New-York tribune., 1905-11-11
POETS IN ITALY.
TraueEs in the Footprints of Shelley
and Ldndor.

the Poems and Letters of Percy BySsne IsS from
1915 to 1S22 Selected and ArranIged Py e anne M ge
nengs atinns from photographs 12no. xxin'
2s8 Chicago: A. c. McClurg & Co.
THE FLORENCE OF LANDoR BY LII Lillian n6z WsIe, s1e,
ing With illustrations from & phSt2gla O. }so
italy is the rage. Books about its people
and their manners. books about its puloihss
and its pictures, books about every pn+'
of its history that can be maui ~ ~,
bool, follow one another in such swift
s,,ccession that it is getting TO De d "'''O
difficult to keep track Of them lnc1dehtaAy VIC
have books about famous Foreigners WIZ n ,
lived in italy. AS rule these do not give nlucH
,ro b,+ vre are inclined to look with a
Ienient eye upon Mrs. McMahans win 0heite'
&, 1+a1v" for while there seems something IN
oonerr,ous about the publication OF his WrltlIsS
c,eek by towl with halftones from photosiaPn0'
there is no denying that this conpHalloi nos
i+s mildly interesting SIDE After ah' lle ii''ti
tones are from good photographs ana III iiih1iS
eases they really add to the text mus III @ ole
of the letters quoted, written to Osborne III lo-'
ctauoy saws. I'VE have furnished house at
pisa and mean to make it our headquarters
shall get all my books out and entrench my
lie 1iLa q snider in a web" To turn to Mrs.
AfcAahan's photograph of the house at Pisa Is
m pet a deepened sense of just what the poet
meant when he talked Of entrenchlng hllilseIi.
Nowhere better than in that environment 0o''N
he have spun his web.
OF course any one who has SheHey WI
On his shelves can follow up this or that anu
sion but it is pleasant to be able TO turn '1e
nages of one volume and find nrst, peneati "
nbo+oqranh of the pyramid of Cestius, the four
vivid lines from 'Adonais." and then the let'o!
in which he has written the most beautltul u
oil r,rose descriptions of the Protestant Gene
tow at Rome Mrs McMahan has shown taste
and skill in the execution of her delicate tasA
nowhere better than in her internlnghng Oh '
letters and the poems. Some of her photosFapii'
might have been spared but they are lilos.is '
welcome We cannot take leave OF the Llr0
hook without pausing for moment on liiihe'
=, - ,bicb no matter how familiar. one IS
alx,avs tempted to repeat The most h4rue0N
~ev,ever must be moved to quote Shelley Wneh
. rerr;rt of the poet passes through his hands,
-o 1-a make no excuse for reproducing some Oh
the divfnest lines in the elegy on Keats:
He is made one with nature: there is heard
His voice in all her MUSIC from the q moan hra
or thunder to the song Of night 5 sweet OliN'
He is a presence TO be felt ana 45 kn9"n stone
snreading itself where er that Power may move
Which has Withdrawn bis 6flhg er 70 iIs ered love-
sustains it from beneath and kindles 1t above
He is 2 portion Of the lovelness -, ,oa-
Which he made 9Te ,r 2Eey gaEtic hf oet stress
syEeans through tie dull dense world. competing
All thsTe 5s SUGGESTIONS TO the forms they wear ,ts
Tortnring r6t tn unwilling dross that checks i'S
HlgiC 4 nzvn likeness, as each mass may bear;
aOdSt7ursting it's beauty and its might
rom trees and beasts and men INTO the i4e
Light.
/ Miss Writings volume THE Florence Vi
Iandor" is a blend Of devoted reading anu
ecstatic admiration. She has followed the lool-
steps of the poet, and wherever opportunilS
arises to cite a letter poem or ms o'
somebody's report of 4 conversation Win Ill.,
she is quick to seize upon it, When there Ai
no such items TO be strung upon the lnrea"
of her narrative she supplies the omission pS
herself discoursing more or less rhapsoolcal!s'
on Florence or upon episodes in its ahn@1''
The result is a rather shapeless piece OF WIZ
which the reader must examine with paIieIo
If he Is 10 get any satisfaction out OF IL NJ
must in short put up with the authors wan
Of the critical faculty for the sake OF LIZ
shress and patches which she gathers Ao4N
what others have written Apropos OF '
fart that Hawthorne and Lander never hiet
she quotes a note received by her from ~
romancer's son, in which he glances at a ch
acteristic trait MY father never. that
know Of" he says made pilgrimage OF pieis
TO any living person He was too modest ~
think himself an object OF interest, and aia
not consider his own interest IN any person
warrant to irtrude upon them" This no1s