Los Angeles herald., 1908-06-07
ESWT EEDs AND WILD FLOv

the Gorham press, embodies conSld-
cradle number of short poems previous
ly published in various magazines ana
in this paper, to which at one time Mr..
Bell was a contributor. Much OF the
verse was written in Southern Cali
fornia and the charm of the Californian
out of doors is in it all. Mr.. Bells
achievement is his knack of poetical
vision in regarding the commonplace.
His verse breezes gently, delicately. 1t
is adorned with all the delicate tracery,
the imagery of the thistle down. This
bit to THE Yuccas," written in Antelope
valley, California, is typical:
The wind is in the yuccas, like a roll
OF mimic upon hill-girt mere,
Or sea of tossing boughs: the night, star
clear,
Shows yet unmoved each rugged branch and
bole.
As from a world unseen that murmur stole
Weird in the gloom these uncouth forms
appear
Is night but the days absence? Surely
There is presence: night has gained
SOUL
Is it the spell that this fantastic tree
Has put upon the plain? Star speaks to
star:
Northward to where the dusk-hid noun
tains are
The gossip-laden wind is coursing free.
1t is a goblin world. and faint and far
Sound the spent echoes OF realty!
Weeds and Wild Flowers. BY Mowry
Bell. Boston,: Richard G. Badger, the
Gorham press.
Under the appropriate title ITO the
End of the Trail Duffield 81 Co. have
published a little volume of poems
written by the late Richard Hovey at
various times between 1880 and 1900.
The verse is marked by all the delicacy
and grace which made its author one
of the best loved of American poets.
The volume has been edited by Mrs.
Henriette Hovey, who writes by way
of preface:
with the exception of some unpub-
lished plays the present collection con-
tains all the important remaining
poems of Richard Hovey. All are here
published in book form for the trst
time, except 'Seaward.' few bib
biographical notes have been added.
In addition to the original verse the
little book presents series of metrical
translations from Maeterlinck, Ste
phane Mallarme and Paul Verlaine.
The muse of comedy is evidenced in a
neat bit of burlesque, Don Juan, canto
XVII" For the most part, however,
the Volumes contents wander along the
fiower-strewn trail which proved so
delightful to the sensibilities of this
poet and to his readers.
To the End of the Trail. By Richard
Hovey Published poSthumouSly. New
York: Duffield & Co.
When Pansy starts to send wireless wave
She simply just can't make her eyes behave
So writes Will Irwin in 1.-THE Love
Sonnets of Car Conductor" OF
course Mr.. Twins conductor is an i'm
pressionable chap and of course his
foibles make good copy. No one better
than Irwin has the kuack of VersifyinS
humor. Incidentally he writes remark
ably unprosy prose as well, but these
sonnets are metrical affairs of much
merriment. In the end, of course,
Pansy and the conductor cut in on the
same wire, and then the fare collector
says
Life's a slow skate. but Loves the dopy
glim
That puts a brewery horse in racing trim.
Published by Paul Elder & Co., it
follows as a matter of course that the
Love Sonnets" are given an appro-
pirate and picturesque environment.
The Love Sonnets of a Car Conductor
BY Will Irwin. San Francisco Paul
Elder & Co.
Tn "The Prolongation of Life" G. P.
Putnam's Sons have issued an author
itatiye volume on the subject OF which
II treats The work Is translation by
p. Chalmers Mitchell, secretary of the
Geological society of London, from the
French of Ellie Metchnikoff, who is sub
director of the Pasteur institute IN
Paris. 1t has been given the subtitle
"Optimistic Studies" which, by the
way, is fairly indicative of the books
character.
Perhaps a mere list of the topic head
ings may serve to give an idea of the
works scope. These are: An investi-
CATION of old age" Longevity In the
natural death" "Should we try to pro-
long human life?" "Psychical rudiments
in man." Some points in the history of
social animals Goethe and Faust
and Science and morality"
In DR.. Mitchell's introduction he
prints this pregnant digest of Metch-
nikoff's views on death:
"Metchnikoff shows that in the vast
majority of cases death is not
natural but comes from preventable
and accidental causes. When diseases
have been suppressed and the course or
life regulated by scientific hygiene 1t Is
probable that death would come only
at an extreme old age. MetchnikofI
thinks that there is evidence enough at
least to suggest that When oeath coines
in its natural place at the end or the
normal cycle of life 1t would be robbed
of it's terrors and be accepted as grate-
fully as any other part of the cycle OF
life. He thinks, in fact. that the IN
stinct of life would be replaced by an
instinct of death"
The Prolongation of Life. BY Ellie
Metchnikoff. New York; G. p. Put
nam's Sons.
Readers of the American Journal of
Pedagogy and of the Popular Science
Monthly are familiar with the re-
searches into child life, especially into
the lives of boys who are dull or
criminally inclined. by Prof. Edgar
Swift of Washington university, st.
Louis. Mo. It is well to have those
papers. with others which appear now
for the first time, gathered into a vol
ume. "a Mind in the Making" is a
study of mental development, of the
personal element in education, pre-
senting startling facts and drawing in
teresting conclusions.
From a wide survey of biography,
the author shows that the so-called
dullness and idleness of children are
In most cases due to failure on the