New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-10


ple: there is no hard transparency 10 MS proSe'
It presents no distinct images and conveys It"
dstinct thoughts. II brings back. as he wished it
to- sentiment. an air. ar attitude o' soul NO.
an a.tltudc Of physical or even intellectual being.
This was no small thing to try for. and IN 50 Iar
as no achieved his object TO the positive edihca-
,,,r II his readers Pater deserved we'll of his
nubIic But It Is doubtful II his public could ever
no tho nuhl,c In the highest literary sense Of that
term. in tho sense that gives writer wide ana
fructifying authority.
Pater hal to train his readers II Is onE
,o,,nhvscal mind ,ntultive If eliiptcal modes OF
thought. that responds re- IDLY - tle padne'
er,,r - hjs argument Ue surmses. suggests
Qualities refnes and refincs AGAIN. with tor
r,o,,inp ~ the sense the sound and The struc'-
uro of his mage that leaves II ~ austere as one
- his own Greek ideals. but with 10 moro Dorian
Elasticity about il than IL he were a romantic OF
the romantics The truth is that there was
vrca- deal moro OF the romantic character about
pater than his followers arc prepared 10 ADMIT
II comes out strongly in the Greek StGdcs'
from which our general examination of his WORK
has diverted us for the moment; The TWO chaP-
ters on Donysus the two on Demeter and Per-
sephone which are the backbone OF the volume
the Diorysian study perhaps, more IMAM tne
other-are fairly trimming over with his poetic
instinct his moody sympathy for vague dihi hoii-
IONS and passions floating In gracious H'ioo
which would lose half it's charm did we know us
impulses and its responsibilities too we'll Do"y-
sus for Mr. Pater. is a great. expansive GOO the
broodinq spirit Of the vine. and. through the ia'-
for of half the Pantheistic warnings Of the
Greeks Patiently gathering up all the threads
which run through Hellenic nature-worship 10
the Donys.ac fountain head. he interprets me
god no, with viyidness OF outline. with N-r'i-
itv az aspect and warmth OF personality nut as
;uet the vague. intcrpenetraiing influence 'ha'
filtered down through the mos; elusive as wen rs
the most conspicuous features OF Greek ne
There Is n passage In the essay on me i'dc-
ch,nols ~ Furridcs' which illustrates Patcrs
habit in the chase Of motives az uncaptutao'
as this. Himself woman-like god" he says Of
D,onysus. 1T was on women and feminine Souls
ina; his power mainly fell Az Ellis It was
the women who had their own little song with
which at sprng-time they profcssed 20 call him
from the SEA; a Bras!ac they had their own TEN
ple where none but women might enter anu 80
The Thiasus also. Is almost exclusively formed ~
women-of those vino experience most directly 'n'
influenced things which touch thought throught inc
senses-the presence Of night. the expectation 81
morning the neorncss Of wild. unsophistlcdtei,
natural thugs-the echoes the GOODNESS. the hp.S'
II frightened creatures as they climbed through
the darkness. tho sunrise seen from the hHitops'
the dislusion. the bitterness ~ safety the deep
slunbcr which comes with the morning
These lines are poetic but they are 50 t"nupuS
as 10 be almost futile A9d they are inbcdded IN
an essay which deals confcssedly with a concT"t"
phase - Dionysus In literature. N"whei" d''s
the god live more humanity. with a more p'ang'hl
ufteranco with more poignant rca!lSn, IMAM
in the text ~ Eurlpldes. But II Is just IN the
rressncc nf such a text that Mr.. Patcr falls, ana
becomes imprisoned. horophantc. Tor Few
when ~ might be- wise helpful delightful to IN"