The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-12-04


'Tis net the greatest srger
wAo tries the loftest themes,
He h the true Joy bringer.
Whe tails his simplest dreams.
He is the srsstsst poet
who will reneunes all art,
And take his heart and shown
~ every other heart;
wAo writes ne learned riddle,
hat sinas his simplest rune,
rahes his heart strings for nddla
Ana plays his easiest tuae.
Thsrs a . fruitful field in this book for
The critics. The dialect, the poetical con-
structisn and the sentiment are not free
frem defects that might be pointed out.
But the book IL very like one OF the
genuine ceuntrymen itportrays, to be en-
ioyed and taken 90 1t Is. There
q plenty of enjoyment In H.
and one is repaid for taking Mr..
Fouu At his own valuation, and giving the
critics and the literarians a hearty kick,
- he loses no opportunity OF doiDg. The
nieces are mostly humorous, though the
I drst one, and perhaps the best in liter
ary sense, IL pureiy pathetic. Some OF
x them are very funny-that, and nothing
else expresses 1t. They make one laugh
heartily. The funniest of them all Is
uThe Calf on the Lawn" hich Is pro-
test by an old farmer, whose farm had
beeu surrounded by the city, against city
(. vavs and notions. He bitches his calf on
his front lawn, and soliloquizes to him
\ self:
\ I'm goin' to hitch this ere young calf out here in
my front lawn, M
q He'll stay right here and chaw the grass tui the
bu1 thing IL chaWn,
Hen chaw that corner of today until he's ct 1t
bare;
r Tsr-morrer I viii move his stake, an he'll ehsw
over there.
He recities his grievances against the
new people with their new habits who
have surrounded his farm, and winds up
3 with this challenge to the spirit that seems
20 him so irre6eemably iconoclsstic:
wall, let em iar; this ere young calf shall stay
here anyhow,
An II hear 'em Ian too hard, Pli trot out the OF
COW;
pll hitch em both to the same stake, right here in
An let 'em stay and ehaw the grass till the hull
thing is chawnl
There are pieces In the book that deserve
better OF q conscientious reviewer than
this, but there are none that come nearer
to the author expressed idea of what the
poet shsuld attempt. There are, A. have
n intimated, defects In the dialect. Mr..
h ross has not scrupled to ignore his own
practices for the sake Of bringing his lines
within mstsr.buuuds, SO that figure OF
0pssch not infrequently appears In the
mouths OF his speakers as dialect and In
correct English in the same stanza. There
= mot mach orderlinsss in the
revolt against order. and the eccsntric-
1lIss of style are ably abctted by ecesn-
tRioitiss oi the printer and prooffreAder,
who seem to regard rules o. spelling and
X |punctuAtisY with very much the same
1Axity Mr.. Foss avows toward the canons
Tor the construction Of verse. But 1t In
1olly book--a capital antidots fer the
blues, spiendidiy adapted for creating q
general laugh and hsightening of spirits
q the family circle thai has bscsnc silent
! " tos ssricss. Lse a Shepard, sestsn.
Another book that denss criticism, but
o1lsrs 20 such tempting marks fer 10, is
Dan Aels's "Moc Memories" being
\ thoughts about England spoken in
America. It II book that pays big re-
eurns upon the Investment of time nscss-
oory for irs reading. AS the author states
n q the brief personal remarks profxing
n " geod atory than pen nniless boy can pass
candy stor without q sigh. So the
book ID full OF entertainment OF the sort
4 that sweetens and brightens life but never
\ degradss. Macmillan & Co.: n. Gregory,
y Providence.
A 1.-TWO Girls" by Amy K. Blanchard, is
u lively and entertaining story OF a couple
N Of orphaned girls, and several other
n young people, all of whom are made very
y pleasantly necessary to the story by the
A olevsrpess OF the author. II Ia illustrated
81 - clevsrly as 1t Is written, and hand
~ oomsly bound, witha specially designed
cover. Lippincott: IL. Gregory, Provi-
" dsnce.
M Mrs. Moles sworth's contribution to
rs girl-literature this year is "Olivia."
N Olivia marries the master OF Ardon Chase,
who Ia alleged to be very desirable
person-yet he married Olivia. Lippincott:
n Gregory, Providence.
k$ "The Justification of Andrew Lsbrun,"
by Frank Barrett, Is one OF those un-
healthy stories involving chemical Inn
|zsginstion to degree that induces disgust.
There are wonders enough in legitimate
science nowadays without straining intel
ligence with imaginings that have not the
Dlightest probability or possibility, and
Yen author who writes as cleverly as Mr..
B Barrett might, with much more preft, de-
{vote himself to them. Appleton.
Nj The leading magazines have all INDUCED
\ "a Christmas covers, but none OF them are
y remarkable for their beauty or artistic
\ ouggestion Of the holiday season. They
loFe. In fact, series OF rather fiat failures.
Barpers has ut least one satisfying quality
\ '~-it relieves the dreary monotony OF the
Bentley's Miscellany cover that has for
ali its years OF life grsced the magazine.
& IL the best cover shown by American
magazines, which is not high praise. The
general character OF the usual cover IL re-
tainsd, but the notifications are radical
onough to establish a claim to
originality. The Century cover Is
M<~< H. II q 4 IT, a a