Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1896-03-07

for their clearheadedness in everyday
life as for their great abilities as lit
erary leaders.
Take, for instance, Ernest McGaffey,
whose volume of Poems" recently is
sued by an eastern publishing house,
has attracted general attention. He
is young lawyer with bright future,
man of the world, companion for
Judge or preacher. His views on cur
rent topics are quoted by the press;
his knowledge0f affairs poiitical5r
to his office the leaders of parties. And
yet this same man will retire to his
study in the evening and commune with
nature with an eloquence that surprises
the critics who have repeated from year
to year that nothing of literary merit
can come out of Chicago" From be-
ginning to end McGaffey's Poems"
show inspiration and wonderful per-
ception of the beauties of things. There
is not a page which does not contain
rev idea or precious thought dressed
in new form. Opening the little vol
ume at random the other day, became
enchanted with this gem:
Like some lone. wild creature that PAGES all
day
Back and forth behind bars in it's dumb,
strong wish to be free,
So PAGES forever, all haggard and gray,
On it's ee4rth-bound shores, the mysterious
soul of the sea.
If any poet has ever clothed Deauti-
full sentiment in finer garb have never
seen his works. Equally strong is
poem in another vein, entitled ''The
Derelict," from which 1 quote the last
verse:
And thus a wrath, mote, a speck,
In watery SolitudeS
She sails, and hears the siren song
OF oceans Circe-moods;
Nor neither home nor harbor bound.
Naught shall her course restrict
While like mems souls in worlds to come
She wanders, derelict.
And what could be more charming
than this picture:
Dear friends, tho silent. the companion
trees
That whisper as 1 pass, and scatter down
Leaf benedictions on my leaf-strewn path.
Mr.. McGatfey's versatility is almost
phenomenal. His fancy responds to the
call of the moment. His reflective, de-
scriptive and metaphysical moods find
ready expression in verse, which, while
not always perfect, is never annoying
ly halting. 1t has been stated that he
has no rivals in America but Joaquin
Miller and James Whitcomb Riley This
is a sweeping assertion, but one which
will not be disputed few years hence.
The writer has been familiar with Mr..
McGaffey's works for eight years. He.
has noted his development along va
rious lines, and feels justified in giving
the widest circulation to Chicago's faith
in a poet whose productions are even
now quoted throughout the land. The
keystone of Mr.. McGaffey's success is
his modesty, which constantly reminds
him that he has yet to learn many things
and that perfection N art must be based
OF constant observation and unremit-
ting study.
Charles Eugene Banks has been called
a sweet singer" His work, although
not quite as varied as McGaffey's, be
trays genius and genuine poetic in
stinct. While McGaffey is always an
optimist, even in his serious meta
physical words, Banks sometimes is
mildly pessimistic. Take, for example,
his little poem entitled Clothes Wor-
ship
The world viii crack the devil DER the pate
If. dressed in rags. he peep above the gate
But let the velvet hide his eloven hoof
He finds welcome under every roof.
But these words never last long. The
disposition of the poet is too happy to
dwell on disagrecable themes, and
hence we find on another page of his
little book, where Brooks Go Softly"
this charming tribute to love:
The world is as % clouded sea,
But love Is like the sun.
That steals among the murky waves