New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-06
POETRY.
THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. HUMoR
AND OTHER MOTIVES

THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. HUMoR
AND OTHER MOTIVES.
soS Sos.f SF a@
from the t servsn Aer SGe sy H
on oS s serSsn f Poetry WV" DuOdecimo pp c The
Century Company.
RuBAIYAT OF poe STEERS. ny Jane: Whit Unit
decimo pp III. The Century Company.
THE FAIRY cHANGEELING: AND AND oTnEFt
Shorter) Duodecimo. PIP 100 John Lane
MEMORIAL DAY. AND OTHER POEMS BY
Copeland & Day.
fsDs 1 ps pu0dec'm0 pD' 1884, Boston; cope
VICTORY. AND OTHER VERSES; BY Hannah ban,nn,
Parker Kimball. Duodecimo PIP 7S Boston
Copeland & Day.
TAKEN FROM LIFE. Verses. With Illustra-
lions. Duodecimo. Up. lS. Doubleday NC
Clure Company.
THE WHITE SHIP. A Little Book Of Poems p, Sc
lected from the Works Of Dante Gabriel KOS
setti Duodecimo PIP. IS. Boston: William IT,
Colesworthy.
Mr. Johnsons preoccupation upon more IMAM
one occasion with themes appealing to the ad-
miration In mems hearts for heroic deeds espe-
cally the heroic deeds Of people, mas borne
frui. in lines which make this new volume OF
his a welcome contribution to contemporary
verse. The title suggests the keynote OF these
pages Equally in his apostrophe to the spirit
Of Greek independence and in his paraphrase
of a Servian poem on incident Of the Mon
tenegrin war Of 1S76-7S Mr. johnson strikes the
heroic note with that quick sympathy and deep
stirred feeling which assure vitality to song
He ia sonRful too In measures fitted 70 high
theme BY dignity and repcse. The long poem In
scribed to the Greeks on the seventy-hfth ami
versary Of their independence aims at sonorous
periods and secures them but the lyric accent
Is retained and the work moves with ease and
celebrity to its high-strung conclusion Mr. John
son has. indeed a most concating huency. and
even when-as In The Gypsy Praises His
Horse"-he emulates the rather grabbed MARIA
tive style Of Browning he contrives to avoid his
masters ellipses. and leaves an impression OF
elasticity and clearness which quite atones for
the suggestion Of another poet In his shorter
pieces this smoothness takes a more original
turn. In illustration we quote. from readable
and musical little collection this poem OF 1.-THE
Wistful Days:
What is there wanting in the Spring?
The air Is soft yeSteryedr:
The happy nested green Is here,
And half the world Is on the wing.
The morning beckons and like balm
Are westward waters, blue and calm.
Yet something's wanting In the Spring.
What is It wanting in the Spring?
April. lover to us ALL
What Is so poignant in thy thrall
When children's merry voices ring?
What haunts us in the cooling dove
More subtle than the speech Of love-
What nameless lack or loss Of Spring?
Let Youth go daily with the Spring
Call her the dear. the fair. the young.
And all her graces ever sung
Let him. once more rehearsing. sing.
They know, who keep a broken tryst,
Till something from the Spring Is missed.
We have not truly known the Spring.
Mr.. Riey's reason for calling his new poem |
"Rubaiyat Of Doc sifers'' is not readily per-
eeived. In the FIRST place the r,etrcal form he
has employed Is not that Of the Persian poet |
Secondly, there is something in the humorous |
dialect Of this work which Jars with memories |
Of Omar and Fitzgerald But these objections |
cannot deprive Mr.. Riley's quatrains Of their |
quaint drollery. Of their homeike touch RENT |
niscent Of everyday experience. and Doc |
Sifers." though he may not be Persian. is at any
rate human and lovable character to boot.
Onc't. in his Office. settn there. with crowd O.
eight err nine
Old neighbors with the time to spare. and Doc
a-feelin' fine.
A man rid UP from Rollins. jes fer Doc to write
him out
Some blame p'scription-done guess. in min
And says. Doc. Doc you pear SO 'Dry. 'e' write
You have fer bein happy by. fer that 'u'd shore
ly beat
Your medicine" says l. And quick scat
Doc turned and writ
And handed me: go hep the sick. and putt
your heart in IT.
This Is unpretentious rhyme, and our extract |
fairly illustrates the entire book. but It Will be
lat the philosophy 1t teaches is Of a sort |
TO lend sweetness to rhymes Of no matter how
uncouth dialect Mr.. Riley ranges over a num-
Der Of episodes Of village life. and as Mr.. Rel
yeas drawings are spirited. expressive produc
TONS the book as a whole gives a pleasing
portrait Of attractive character. placed in an
equally attractive environment
Mrs. Shorter has moments in which she is one |
Of the most commonplace Of the minor poets OF
the day. but at other times she has melody. she
has picturesqueness. and she has. above all. an
appreciation Of fantastical ballad themes. These
last she treats with skill and feeling, and they
make the best part Of her book We do not
care for a poem like Questions" modelled COM |
placently on Blake and spoiled In the modelling |
but In ballads like The Little Black Hound" or |
THE Rape Of the Baron's Wine there is a GER |
tain swing which Is decidedly worth attention |
II Mrs. Shorter will turn her back on latter-day
philosophizng on the forms and motives Of the
modern smart poetical set in London. and will
devote herself to such hints out OF Irish fairy
lore a.. have enabled her to write the better
poems in this book, she will increase the num-
Der Of her readers and strengthen her reputa-
ton. II she goes on mixing her unconventional
inspiration with the sort Of impulse that gives
US lines like these
In the heart OF rose
Lies the heart Of a maid
she will be classed among the minor bardlings
who are to be avoided as though they were in
carnate bores.
The three dainty booklets In which Messrs.
Conslard q Day send US the recent fruits Of