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


onens the hook and ne falls far beneath MS SUD-
iec, in the long Scottish ballad which follows.
.Three Portraits Of Prince Charles Is deIu!
turned poem, with a pleasant touch OF art IN IT,
and the handful Of Grec.an lyrics have the dell
cacv and finish which his classic TASTE always
assures 10 him. NBught else In the doom gives
the ring Of true metal. and the group oil oS'e"s'-
blv funny Poems Written Under the influence
of Wordsworth" are terribly thin Ny Lang
calls this collection "A Rally OF Fugitive
RHYMES" They would better have been LEFT
rnraled. on the whole. similar Judgment Is
provoked by the "Odes and Other Poems Mac-
milan G Coz OF Mr.. William Watson. that other
star 10 whose twinkling young England looKeo
for light and leading. wren it rose ms new
volume raises tho suspicion that MT watson
star H. setting. and Is growing DINNER ana
DINNER. 7. Is true that he still keeps his case
and polish Of diction. and has still in verses
like The Protest" tho imitation Of Elizabethan
models and Tell Me Not Now. a song-Ike
echo. But "A New National Anthem is
strained and empty piece. and It's pre'eh''""S
style is magnIfiel in tho personal addresses
which All the first pages Of the book MT wat
sons Cues are sadly pompous and inflated.
suggesting poe; who Is trying to swell nimseh
TO more than his natural dimensions
With all his nncncy and talent for taking
himself with tremendous seriousness. MI wat
son remains unimprcsslve person TAR 'esS
plausible in the present volume than In MS hrs'
nuhucations wherein he showed gifts Of fancy.
color and feeling not TO BE- despised Ills lyric
outpourings are slighter IN volume now ana "'
less intrinsic charm. Whose have greater spoh-
taneitv. greater force and more .ight IN them
among his comrades in London? Not MI Erah'
Aliens. in The Lower slopes" 'Stone KIM
balD for he is pedestrian and prosaic ana woos
The muse in rhetorical utilities. Not Mr.. r-t-
nest Rhys's in "A London Rose ana 'ther
RHYMES Dodd. Mead Coz His gait IL st"a"H'
I'm, with no spec,al spring in It. and the deep
t,nts which his Welsh themes might have gwen
him evidently touched hi1 sympathies without
enriching tho palid outlines II his verse" N9'
Mr. Edmund Gosses. in the book called I'm Rus
set and silver 1stone Kimbalh. He attempts
10 win such r4frains "a patient labor over IN"
co,.s ~ harmon, will unlock His industry is
vain He has not the key that comes by birth
RICH, and over even the best OF his verses. over
that ono for instance beginning Count the
nashec I'm the surf" tho readers puls" fais 10
ou,cI.,n n, so much ms the fraction ~ second
Mr. Gosse has A certain facility which makes him
readable but G" have the thirteen who publish
The Second Book - the Rhymers club b'odi-
Mead G co., and II does iut save him nor th"m
from the blight ~ having nothing In part'
to saw and no deeply 70 tod poetic warrant i'F
speaksng al all. one exception should perhaps
be made Amid the pleasant murmurings ~ inc
"Rhymers" and their shadows there are some
Gaelic episodes hi, OF by Mr. ". y Yeats with
y skill which makes the peaceful Atmosphere 81
his surroundings CULVER a liit.e. He infuses INT"
his work the spiri, 81 his curious racial types
AMI makes s. real in those shorter pieces. Ike
The Folk 81 the Air" the uncauny air which ne
hes, loves n inhale that II is n positive pleas
ure to find In another pace more important
poem on similar lines. This s The Land ~
Hearts Desire tStonc KlmbalD. myst"riou.
fantasy written for the stage hy Mr.. Yeats ara
subtly compounded ~ fair and bleak 'onst'n-
nnts The sprite who enters the coitae" IN
which the scene ~ the poem IL placed. 70 he"lt'h
Marie Rruin. IL apprehonded az really SIN
is,er presence. yet all the time the delicate fasci-
nations Of the fairy child s'rewing nor 'atal pTm-
roses on the floor are given their fun pictorial
value Rest ~ all. tho poem IL actually draman'
In conception and while Il is too lyric. too
gnostly to fall readily into the grooves ~ the
theatre az was presented once. nevertheless. a.
the Avenue I'm London. in 1890. Il has the power
in the printed page to stir the Imagination l''
climax IA mo-; POLITICALLY handled There IL
little enough Of this dramatic rre in tho plays
(Sione & KimbalD 81 Mr.. John Davidson. He -
ornate in phraseology. The circumlocutory
shoe TO which he al.udcs IN An tnh'stor!cal
Pastoral" IL an amazing addition T. poetic lore.
But a certain lightness Of tissue IL found In THIS
very play. and with its drollcry and occasional
approaches 10 rhythmic animation II II phssab.e
reading The same mild praise belongs II the
other sketches In the book. They show nj least
that Mr.. Davidson has a grain ~ hunor though
he has eked IL out through many dirusc page.
and has quite failed to feather his dart with the
dramatic point his form Of verse in this case de-
mands.
The defect ~ Mr. Davidson Is that on which we
have already paused IN referring t. Mr.. Gosse
and the versiners OF his class They are without
the lyric swing without the iHtangblc at
mosphere that means lie to a poem. For that II
"a dlscouraging to seek through most late books
of verse When the vitality is there IT Is in slight
measure and has 10 BE- conceded with trouble
some qualifications. In the long run II seems al
most kinder to pm; this precious essential out of
sight and to approach the volumes before us on
other grounds. Certainly that assures more graf
living results. For example In the two volumes
Of Mrs Platts Poems n-ongnans Green n Coz.
# may not be possible to detect persistent rlvu-
let Of mere melody. but there IL 40 ceasing of
that rough ebb and now OF human sentiment
which has from the first made her WORK interest
ing and fresh. Strewn through her many pages
are any number 81 well-cast episodes. scenes Of
life and love and suffering to which 1t IL her
privilege to give clear and sharp existence In
her verse An impulsive sensibility to the pathos
and sunshine Of life about her ~ Mrs Platts
foremost virtue. and she writes with peculiar
tenderness Of children. though possibly with a
shade too serious ii preoccupation. one needs To
have the alriness Of A butterfly In brushing In
fantile subjects Mr.. Eugene Field has II In his
gay little collection Of Love Songs OF enid
hood Charles Scribner's sons. He can be bf1sk
and laughable. In The Delectable Ballad OF
the Waller Lot" he can be gentler and swee'ef