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

been considering her epithets too curiously. The
value of the book lies in its excellence Of taste
in its huency. in its refinement of ideas. IT lies
even more in it's promise. At present kind oil
struggle seems TO he going on between the poet
sef-conscious craftsmanship and her quick uh-
premeditated bursts Of lyrism. In the long run
the lyrical impetus will conquer and the fas-
tdous taste which marks these pages Will be-
come invigorated without losing any of its hnei
elements. In the mean time there is a suaNlty
about the verses ITO a Wild Rose Found in Oc'
tober" and "Crce" which lifts Miss Clarke
considerable distance above the average leVeI
Of minor verse The spirit Of her utterance IS
enforced, matter how more than pollsheu III
style she may he. There Is swift response III
her nature to that scnsuous charm which is moS'
conspicuously identified with the genius OF
Keats 1t might he said that she had been read
ing him II it were not that the verses are too we"
knit TO be merely initiative. Altogether she is
a new voice in the younger choir Of the time 10
which it is pleasant to hearken, in which 1t is
cheering to recognize an upfted. uplifting tone.
There is a strong contrast between the es-
sentially ed cadenCes of An Opal anu
the rather vagrant melodies of the two or three
volumes lately dedicated TO themes OF infancy
But the modest rhymes of Mrs. Moulton' Tor
example. in her book called "In Childhood
Country" lose nothing through their artesShe7S.
ON the contrary. this is positive little garland
OF posies. one OF those collections in when the
raTycte springs not from Condcscension or crudi-
ty but from a pure delight in the things q
childhood The pages are evenly good, ana mere
and there We find a fragment which almost pct
tiers Mrs Moulton's best Her songs have
been provided with delicatcly humorous ana
Very artistic pictorial accompaniment hy Miss
Ethel Reed. For MI Gabriel SetOUn, in THE
child World" a number Of exquisite en-
bcllishments have been made by Mr. Charles
Robinson. So brilliant are his drawings. so
fun OF color. quaintncss and sympathy, that
the book seems as much his as the author s
Bat the pictures ought not TO divert the
reader from the text, which is sprght-
~. musical and full of a genuine feeling for
the companionship Of frolicSome little boys ana
girls. The gentle emotion which pervadcs these
verses their smoothnecs and their entirely hui
man fibre. make Mr. Setoun's work as a novel
ist seem all the more useless Why does he go
on writing stories which it is a pcnance to read
when he can habble so swcctly in his poems?
ordinarily it would he a tcmcrarious reviewer
who would advise a man to turn from prose to
poetry. but in the case of MI Gabriel Setoun
the suggestion may be offered without undue
writings of conscience. To advise MIR William
5 Lord to go on writing verses is another mat
ter. He appears 10 Civ the fun stretch of his
wings in his Blue and Gold" and AT their very
widest they do not carry him far. But he writes
with some cleverness Of children. and though
second volume from his pen would be super
iluous a corner may Iustihahly be made for
81 me Of his present pages. In Suppose and
Mother Goose and a dozen other verses he
hits very happily the airy. more less non
scTsical note which belongs to good nursery
rhyme. His more serious essays are uninter-
oStng.