VINO shlIieS every year more widely IA
1.-The light of the world" Pilates wife.
Procula, who belonged to the great Claud-
ian gems, was an ambitious subject to ap-
proach, after magnificent idealization of
Gustave Dore with its haunting beauty
and majestic presence. But Sir Edwin has
added the breath of life to this exquisite
idealization by the noble character which ne
has created in his poem. Some glimpses Of
his Characterization may be cleaned from
the following lines, caught here and there.
Pilates scorn of the Jews is shown in this
paragraph:
The horde of circumcised baylng about my
That they might drink clean swill.
took water aud washed my hands before the
horde
His struggle with himself is shown in
this:
Thinking to clear him when his trembling lips,
II might have saved II would nave saved
Il played worse traitor to my stole soul.''
Here are a couple of glimpses of Claudia
Procula Pilates wife,
Claudia sighed;
"There was no fault.
fThat which hindered was thy lust to win
Favor OF men instead OF praise from heavenl''
Many fine lines accentuate. Pilates view
of Christ:
Must find at Rome
1.-The face that fills my nightly dreams with
fears,
Watching with those great eyes?
His eyes
Burned themselves on my heart,
THE fire of those mild eyes that hadIno fear nor
any bitterness;
"Oh, the light that beamed from those mild
eyes.
with such men one should age wearing
the purple
1.-The speech OF Him fair music and His feet a.
benedictiOn.'
He himself passed mild and maiestical through
deaths black gate"
Mary Magdalen inspires one of the finest
passages in the poem written at the foot Of
t'ujiiyama, the parallel between the suppress
sed fires under the snowy top and the crys-
tai streams flowing down the lava seooped
channels being magniticently brought out.
! Rather like some majestic mount she seemed,
In Cathay or Japan
THE h1ll-head wears crown of silver snow
where fires once glOwed,
''Those old fires now under snow"
Her old days are recalled
"Time was when with my girdle-dagger or q
curse,
Thy handmade had answered thee
''And set her henna- scented feet
| son necks of Greek or Latin lovers.'
Another noble passage is inspired by one
of the most famous incidents in Greek
literature condemning the
AtheDian judges to live and taking the gift
| of hemlock.
| The poem is full of dramatic situations
and interspersed with lyrics of the beauty
of Swinburne's earlier method as he sang
in Songs of Sunrise" There are few
other lines which are also beautiful, such
as:
''Write me song,
| ''UnStained by any tear
"The watching hills of Galilee"
| ''In the morning watch"
when dreams come truer through the gates of
morn"
Deep hollows where the winter hides away
Shows through the summer
IF Hades be the black tribunal
| ''The nine white towns
| Her that loved much and had her love with
thee
Jordan, ere he hastens on TO die,
AS rivers die and men die, helplessly."
ITO rest as the wild waters rest
kome."
"T o this end was born and became king of all
kings,
ITO witness to the truth
For twelve long years Sir Edwin carried
the scheme of his poem in his mind: it is
the outcome of his wanderings in Pales-
tine many years ago as the accuracy of the
! local colorng shows. The solemn eastern
night purple and diamonded with stars, the
fierce eastern moon, the mellowness of the
delicious sunsets are unconsciously re-
fiected. Sir Edwin has soaked In the
whole atmosphere CT Palestine and mis-
poem breathes it. No one who heard the
poem had any doubt as to its quality or its
success. One of the audience, Mr. Harry
Deakin, the famous euro dealer of Yoko-
hama, who is so we'll remembered by San
Francisiscans, was so enthusiastic that he
bought the American rights of the poem.
| it is said, for the large sum of S25, 600. One
of the two greatest living American poets
is goirg to write in lines here and there SO
so as to secure the copywright which will
appear in his name and Sir Edwins con-
| jointly.
The Broadway Theatre, Denver, Opened.
DENVER, Aug. 1S.-The new Broadway
theatre inaugurated its fall and winter sea-
son tonight by presenting to the elete Of
Denver the opera OF Carmen Emma
Juch in the title role. The house was flied
| to overlooking and presented handsome