New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-10-23
GEORGE MEREDITH.
Some Poems WrjtteR an HIS
Later Years.

LAST POEMS. BY George Meredith 1emo,
PIP. g. Charles Seribners Sons.
The poetic side OF the genius OF George
Meredith has always left mixed inn
preston. Some readers, TO be sure, are
wont 10 speak OF IL with hated breath.
but the Meredithians. be they never so
eloquent, are not likely TO carry the day
in this matter. Though the present vol
ume, containing the last OF his poems. is
not. strictly speaking, TO be compared
with the verse of his prime. it is charac-
teristtc in it's illustration OF a gift which
was nearly always feeling it's way tow
ard expression rather than manifesting
itself in swift, strong and perfect utter
ance The note that gives it its special
character is one Of patriotism. Meredith
was interested in public affairs, and re-
peatedly found in them poetic motive.
You observe him in this last sheaI tax
ing thought of political and other issues
in the air around him. You recognize
certain fervor, q certain eagerness 20
strike hot upon the theme Of the mo-
ment But when you look for poetry
and only for poetry. he is prone to give
you something like this:
ATKINS"
Yonders the man with his life in his
Legs Aa on the march for whatever the
Or to the slaughter. or to the ,6 mai min
Laureis he clasps in the words duty
England his heart under every sun
Exquisite honor! that gives him nam
Base to the ear as an ASS bray.
The sympathy for the troubles or en-
thusiasms of his contemporaries, winch
made him so willing to talk in his ola
age about subjects like woman suffrage
comes out in these pages. The Things
that touched England touched him. He
too, had his tribute TO pay to queen
Victoria when she was carried to the
crave. Then, as st divers other times.
he wrote as one from whom something
was to be expected, as one who would
rise to an occasion. Unfortunately.
though the win was there, the command
over the right words was lacking, and
he could terminate his brief poem on
the Queen with lines as banal as these:
Alost the name Of womanhood she raised,
And gave new readings to the IitIe'
Queen.
Verse like this, alas! was only too
Characteristic Of him. Poetic impulse
moved him, but the diction and the
melody of the poet eiuded him. If he
came near TO them at all it was, now
and then, when he fell under the in
fluence Of some emotion tinged not so
much with thought as with q vague
delight in beauty. Thought, with which
he so richly packed his prose. clogged
him when he tried to sing. The impress
sion Of loneliness which he seeks TO con-
vey in the poem which opens this COL
lection, ION Como" is blurred by the
effort he makes to vitalize it with ideas.
He is more fortunate in the poem which
begins
High climbs Junes wild rose.
her bush ali blooms in a swarm
and even happier is he in the poem from
which we take these stanzas:
The years had worn their seasons beIt.
From bud to rosy prime.
Since Nelly by the larch-pole knet
And helped the hop 20 climb.
Most diligent Of teachers then,
Put now with all 10 learn,
She breathed beyond the thought of men
Though formed to make men burn.
She seemed to make the sunlight stay
And show her in its pride.
Q she was fair as a beech In Nav
With the sun on the yonder side
There was more life than breath can give,
In the looks in her fair form;
For little can We say we live
Until the heart is warm
There is faint charm in such lines,
the best to be found in the book. There
is nothing more. Lovers of the novels
will preserve these verses as they do
their predecessors. out OF a tender 10y
atty for brilliant writer.