New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-24
BYRON.
THE r1RsrFRUITs OF A REVIVAL OF
HIS FAME.


ehout the publication Of the new edtloh vi
Byron of which this is the first volume. Inc
high priest Of preciosity comes forward as INC
editor and partisan of the high priest oi SIN
certify Mr.. William Ernest Henley VINO mac
done perhaps more than any man except ""'',
Pater to 6ebase and deform the hterar! s''
~ the Younger men Of his time. comes to their
rescue with a poet who promises 10 save '"e''
from themselves. His own style Is sun ihoo'
rigiblc II have pleasure in tenderihg peeun"'
tharLs 70 Mr. Daniel Conner, for the
communication Of results of lasting moment u
this contribution TO the literature which mas
accumulated, and must go on accumuia'lhs'
round the sole English poet for Sir waiter
conquered IN prose) bred since Milton. to live
master-influence in the world at large MI
Henley can write like that. in the preface 10 MS
first volume But his new edition or Byron ar
riyes In the nick Of time. ncvertheiess' 'o ea'N
other men from writing in the same manner.
The situation is profoundly interesting. For
a decade at least. English letters nave oeeh us
integrated by a movement which has borrowed
most n. its force from abroad. The splendid ex-
ertioos OF those poets and prose writers WHO
have made the Victorian age memoraoie ha''
been followed by the feverish doings OF men
unworthy Of their high ideals. Lads fresh from
college have picked up fragments OF Ideas from
var,a,no Naeterl,nck. Stephane Mallarne and a
dozen other continentals. and have tried 10
adapt them to British SOIL The papers nave
heen full OF their clamor. They have puoiisheo
books without number, and. always looking up
like the Bandar Log. to be noticed. they nave
so worked upon their seniors tnat they nave
been noticed with a vengeance Consloera'ioh
has been paid them 10 a fairly prepos'erous en-
tent Have we not heard William watson
talked OF as a possible Laureate? The minor
poet has been copious to a degree paraHeieu
only in the history Of the Italian Arcadia All
that II has been necessary for him TO 90 mas
been to print his lucuhrations in pretty VOL
ume and then to hand 1t out to the world with
the phrase Of the aesthetic: 1t Is a "iio' "e"u'
heshly thing, but very tender, very yearning'
very precious" The public has borne 1t. and
until very recently has seemed not even 10
vince OF late tho tide seems to be turning
Afectation has waxed fat but 1t is waning
The strain upon the public patience Is oesi"-
ming 70 tell The Yellow Book" has undoubt-
edly seen its best days. THE Savoy mas come
10 a humiliating conclusion 1t is confessed that
the Netsche movement has somehow 1aileo 10
come off, the English translation OF his WORKS
falling comparatively fiat. D'Annunzio. VINO
threatened to take the English-speaking world
by storm seems to be making headway SLOWLY.
Hill Toppery" in English fiction is not 80 popu-
able to believe that the specous idols OF the
lotteries are of their own weight tottering 10
their fall? To be hopeless Of such consum-
nation ia indeed to be hopeless OF the instinct
NJ self preservation. Surely the present state
Of mediocrity cannot have its way unchecked
for many years longer
Before the advent Of Byron mediocrity must
rear It's afrighted head momentariy ana theh
fly shriekng If Mr.. Henley's edition fulhls
its obvious mission he may be forgiven most
Of his own literary sins. His name Will have
been identified with a great reform ana VIII
gain lasting lustre. The name OF the Earl OF
Ioveace will be similarly enriched, II the edl-
ton Of Byron which he is preparing for the
house Of Murray Is OF similar value but that Is
a point which awaits the issue Of his volumes
Merely to reprint Byron would hardly accom-
plish what an edition like Mr.. Heney's prom
ises 70 accomplish The circulation Of the poet
has gone on uninterruptedly ever since his
death But his vogue has languished. He has
been read without having been for many years
an active force in literature. Mr.. Henley. IN re-
printing him with highly interesting notes ana
with all the publishing machinery OF the day be-
hind him, revives discussion Of him and gives
him new lease Of life. This Is not too much 10
claim for an edition like the present. 1t is the
first Of any importance that has been brought
out in seventy years. Mr.. Henley has resolved
TO make it, if not the dehnitive edition, at least
one which sets the Byron tradition IN a
clear light and teammates much that has
fallen into a lifeless obscurty. Nearly two hum
bred pages Of his first volume are devoted to
notes They are comparable for erudition and
penetrating criticism TO Mr.. Birkbeck HIS. in
his edition of Boswells johnson. TO Mr.. Wheat
ley's in his edition Of Pepys and that is saying
much
Indeed, the amount Of material put into these
annotations Is calculated to make the volumes
as much Mr.. Eenley's as Byrons. II the former
had merely set out to air his own opinions. after
the manner Of commentators, the result might
have been lsmentable But scarcely page
could well be spared. Mr.. Henley aims to give
IN his notes as full picture as possible OF the
poets times. Thus he takes the brief letters 10
Jackson. the pugilist. as pegs wherein to hang
a marvellous little sketch of that notorious In
d!viduars relation to his age. This is extended
TO embrace an allusion to Keats and his pres
enoe at the fight between Randall and Turner.
which is familiar to minute students Of his biog-
raphy Another long note is given to Robert
Gregson a pugilistic celebrity mentioned in one
Of Byron's letters to HodgsOn. Possibly the
general reader may think Mr. Henley little
overzealous In these particular notes He Is
assurcdly generous in the space he gives 10 the
subject. But his excuse is convincing. These
were the Golden Years Of the Ring: when
Pugilism was 20 the people Of England ALL and
more than all, that Cricket and Football are 10
the people Of England now" 1t is important to
remember this and Mr. Henley spares no pains
10 recall TO the student OF his annotatons that
the England Of Byrons day was one In which
men lived with ali their might. Byron himself
had this intensity Of zest and 1t helps us In the
realization Of it 10 get closer to the figures
among whom he moved in some OF the mos.
familiar relations Of his life. There was Henry
Angelo the fencing master to whom he refers
very early in the correspondence. Mr.. Henley
draws a portrait OF the man playing Single