New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-14
III
NARE ATINE AND DRAMA.

NARRATIVE AND DRAMA.
The narrative poets do not aCquit themselves
very creditably in the few volumes which appear
al this time 10 represent the form. The anony-
nous author Of Gold Stories Of 49, seems to
have listened attcntiveiy to his fathers tales Of
the trail across the prairie, and Of the mining
camp Of the far West. but his local color is more
Naccurate than poetic. and he gets verisimilitude
without either music or fire The language is
norid when it is not commonplace. The theme
was a good one. but cannot say that \
Californian has adorned 1t. The bald truth Is
that it has been thrown away upon his hands
II only he had had abilities commensurate with
his material. The same paint is provoked by
Mr.. Derry. VINO in his oThonisba: or The Pris-
oner Of Elba and Other Poems" has an envlahle
succession Of dramatic subjects subjects which
would have gone well into ballads. Unfortunate
". the pedestrian muse of this poet will never
! quicken her steps at the sound of the bugle call
/ or under the strcss of passion She is persist
entity deliberate ard placid and We take leave ~
/ Mr.. Derry as "A minstrel Of mechanical and UNI
! romantic methods. Mr. Telford Groesbeck is
more impressive. He is scarcely more iinpulsive
/ than Mr. Derry and in The Incas his gait Is
/ cxasperatinglv discreet. The picturesque cpl
sodes of his story never seem t. spur him 10
downright, defamation. which would he more
than permissible in the circumstances. If ne had
Lot himself 60 in this metrical survey Of old ie-
ruvian Landscape and life n might have pro-
/ duccd n thrilling composition. Yet. when all his
sins Of omission have been considered when all
the melancholy IFS have been set down, there
! remains notable dignity in this poem, screni-
! ~ that is itself romantic and that touches the
! imagination Turing the reader on through pages
/ that cannot claim to Ice imhu"d with the final
/ poetic rapture. They have instead. the charm
/ Of an interesting place. an extraordinary cpoch
and they win a sincere if not hearty approval
In dramatic verse several recent attempts are
fairly mcritorouS in this direction or that a
though none Of then. yield particularly exciting
| sensations The three poems I'm Mrs. Davis's
Thin booklet have at least the interest Of strange
and romantic episodes sympathetically handled.
| The christmas Masque Of Saint Roch' Is a
compact little drama. ana II eXhaIr' an ar 81
mystery, superstition. romance ana path"s Whlch
stays in the mind. "Perc Dagob"rt' IS sketch
but vivid and true with more in it than WouId
he expected Of a work on 50 small scale ana
the concluding piece, Throwing the Wanga.
embalms in haunting lines a tradition OF curious
uncanny significance. The book remains MI
nor performance: nevertheless. in its minor way
il is n good one "Kal!irrhoe' is one more of
those pocms oddly numerous at the moment.
better. MI Goetz has an imaginative gift ana
he knows a dramatic crisis when h. secs II. Tn
fortunately his style is somewhat obscure. and on
every page one expects a flash OF power that
does not come The events he celebrates are
genuinely tragic. the setting he gives th'm
means t. be beautiful and almost deserves I" he
So described. As il is. the poem does not quit" |
arrive: it is stiff where it ought to he cubtle ana
wcaries the reader where ii ought to carry him /
off his feet. The comfort Mi Go"H may lay I" |
his soul j. the comfort Of having aimed high |
and Of having come within hairs-hroadth 81 /
reaching his goal I'm future work he is not un-
likely TO be- NOR successful Miss Marguerite !
Merington. likewise proves herself possessed of
whimsical humor, apt invontiv"ness and fa'ul-
" Of cI~ver ycrsncatiou. These are the quail |
ties needed for the composition OF such goss2-
,ncr web a. "Daphne" pretends To bc. ana II Miss |
Merngton had ideas to thro" in with the rest, |
she would have mad" firs'-ratc extra' aganza.
Alas. for these insufcicntly equipped poets
Daphne" substitutes slang for wit. sngsons for /
melody. and invites the same advice To the au-
thor that has So frequently 70 be- onered-to do
better next time.
There would appear To- be, perhaps chroro'
logical fitness in approaching lat" reprints 90
old dramas through the medium OF Romans
"CaIinan." which ST ont TO Ice a Kind e. philo-
sophica continuation Of the "Tempesl' hut
E6uan even i'm his own exquisit" French falls
whole leagues behind the spirit Of Shake
spares play. and in Mrs. Nickcrys version he
goes further to the rear Possibly she Is 10 BE-
praised for making it palmer than ever before
how removed the French author Was from IN"
plarc Of the poe, on who's, theme H. had the
audacity t. improvisc. ON the other hand.
there are qualities in the original "Cal!hdn"
hot
and these would better have been left to work
their spell upon whoever cared To seek them
out. Ronan had tho poeti, remperamcnt ne
wrote this work. m tells US at Ischia. under
the influence of the lovely Ncapolitan sky /
Something of the elusive ana fantastic grace
of the famous bay strayed into his drama
Ills keen rati,cnation played sympatheticaly
around The characters Of ProsperO and Calihan.
When h" had finished his tour d. force h. had
put some interesting thought into the form
chara cterstic 81 him. be had written some
subtle Imaginative aud cuustic pages They
bear no relation to Shakespeare. They show Il
Frenchman's calm ignorance OF the fact that
h. was overwhelming one Of the most poetic
inspirations in literature with argument far
more lifted to the eXigencics az prose. Yet they
throw light his own mental processes. and
they therefore occupy permanent place on the
shelves Of his students Why the translation he
fore US should have been made it is hard to tell.
since it is in no sense an equi,alcn for the
original 1t is a pity. too. hy-the-way. that the
second line in the Introduction 10 this book
which bears the imprint Of the Staktspear So
ci,ty OF New-York. should Ice allowed 10 pass
through the proofrcaders hands with such a
name as iirmuee misprint"I
"
REPRINTED CLASSICS
The group Of reprints from the old English
dramatists which follows This version OF cali
ban" is DISTINGUISHED by admirable editing and