Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-05-17
ON OUR BOOK TABLE.
SOME OF THE LATEST OFFERINGS
TO THE READING WORLD.
Literary Notes, and Comments on the
Authors of the Day and Their
PrOductiOns-New Books
Received.

The Robert Clarke Company, of Cincin-
matt, has lately issued "Odes in Ohio, and
Other Poems by John James Piatt, whom
BayaTd Taylor once called the Poetic
Voice of Ohio" This is the authors fourth
volume of verse. The book is small, and a
large part of it is special-OcCasion work,
but it contains much to please and uplift
the general reader. The poet makes his
own forms, the irregular length of the lines
suggesting Sidney Lanier, but he is gen
orally artistic, and that is all that is neces-
Sary. There is much of the spirit of poetry
In this verse, and the book. as a whole, is
much better than the kind that is usually
put forth for a day, a people and a place.
Life is Offering a prize for the best ten
short poems in the English language, to be
decided by popular taste. This kind Of
competition was probably suggested by an
inquiry in the New York Sun a few weeks
ago. requesting the editor to name the best
ten short poems in our language. The
editor gave the following as the ten which
seemed best to him:
Sonnet, when in Disgrace Shake
speare).
"Bannockburn" Burns).
The Tiger" BlakeD.
"Pibroch of Donald Dhu" (ScotD.
'Rugle Song" CTennyson).
Sonnet. when / Consider (MiltOn).
"Hohenlinden" CCampbelD.
'Brahma'' CEmerson).
Al the Church Gate CThackeray).
"Gunga Din" RiplinE).
These are great poems, and one would be
foolish to waste his time in argument about
the selection. If they seem best to him
that is all that is necessary. However,
one is inclined to quarrel a little about all
these selections, and particularly the one
from Burns, and it is hard to believe that
any person could seriously think that
-. ns,gE - I,FElr v..v, 4Ia, sETha
Ode to the West Wind" The ode TO a
Nightingale" and a hundred other short
poems that have become parts of our very
nature. 1t is quite likely no other person
on earth would select these same ten
poems. and of all the lists that Life will
receive, probably no two will be alike. 1t
is doubtful whether any one of the above
list will be among those selected by the
patrons of Life. and if any one should be, it
may be concluded that il was so chosen by
the many on the strength of the literary
taste of the editor of the Sun. The above
collection is worth preserving for its nov
city if for no other reason.
Mrs. Margaret Deland never writes a
story without a problem in it. One can
get up an argument at any time with most
any person about the characters in her
books. The latest. THE Wisdom of Fools
CHOughton. Mif1in * Coz, contains four
stories: Where Ignorance Is Bliss, IT'S
Folly to Be Wise" THE House of Rim
mon" Counting the Cost" and The Law
Or the Gospel?' In the first a minister,
AZ years Obi. is about to be married, and
the day before the wedding tells his be-
trothed of a forgery which he committed
at the age of 10 which was never discov-
cred. and resulted in no wrong to any per-
son except himself. She broke the en-
gagement at once, and the question is,
whether he was a fool or A saint for telling
her. The title of the story indicates that
the author thought he was a fool. The
second story, which is the best of the four,
tells of a dependent sister, the widow of a
clergyman, who took her children and left
the home of a rich brother, where they
were all living in opulence. because she
thought that her brother money was
tainted by his failure to pay decent wages
TO his employees. She finally married the
minister who had made the confession in
the first story, probably ito save the
pieces" as Cornelia Pratt has said Of such
a case. In the third story a thrifty and
worthy gashtter sends his only daughter
through college and educates her far be-
ycnd his station of life. and when she
graduates there are three things open to
her: She may live out her life at home.
teaching, perhaps. i'm the public schools,
rejoicing her fathers heart and accepting,
i'm a certain degree. his intimate as her
acquaintance. Or she may turn her back
on all of this life. leave her father alone,
become a teacher in the college from which
she graduated, and perhaps marry some
one who has never seen her father and
from whom she cOnceals her early life. Or
she may fall back into the pit whence she
was digged and try to forget the upper
air" In the last story a good girl under
takes to save a bad one from ruin and
death, but in so doing puts the bad one
into a position where she does more harm
than where she found her. In the en-
deavor to save one soul another is lost.
These stories are very forceful and help
full. The questions they raise are those
that come into our own lives or into the
lives about us every day. 1t perhaps is as
well that the author does not answer them,
for it forces the reader to ponder upon
them for himself. Mrs. Deland is the
strongest woman in American literature in
these times. L. Il. d.
Carpenters Geographical Reader. Asia.
BY Frank G. Carpenter. In the interest
of its subject matter. as well as in its lit
erary and mechanical execution. this new
geographical reader is probably the most
attractive book of its kind. The author,
who is an experienced traveller and writer,
has here given the results Of his recent eX-
tended journeys through the different COun-
tries of Asia. together witt personal OBJ
scrvations of their native peoples, just as
they are found to-day in their homes and
at their work.
The plan of the book. together with its