New-York tribune., 1896-05-03
rue POETRY OF LONDON
LYRICAL AND ARTISTIC PRAISE.

LONDON GARLAND. Selected from Five :, Cent Cent
mries o. English Verse by W; r. Henley;
Illustrators. Quarto. pp. XXI. 98 London and
| New-York: Macmillan & Co.
II ls an old conviction that Pegasus VIII not 20
| In harness but It IS marvellous to behold his do
| sllty when the poet chooses to make him walk In
| arbitrary measures. Then. II the poet be really a
| poet and not a mere verslner. he VIII saddle his
| proud stced with any theme he may prefer. This
| London Garland" makes this truth more apparent
| than IL ls perhaps upon most occasions. ii Is a
book OF what may be called typographical poetry;
IT is Descriptive. 1t Is audatory, 1t is one great song
TO London the city. london the place OF shops and
palaces, London the scene OF happiness unspeaka-
bic and OF immcasurabie pain. Poetry Ike this.
| poetry which aims at the deneation OF a city.
might be expected to Justify Immediately the con-
vctlon as TO Pegasus which has already been cited.
But curlousy. some OF the finest poetry IN English
is OF the typographical sort. identifying the poet s
dream or his ardent Invocation with some specific
place the latter becoming almost the essential ele-
ment In the charm OF his poem. THE poetry OF
earth Is never dead.' This line the lips OF
Keats speaks Of the whole inexhaustibe magic OF
nature but IT might easily be applied to the actual
localities which have moved men to poetic rapture.
The mountains look on Marathon,
And Marathon looks on the
How many OF the readers who remember this
pictorial passage In Don Juan" remember also
the lines that follow? Some no doubt. could quote
the and feel It's intimate connection with that
single touch OF descriptive art But 1t Is not too
much TO say that just the two lines stand for
definite achievement in Byron's food OF verse.
I.ardor has impassoned outburst on this Ques-
ton In one Of his Imaginary Conversations" The
talk between Porson and Southey. and the former
aludcs the inspiration OF Shakespeare and Milton
Did they. he asks. build upon nothing? Did
their predecessors? And pray whose daughter was
the muse they invoked? Why. Memorys. They
stood among substantial men, and sang upon re-
corded actions. The plain OF Scamander the prom
ontory OF Slgoeum. the palaces OF Tros and Oar
danus the citadel In which the fates sang mourn
fully under the image OF Minerva, filter places
for tho muses. to allght than artificial rockwork
or than faery rings" This goes to the root of the
matter and explains why some Typographical"
poetry is imperishable 1t revives n picture; il
makes the very pageant OF the past live again. and
In Its inspired portralture brings back only the
vsage OF the place, but the living soul OF the latter
Mr.. Henley's anthology does more than point this
general observation. 1t enforces the belief that
London OF all the famous places In the world not
even excepting Rome Athens. has touched the
poet oftenest and most imperiousiy 10 delightful
song. Its pre-emnence Is peculiar. Other great
cities great localities. through special his
toric association, through particular landscape
glory. have given TO poetry. from time TO time. ar
equal Inspiration Venice Paris the Alps. have
been the objects OF noble But the poetic
fame Of London Is neither historical purely topo
added that Is peculiar to the city. 1t Is not. in
truth. to the poets much city as 1t Is growth
of nature. Man made the town. we told. and
mus; have made London. but long. long ago
his handiwork passed from beneath his control a
Frankenstein OF brick and mortar, with soul far
more extra ordinary than that Of any human being
and with such a subtle strain OF lovellness running
through Its urban abnormity that the errors and
uglinesses OF a manufactured thing have almost
ceased to trouble the watcher. He sees the city
he the tange OF forest. 1t is battling fear
some but 1t Is extraordinarily beautiful.
The beauty OF London has been recognized by the
poets for five centuries. the subtitle OF this book
Indicates. and one proof that the laudaon OF these
singers has always been spontaneous and sincere .s
offered by the maintenance OF the citys regal state
She Is to-day at the ugest and the loveliest
town In the universe. The buildings sooty. The
streets often narrow. The architecture ie on
the whole, more hdeous than 1t is anywhere else in
the world. And yet London Is beautiful. 1t Is i'm
possible to tell just how its charm endures. Just