The Washington herald., 1907-09-01


ing. whose poem of six stanzas, A
Wine Of Wizardry," Mr.. Bieree halls
with great delight He tells US that
Ia 1908 Mr.. Sterling published 1.-THE
Testimony OF the Suns. and Other
Poems" and AYERS that the poem which
lent its title to this book "nicks the
rocks as high as anything of the gen
Grafton Of Tennyson. and good deal
higher than anything Of the genera
ton of Kipling." OF the new poem by
Mr.. Sterling his sponsor is high In
praise. He writes:
And Of this particular poem hold that not in a
lifetime has our literature had anything new Of
equal length containing much poetry and so little
else. Il is as fun Of light and color and FIRE as
any Of those ardent gems" that burn ard sparkle
IN its lines. IL has all the imagination o. 'COmns
and al the fancy Of "The Faerie Queene. If Leigh
Hunt should return 70 earth 10 part and catalogue
the two precious qualities he would find them in 50
confusing abundance and ineytricably interiaced
that be would fly In despair from the impossible
task
Mr.. Bierce gives many selections
from the poem. with his comments
thereon. It cannot be said that these
comments are meager in their praise
For instance, Mr.. Bierce quotes:
- ere the tomb-throEn echongs have ceased
The blueeyed vampire. Sated a. her feast
Smiles bloodily against the lepTous NOON
1T seems TO me" says Mr.. Bierce.
mot inferior in imagination to Cole
ridges
A savage place. As holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath waning moon was haunted
By woman waiting for her demon lover.
And Keats
magic easements opening on the foam
OF perious seas, in fairy lands foriorn.
And yet, one feels that even Mr..
Bierce might be pushed to warrant
''blue-eyed vampire" Blue-eyed Clar-
ibel might seem fitting; or, Rare,
pale Margaret" might be blue-eyed,
but somehow one does not associate
blue eyes with a vampirei OF course.
this is not setting counter Judgment
TO Mr.. Bierce's Judgment; he has writ
ten a good deal on vampire-like sub
jects. and he ought to know.
There has been, in London, a revival
Of interest in matters pertaining TO Gam
beta, interest which has recently been
heightened by an article by Francis Laur.
descriptive OF the secret visit paid by
Gambetta 10 Bismarck In 1878, in order
TO bring about an understanding between
France and Germany. This discussion has
lent timeliness TO the announcement by
John Lane of a book by Laur. THE
Heart of Gambetta," in which the story
OF the orators love affair with the mys-
ferrous Nine. /. l." is given, together
with an account of Gambetta's discreet
negotiations with the man whom he
called that monster, Bismarck" Laur.
who was brought up by George Sand
was an intimate friend of Bismarck for
some years.
The record of book popularity at the
Public Library during the past week
shows that in nonhction the call was
for Wallaces The Labrador Trail" and
Cheiro's The Language of the Hand ."
In fiction the demand was for Thurston's
The Mystics' and A T. W. Mason's
Running Water" In the Juvenile de-
partment the call was for Alcott's Little
Women and Lang's "The Orange Fairy
Book Other popular subjects were cleo
tricity, where the call was for HOrstman's
Modern Electrical Construction and
PARIS Practical Electric Training" and
hygiene. where the call was for Richards
Art of Living and Dodd's Health in
the Household"
Arthur c. Benson, writing on Friend
ship in Putnams, says:
The telling Of faults NAV be safely left 70 hostile
critics. and 10 what Sheridan calls id yooi-na-
tuTed acluaiutances But the friend must take
Tor granted that his friend desires in a general way
what Is good and true. even though he NAV pursue
II on different lines Ones duty Is % encourage
and believe In ones friend not 20 disapuFove Of and
censue him. One loves him FOR what he is, not for
what he might be II he would only take ones adj
wee The point s that IL must be all a free gift
not mutual improvement society-unless indeed
mat IS the basis Of the compact After all a man
can oiy feel responsible To God One goes astray,
no doubt, ike a sheep that is lost but Il 4 not
The duty q another sheep to butt one hack into
the right way, unless. indeed. one appeals for hep
One may have pastors and directors but they can
never be equal 70 friends. II there Is 20 be slitr-
iori5 in friendship, the lesser must willingly crown
the greater; the greater must not ask 10 he
crowned The secure friendship Is that which he-
gins m comradeshp. and moves into a more Fener-
Gus and emotional region. Then there "a no need
70 demand or 10 question loyalty. because the tie
has been welded by many simple deed many
frank word The ideal is a perfect frankness and
sincerity, which lays bare the soul as it is without
any false shame or any fear OF misunderstanding A
friendship Of this kind can be one Of the purest
brightest, and strongest things in the world Yet
how rare it Is!
Frederick Mlstral, whose memoirs are
10 appear this fall. has been a winner Of
the Nobel prize. which, with a singular
devotion 10 the cause to which he has
given up his life. he bestowed on the
foundation of a museum in Aries. Presi-
dent Roosevelt has for a long time been
an adunirer Of the Provencal poet, ana an
agreeable correspondence has been car
ried on between them.
A collection Of poems by Arthur Cotton
will be published this week by Henry
Holt q Co. under the title "Harps Hung
Up in Babylon" The collection includes
some forty poems. among them 1.-THE
Captive Allah's Tent" Shepherd and
the Knight, verses from the "Cantlcle
of the Road" An Idyl of the Wood"
Concerning Tabitha's Dancing of the
Minuet, &c.
Although her new novel, 1.-THE Tents of
Wickedness, - which will be published by
the Appletons this fall, deals with life in
New York, Mrs. Miriam Coles Harris. the
venerable author Of 'Rutledge." has
made her residence for a number OF years
past In France.
II Is curious list of one hundred
Of the best novels that the Newark public
library has compiled. Who. for instance
With all due respect TO Mr.. Harrington.
would incorporate THE Gentleman from
Indiana" in such list? "Keneim Chill
Angly is included and nothing Of Dau-
dets Henry James and not G. P. R.
Hichens and not Benson Stanley Wey-
man ana not Smollett or Fielding, Ger
Fantes or lie Sage 1t is a strange list,
and one would like TO know how the