The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-04-22

might have said:
"Full o. a. honey thy beautiful mouth was
rhyfl- created
Ful Of ne houeycomb. ngu Aogiiean. toe.
naycss thou nibble.
] Sweet ~ they are. Tor ov'n than the locust
more brayely thou alngest"
have no room 70 argue the pros OF
dialect hero. but Il always seems
strange that those lazy critics who are
unwilling 10 take the trouble 10 trans
late the occasional hard words in a dia-
lect form OF their own tongue. should
be no inconsistent as ever TO study
foreign language. Then. too. dialect Is
necessary 10 truth. TO local color, TO In
tlmacy with the character depicted.
Besides. Il Is delicious. There Is some
thing mellow and sOul-warning about
plebelan metathesls like "cOngerga-
ton" what orthoepy could replace
linea like these:
'wor;sr, shade ana al % mixed. don't know
which you'd orier
say. a. warter IN the rhadder-- shadder IN
ne vorier"
One thing about Mr. Riley's dialect
that may puzzle those not familiar with
the living speech OF the Hooslers, Is his
spelling. which Is chiefly done as II by
the llliteraie speaker himself. Thus
"rostneer-;ime" and "ornry" must be
Acollc Greek to those barharlans who
have never heard Of "roastlng-ears" OF
] aa... 81. - 49, 80. l.r.utuatsa aVunuvut
for vulgar" common" which Is
smoothly ellded. "orldDnmlry." Both
OF these words could be spelled with a
suggestive and helpful use OF apostro-
phes: "roastn-ear." and "or'n'ry."
Jumbles like "ioyver" for did you
everg" and the like can hardly be
spelled otherwise than phonetically,
but a glossary should be appended as
IN Lowclls "Blglow Papers" for the
poems are emlnently worth even lexl-
con thumbing Another frequent fault
OF dialect writer's Ia the spelling pho
netlcally Of words pronounce every
we're alike. Thus enough" Is spelled
"enulf." and "clamor." "clammer,"
though Dr. Johnson himself would new
or have pronounced them otherwise. In
these misspellings. however. Mr.. Riley
excuses himself by lmpersonating an H.
liteflto as well as crude-speaking
poet. But even then he Is inconsistent.
and following becomes "hollerln."
with an apoairophe to mari the lost
"g"-that ahomlnable imported harsh
nefa that ought to be generally exiled
from our none TOO smooth language.
Mr.. Riley has written n good essay In
defense Of dialect. which enemies OF
this form OF literature might read with
advantsre.
But Mr.. Riley has written a deal OF
most excellent verse that is not In dia-
lecl. One whole volume Is devoted to
fairy extravaganza called "The Fly
ms Islands Of the Night" good add
tlon to that quaint literature OF lace to
which "The Midsummer Nights
Dream" Herrlck's "Oberon's Epithal-
Gmlum." or whatever II Is called.
Drakes "Culprit Fay" and other bits
Of most exquisite foolery belong.
While hardly n complete success. this
dlmlnutive drama contains some Gu
riously delightful conceits like this
Improvisation"
Tier face-her trow-her hair unfurlcii-
Aud o the oval chin below.
Carved. Isa a cunEing cameo
with one exquisite d.aiple. svirled
'ih rvlmmlng shine and shade, and whlrled
he daiateri vortex poets know
The rweutcfi whirlpool ever tWificd
~ Cupld's fnger-tip-snd 90.
The doadilesi maelairom IN the vorldl'
II Is a strange individuality that Nir.
Riley has. suggesting numerous other
masters whose influence he aeknowl-
edges In special odes-and yet all d.
gos,ed and asslmllated into marked
individually OF his own. He has stud
led the English poets profoundly and
improved himself upon them. till one Is
ehuny impressed. IN his non-dialectlc
verse. with his refinement. subtlety
and oafc. lie has n large vocabulary
and his felicity Ia az times startling
Thus he speaks Of water "chuckllng.
which is as good as Horace's rlpples
that "gnaw' the shore. Note the mas.
tory OF such lines as
And the dust q the road T. like velvet"
"Noihln but green woods and clear
skies and unwfit poetry
Nv the HFr0fH
Then God smiled and Il was morningl"
Life ls "a poor pale yesterday Of Death"
And o wanted 20
To BE- felt sorry foFi'
Always suddenly they are gone.
The friends We trusted and held secure"
"a, utter loaf"
"Knee-doep In June"
but conrot 20 on quoting forever.
Technically, Mr. Riley Is master ol
surprising finish. His meters are per
feet and varied. They Cow as smooth
ly as his own Indiana streams His
rhymes are almost never imperfect. To
prove his own understanding he has
written one scherzo IN teehnlc that u
a delightful example Of bad rhyme, bad
meter. and the other earmarks OF the
poor poet II Is Ezra House." and be-
gins:
Come listen, good people. while a story
DO tell
% mo sad fate Of one ] knew 20 passing
WELT"