New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-08-10
COBWEBBY ORICLES.
Il NeSc Book of Essays by Maurice
MaeterEnck.

THE MEASURE OF THE HOURS BY Maurice
Maeterlinck. Translated by Alexander Teixira
de Mattos. Emo. PIP. 81 Oodd, Mead & Coz.
There is something amusing. and tantazing'
about the writings of VI. Maeternck. He is an
interchangeable metaphysician- When he takes
up a subject you know that he is going 10
wrestle with II Tpanfully, and in the course Of
his labors he is fairly certain To develop an
idea or But then he is equally certain To
put a great many words together without con-
veving more than the vaSIest suggestion Of a
meaning. II is tantaliz!ng to observe his ear
nest weaving Of verbal cobwebS one longs 10
have him drop all his parade of subtlety and
either say something to the point or fall silent
On the other hand the oracuar tone pervaGlng
his work is by its very incongruity, source or
considerable entertainment The present col
lection of essays is thoroughly representative.
II shows N. Maeterlinck at his best and at his
worst There are moments when il Is hard TO
resist the temptation to throw the book across
the room, and then, again, the reader murnurs
to himself. How prettily that is putt
AS a creative writer, philosophical and myS-
teal type this Belgian man of letters Is curl
ously disappointing. Sometimes, indeed, he not
only disappoints but irritates. Take, for exam
pie the essay In this volume on "Ipmortality
After ALL that is not the kind OF theme on Whlch
It seems worth while. even legitimate, 10 SPIN
copy" but NJ. Maeterlnck, whose sense of hu-
NOR is hardly his strong point, FORCES stodgIly
ahead and prattes about the mystery that lies
beyond the grave blandly as though he actu-
ally had something to say He Is very droli.
without meaning to be, in THE Gods of War
II has occurred to him that there are certain
obscure forces embodied in the inventions which
chemistry has added to the resources of war
which he apostrophizes after this fashion
What monstrous FORM what gigantic shadow
shall we attribute, TO take one instance aloIiS, ~
the power of explosives. those recent ana supreme
gods which have just dethroned. in the temples
of war the gods of the past? with what failily
OF terrors. what unforeseen group OF fnysieileS
.haIl va connect them? Melnite. dynamite pam
elastic cordte and poburite lyddite and ballste'
oh We understandable spectres by whose side the
old black powder that struck terror into our thei
and even the mighty thunderbolt, once held the
most awful symbol OF divine anger. become mere
posspy good natured old women, little READY 10
strtl,e nerhaDs but almost inofensive almost ma
,a-DaI. OF your countless secrets not even the
most superficial been laid bare; and the
chemist who composes your sumner Even q" a.
engineer or artilleryman who awakens you IS III
total ignorance of your nature your orlElh Sot't
soul the springs OF your incredlble bouha ana III.
+arDnaI laws which you suddenly obey! are
Won the result Of things imprisoned SINCE 'li' p
f,,rg of time: are you the cleaning transilgura-
esor of death the awful Gadness OF the paIllIatlls
void. are you eruption OF hatred or excess VI joy
He asks many more questions and then' WIN
profound satire, gives the answer tHat scleH'o
Iyo,ld give namely that the force IN theoe
things lis due 70 the sudden production OF d
great volume of gas in a space too cohhhso ~
contain il beneath the atmospheric pressure
His sarcasm is all very well, nut we rear tiidl IL
amounts to nothing more nor less imam quite
,;,,+a1 anfl-cllfndA SN'4N"
,,s EMMY away in the same manner when ne
s,.oourses of "Our Social Duty" or our Anx-
sona Morality" The chief effect of his dealings
NTH the latter subject is to tease the reader with
a % NJ Maeteriinck's impertinence. HIS
ra,terated assumption that "a large portion OF
,,rd is gradually forsaking the re-
iiqson in which it has lived for nearly twenty
.,,r,ee IS made with air of calm assur-
80 mai is creditable neither to his taste nor
TO his intelligence. -: -,
r,,,+ ne mas as we have indicated. has persua-
,o,nents Read him I'm Praise of the
80, or on 1.-The Psychology of Accident
rbough there is nothing particularly novel IN
a,,ter of these essays. thew are very ingeniously
-. we like too. the whoiehearted en-
,hueiasm for Shakespeare which he discloses in
the paper on king Lear. Best OF all: and
a. tact almost unqualifiedy excellent, is the
'i.,-o,,5,ic study of Rome. The impression
s,ic traveller even though he may have mys-
tical leanings like NJ Maeterncks IS scarcely e.s
aynected to say anything new about tne Guy
:, ,bis late day. All that is asked OF MIA Is
t,,at he should be sympathetic. and our belgian