The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-04
A Parody Anthology. Is Parody Anthology colle x,,, Walls xptIl xurtn m u n xr

This Parody Anthology collected by Carolyn Wells will win many readers. Miss Wells disarms her critics at once by this statement: "To enjoy parody. one must have an intense sense of the humorous and humorous sense of the intense; and this, of course. pre- supposes a mental attitude of wide tolerance and liberal judgment" Mental possessions and attributes that none of us wish to be without. In her very discriminating introduction: Parody as a Fine Art" Miss Wells sketches as clearly the needs of the parody writer. Specifically. the true parodist requires an exact mental balance, a fine sense of proportion and relative values, good humor, refinement, and unerring taste. Self control and self-restraint are all so needed; a parodist may go to the very edge. but he must not fall over" Qualities like these that go to make up good writer of any character. and the good character of any writer. Parody" Miss Wells states, 'is tribute to popularity, and consequently to merit of one sort or another and in the hands of the initiate may be considered a touch stone that proves true worth." After wide and deep research in this field of "freak-flowers" I might call them grown from seed dropped from the worlds masterpieces of song blooms, Miss Wells declares that Ten nyson has probably been parodied most of poets. Poe next, after these two Browning, Swinburne, Watt. Whit man. Moore. Wadsworth, Longfellow, Thomas, Campbell. After this study of the vast amount of amusing the one poem which has drawn forth the most parodies the compiler of this volume declares to be Ann Taylor's lines. My Mother" After this. The Raven" Gray's "Elegy," The Song of the shirt" The May Queen," Locks ley Hall," "The Burial of Sir John Moore" Three Fishers"
 Strange how in all gatherings of verse of all sorts, in all Authotergies how much of the best work Is attrib- uted to Anonymous. One feels ready to agree with the school boy who de- clared Anonymous to be the best writer in the English language Anonymous who has lived and writ ten and excelled in all ages and through all periods of our literature! The three parodles on Shakespeare's ITO Be or Not to Be" by Anonymous" are all excellent.
 The Bachelors Soliloquy:''
 ITO wed or not to wed? That is the question Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
 The papgs and arrows of outrageous Or to take arms against the powerful flame
 And by opposing, quench 1t. ID wed--to marry" Aud much more to the same end Then follows the soliloquy on Poker" ITO draw, or not to draw--that is the
 question:
 Whether 'tis safer in the player to
 take
 The awful risk of skinning for a
 straight,
 Or standing pat, to raise, 'em all the
 limit
 And thus. by blufing, get in.To draw,
 to skin;
 No more-and by that skin to get
 So goes the earnest soIiloquy a page or more, when Anonymous" again gives one upon 'Toothache:" ITO have it out or not. That is the
 question:
 Whether t is better for the jaws to suffer
 The bangs and torments of an aching
 tooth,
 Or to take steel against host of trou- bles.
 And, by extracting them, end them? To pull--to tug!
 No more: and by tug we end The toothache and a thousand natural
 ills
 The jaw is heir to-" With much more after Hamlets manner. Miss sWells includes. The Whist Players Soliloquy," a very ex- cellent example of the many parodies on this much -bespoken speech: ITO trump. or not to trump-that is the question:
 whether t Is better in this case to mo- tice
 The leads and signals of outraged op- ponents,s
 Or to force trumps against a suit of diamonds,
 And by opposing end them? To trump, ito take.--
 No more; and by that trick to win the lead aonna deliciouslv funny onas tSv OIi-