Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-02-27

1t may be full of interesting matter, but
nobody can decipher it. And so there
may, after all be humor in those
passag es of Mr.. AIDES books which con-
vcy no meaning at all to persons not
educated in the State of Illinois. A
work named The MOntrose Humorists
has often been cited as Il cryptic in its
VII. but a CALIFORNIAN, perhaps. might
pick Il few plums out of the mass. In
the same way Fables in Slang may
entertain the jewellers in Chicago, and
it takes all sorts to appreciate all
jokes.
New York Sun: Every author who
wishes 10 compose q great work should
boil it down. The public wants to
read as many books as it can. We be-
linVe it would sooner nay two dollars
net, for Il small but hliin% book than
get 20 per cent discount on a fat book
published at n dollar and half. When
we say book necessarily we mean
novel" There are no other books
Mr.. Elnore's poetry is written for
pOsterity.
Now, we all want to read Jared
Tijd's Secret" The Vow OF Cornplia
Coffin "A Prince Among Americans. "
The Jabbins of the Stats and the
masterpieces which each day but Sun
day brings forth. We all want to and
can't. Our lives can't be Frightened,
our deaths made painless by the
society of these immortals. A novel Il
day is about the best record" the best
of us can make. Like the Dying
Poet VIC must.
K weep, because, in n rocky world.
We picked but a pebble or two
combination of writer's and pub
fishers can easily change this foolish
state of things. A few plain rules need
! to be adopted:
]. Cut out all description of scenery
| Everything has been described.
| 2. Cut out all the dialogue except
| three chapters at most. Make them
| short but hot stuff" One comic. one
tragical or melOdramatic. one whisper
ing and susurrant and cooling with
young love. III short, comic, tragic.
| labial.
,. Cut out all Williams. There are no
Williams. Williams are nuisance and Il
| curse.
| =. Put at the beginning a list of the
i
.. Divide as follows: Start: Getting
Busy: Hot Stuff Finish.
6. Headline on each page. sum-
marizing the page.
:. No medical. scientific. marine O,
other iargon.
| s. No dialect
| Thus each book would be q hunk OF
rcmmican, the shortest and very hes,
| NIL hoe
Getting Busy" could be cut out
Start Hot Stuff Finish. Ever
Start" could be excised. Start wifi
Hot Stuff With two, or at mos
four. short chapters and a summary
novel could be read. say. in ten min.
utes. Six novels an hour. Too slow
but good for a beginning.
punished in 1Iarpers Magazine fol
March. In one of these letters Haw
horne: writing from England tells of tn.
sensation which Longfelow's lila
Watha. created in England. espresso.
his high opinion of the poem. and quote!
an amusing parody:
II puts him higher in my estimation
" his originality. and 1 have to see hin
| sun on the assent. 1t gives me grea
pleasure to hear of the great success o
Hlawatha: on this side of the water
too. it is received with greater favor,
| think. than any of Lonefellow's forme
works. and has gained him admirer
among those who have hitherto Stoo,
| 1ioof, Nevertheless. the following line
nave been sent to me:
1:awatha. Hiawatha. sweet trochaic mill
and water,
Milk. and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., flowing o'e
| q bed of sugar.
Through three hundred Ticknor pages
with murmur and n ripple
| Flowing, flowing. ever fiowing-dam tn
river. Damn the poet.
Everybody seems to be seized with a,
| irresistible Impulse to write verses in th
| lew measure. l have received Iampool
IN myself lin manuscript of as much a.
hundred Hiawatha' lines. some of then
livery laughable."
: On the reading of poetry. Henry Val
| Dyke writes as follows in the Marcel
| .Iarper'S BaZar:
| II do not say that everybody is cana bl
i finding an equal enjoyment in all kind
of poetry. There are mental limitations
10 doubt; and intelligence of a certain
fbre can never be woven into silkel
= purses But leather also has its uses
ma Will hold good money | do saw. an,
firmly believe. that every normal huma,
being is capable of learning. easily natu
rally. and very pleasantly, to enjoy som
| Ind of good poetry.
when a girl tells me. But Won know
I don't like poetry ] feel inclined to an
: swel Poor thing, Who crippled you?'
1T is not well to stay too long in III
!. ,sgi1n Of compilation and Household
library is necessary to a liberal educat ior
And if it be objected that the library ma
the answer is that in this respect it doe
not differ from the world | still wOuI
send my girl into it. after she had com
10 years of discretion and had learned
: 'Self-reverence, self-knowedge sef-cor