New-York tribune., 1907-03-24
Gbe Nem2Dork 9ribaqap&
SUNDAY. MARCH p. 1907.

Once more our old friend the minor Po't -
ON the warpath, resolved to get himself UiAei'
seriously or to bring the blush "f shahle I"
the cheek of the calOus critic. new series
of volumes is coming out devoted to "lhe Coh-
tenporary Poets" and incidentally the gentle
,na,, nroiecting it assert that while to-day
there exists IA large body of excellent poets
and = fairly considerable body of intelligent !
readers If poetry. there has not of late years
fnen any serious attempt to bring the on" lht"
,nut1ct with the other We like that aliuSloh' !
natrnrizng though it is. to IA fairly conSid-
crahlr body of Intelligent readers. 1t Is tuh
for those who know what poetry Is 10 nave
the minor poet express confidence III ther OK
isl. noe. ana in their intelligence But then we
like the whole spirit of this momcniouS de
lfyerancc. There is something ineXpresSlbly
sweet in the thought of Il formal campaign
lool,ing to the elevation of the minor poet to
4 place. among the poets who are read. To
be sure as The Academy" says. the idea ol
Il really strenuous effort in this direction adds
= new terror to life but then il is such an
amusing little terror. We can see, in our
minds eye. the lover of poetry suddenly con
froutcd with an uItimatum and compelled TO
show cause why he should not Immediately
baticn upon tn. Works Of Mr. Percy Popjoy.
Mr. Arthur Symons makes. i'm Tile Satur
day Review" what ne calls ~ Complaint
Against London" and i'm the course of ii he
SAYS some true things. LondoncrS have too
many pictures to look at. they hear too much
music they see too many plays. and 80 on
II is an old story which We have frequent
j. brought TO the attention Of orr readers We
know just how Mr. Symons feels when il"
looks al the imm, mass of new printed mat
ter and says:
Everyone is talking Of books, newspapers are
multiplying supplements in which books are
I"ri"wed. Libraries and clubs and agencies arc
ui,t bidding another for the distribution OF
hooks. books being Cheapcncd. the classics
being thrust into the hands of the unedU-
'atcd. everywhere there is deluge of books.
sni III talk about books Does it all moan
auythtns2 DO people really care more for lit
rraturr than they did ten years ago? Do they
i~,iiminate amy better between what is good
bad in literaturc2 Is any good thing likely
20 come out of ind riminat" reading. any NOR"
nan out Of any other form OF feeding indii-
crimiuatey?
In measure this is plausible. hut it is the
Kind Gf talk which must always IL. taken with
caution. Much trash is written and read.
Much good literature is wasted upon unthink
ing readers Rut il is impossible To give Il
concise answer TO the question as to whether
il all means anything. ana if people really care
more for literature than they dill ten years ago
All that can he said is tlrat the general i'm
preston received by experienced observers iS
favorable one; that the habit Of reading good
books seems to have Increased and to br i'm
cIoaSin- every day Moreover il is Il mistake
10 look for readers only among people bear
ing The stamp of cosmopolitan culture" MIR
Symons himself thinks ii clever 10 name as
three fertzing books. the Bible Shakespeare
AMI Walt Whitman! He might have hcrn
Sa}nl from that b6tisc by many 4 reader who's,
intellectual interests and powers he would
PERHAPS scarcely suspect