New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-11-26

= from the Best French Sources and Re
f9o BY D. 6eq Iustratad by Robert Engeis
<to. PIP lS7. Z. j. button d Co
Mr. Beiloc is a versatile young man Of letters
always engaged upon some new book his
work has been uneven IN quality. and we nave
liked II least when il has been colored by the
archaic elements in prose writing for which he
seems TO have special prediction But 1t
sometimes happens that an authentic inspiration
will visit a writer who is given, often enough,
20 affected ways. and for Mr.. Belloc a lucky
hour struck when NJ Bedier's version of the
story Of Tristan and IseuIt fell into his hands.
IN the translation of this book he had task
Cor the execution Of which he was unusually
qualified. both regards temperament and lit
erary habit. He is. know from his pretty
little collection OF essays Charles of Orleans.
WILLOW, Marot and one or two other figures OF
enchantment a devort lover of old French
poetry. His preciosity. TO do him justice. has
always had. underneath its foolish glitter,
body OF really robust feeling. NJ. Bedier's text
gave him his chance. X gave him profoundly
poetic romance TO put into English. and the very
character OF that romance permitted him to
make the best CT his dual tendency toward the
simple and the archaic He has risen TO his OPP
portunity and put a fine piece Of work TO his
credit.
This narrative is saturated IN the glamour of
she ancient wildwood and the inlmemorial sea.
II has che rich full beauty Of green and
golden arras. under the shifting lights of
the fire in q bleak castle Of the olden time.
Though its style is the lesurely style of writer's
dead and buried centuries ago. it throbs with
tragic passion. We read IL might read
an illuminated manuscript slowly deciphering an
old tale yet all the time conscious of the
speed with which the i'll starred lovers go to the
contamination of their destiny, and, paradox
caily, piece Of literature essentially measured,
where the utterance Of the writer is concerned.
fills us with a sense OF swift dramatic purpose.
u is as though between the lines of the ancient
manuscript, beneath the stately lines of the
tapestried pageant. we OWNED the tremendous
storm and stress of OF the most poignant
love stories in all literature. The very simple
ity Of the tale heghtens its intensity. Take.
in Illustration. the episode of the philter:
When the day Of Iseult's livery to the Lords OF
S s1 drew near her mother gathered herbs
and brawed notiC1 OF rn;Ett oT5 Ha1-;,,rr 49,
So SAID apart to Brangien:
Marks country for you love her with faithful
love Take then this pitcher and remember well
my words Hide II SO that shall see nor no
Zip go near it; but when the wedding night has
left alone pour this essenced wine into a cup and
offer it TO King Mark and to Iseult his queen;
taste this brew. For this is its power: They who
drink OF II together love each other with their
forever. in lire and in death
And Brangien promised the Queen that she would
On the bark that bore her to Tntagel Iseult the
Fair was weeping as she remembered her own
land, and mourning sweled her heart and she
" no anl Lla' silouId lSdNe YOU ~ toI
CURSED be the sea that bears me, for rather would
one day when the wind had fallen and the sails
hung slack Tristan dropped anchor by Island,
and the hundred knights Of Cornwall and the sail
ors weary OF the sea landed all. Iseult alone re-
and Z
Tristan came near the Queen 70 calm her sorrow sorrow
snd. as they called. the little maid looked about
the mother Of lseult had given into Brangien,s
keeping And when s1e came or II the child cried:
V-i.e-bnt Passion and Joy most sharp and An
The Queen drank deep OF that draught and gave
il all ''S'@-'' gnu ~ '> ''0 ''7 anu e''''''S1
The subtle charm of dusty old world chron-
.cie is in this passage; X breathes vaguely the
romantic atmosphere of old, unhappy far off
things" But If admire it whole heartedly. it
is because MT. Belloc, while preserving that at
rnosphere. contItyes also TO be straightforward
and direct. using English that has all the clarity
Of modern prose. There are no obscurities, as
there unduly quaint diversions in this
fair fabric Of picturesQueness. All the brave in
Cidents OF Tristans youth and superb young
manhood his battles with men and dragons
and, afterward his bitter struggles in the
Tneshes or unlawful yet stainless love, set
forth IN the same luminous fashion The char
acters IN the romance chivalrous and sinister
are boldly delineated. and each scene down to
that most gTievous of all, in which Iseult
comes too late the bedside of her lover is re-
allied with a vividness which not even wagner's
stage picture, flooded with the glory of his
music. could surpass. NJ. Bedier got the tale
from old sources. Mr.. Beloc got it from NJ
Bedier. But the merit of the English transla-
tors work, in this instance is the merit Of that
vitality which we associate as a rule only with
an original creation.
We have put the poetic beauty OF this volume
where 1T belongs in the foreground but as a
matter of fact the Illustrations assert themselves
with corresponding brilliance. Mr.. Robert
Engels. who made them. is vigorous draughts-
man. with invention. sentiment and a distin-
guished style. Though he is panstaking in de-
tails Of costume and the like. his designs have
breadth and atmosphere. There is one OF them
on nearly every page, and. placed as they are in
different relations to the text now upright and
horizontal, at the top the bottom
and now at the side, they give admirable variety
OF effect 20 the whole. They have been beaud-
fully reproduced in colors the low tones In
which they painted showing to the best
possible advantage on the creamy paper.
CHRIS IND POVC