The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-01-17

II ERHAPS no recent book, certainly no
~ recent book of poetry, has provoked
1N*S such astonishing differences OF opinion
as has Rudyard Kipling's new volume, 1.-The
Seven Seas" Two of our most authoritative
literary journals devote considerable space to
Kipling and his book this month. The Book
man, in q cleverly written review signed Y Y,
gives US to understand that these verses are
not poetry at all. "Y. Y, in answer to some
other reviewer, who asks, 'If this be not
poetry, what ISL" repeats scornfully, "What
is p and goes on, "Why, nearly all the poetry
OF all the great poets-the poets whose themes
whose treatment and whose language were all
entirely poetieal. With more point might we
ask, II the poetry from Homer downward,
which universal criticism has sanctioned, be
really poetry, what is this new school of
blood and iron, of slang and profanity?
The new poetry is no more poetry than the
new woman is woman When we have read
this and little more (notably what he says
of machinery we conclude that "Y. Y" may
De cever-in fact ne proves himself so-but
that he lacks the two great qualities of the
critic, sympathy and understanding. He
confesses to hating machinery and all that it
symbolizes, 1.-The stupid, shuddering, slavish
cranks, the hateful, modern, unitarian
smell" Now man may not like machinery,
but little more sympathy, mind little
more genially tempered, would make him
capable of understanding the enthusiasm of
the man who does.
Any one who can read "McAndrews Hymn"
and not feel a responsive thrill for the old
Scotch engineers fervor and exaltation when
he speaks of his engines must also be lacking
in these two prime qualities OF sympathy and
understanding. Moreover, "Y. Y" cites as
examples OF Mr.. Kipling's work the least fine
of the poems. He dwells especially upon "The
Mary Gloster," q poem that many lovers of
Kipling must wish expurgated, and this he
calls "Mr Kipling's longest and most am
bilious piece" whereas "McAndrews' Hymn"
is equally long and is the masterpiece of the
book In short this critics candor is the only
thing that saves him; he frankly confesses
himself prejudiced before beginning his re-
view.
1t is relief to turn to Charles Elliot Nor
tons article in the January Atlantic He
speaks Of 1.-The splendid continuous fertility of
English genius; the unbroken, poetic expires
sion OF English character and life, from
Chaucer to Rudyard Kipling, which is I'M
paralleled in the moral and intellectual his
tory OF any other race" This forcibly indi-
cafes Kipling's position, as ranked by Norton.
He goes on to speak of the onward sweep OF
the realistic movement, first shown in prose
fiction, and which has waited for Its poet;
''for real1sm-the aim to see the world and de-
pict it as 1t ls-requires the highest exercise
of the poetic Imagination The outward
thing, the actual aspect is in truth the real
thing and the true aspect only when seen by
the imaginative vision" And then he goes
on to show how Kiping has this "imagina-
tive vision,'' this ability to see "throuoh not
NTH the eve, which makes him true realist
and combined with his mere technical skill a
great poet" Andrew Lang puts the same
thing more tersely when he says OF KipIing
that ,'he can find the rare strange things in
the midst of the com monplace."
1t is very interesting after these various
criticisms to come TO the consideration of the
poems for ourselves. One reader here con-
fesses to having ct two sittings read straight
through from cover to cover, with un1agging
interest, thing never personally done before
with any book OF short poems. This was pos
sible, it seems to me, because there is distinct
motif. a dominant theme carried through all
the poems. Sometimes lesser themes are in
troduced, but Kipling recurs again and again
TO his original motif What is this dominant
theme? Rudely put into words, it is the feel
ing that lie is as full of romance to-day as
ever it was. He contends that there is as
much to stir the emotion, to fire the blood, TO
inspire the heart, in the commonplaces OF life
to-day as there was wheq men lived epic
poems In ''The King he expresses this as
plainly as words can express it. He shows that
in esch of the successive epochs Of mans lie