New-York tribune., 1903-03-08


II IS interesting and cheering to observe 'ne
manner in which contemporary literature 'n0CS
rro- firoo IN time. the meretricious garments IN
49, ,,,,or A. nv one "schoOI" after another
II ts also interesting, and, in way, amusing "
ohqorva the fatuity with which, at intervals
a,r,n aelf.appointed literary tailor goes on prof.
caring garment long since out Of date ne Oe-
tr1 hlissfuIlv unconscious OF the fact that tAe
world moves Take, for example, pFeelosty'
which some years ago inanely gFliAeeU ~
scores of books and periodicals, anTOii'lhs PtO9e
and poetrv as some ape OF tenoeF years WAs"
ofrront from q safe distance, the mOpaIen OA
+he forest Preciosity is as dead as nan IL
door Moreover, it has fallen frTeoeenaOIS Lh'0
thp disrepute which we prophes!ed Ior II WHICH
if WAS rampant-if so feeble thing eau Oe coH-
ceiyed rs ramping-Some ten OF t"eiSe Se04S
400 What is our astonishment therefore, 10
60 40 Io1otod devo4ee of the discredited idol
+r,ic, 10 caIvanize it into life! He does this ID
q cinoGn mage in one Of the current magazines
oD5 docs ft with g sincerity that is as patneuc
os # is Quaint The page is, as Mr. James may
COW "of an unimportance" which relieves Us
of ali anxiety as to a recrudescence Oh tho Niu
cnmnIaint Indeed, If we notice II at All A. %
only because this unhappy waif someho" Dl4nss
home TO us new sense OF our gooo fortune -
having been pestered so very little OF la'e Yeas
by the precious" author.
r7yborcb new editions of Shakespeare have
oIvpavs been getting themselves printed they
GRO ot tho moment little more aggresslVely 10
tho front than usual There is talk here ano
4nara Of n shakespeare revival Let It come
p,,t we wish that it might come unaccompanled
NV foo much nonsense. Eor example "hSn
THE EIizabethan Shakspere" when FFoIeSsol
Mark Liddell Is editing is announced Dy niS
Dublfshers with the confident remark thaI me
average man cannot read the plays tntelligenuy
without it, we smile and let it pass But Wheh
we turn from the advertising pages OF AHe
Worlds Work." in which this remark OccuLs'
+o the body Of the magazine, we ma IN aI '1N4e
hearing the startling title OF "Why Shakespeare
10 Not Understood: Our Greatest Literature
NEGLECTED. Because Of Its UntntelIlglplIlty' Al
the article itself we come at once upon tne
1Iond statement that Shakespeare "in the orol-
nary American home is used chiefly to I'LL book
shnIf snsce" and the reader who doubts TINS Is
invited TO take down a play, even one ne Has
rr1d at school, and read it to see II Ne cOLhPIe-
hapds the tongue in which Shakespeare Wrote'
This is indeed interesting and 80 is the writer
asermntion that in the mind of the ordinary
reader "evcn one who feels the mighty power
Of Shakespeare's literature" there luEkS |"
haunting sub-consciousness that Shakespeare IS
.shard reading" It appears that I'VE reao aDOut
SbaIyespcare. listen to lectures about snake
snoorc talk about Shakespeare, quote SNAKE
sncare: but not one in ten thousand OF US can
really read common passages of Shakespeare
:utelIIgentIy" Too bad, too bad.
Inst 7rank the divagatons Of Mr.. A. ]. DaW'
sor the novelist in a field Of argument 10
,rboen traditions he has not yet adjusted him
self with complete success, gave US occasion to
Doint out the risk which attends the author
when he gives himself to extra-literary actVl-
tics Since then we have read letter of Mr..
Dawson's in 1.-The Academy and Literature" IN
which he glances with satirical point at the
nuIIic interest which is for some occult reason
srpDosed to exist in the Tecreatlons OF distin-
guishcd people His satire, like his humor IS
perhaps a little crude, but, on the other hand,
+ NAV be that it takes something more than a
fapfcr thrust, something more like the crushing
sorce of a bIudgeOn, welded in the hands or an
4I,o ,E,C7,r ~ fhnCc SIynn