New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-04-16
SOME RECENT VERSE.
BOOKS By ENGLISH AND AMERICAN
WRITERS

II not OF wider audience, is Il compound OF the
most diverse elements Tho author OF Words
worths Grave" is not a single-mndcd poet oil
nature like tho subject OF that ambitious ceGy
nor is lac in 49, Tho Elopns Angels" Macmillan q
CO.. the pure Byronc wit which he cndeavors 10
be- in emulation Of one Of the kccnest poetc IN
tcllccts Of the century. The latter work ana IN"
volume Of Poems" Macmillan n CO... IN which
all his previous verses collected. provide the
documents whereby the direction and character oil
William Wat.ons individuality may be ascer-
tained IIc is poet Of culture. ana Ike the poet
Of culture rather than Of inspiration he is self
conscious and moved nv unrelated impulses. lie
would share not only il the return 70 natirp which
the Lake school inaucuratcd, hut in the taste for
cpiram which survives to day. less as natural
inheritance from the eighteenth century than az
one form of literary enthusiasm for an age OF more
nurely literary and artificial than cmo,ionally po-
cite achievement To these strains he would add
ono Of such criticism : Matthew Arnold ibv who's"
crave be has written some extremely we'll poised
tlociacsl has given the wold III the poem on feln"
and finally another sprincirc from source 10
which the poets Of time hav" gone with More
assiduity tln tt, mirror poets cf this present era
60 tine of precious diction
OF wilder birth this Muse of mine
Ilil-cradled, and baptized with brine,
he protests in ono Of set Of stanzas 10 Austin
Dobson an urban vcrsifcr: yet it. may hc slid OF
him, as he has absurdly said Of Arnold, that
Tho deep. authentic mountain-thrlll
Meier shook his page.
His verses Weld not an echo of natures voice,
but "A description Of il and DESCRIPTIVE" poetry Is
seldom the most musical With Mr.. Watson 1t l.
not melodously rhythmic-and chiefly. it may he
observed because he has littr emotion oil the sort
10 communicate warmth and energy to his lines,
little in short, of spontaneous lyric impetus Hnch
an impetus will make song ont Of snort verse
and chant ont of an unrhymed epic. Lacking
il. Mr. Watson has neither in his shorter pieces,
like "Sccntcss Flow'rs Bring Thee" and The
Iuta PLAYER IN the single ballad he has written,
Tho Ballad Of tic Britain's Pride. nor in the
dramatic sketch in blank verse, "Angelo,' legend
of old Italian love and hate the rich elasticity
and cadence which would he most welcome in OK
PLANTATION of mis- vogue. That which does explain
the willing attitude Of so many Of his suddenly
ACQUIRED listeners is the grace of his verse. III mas
color, picturcSqucness, and, though ltS movement
is not new and finely rhythmic, 1t is smooth IL Is
not distinguished by the indcscrhablc charm oil
tho rarest poetry. but it has truth ana it has
kind Of rhetorical beauty. In one class OF verse
Mr. Watson's command OF icurative expression Is
such az to warrant the candidature Tor the laur-
catcship which he has assumed. His most Dill
liant faculty. one less creative than critical, Is Tor
throwing into poetic phrases tie thoughts gcrmi-
mated in contact with another mind, and accord
jngly his best poems his elegies and addresses
He has understood Wordsworth, Lander. len
nvson. Shelley. Lamb and ColerdGe, ana he
has written Of them well on the whole oriS-
wcrths Grave" is vastly ovcrratcd poem, nut II
is nevertheless an admirable literary criticism In
rhvmc. There is really exquisite characterize
ton of Shelley in the poem written for the latter
centenary:
And in his gusts Of song he brings
Wild odors shaken from strange WINGS
And unfamiliar whlsperlngS
From far lips blown.
While all the rap'urous heart OF Things
Throbs through his own
7. ;s a nifty that Mr. Watson is i'll content 70
br,n his Muse stanzas like these. which are based
on something about which he knows. hut mast
wander through pages Of tedious description ana
forced imagery in such a poem as Inc Iiihcc :
Quest" (which means to lie imaginative but is not
+o any eytcntl. or must permit himself such
clumsy fight into the region Of fancy as The
Elopinr Angels" celebrates. This is described in
subtitle as a "caprce" 1t is very capricious II
not worse than that. Mephistopheles and Faust,
in order to satisfy the curiosity OF the latter,
manage 10 obtain an entrance into Heaven through
the conniyancr Of two lovers there-two lovers
who do not love the life by other angels ied
but desire to return to earth where there IL 'he
marriage denied them in Paradise ana whence theS
had both been torn early in life. Costumes arc
exchanged. and. abandoning Satan and his victim
in Heaven the author follows MS lovers TO the
earth, where he eventually leaves them 10 i've
e,ernally in bssful preference of life Indifferent
70 the selfish Joys (which only idle angels snare
The evl-docrs, stealing a brief experience OF
H. nx,fir f0lin n
rlace is dull To NEEDLE with the celestial mys-
tcries is dangerous, and especially in the spirit
indicated in the opening lines of this poem
Faust. on day. and Mephistophcles.
In the dead season. were supremacy bored
Byron was surc-footed enough TO attempt this
vein and to succeed. But it is only necessary 70
compare THE Eloping Angels with "A Vision OF
Judgment, 10 realize exactly the distance between
the former and good poetry 1t is an effort to mix
seriousness with lcvity, and without mgh lnaei-
nation and sharp wit such a mixture IL hard 70
make palatable.
The critical flaw in Mr. watsons poetry is the
under current Of pose which flows through most
Of il. not obviously but no less Enthusiastically to
a sensitive ear IL is the tribute he pays to the
reriod. Ninc-tenths Of the younger English poets
nav il with him Even Mr. Henley, the apostle
OF virility cannot escape the debt. In " The Song
81 the Sword and Other Verses Charlcs Scrib-
ner's Sons, there arc traces OF the same wrong
medicines which makes his wcll-known weekly
"The National Observer" the most affected enemy
81 afcctation which could he desired by the prlG
which il scorns. There is "A cnltus OF Virility IN
England. It is the fashion among the lliuminatl
10 utter protests against prudcry in language 60
ing as far as possible to the other extreme without
becoming downright indecent. and then to SIT
back with an air as though satisfied with having
vindicated mans threatened prerOgatlve OF being
70 manly-and as coarse-as he likes. No one out
side the circle of muscular literature il deceived
nv this twaddle. Mr.. Henley does not think II
necessary TO pause on the safe side Of frankncss'
and more than one Of his poems, the third Of his
London Voluntarics," and the satire beginning
AS like the woman you can" are stained by
cosrseness Almost as reprchensibe is the bur