The Portland daily press., 1891-12-12
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

M ,derD Love. BY Grurge Meredith with
Foreword by E. Cavszza Printed for
Thomas Mosher and published by him
at ~ Exchange street. Portland, Maine.
1t Is with great pleasure that we W.T. leone
the reappearance in such attractive form,
OF these strong and subtle sonDets by
George Meredith. An added interest per-
tans to the volume since it is published by
one OF our own tiWnfolks and ell, quently
commended by another. Indeed it will de-
serve to be rescued from the mass of Chri t.
mastide publications which are apt to
overwhelm us and to obscure each others
merits. 1t Is not only gem of poetic
expression itself, but 1t has been reset for
us by one of our own poets in a preface of
purt st gold. which sparkles brightly as it
gathers sunbeams together and casts their
light upon the myriad facets of the origi-
nal diamond. Mrs Cavazza, in what she
quantity calls her "Foreword," shows us
how delightfully."- the poetic power in the
mind of reader can ilradiate and enhance
the beauty and Significance of an authors
thought, even when 1t has been already
wOrthily enshrined In verse.
In looking back over the thirty years
which have elapsed since these sonnets
were written, we trace the development
In literature of that analytic instinct which
has urged science into even subtler re-
search, theology into more and more
es0teric regions, and mechanism into more
aad more myst- r,ous'y delicate &C iv tbs.
The simple story of love and marriage,
once ail-suficient, has been supplanted by
elaborate portrayal of complex and para
doxical emotion. Nearly all the famous
authors of the day have caught the infec-
ton, and some of them give Us specimens
OF humanity so morbid, 50 abnormal, that
It would seem as ii the ward If hospital
had furnished thu dramotis persong in ro-
mances atwhich our al ce-tor> would blush.
u la inspects the slum- through mis- power
full lens: Maupassaut and buurg-t probe
the quivering moral tissues. Ibsen fnds
blood-poison in every human organism;
Tolstoi drives his plowshare through every
flower of the field; while our English writ
ers, more scruuulons in decorous phrase,
whisper the secret of moral vivIsection. as
In the poem story before us. Indeed
"Modern Love- might fairly we'll have
served as Anglo-Saxon prelude to rougher
Russian ''Sonata." IT sketches in delicate
and pite0us refinement of language, and
with many tender and delaying words, the
pessimistic problem of dead love. We see
the tragedy by moonlight. as it were, FIR
the MONDAY sunshine would reveal its
coarser lines too distinctly and bring them
into painful unison with the upflinchipg
eutspokenness Of the terrible Russian.
Meredith may claim the rank of adept in
this psychologist surgery, and knows we'll
how to use the instrument he calls
"that fatal knife
Deep questi ming which leads " endless DOLE,
These sonn.t- present in concentration
the genins and the individuality of George
Meredith, and his peculiar insight into
certain moral conditions. We arel held In
thrall by his analysis, charmed by the vivid
scenes he depicts and touched by the deep
ly human pain of his pathos. He here puts
music into the form of his thought, and
attains, at times, a high melodious
strain. We find also the strong touch
Of the novelist and the ale tness
of the dramstist in selling situation. 1t
excellence. The perusal of his novels is
an Intellectual exercise quite different from
the ordinary skipping among the romances
of the day. A first experience with his
psychological and verbal gymnastics is,
usually, almost painful. He wrenches
our enervated mental muscles and irritates
our indolent perceptions; but we cannot
lay him aside; we cannot rid ourselves of
the thought he sets before us. To use the
etcher's phrase. he "bites" into our imag-
ination as the acid does into the plate, and
his style, at first puzzling and exaspeI ating,
ends by exhilaratiDg, fascinating. delight
ing. The puneent favor of his dialogue,
the sting of his sarcasm. the profundity of
his pathos and the strong sweep of his hu-
man sympathies are as tonics TO the read
er's soul.
One likes to trace resemblance between
an auth RS physical presentment aud his
written utterances and fluid the secret of
his philosophy in his experience. There
Is unusual harmony between the face Of
Meredith-strong but delicate, keen but
sad-and his works.
And here am reminded of friends
letters containing an account Of recent
visit at Meredith's home in Surrey. can
not do better than close with brief quota
ton: "a very bright. mobile. expressive
face, full of transient expressions PRES
ded over by the bright. glittering dark
eyes. White hair IN his cheeks and neck,
and peaked beard His talk was excel
lent. full of play. full of illusions. con-