New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-14
: BRILLIANT PARODIST.

\ BRILLIANT PAROD!sT.
The least serious of the books at present under
review is perhaps first IN the sheer power of
holding the readers attention. and feeding it
with good cheer This is THE Rattle Of the
Bays by Nh owen Seaman. a collection Of
par"des better than anything OF the kind since
j *. :. or. with the exception of that untimoIy
lost poet. since The immortal c. S c. There IS
! not dun page in this book we had almost said
not dun line All the poctical notahilities of
the day receive tribute from Mr.. Seaman. He
has parndod Swnburne Sir Edwin Arnold
Kipline. Watson, Mr.. lie Galennc overybodr
ana he has relied upon no mere verbal skill He
has caught the very styles of his poets In "F,logi
Musarum" ne has parodied NJ. Watson to the
life. and n the same time has stuck critical
ana satirical knife under tn" hfth rib OF that
sensitive poc,aster. which must make him hun
ccI and thirst for balm The lines are supposed
to illustrate Mr. Wa,son's feelings after Alfred
Austin had been made Laureate Readers II
The Spectator Will remcmbc: how that staid
old journal culogzed Mr. Watson every week in
terms which would have made Shakespeare
blush. Mr.. Seaman makes his victim wall 10
the editor:
Nainly your voice on the ears of impregnable
Laureate makers.
Rang az the sinuous sea rings on a petrine1
coast,
Nainly your voice with a subtle and slightly
indelicale larsess
BROKE on an obdurate world hymning the adj
vent OF Me.
When from III, Commune Of air" from the
exquisite fabric Of Silence"
]. a superior orb. burst into exquisite print
There is much more which it is tempting TO
transfer 10 this place but we viii merely point
ont the penetrating satire Of the lines ITO
BOY-POet Of the Decadcnce." the eycruciatinc
bombast Of the epstles - and from Kaiser
Wilhelm, the delicious fun Of THE Rhyme Of Tho
Kipperlins." and the fresh. elastic STYLE Of every
one OF the rhymes from the first page 10 the
last. In its field The Battle Of the BAYS" will
be a classic
But with Mr.. Scamans nlmLa and laughter
compelling stan2as We say farewell o. our, on
joyment Of song and sunny vitality The
Mathis" Of Mr. Francis Sherman which ought
90 have a lit in 1t. to judge from its title and
leading motive. is really pensive 10 the point ~
inertia. The work reveals signs ~ careful and
even ardent observation of nature but there 4.
no hint % effortless. lyrical movement. Maths!
Il is a name for a book all trcniulous with the
awakening forces Of life, But when Mr. Sher-
man is in his happest mood ne can produce
nothing more animated than 1.-THE Foreigner"
and that. the best thing in his book is more
noticeable for its pictorial effect and attractive
point than for its purely poetic quality The
dicti1n is To seek. showing at times some So
Verey prosac drops Witness the following:
Hemlocks were there. and little pines
Also etc. etc. enc.
Mr. Prosser Hall Frye suffers from faults sim,
liar TO those Of Mr.. sherman, and We are sorry
for it, inasmuch as there are things in his book;
The Substance Of His House" which might have
been brought 10 a much higher degree Of ex-
Celle had the author known better than 10
observe when asking for kiss: Il will not take
it now, but wait while" \ line Ike that is
enough to put any poet out OF court, whereas
such poem The Queen" with its romance
and dramatic situations. is enough to obtain for
poet serious recognition Mi. Frye has Il skill
ful descriptive touch, he has imsginaton and
his verses move with some expedition II he will
bat revise his vocabulary and learn distinction
Of epithet he will be poet some day Only
unfortunately, distinction cannot be learned;
and fine taste, which Is what Mr.. FRYE decidedly
Lacks, Is not to be found in the books 81 Mr.
Aurngers Book OF the Huls" II may he SAID
that il has Iveliness, simplicity. pcturesqueness
and occasional CLEANS Of poeical sentiment
The Ballad u Oriskany," which opens the coll
lection, IS not unmelodlous, and it strikes chord
II pathos and familiar emotion, which IS re-
peatcd again and again in the succeeding pages
With its virtues and its mediocriiies IL IL pass
able book Of verse. An Autumn Singer" is not
fairly 10 be described passable When a poet
can write sonnet on the sonnet. and begin thus:
The sonnet Is a photograph ~ one
Rloh eNanescent moment Of LIES face.
he suggests that he would make good Kodak
fend. but that he knows nothing about poetry.