New-York tribune., 1905-11-30

tnls. 1t is well printed, and has a frontispiece
portrait Of the author.
Sympathy is the dominant element in The
Children OF the Night" (Charles scribners sonsp.
little volume OF poems by Mr.. Edwin Airing
ton Robinson. II appears, indeed IN rather
unusual measure for the work Of writer
keenly interested as Mir. Robinson is in tech
nical forms. Quatrains ballades. sonnets and
even willamette, are printed in this volume.
and they are all deftly turned. This is tho
more creditable to Mr.. Robinson. inaguuch as
verbal felicity, apt to be the first aim Of tbs
assiduous technician. is not one of his salient
merits On the contrary, he can begin one Of
his verses with this astonishing line: Tu-
multuously void OF a clean scheme" But more
often he says what he has TO say smoothly ana
agreeably. thus:
AN OLD STORY
stEange. that did not know him then
That friend of minei
did not even show him then &
But cursed him for the ways he had
To make me see
Ny envy OF the praise he had
] would have rid the earth Of him
/ 99Tsi DeTsr X Knew gy tbe RT5oTl Worth Of him
Until he died.
Mr. Robinson is interested IN books as well
as in life. and several of his best verses arc on
literary themes. A point of view which ought
to be shared by every one. but is, as matter
Of fact, none too common. is well expressed in
the following sonnet:
yERLAINE.
Why do you dig ike long-clawedL L scayengsGTss .,4 Gas
To touch the covered corpse Of him that Ilea
The uplands for the fens, and roted
oneI let the grass grow there and leave his verse
To tell the story OF the life he LED. ...s
Ana ist the worms be its blographers
song sloughs away the sin TO find redress, - @
For long but laurel to the stricken brow
That felt the Muses. finger; nothing less
Than helTs fulfilment of the end OF thlnSs
can blot the star that shines on Paris now.
without accepting Mr.. Robinson's conception
of verIaine as a s'star," may nevertheless
appreciate his fling at the "long-clawed scaVen-
gers
Under the title Of Country Homes of Famous
Americans Doubleday. Page & Coz, Mr. Oh
yer Bronson Capen has published volume OF
generous dimensions flied with fine halftones
from photographs Of the homes OF Washington,
Emerson, Hawthorne. Greeley. Irving, Whit
tier and divers others. eighteen places being
thus exhibited. The text is full of interesting
matter about life it has been lived in these
various hornesteads. We like to think Of the
past as having better luck than we know IN the
matter of service but even Washington had his
troubles from this source. The degeneration
of his sheep says Mr.. Capen, "after he became
President in 1889, shows, however. why he did
not make a great success in farming For
about half Of the forty-six years that be owned
Mount Vernon he was away from home in the
service of his country. During these periods of
absence the servants, through ignoranca and
dishonesty let things shift for themselves His
absence from home during the Revolutionary
War, he estimated. cost the estate about $50
000" Mr.. Capen offers a great deal Of informa-
ton like this, but his pictures are the thing.
They show the houses from all points Of view.
inside as well as out, and they have been beau
tifully printed.