New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-23

,bo,e unfurIe1 II droops over his best work ana
causes such a promising poem as that on the
Mediterranean to give up half Its possible oeau'y
and TO be sluggish where 1t might be h'ihoie'
Mr. Santayana should come out INTO the opeh'
taking a page from the most wholesome chap.er
in Natures book not cropping through me misls
Of what we would call saddened Plntheis"' II
what he were driving al could be maze quite pail
There ls no doubt about Mr. Arthur Clark Ken
nedy whose name appears on the TIE page oi
thin volume Of "Erotica' G.ondon: Bird GaH)
He sings the JOY in material things. and. though ne
Is sometimes melancholy he Is most often exultant
in fiery phrases and still moro fiery emotions
His fragments OF verse crude and much In need
o, tho curblng Influences Of tact and refinement,
have AT least ono mcrit-that Of spontane!ty M.
Gilbert Parker I'm his poetry addresses himself
IN the unrest ideality. and the sonnets o. \
LAYERS Diary tStone e. KimbalD reflect lofty
pass,on which is tho moro rar Relied In effect b'-
causc II is transparently expressed. This booh IL
not picturesque. az might have been expected %
ia author II IL not stresked with the colors OF
an original temperament. nor has IL poetic teHc-
I itv But 1t is noble in aim II is lucid ana l's
chivaIrous litanies are 80 delivered that they
command at once in Their SWEEP sincerity "e
readers cordial liking. II was known tha' MI
Parker could do clever work in metrlcai iorlh'
This s nerhaps only clever. bur. at any rate. 1t IL
better than would have been prophesied IL
would be better still for some cxc,sions inc DOCK
is ovcrcrowded now and uneven. No one since
Shakespeare has oyer been able To write "
seauercp ~ love poems such az Mr.. Parker mas
cssaycd and keep the flame lambent ana STEADY
without a single flicker Mr.. Eric Macksy tried
II in tho now well-known Love Letters oi d
yioli,ist +" of which the Rrentanos bring oil;
nItff
IN and down once more his mellihuous sianzas
the original opinion they Invited Is cohhriheh'
His imagination and mis- passion are unforced'
hu, they are spread over too much ground ana
his work would profit infinitely by compression.
That /, a lesson which 1t Is idle to preach. how
cver II would doubtless be hard 20 persuade
AFR " r Thaver that "fIalld." the principal
vo-k +, his Poems New and old" 'Houghon.
Mnn & CO, would he The stronger II shortened
hv half 70; thnt such would be the case IL proved
h, sonc - his ehorier pieces. notably me Last
Hunt" That sprghly ballad has the vitality ot
writer who e concIliatIng in "A modHs way
when he keeps within his limits and DOCS not
lean to, much ON fanccs which he cannot follow
with security. Mr. Eugen" Le"-Hamlion suffers
from kindred selfconfdence In his hundred
. 'Sorncts - tho Ningless Hours iSio1c a KIM
nalb Anxious - get grandeur Of cfer' Wthih
tho sran ~ fourteen lines he efs the diriion ~
his son,o, too heavily. one Is tempted - oh-
serve in rcpl, to his rocco sonnet on "What me
Sonnet Is" that. whatever II may b" II certainty
is not that The sonnet IL ~ sitter metal II u ~
resonant bronzn. 10 swell tho muslc ~ tfe
/ spheres. not ~ ngrce. 10 serve miro" po'ts
ra,,hova,t tnag.nings Yo, Mr.. Loo Hamilton
has some srarklc In his verso. some CLEAN II
c5lor and some plquant accidents ~ style. ".
l.. 4.sf D.. I'd
civ. HIN He has in spite ~ his artn '!ality. an
obviously honest love for nature and often.
through that. awakens a Ivclier interest in his
work Mr. Robert Cameron Rogers wouli pre-
sumahiy choose To- make his appeal ~ the reai'T
IN a similar basis in The Wind In tho Clearing.
and other Poems" &C. T. Putram's SlnsI. hu' ne
a matter - fa-i h" :. moro attractive on Other
sldos There ia 4 reasonable suggestion u land
soap, In his Midnight Upon N" Beach but he
* n, his best in rhvmeI tale like "Barsci
WOOD or tho exciting little poem ~ seventeenth
century duei'ing which he calls "A routrance.' In
this he has tho clear suffici styl" 10 which
the teller ~ plcturcsqr" Incident with no great
passion In his soul. does well T. cpnfine himself
Cloae dependence upon this stylc ia tho source u
what il most commendable In Madonna. and
other Poems u r fAppincOu Company. by Mr..
Harrison : Morris When he forsakes II his out
door tl..es and hearty spirit Do not make his
language less fnlcal Wien he opens wide his
eyes and sets down what ne sees In simple words
he writes the better stanzas 81 his tltular poem
an EFFORT ~ which We regret the Disagreement by
/ such a description 81 womans lips IA kissing
round" There is pleasant. clean atmosphere In
Mr. NORRIS hook on the whole and his scrupu-
lousy pointed periods deserve the comely form
in which they make their temperance after
f,, han ~ ~.
popular magazines
Up to- this point the volumes surveyed In
these remarks have been those composed OF verse
alone. In Tho Great Refusal: Being Letters OF
A Dreamer In Gotham" dIoughton. Mni.n u
/ Coz edited by Nj. y. r. NJ re. a the friend ~
the deceased author whose name IL Withheld
prose and poetry are combined In n strange
mixture ~ Oriental mystiei ISM working IN Il
Western nature and a Western environment
The book Is full ~ spiritual and intellectual
! queston!ngs. full Of perpleXed thought. Its
/ poems which are chiefly 10 be here considered
ere de.icately imagined. and at rare intervals. as
/ I'm 1T roses might IN thee awake. or falr
/ Jewess" they are blessed with small share 81
lyric warmth In the min they have refinement
and intellectual interest. but little else to as
sociatc them with legitimate verse. The prose -
cruditc aspiring and vague. In its totaliiy the
book t. hybrid and Intellectual production
which has a certain slight personal value. but Is
/ not Of great significance otherwise
In the rear OF the long procession - recen'
poetical publications thee come the antho'ogies
and the reprinted classics which revive old MEM
| cries and 50 often and 20 delightfully."- minister
to long-ostabshed tastes OF the first there are
three or four volumes to which Il is possible TO
allude in pleasant terms. Mr.. Arthur Is.
Simonds's American Song &C. r. Putnams
SonsD Is a well -seected and well-arranged col &C.
ton Of our representative poets and his intro
auctions and notes are marked by intelligent
care Because I Love M" dee Shepard