New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-02-18
SOME BOOKS OF VERSE.
NEW WORKS. REPRINTS, AND ANTHoL
OGIES.

forv nv the Rev Or Louis A.hert Ranks e
win Portralts and Illustrations. octave. PIP IN.
Cleyelapd. The Burrows BROTHERS Company
THE B1vOUAC or THE DEAD AND ITS s,. NJ
THOR BY George W. Ean.k - IN Gnn,ranv
FROM SUNSET RIDGE. Poems. oldd and NOV NeW.
nv Julia Ward Howe Octave. Pr u" H'uSh-
ton MiDn & 60.
DEPARTMENTAL DITTIEs AND OTHER FIR
VERSES BY Rudyard kipiing puode'hho PIP
leS NJ F. Mansfield n Co
THE QUEENS GARLAND. Being chosen IA Ly1 res
or the kctn ~. g,''H rrin9ton SeNto-decimo
DIP lG a. Russell
MoTHER-soNG AND. CH1LDc1soNG Edited dit r by
Charlotte Brewster Jordan octave pp. "0"' me
Frederick a Stokes Company
The beautv Of the sea can only be rightly in
terpreted by a poet with the instinct Of genius
He does not laboriously describe he does not
talk about the sea. but in ehortlesS words ne
passes on the rapture Of his theme. Nheh
Shakespeare. in the prologue to the third ac' Oh
King Henry Y tells Of the fleet holding Que
course 10 Harfeur and lkens it to "A city on the
inconstant pillows dancing. just that one raw
ishing line calls mp an unforgetiable picture OF
the sea But alas, the modern poet gets no such
inspiration. Mr.. George Cabot Lodge talks
about the sea in THE Song of the Wave" and
this is the way he talks:
This is he song Of the wave. Of the wave that
Wild as burst # day-gold. blown through the
colors Of morning
1t shiyers % infinite atoms, up the rumohhs
steep OF sand.
This is the wave.
There IS a wondrous design on the cover which
would seem to have been suggested by these
lines hut We hope IT will not bee considered
rihr Ia To- say that the design looks more Ike an
ornclet than a breaking wave. and the contents
OF the book when relating to the ocean. impress
,lo va
Lodge mean 10y saying that
The sea
shiy,red as waking from imprisoned sleep
\ naked girl might feel her senses creep
Beneath the winter Of reality
Fell hageard and dishevelled from the skies.
Tho ahorcless ocean filled with whispered cries
And through the smothered twilight reared us
spawn
This is mere vordy nonsense. Mr.. Lodge is
not always void Of moanns his ballad begin
ming She died and lay in her grave of stone
is effectively picturesque though morbid But
We cannot say that there is much pleasure to
be derived from his verses.
The edition Of four Of the "Idyns Of the King
FOR which Mr. g. w. Rhead and his brother
Louis Rncad made the drawings that have Al
ready been described in The Tribune. is at
tractive In It's bravery Of rubricated pages, elap
crate black and white decorations. and pictur-
esque Illustrations. The latter have been much
improved by reduction. the inework SEEM
ing to gain in crispness and dehcacy. A paper
Of creamy tint has been employed setting off
still further the effect Of the drawings 1t was
a good idea TO give on the end papers. portraits
of Queen Victoria and Of the Prince Consort-
the Queen TO whom the Idylls were dedicated,
and he Prince q whom the poet says
lie seems 10 me
Scarce other than my own ideal Knight
Mr. Richard Hovey has apparently not been
sufficiently awod 10y Tennyson ~ refrain from
rushing i'm where most singers no matter how
fascinated 10y the Arthurian legends. would fear
10 tread His 'Lancelot and GueneVere: A
Poem in Dramas has been printed in three ex-
ouisite little books. The first two parts Of this
poem The Quest of Merlin" and The Mar
rage of Guencvere" were copyrighted so far
back as 1891 The last part The Birth Of
Galahad" is evidently very recent compo-
sition one would think that i'm the long iAter-
venirg period Nj. Hovey might have learned
wisdom and have abstained from dalliance with
themes beyond his qualifications. But our
minor poets are greatly daring. We may give
taste Of Mr. Hovey's quality in the shape OF
this descriptive passage. spoken by Merlin:
behold this child
Grown t. a man. the aImor That ne bears
Is silyern pale: hc stands among the knights
Like a white birch among Srm-NlsaSrd pihes'
He is like moon-Nt pillar m the n'Sht'
And angels float unseen above his head
Bearing the Holy Graai
This picture. bent Of white brchos and grim
pin and moonlit pillars. may be poetical, but
il seems % us TO shrive into the merest unsel
when IL is placed beside even SO casual sketch
as Tennysons
In silver armor suddenly Galahad shone
Before us. and against the chapel door
Laid lance and enterd. and We knelt in prayer
BUT these three books are very prettily made
Immortal Songs Of Camp and Rattlefeld' IS
a popular. anthology Of patriotic verse. framed
on an excolen plan The book brings together
songs ike "Yankee Doodle" The star Spanged
Banner" The Battle Hymn Of the Republic"
MY Maryland" The "Marseilaise' and KIP
nng's Professional" Each poem is followed by
An account Of the author and. when possible II
the circumstances under which it was composed.
The book is illustrated with appropriate pictures
and with numerous portraits. II is handsomely
printed and bound. and except for the authors
occasionally jejune remarks ii deserves warm
praise.
Most Of us know Theodore O'Haras poem
The Bivouac Of the Dead" but the story Of the
poem and its author Is not so familiar Accord
ingly We are glad TO commend the booklet in
which Mr. George W. Ranck tells all that there is
10 hc told about O'Hara and his most noted work
O'Hara was a young Kentuckian who fought
first I'm the Mexican War and later served
with distinction IN the army Of the Southern
Confederacy. IL was. however. before the C1Nl
War that he wrote "The Bivouac Of the Dead.
The first version Of it appeared in The Mobile
UogiSte," In ISIS when O'HaTa editing
that paper Nj Kanck says that the poet was
q handsome man. but the frontispece hardly
bears out this statement