New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-06


Plutonic idol:
Thou mak'st me eat whilst others starve,
And sing while others do lament;
Such unto me Thy blessings are,
AS II were Thine only care.
OF course Mr. Shaw's assumption is that while
the third scene Of the "Rhine-Gold" may not be
smeared over with phosphorus. while no figure
in II may have a phossy Jaw. II was composed
to enforce the ideas of economic abnormality
symbolized by a atter-day match factory. To
prove all this our author turns tauntily to the
facts Of Wagners life" He marshals all the
hackneyed evidence, tells you how the composer
flung himself into the political struggles Of his
time and reminds you that in Germany the
proclamation summing UP Wagner as a polit-
icay dangerous person may be consulted to
this day" He is ingenious in his argument.
All these wseacres Mr.. Sidney Lee. satir-
izing the Baconian hypothesis at a Shakespeare
dinner the other day, undertook TO prove to any
impartial jury who were pledged to abide by
the spurious logic OF the Baconians that every
poem usually assigned to Lord Tennyson was
really the exercise OF Mr.. Gladstone's recrea-
ton" Similarly do not doubt that among
Wagnerites with Fabian Society tendencies Mr..
Shaw could easily demonstrate that all the crea-
sionate expressions OF desire to earn for the
world three square meals a day and a royal
wage, with only five hours work. But we do
not all belong to the Fabian Society.
Wagner himself when called a witness, OBJ
serves: How can an artist expect that what
he has felt ntuitively should be perfectly realized
by others seeing that he himself feels in the
presence Of his work. II ii is true Art. that he
is confronted by a riddle, about which he. too
might have illusions, just another might"
Here Mr.. Shaw has momentary glimpse Of the
discretion which is precious among critics. we
are apt" he says Ito defy men of genius. ex-
acty as we defy the creative force of the uni
verse by attrbuting to logical design what Is
the result of blind instinct" In this lucid in
terval Mr.. Shaw ought to have realized that he
was winnowing the wind In attempting so COM
pacently to solve the riddle before which Wag-
ner himself felt certain trepidaton but, with
the stodgv seriousness that marks his whole
study he drives away at his hypothesis
Wagner's explanations Of his works we are
told FOR the most part explain nothing but
the mood in which he happened to be on the day
he advanced them" This being the case. why
not throw overheard the composers fatuous
guesses at what he meant and listen to MT
Shaw? Poor Wagner! We would throw him
overheard at once if it were not for a sneaking
feeling that he was. after ALL the man of genius
a creative artist, being who gave us works
surprisingly beautiful, and therefore meet to be
regarded with admiration. not untinctured with
humility. Our humility naturally seems to Mr.
Shaw to be synonymous with utter imbecility
Unless the spectator recognizes in THE Ring
If the Nibelungs." says Mr. Shaw, IAN image OF
the life he is himself fighting his way through
II must needs appear to him a monstrous de-
velopnoent of the Christmas pantomme, spun
ont here and there into intolerable lengths OF
dull conversation by the principal barytone."
Now this we may respectfully inform our Per
feet Wagnerite" is sublime foderol. We do not
know whether it takes "ignoramus" to pro-
duce folderol but certainly Mr.. Shaw is a mas
ter of the art.
Has he never heard Of the profound utterance
OF Keats
"Reauty is truth truth beauty"-that Is all
Ye know on earth. and all ye need to know?
Does he not know that, while Swans have
racked their brains to hit upon a restoration or
the Venus de Milo which would explain exactly
the significance Of that mutilated statue, the
world has gone worshipping 1t as miracle OF
loyeljness? But we are well aware that sug-
gestions of this sort can only provoke MT Sha"
to fling whitehead factory at us. or confront
us with phossy Jaw. Pursuing doggedly his
chosen theorv like a stolid Gradgrind, ruminat-
ing on the rule of three in a field Of flowers ne
ignores the beauty in Wagner's glorious COM
positions or dismsses 1t as something on ali
fours with the thoughtless pleasures OF
Christmas pantomme. 1t is useless for MIN 10
drop owlish hints that no one could surpass
him in appreciation Of all that is beauttui IN
THE Ring Of the Nibelungs. he cannot eat
rla
his cake and have it, too We refuse 10 Piace
any confidence in critic who jumnles up WITH
his perceptions Of aesthetic phenomena an &c
centric Interpretation OF the master under dis-
cussion only worthy Of a conceited Phstine
We would not traverse his pages thus carefully
- they were not written in a dangerously
rlorsi,,le manner No previous book OF Mr..
Sbau,s EQUALS this one in excellence Of style.