St. Paul daily globe., 1896-02-09

Of his poetic moods. His verse is
sweet, melodious. refined and sincere.
What it lacks is chiefly blood and iron,
but his deficiency is one which the
writer would fain have otherwise, as
this stanza from "False Chords" tes-
titles:
20 muse of mine, let not my Tyre sound
To such vain pipings; grant it's varied moods
touch OF tears-a voice of natures own,
As lucid and as free and undefled;
And give it steel and iron, like the strength
OF dashing sabres and of bayonets
And black-mouthed cannon, wreathed in thun-
der clouds, ~.1 -.
Whose music rolls menace DER the skies
Where Earth is shaking to the touch of Mars"
The lucidity and purity he desires are
already his, and will make his book
welcome to lovers of good verse. The
sterner qualities which go to the
making Of a poet he will perhaps ac-
quire, together with a command of more
varied rhythmic forms than he has yet
conquered. The critic is constrained
to hope SO for the sake Of both the
public and the writer. These are days
of drought in poetry, and the possessor
OF a genuine talent, such as Mr.. Nc
Gaffey's, undoubtedly Is welcome
sight upon the literary horizon. If
his second volume has, say, half the
length and twice the strenuousness Of
the book before us, we can predict
unhesitatingly its acceptance by the
people who care fOr poetry. And the
opinions Of publishers to the contrary
Notwithstanding there are still many
poetry-lovers left Oh earth.
C'Poems." By Ernest McGaffey. New York.
Dodd, Mead & Co. $1.25. For sale by the st.
Paul Book and Stationery company
In ''The Head Of a Hundred" Maude
Wilder Goodwin utilizes her well
known familiarity with colonial condi-
tions in the South in the production
Of a romance of life in Virginia at
the time of the Jamestown massacre.
The story is a charming one, and very
prettily told. While such a graceful
idyl can we'll stand upon it's own mer-
its as piece Of literary work Of unuSu-
al attractivenesS, the widespread in
terest just now felt in everything col
onial will doubtless add to it's de-
served popularity. There are writer's
them can write as Mrs. Goodwin
does, with such perfect con-
troll of her historical material that she
Is apparently as unhampered in telling
a tale Of life and love in 1922 as she
would be in dealing with contempo-
rary existence.
C'The Head of Hundred" By Maude
Wilder Goodwin. Boston. Little, Brown &
Co. S1.25. For sale by the St. Paul Book and
Stationery company)
F. T. Nicely publishes a paper-bound
edition of 1.-The Fat and the Thin,''
being translation of Zola's lie Ven
tire de Paris" a novel ninety-nine hun
dredths of which consists Of descrip-
tions of the different varieties of food
for sale in the Central Markets Of
Paris.
(s'The Fat and the Thin" By Emile Zola.
New York. F. T. Neely. so cents.)
Laird & Lee issue a new edition of
''Conklin's Handy Manual a small
volume Of useful information, said to
contain a million facts. They also
publish Priceless Recipes a collec-
ton Of tried formulas for the house
hold and all trades.
c'Conklin's Handy Manual of Useful Infor-
nation" 90 cents" Lees Priceless Recipes. I"
30 cents Chicago. Laird & Lee.)
''The Brown Ambassador Is pleas
ant little extravaganza, in which dogs
and children play the leading parts
in finding missing will and saving
child's life. The chief fault that can
be found with the book is that it is a
little too old for children, without be-
ing quite old enough for their seniors.
C'The Brown Ambassador By Mrs. Hugh
Fraser. New York. Macmillan & Co. $125.
For sale by the st. Paul Book and Stationery
company