The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-04-30
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.
POSTAGE PREPAID.
ida APRIL 30, 1897.
LITERARY GOSSIP.

Making Of lists Of 'ten best poems"
is about as profitiess as naming the
''ten best novels" There is taste and
taste, and some is good and some is
bad. A very different selection will
be made by a poet of ten poems or by
a novelist Of novels that readers ener
ally would make. We would not be glad
to have to read 1.-The ten best novels"
that many fblks would make as their
selectiona#%
Thoma Nelson Page has zone to Eu-
rope. He is writing a long novel. His
fame will probably rest upon his two
or three excellent early stories, which
he recites with inimitable excellence
and art.
The "GadshilT" edition Of Dickens is
said to be capital. Andrew Lang is the
editor and 1t is a guarantee of excel
lence. The illustrations are the old
ones so popular and good.
Byron is no poet quOth some Of the
poets of this day and some critics. If
you will read all he SO finely says Of
Greece, you will pity the little fellows
III HdNt DNth luDib5 thC iIoi 20 oIN
trying to reach a fitting strain in be-
half of that little nation. Did you ever
read his superb lyric on THE Isles of
Greece" That is poetry, with the m
phasis on poetry. 1t begins:
''The isles Of Greco. the isles of Greece!
Where burning Sappho loved and
sung,
Where grew the arts Of war and peace,
Where Delos rose, and Phoebus
sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their sun, is set"
Or take this stanza from that elo-
quent and noble Do~em-"Childe Har-
ODDS Pilgrimage::"
yet are thy skies as blue, thy crags as
wild:
Sweet are thy groves, and verdant are
thy fields.
Thine olive ripe as when Minerva
And still his honey'd wealth Hymettus
yields;
There the blithe bee his fragrant for
tress builds,
The reeborn wanderer of thy mountain
air;
Apollo still thy long, long summer gilds,
Still in his beam Mendeli's marbles
SldlC,
Art, Glory, Freedom fail, but Nature is
fair"
= Who writes that way now? What
dash, what spirit, what swing and pas
sion, what classical flavor!
Edmund Gosse, of Trinity College, a
charming English critic, and a poet too
of clever verse, is editing whati is called
1.-THE Literatures of the World Series"
The first issue is Ancient Greek Lit
erature' by Gilbert Murray NJ. A. The
price per volume as $1.5O. We men
ton this as possibly some of our read
ers would like to begin with the initial
volume of a series that promises to be
entertaining and valuable. The Lon
don Times says of the volume that "by
dint of a clear, freely moving intelli-
gence, which is not overwhelmed by the
mass of modern books, pamphlets, and
articles German especially through
which it has come to pass, and by dint
also of a style at once compact and
lucid, Mr.. Murray has produced a book
which fairly represents the best conclu-
sions of modern scholarship with re-
gard to the Greeks" Let us suggest
here that if you love ancient poetry and
have not awaited yourself of John Ad-
dington Symonds's Greek Poets in
two volumes, that you will do we'll to
procure them. They are extremely in
teresting, and contain man. excellent
criticisms and descriptions, as we'll as
much fine poetry. His chapters on
Homer and some of the greatest Greek
poets are exceedingly readable and bril-
liant.
Some little while ago Mrs. Amelia
E. Barr wrote a serial story in two
numbers of the Century. 1t is the only
thing by her we ever read. It greatly
impressed us, and we said in The Mes
senger that it was written with mani
fest literary skill, vigor and interest. 1t
is now published in a volume retaining
the original title-"Prisoners of Con-
science" We ave not read of it's
length in years so strong, thoughtful
and artistic a story. We see it referred
to properly as "a powerful novel of the
Shetland islands"
Captain Mahan's Life of Nelson"
will no doubt be widely read. The
price is So. and that will cut off most
southern readers.
We find Gosse's Critical Kit-Kats''
like rich wine. He writes with singular
elegance and precision and is a posi-
lively delightful interpreter.
Mrs. Margaret Bottorne, president of
the Kings Daughters, has just issued
a Is mo. volume, price 81, entitled "A
Sunshine Trip, Glimpses Of the Orient"
General James Grant Wilson is to
write a life of General Grants military
career.
Professor Edward Dowden. of the
University of Dublin. lectured before