New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-04-16

tn. volume entitled Told in tie Gate
Roberts Brothers, in when VT Arlo Bates mas
given meirical form 20 sewn ''ie' OF t!c T"'''
illustrate. a kind Of verse which aims to be dra-
maine without adhering 10 dramatic conventions.
Tn. tales a,c rot NAYS. bat scenes They ce.e-
t,a,c ,,c,4cn.s little fragments Of passion sach az
,o.., >, ,h< chronicles OF India and Arabia.
T.,nre.,.ous love AID hate are oosed in the
en,s,do n ,yh,cn The Sorrow Of Rohab" is de-
vo.ad and ,houch the passage OF the strange
Oriental srectac, j. br.e., IL is thrilling IL Is
thrilli-. by virtue g: rs own elemental facts.
The yersidcatlon Of Mr.. Bates adds 10 great
,t,mu,.s 10 a readlag of the history. bit 1t is
rot siuacish narration. and there Is cever:e-s IN
tie preservation Of a sensroGs tone. suggestive OF
the Fast, through descriptions which. II they are
very Obviously the product OF a Western pen.
are not labored. Mr.. Ba'ess Verse on
nl.nb!y e.ouyh That it does is for tie reason
that he is net lured into poetlca side issues. but
tres TO reach the point with moderate speed, one
important secret Of success in narrative verse.
IL Is "A secret which has escaped Mr.. Bryan Charles
Waller, who attaches his name one given ceeb
ritz in poetry by more thln one ancestor, to
volume called g crscus with the ITcsperidcs'
U;eor.c Bell. His mythology could rot fail TO
he intcrcs;ng There il an endless fascination in
the adventurous fiji lht Of Perseus and his capture
Of the Gorgon head. In Mr. Walters telling Of
the story he j. proliX and commonplace The
verse passes muster until it is compared with the
occasion Similar defects inhcre in the Chroni-
Giles of Christopher Columbus &C. p Putnams
Sons. by Margaret Dixon Through twelve
cantos these Chronicles" pursue the history Of
the discovcrcr. There is no poetry in Them and
they dre wcaris3nc.
Some enthusiasm and much bad taste, a little
aptitude and great deal Of aGcctation. 70 to
make the volume Of English Poems" THE Cas-
sell Publishing Company. in which Mr.. Richard
lie Caffeine endcavors to please. not the crowd,
but the members Of a few London oliluos. There
is a circle Of yong English writer's who may be
relied upon to app ,aad such declaration that
Oar Eelrts made answering
Lightnn2s all that afternoon through purple msts
or riddcd speech.
There is another. the circle in which Mr.. Henley
il voncra'c1 which VIII ex,ol the strength,
the fin de- steele realism and keen psychological
analysis" OF such verses Tie ID .cadcnt 10 HIS
Soul" And there : another, Confined 10 ncthrr
London nor Ncw-York, fortunately, winch will
regret that Mr.. l." Galirnnc who has some clever
ness il verse making ard an intelligence capable
f approaching refined things. should write rub
upon tho writer who is clever hut no. genius.
Such a writer is Mr.. II. &. bInn"r. hut in his
Rowcn" Charles Scribncr- Sons, there are owl
dcnccs of dainty feeling, Of dainty touch.
which make his clcycrnc-> attr,ct'v". Mr.. VI.
Pcck's Rings and Lovc-KnDtsT r. A. Stokes
{ onpanl are the ncrrst trllcs Of cl"vcrnc>-. bat
they are pretty. and they hay" somewhere among
glrlish readers small place which Is not con
t,mpiIbc
The late George Pcllow was Il young man when
he died, and IN the Poems w. T. Clarke
Co.. for which Mr.. lIowcllS has written an intro
dUction, thcr" are printed lc~- than twoscorr %
verses Tn" keynote to this small legacy is serious
r"s- which ."crrn.c. the yala" Of IN" latter. Mr.
UcNrn> writes that Prllrw could not deal other
wi,, than import,utly with anv,ling he touched,
and this * g rroboratcl hv the verse. which has
the merit of h-h-mindcd Thought expressed with
case. rort ani trac" Of tr1c poetic feeling
II il /. only trace II il hccaus" Pcl"w belonged
20 tn nc" 81 writers 81 whom verse j. nor
unnatural or f-rccl, and yet not an essential,
inevitable mode Of spiritual expression. What
he d.I he finished cnrrf,ly. ccnscicnt.ously. II"
was NOT Wrist. hut neither he without a
sense ~ rhy,hm There j. nobility in his work
and II j. fro from immaturiiI"S OF either tech
ni1uc or sentiment. II deserved % b. put into
book, AMI. though it i not remarkable verse. it
derives to be- rcal. Seriousness, the peculiar
quality Il Mr. Pcew's work j.. culiouNly. tho
leading motive in a Book f Day Dreams
Henry Holt 4 Co, ny Mr.. E. L. Moore.
who mas thought ont very earnestly III" sue
cc-.ion ~ one hundred sonncts which I'll his
book. and il mprcgnatcs Mr.. j. |. {. Claril"s
MAlmorla" %. = Putnams Sons, "A m"tri'n!
iolnlncc Mr. Clarke has laid IN" seen" Of his
poem in the ireland OF tho ninth century. 1h"l'
were romantic happenings in those days, romantic
10 modern readers. bat the sounds OF fierce lIf"
rcvorbcrltc in Mnmorla," which shows less Of
the sunny than Of the gray side of romance.
The most important Of late TRANSACTIONS of CON
tincnta poetry is that which Mr. Frank S"wal
has made OF selections from the works of Giosuc
Carducci. II is printed in small volume Of
Poems" tDodd. Mead 4 CO.., which contains
also two essays by th" translator on the poet
who is regarded the laureate Of Italy. 1t Is
important however. for reasons touching Car Inc
els philosophy rather than his poetry TIL" former
is we'll within the reach Of IA cultivated student
Of literature like Mr.. Scwall. The latter must
clndc every one but translator who is II poet
himself. Only poet possesses an English cquiva-
lent which is also pocical, for Carducci's mcllif-
luous stan7as But in his essays and in his trans
lation Mr. Scwall cmbodics the things which. mar
siton in Italy. Put in a nutshell the celebrated
Italians characteristics those of PAGAN born
anew He is the leading reactonarv in Italian
literature against the line Of thought whic ere
atcd and sustainS TIE papacv. and which he Is fain
10 regard as AN cNcrcsccncc upon the really Hell
lcnistic pcnu, Of the peninsula. ii" turns from
the Christ to Whom he believes that ltaW mis-
takrnly turrs, he turns from the God Of Chris
tianity 10 the god Of nature, To great Pan. That
in doing 80 he il obeyng an impnls" which his
nation would obey also, if it could throw of the
weight Of centuries is an open question. Tho
decline Of the papa power il significant. and 80
are Inany phases of th" national liic the attitude
Of the people toward the Church: but there are
her kinds of rrcliaion besides the Hellenic kind
and the shallow feeling Of tn" masses may bH re-
frrrcd 10 other causes than the renewal Of "A long
dormant pagan sentiment. Ii may be- referred to
conditions in the educational and political develop
mcnt Of the country and certainly, as Mr. Scwal
.I..l.. . FOL, .l..,.