New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-13
POETRY.
SOME INTERESTING REPRINTS.

THE Writings IN IRosG G M TsrS f Bound Ed-
, sH 20 SolS CHARLES ai scr fb Sons.
THE POLITICAL WoRKs OF %,,n Eb 1 zPAo2f1ait
f 6AHMh Do XXI es7 The Macmillan Company
fHbE BE1Nb Hy AdinH! sy FI:5sr
Duodecimo' PIP. xi' 10 L0"'o"'
soNNETs OF JosE-MARIA DE 1s,. HBR Tario4.
Done into English by Edward Roeesch william
octave PIP. kill IL. San rra"''''o'
Doxey
THE YAB1rANr AND OTHER FRENCH.CAoNnAA-
DIAN POEMS. BY William Henry I }ns Ere.
n. De- and M" with III Illustrations by Erederfs
simpson Coburn Octave. PIP. XIV lot !"
Putnam's Sons
That reader must be faded. indeed, who does
not approach General Wallace's new book eood
buuooredlv. In the frat place, it is KNOW"
fran, his prose that ne tell story "eii'
cacona,v the two stories set forth In this DOOM
ara nicturesoue In themselves and are pc'-
,resoue,v elaborated. Lastly, the puphshers
have prInted "The Wooing OF Malkatoon anu
"Commodus' so luxuriously, with such cha'i
ing Illustrations. that one is on the sue Vi '.'0
whole work at the outset. But then come '''e
authors characteristics TO spoil eVeiS'i'"e
General Wallace Is not a poet THESE '"o P'0
auctions are not poems II is sad. but l. Is true
ute roeri,s are not insignificant He has skill
in dramatic narrative and when ne reaches
telling point the reader is made to snare III ti'e
momentary exhiaration. There Is oriental coior
iudiciously handled in The Wooins Oh "ai-
katoon." there Is a sufficiently classical tone u
..Corr,odus and We repeat the authors mar
rative gift does not desert him. whether IN 'he
h,ank verse Of the first or the formally dra-
matte mould Of the second work But we are
interested in the romances without being I'M
tba which
clotbed. we follow the adventures OF General
walIaces personages without surrendering u
Tho for,ner's poetic style. II Ia not IN lac'
root,c stvle at ALL but the style OF man VINO
has arranged his material lucidly. planneo MS
drama or legend effectively. ana 'heh cut MS
lines into the technical form of verse. Inc sun
If verse Is missing There Is no ihe"'
swing. there is no such clangor as the 'hei'ee
sbould produce there is only the inconVehien'e
of reading in one form the excellent stories 'i"'
should have been told in another
Tho uniform edition OF Mr.. Kiplings works
draws 10 a close and gives us in its eleventh
volume not all Of his verse, but so much OF 1t
That the departmental Ditties" and his very
latest poems are not seriously missed Inc
Recessional" and some other poems oeionsihe
n the present year might well nave nee" Il"
cuded. vet we do not think that their absence
rooa ,oaye anv student of Kiplng In doubt as TO
.h r.r.s noet,c capacities. Those have been
so often discussed in The Tribune that the!
need not be traversed again at this time ms
much however may be said; Ihat lor 'he
brief period which this volume represents its
hulk and quality are phenomenal Inc DOCK Is
hacked with concrete things, with vNio HE
WILDLY expressed. 1t has humor' Drama ro-
r,arce satire. nature. and along with all these
hoca OH
nation and exhaustless swing. 1t Is refreshing
90 hova all the unforgettable lines printed thus
beautifully in one convenient volume AS .ne
raader turns the pages from the inimtaoe
harrack-room ballads TO the stirring Eastern
poems like THE Last Suttee" or The Ballad OF
East and West" he has that emotion SO rare
in these days, the emotion afforded by DooA
Witch ia 60 fresh and so strong that 1t can be
read and reread with an ever-new enjoyment"
The new single volume of Mrs Browning's
nosrns % issued at a happy moment, when the
publication of her correspondence has revived
interest in her work That the book needs some
such adventurous assistance toward wide cir
cnlation will hardly be denied by dispassionate
readers The "Sonnets from the Portuguese
will undoubtedly hold their own for many years
a few other poems like Lord Walters Wire
are also hard to regard as fated to short ex-
istence; but it is hard also to avoid the convic-
ton that the permanent elements OF poetry
were on the whole. beyond Mrs. Browning
reach Her high ideals rouse sympathy, her
passionate feeling touches the imagination, but
felicity Of diction not hers nor did she ever
gain the music which is the poets surest pass
nor, 10 Immortality. This thick volume is a
curious monument testfying to the author
enthusiasm. TO her always earnest and some
orf., loor pcli1 or1A
tenderness Of soul. yet 1t cannot strike fire.
The many pages lie nerveless and inefectual,
the work of an interesting individuality. the
fru,t Of a genius that never fulfilled itself never
nassed from travail into life. That Mrs Brown
ing holds a high place in the regard Of many
readers to-day however, is indubitable, and for
this reason, II for other. the present full and
admirably edited edition is to be warmly well
coined.
The late Mathilde Blind attempted less than
Mrs Browning. and as she understood her
limitations she was. in her way successful.
Always a minor poet. she nevertheless had a
control Of her art which makes the volume OF
selected poems edited by Mr.. symons a far more
engaging collection than 1t would be taken for
at hasty glance. She had too metaphysical
a mind for her own good as a poet, and much
that she wrote is, therefore, weighted beyond
its lyrical strength; she could not think deeply
and make her thoughts fly; but when she go
away from philosophical preoccupations. anC
wrote spontaneously Of more obvious themes
OF familiar sentiments, OF love and Of pict
uresque life. she was generally fluent she wa
often original and her dction added a clear
attractive quality to work which was symmetri
cal and artistic. A plaintive, medtative not
sounds in the verses Beauty as she felt 1t ha
always tinge of sadness, Her music wa
never tempestuous. Neither, It must be con
fessed, was 1t rich nor haunting. Melody wa
not instructive enough with her for that. Blu
melody she had, to a certain extent, and thi
little volume has unmistakabe sweetness.