The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-03

whispers Marco understands -under-
stands the manner In which vanna will he
revengcd upon Prinxevalle and also upon
her husband for his disbelief. The latter
now disclaims hi. former doubts. Let
her work her vengeance upon the man
she has captured. But for her all that has
gone before In her entire life IL as a bad
dream. The real the beautiful lis, the
dream ls at hand II will be her revenge.
She must so at once to her prisoner. to
Prinzevalle In his cell The curtain
fall
This is n mere skeletonizing Of tale
which has In it tho favor Of the swift, heroic
simplicity Of the classics. There are weak
spots in the scheme which tax ones Gre
dulity. Something of the improbable must
be granted a dramatist be he never 80 logi-
cal The rapid mental change Of Wanna
hints at nature naturally casuistical,
rs we're no doubt many Italians Of the
Renaissance. Her love for Colonna could
never have been deep-rooted. But she
did not betray him, and yet he has been
adjudged profoundly mmoral-ln a word.
not to put too fine an edge upon the sophis-
tries Of the situation. this heroine COM
mitted an imaginative infldelity as well
as telling n falsehood. Never mind the
madness of the finale it is but the logical
outcome Of hor love for Prinzevalle. How
ever. when New York witnesses this touch
ing play. as it probably will next season.
under the personal supervision Of the
author, these disturbing elements may
vanish in the action Few plays reveal
their complete essence In the mere read
ing And the cryptic stammering. the
arrested spasins Of Maeterlinck's earlier
style vanish quite In the stormy action Of
.Monna Wanna"
Prof. Phelps Of Yale sees a strong re-
semblance between Brownings 4Luria'
and Norma Wanna Luria besieges Pisa's
ga,es: he is barbarian he is pcrse-
cutcd by Florence and dies of broken
heart There is Tiburzio in this soul
tragedy of the Florence-loving Moor
there is Trivulzio il Maeterlrck's drama
But these points OF contact are superficial.
Norma Wanna, the Judith. Godiva, Sa-
lammho. is the pivotal point of the new play
which is dramatic. Browning has sur
rounded his warrior with shadows. Tho
piece ia monologue. II is just as reason
able to compare Browning's 'Luria" to
Edgar Allan Poe's fragment. And the
former was composed In 1916
The amazing part Of -Monna Wanna
is that, whilo it is dramatically effective.
the poet does not cede his poetic vision to
the exgencies of the modern stage. he
began with marionettcs; he has ended
not ended, but arrived at-the universal,
at real humans, heroic ic impulse. but people
who have lived. who live. And the route
to this contamination has been Maurice
Maeterinck's own.
n he had listened 10 the mockerics.
listened d. to the misleading advice Of his
critics, ne would have carved cut plays
Of a conventional pattern; that is. retold
some other mans story in some other
mans fashion Of narration. Luckily he
preferred to find on. his soul before he
dealt with things of the fo sh-as do all
men of Imagination. The spirit alone
counts. have dwell, perhaps to lengths
man-those who run can follow his material
progress-but the reason Is simple; the soul
of Ms eterinck is in his plays. That he Is
creative thinker ia not claimed. He
has studied deeply. the wisdom of the
OF inc IUOutTfk. ne KNOWS Elmer.
son and Molitre. He knows Saint Teresa
and John Of the Cross Conceive an artistic
temperament that lovesthe phrase for itself
as did Walter Pater: that loves the soul
OF humanity as did Robert Browning:
that seeks a dramatic synthesis for his
poetry. philosophy. rhetoric-and YOU have
part CT this man. His Flemish fond may ac-
count for his mystic temperament for his
preoccupation with things Of the spirit.
and yet how difficult it Ia to place the crii-
cal finger on this quality and that quality,
az if on the bumbs of the phrcnologist,
and say--here is the real Maurice Maeter-
lhck'
We mny not always understand him.
Ches terton asserts that mo man ran ray
an obs cure thing; he can only say a clear
thing which is obscure 10 other people"
but he makes us feel. And. as with Goethe,
he believes in the Immortality of those |
who have souls enough to live. his wit |
depends upon responsive, almost tele- |
pathic, sen alton from its audience. What |
of its interpreters-the actor and stage |
nanager9 They will have to be es recially
singing actors. The everyday conventions
Of the stage are not sufficient. Apropos. |
Wagner's 1Par ifal7 is the precurro or OF |
my tic symbolism In the modern music |
drama. 1hlk MaeferlintkS Fellow country |
men in art know full well.
Maeterlinck's influence on his contem-
poraries has been marked. Germany,
France. England, and Ireland have appre- !
ciated him. GerhaIt Hauptmann. Eugeno +
de Cas- tro--the .BeIkiss' and "Sagramor" /
Of this Porturues are worth stud y-Arthur
Symons, W. b. Yeats. George Moore, are !
symbols Is. and in The Virgin Of the !
Rocks" D'Annunzo. ever supple. fluid.
ven atile, shows the influence Of the Belgian /
In America, the land Of Hawthorne and |
Poe. where transcendentalism literally ,
affected the mental mode. Of generation. !
here in America der pite its mat erialism. .
the cons ding, cool, and gentle philos ophy !
of Maeterlinck has been welcomed rs |
stream that has returned to one Of it's !
on. When his art is better
understood it may be accepted. This |
poet has enabled some 4to shake off the |
drowsy order Of perceptions in which, with !
eyes OF the soul half closed. We are ant to
dozc away existence here as James Marti- |
neau declares, for he has given the world !
a new viz ion Of beauty, and from one who |
creates such brooding shapes of beauty
shall immortality he withhold
JAMES HuN EKER.
TO STUDY INDIAN ART.