New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-10-11


genius?
For lie had genius No mere craftsman could
have put into the poems of The Defence OF
Cuenevere'' such a bravery Of tapestried name
of flashing color as they still possess: he''
Nordau may sneer at 1t as mere tricherF' p''
the sensitive reader of 1.-Two Red Roses Across
the Moon knows that the famous reifalh Has d
genuinely lyric sound. that it has the strange
indeiinable glamour which separates poetry from
mere verse II Norris had gone writing in
the mood and in the form Of that poem; II
he had never lost his hold on the romantic new
and beauty of THE Haystack III the
Floods; il "Spebound' and The tune Oh
Seven Towers had been emu,atod. as to their
gait and tone, through the ter volumes wh'cn
now make up his collected poetical works, he
would not merely have recaptured his early
power, he would certainly have increased 1t n
thousandfold i'm the course of his development
But. impartially studied there is "A curious ad-
herencc Of all the succeeding volumes to a ieve.
lust a little below that of the best pages in the
Defence Of Guenevere." 1t is as though that
volume had been destined to show us IA poet on
the brink Of immortality, who, in ii'fui Ways
was revealing the highest abilities and al the
same time threa tening to decline upon the lower
planes Of Parnassus when his normal strength
was settled.
Morris is his normal plane In THE Eartniy
Paradise" There. writing ten years and more
after the publication Of his first venture n"
struck the chord to which he was to hold with
very little change until the end. In the years
between Us and as he had lost the impulsve
strain which had struggled with his sorhisti-
cation at the start and by the time ne wrote
THE Earthly Paradise he had unconsciously
given up the fight. II was the fluent. captiva'-
ing sometimes musical movement Of narrative
verse which now claimed his attention. with
tho elaboration Of his motive with the ceiebra-
ton of ten situations where one or two had
formerly suficcd, he definitely abandoned the
aerial sphere of the pure lyrist and adopted
role which If still fantastic and romantic II sill
fitted TO a faery world was nevertheless not
winged The transition meant loss. that much Is
obvious. Fine as The Earthly Paradise may
be- IL is not fine In spirit, 1t is not so careless
so songful, the poems which have been signal
ICED as the masterpieces OF their author But
if it meant loss 10 lyric poetry. 1t meant "A
gain to the rhymed literature OF romantic
legend 1.-THE Earthly Paradise is treasury Of
dreams a very paradise Of stories. II is aglow
with the hues of rich imagination. II has
fancy II has tenderness and ohvalry, it has a
krightly glamour not wholly unworthy Of Ten
nyson But alas, to mention the name of
Tennyson in connection with this work Of his
contemporary is to think at once Of how he put
the very soul of knighthood into his poems
and of how Norris put into his, instead, the
glory of krighthood's presence, the shining ar
NOR, the radiant banner the pageant and sur
face beauty Of life which the highest poetry
reveals in its highest. most spiritual aspect
This nux and refux Of sympathy for Morris,
which is sure to characterize q cool reading of
him. Is no more to be denied In THE Life and
Death of JASON" in The Story Of Sigurd,' than
In THE Earthly Paradise and II accompanies
the reader through the TRANSACTIONS from Virgil
and Homer. Why was it? Chiefly. it may he
observed. for the reasons which have already
been indicated. Morris was in love with the
surface beauty OF things his taste horid, as
Rossetti'o was. and. like Rossettl. he had a tenn
permanent that caught readily at whatever was
bizarre fanciful, highly colored and highly
wrought. Add to this tendency of his toward
gorgeous hues and picturesque incident or char
acter the ineradcable affectation Of the liter
AIRY man. and two out Of the three sources OF
his failure to reach the topmost heights Of
| poetry have been made plain The third is I'M
| plcated in the second. The affectation OF the
| literary man we have charged against him. lie
was burdened also with a kindred affecation-
| one. in fact That swallowed up the literary
| mans disposition, the affectati0n Of the diet
tante in general. This is no unsympathetlc in
tsrpretation Of his character. for. we hasten to
| add, the Alterations To which alCslon is made
| are not the mere slliinesses which are covered
| by the term in its usual application. The aifec-
tation of Morris is rather that incorrigiblc point
! of view which means q preoccupation with
effect noble II is true but still effect; IL means,
| in other words. artfulness, craft. He had so
| much else that there whole leagues between
| him and the poets whose Alterations offend so
| frequently in the verse Of the present time lie
| had temperament, enthusiasm. taste, 2 sense OF
loneliness, a sense of vaor-ths last in Il slight
| ly theatrical way, to be sure-and so long as
| these things, which are among the precious gifts
| Of the poets, move and hold the imagination.
| Morris will maintain the eminence to which his
public has long since assigned him. Yet his
| elevation to place Of honor no matter how
high. will never blind his critics to his cardinal
defect Of a busy mind and imagination working
necessarily for this thing or that. eager 10 have
| both beautiful and quite unable to concentrate
itself upon either separately.
Mori is had wide range, but !. was too wide.
! and he was helped in the frtterins away Of his
powers by that dettante limitation TO which
| the defects Of his poetry have been attributed.
II Is possible to state his versatility and 10 al.
NIT its identification with many Of the actual
| undertakings OF contemporary industry ard art
| without feeling sure that the individual results.
for Morris. all that they should he. There is
| a Morris cult in London. There Is a Norris pub
lie In England. with branch In the United
States. We have Morris kind of decor9 ton
and il has achieved such a vogue, in such an
artistic manner, that Il seems incredible that
II should be without lasting foundations. But
that is precisely the case just the same and 1t
20 InrU of
mastering passion with the tremendous gift that
such q passion usually implies. TIE diYerHiiY