The times., 1899-03-19

Y D.
apostle and Browning. perhaps. its chiei
foe. In the Elzabethan age it had moi
arisen, or there could have been no Shakes.
peare.
The work of Mr.. Hovey, then, is less
important in itself than as marking Q
stage in the evolution of poetry. 1t ex-
presses the thought of today as truly as
did Tennyson the thought of his genera
ton. II puts things in their right rela-
ton, and depicts the life of Arthur's court
very much as it was AS the human qua j.
ty is Mr.. Hovey's chief virtue, so his prin-
cipal vice-and it is very bad cne-Is
rank anachronism. Again and again he
uses coiloquialism or bit of slang
which is much younger than the Arthu-
rian legend. He makes his chorus OF
Fauns, in ''The Quest OF Merlin" sing
about crows ''pecking like the ckens,
and his soldiers mention game laws" at
time when most of Britain was forest.
Game laws came in with the Norman,
some hundreds of years subsequent TO Ar
thurs reign. These are bad flaws, al
though not so bad as some other things.
Many of the metaphors belong rather 10
Shakespeare's time than to that OF Arthur.
But such minor faults as these are, after
all, very much like the patches which la
dies once wore TO set of the pear.y fair
ness of cheek and throat. They serve as
/
which occur all through the poems Some
of the blank verse has q certain delicate
/ individuality which one does not find even
III Tennyson, and its imagery and musical
cadence are fine as anything in the Idy!ls.
The prose which occurs here and there
contains bits of humor which have a
unique and delightful favor. Most of the
character drawing is perfect, and w',ie
owing to the limitations of history, there
l ic 4asp
| ing out of the plot, the dramas are
charming bits of literature as they stand
The Marriage of Guenevere" is, with
out question, the finest of the three. 1.-THE
| Quest of Merlin" is sort of embodiment
of all the old myths of faun and dryad,
Norm and Bacchanal; and again there
might be question whether the unity OF
the poem would not be more perfect were
| the figures confined to British mythology.
Merlin, the Norns, the Trolls, and the
Fairies belong to the landscape, but the
| Greek Maenads and Sylphs are somehow
| foreign. This poem would never ctand
alone, though il. makes a good foil to the
other two and contains some passages OF
dainty and airy grace. "The Birth of Gala
had is along the same lines as "Guene-
we're, though not so powerful.
The Marriage of Guenevere' was thor
oughly analyzed by the reviewers at the
! time Of its appearance in 1891. In II Mr..
Hoyey brings out two or three important
points; first, that Guenevere and Launcelot
have met while the former Is still prin-
cess in her fathers house, and, though
without formal acquaintance, have become
almost lovers. Second, instead OF the spot
| less, almost superhuman king of legend,
Arthur is represented as a general bent
| on conquest, and not in any respect
intensely superior to other men.
There are hints of his pre-matrimonial
amours, and there is a forcible contrast
between him and Launcelot, whose love for
Guenevere is the first love Of his life.
| Third, it is represented that Immediately
| after his marriage Arthur is called away by
| a distant war, so that Guenevere gives her
| self to Launcelot without the memory OF
any previous relations except that of
| marriage rite entered into for state reasons.
There is one beautiful love-scene in gar
den, which rivals anything in literature
since Shakespeare. Were the rest OF the
poem as perfect, Mr.. Hoyey would be
among the foremost poets of today. Thus,
in this conception of the romance, every
shadow of a claim which Arthur has upon
Guenevere, except the mere legal and con-
ventional bond, Is swept away. He can
neither command her respect nor her love,
and almost the only worthy thing in him
is his loyalty and generosity toward his
friends. He is presented as a sort Of Bis
fication of Britain.
Most people, after reading the demurely
humorous character sketch of Dagonet in
Tennyson's Last Tournament" have
wished for nearer view of that quaint
jester, who danced like a withered leaf"
and was SO loyal toward his master. Mr..
Hovey has been sagacious enough to cater
to this desire, and makes Dagonet one of
the chief characters in "The Birth of CAL
ahad-' In this noem Ea1ahad ia repre-
sented as the son of Launcelot and the
Queen, brought up as the son of the
Queens childhood friend, Ylen. The plot
OF this drama involves the capture of
Guenevere by Roman general, who offers
his help to Launcelot to overthrow Ar
thurs power and seat himself, with Guen-
eyere, on the throne. There are strong
dramatic qualities in the situation, though
it is rather crudely worked out. The poem
ends with the defeat of the Roman and
Guenevere's restoration to Arthur. There
are some beautiful passages in the CONVEX
sation between Guenevere and Launcelot In
the Roman camp, and some delicious drol-
lery in Dagonet's conversation.
The most striking characteristic of Mr..
Hoyey's style is his mastery of words and
certain delicate originality in metaphor
and simiie. He has an unerring instinct
for the right phrase to express subtle
sensation, and he never attempts sublimity
with either commonplace or ridiculous re-
suits. Here, for instance is a speech of
flen's, one OF many dropped like scattered
rose leaves about the pages of these plays
What day of springi.
The wind comes with touch so like a kiss
] almost blush and startle; and the knit sense
Opens like flower in this warm air.
The mystery Of birth has seldom been
handled more graciously than In the words
Of Launcelot and Guenevere at their first
meeting after the birth of Galahad:
Launcelot-You seem to have become
One with the tides and night and the unknown.
My child-your child-whence come? By what
strange forge
Wrought Of ourselves and dreams and the great
deep
Into Hfe7 I feel as II stood
Where God had passed by, leaving all the place
Afame with him.
Guenevere-Ilow tell the secrets Of
His coming-the weird vibrance of the room,
As il the chords OF ghostly violins
Thrilled into looming dreams where'er you came.
From the beginning, e'er he was conceived,
The air quick with him.
And here is a bit of the scene in the
garden, in THE Marriage of Guenevere."
The Queen says:
We will
Divide each moment in a thousand parts,
And every part a pearl; and they shall make
rosary of little lucent globes
Innumerous the dewdrops of the dawn;
And, counting them, night shall infinite.
This is pure poetry, such as one does
not often find in these days. And here are
two or three quips of Dagonet:
What's the last mad prank on the Severn? Who
has made Sir Kaye ridiculous? Or, no. God
made him that | would | could get