The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-07-17
BOOKS AND THEIR MAKERS

/, Smile, voluptuous. cool-breath'd earth!
Earth of the slumbering and liquid trees
Earth of the departed sunset-earth of the
mountains misty-topt!
Earth of the vitreous pour of the full moon
just tinged with blue.
Earth of the shine and dark nothing the
tide of the river!
Earth of the limpid gray of clouds brighter
and clearer for my sake!
| Far-swooping elbow'd earth-rich, apple
blossomd earth
Smile, for your lover comes"
| 1t is without law of form. and yet this
is poetry, as Ossian's imprisoned utter
ances were poetry.
Another volume by the same publishers
gives extracts both from the prose and
poetry of Whitman, which, with the one
under consideration, contains the bulk of
his writings, certainly all that can be
claimed to endure. The scope of the mat
ter of this volume is very wide, It includes
all the war experiences, which are of great
interest and in the main the book may be
called the record of Whitman's career from
the time he first became known to the pub
lie till the end. With all our varying opin-
ions of Whitman, no scholar could ever
Indeed, to read anywhere from these pages
is to read something uncommon, whether
we can quite praise 1t or not.
@ 0 o
IN THIS OUR WORLD. By Charlotte
Perkins Stetson. Small, Maynard &
Co.
This volume, containing Mrs. Stetson's
poems. old and new, will naturally attract
considerable attention. She is a witty
woman and has been much before the pub
lie as reformer along the lines of mod
ern social movements. And she also comes
of good stock. How much fame that Is
enduring will come from her poetry is
not easy to estimate, but probably less than
will result from her lecturing and Incl
dental reform work. She is a womans
rights woman Of the most radical school,
and has said some very bright ard sharp
things in defense of her cause. She dis
likes and discredits what is known as con-
servatsm, and gives 1t dig whenever oc-
casion permits. like the following:
A CONSERVATIVE
The garden beds l wandered by
One bright and cheerful morn,
When l found new-fledged butterfly
A-sitting on thorn,
A black and crimson butterfly,
All doeful and fororn.
Said I: "What can the matter be?
Why weepest thou so sore,
With garden fair and sunlight free
And flowers in goodly store?"
But he only turned away from me
And burst into a roar.
IT do not want to fly" said he,
II only want to squirm!'
And he dropped his wings dejectedly,
But still his voice was firm.
st do not want to be fly!
/ want to be a worm!'
o, yesterday of unknown lack!
Today of unknown bliss!
1 left my fool in red and black.
The last 1 saw was this:
The creature madly climbing back
Into his chrysalis!
This must be said to- be smart back-talk
to the conservative, whatever else may be
said about 1t. And this vein of breeziness
and banter runs all through the volume.
This little skit Is another example Of it:
THE PROPHETS
| Time was we stoned the prophets. Age on
age,
When men were strong to save, the world
| hath slain them.
People are wiser now; they waste no rage
The prophets entertain them.
| The best as we'll as the best known, of
poems in the volume is similar Cases."
beginning:
| There was once little animal,
No bigger than fox,
| And on five toes he scampered
| Over tertiary rocks.