The San Francisco call., 1909-10-31
AT the Shrine of
Song"

aker & Ray company, San Francisco.
, George Wharton James writes an in
PRODUCTION to this volume of poems
which in itself is poetry. 1t is all in
deep appreciation and praise of the
work of this young western poet, and
leaves little for the reviewer to say.
The book is divided into three parts,
Songs of Wood and Wave. Sonnets and
Quatrains, and In Dialect. Some of
the very best are in the first section,
Songs of Wood and Wave, and of these
a fine. strong one is the Song of the
Forest Ranger" a few verses of which
clamor for quotation:
"Oh, 10 feel the fresh breeze blowing
From lone ridges yet untrod.
Oh. to see the far peak growing
Whittier as it climbs to God
Come, and learn the joy of living;
Come, and you will understand.
How the sun his gold is giving
With great, Impartial hand!
7 am nearer the Great Giver,
Where his handiwork is. crude;
Friend am I of peak and river.
Comrade of Old Solitude"
That the poet is a disciple of the
simple life is shown in countless of his
poems. The opening lines of the Song
of the Out-of- Doors" shows this spirit
at its best:
Come with me, o you world weary, to
the haunts of thrush and yeery,
To the cedars dim cathedral and the
palace OF the pine;
Let the soul within you capture some-
thing Of the wildwood rapture,
Something of the epic passion of that
harmony divine"
Like most of the poets of the coast
he has tried his hand at an earthquake
and fire poem, and of all that have
appeared his is the most restrained,
and. though really descriptive, is still
poetical. It is entitled 'The Stricken
City and one verse from it gives a
picture:
Twas Tsrror's tread, and men lay
dead
IN the tossed and tumbIed town;
On, the. towers Of trade, how they
waitzed and swayed
When the world was shaken deHni"
Some of the sonnets are beautiful and
not all of them are nature poems. The
few, comparatively, on love, for which
poetry seems the only language, show
that Mr.. Bashford can write fully as
feelingly as upon his loved nature.
One sonnet is quoted, "Sinee She Is
Gene
'Since she is gone the moments pass
me by
So siow-so slow it often seems to
me
Gray Time has grown so very old
that he
Moves like palsied man about to die.
Through all the black hours of the
night / lie
With empty arms, and hearken to
Along the barren shore moan wearily,
And hear the homeless wind make sad
reply.
Fonce more upon my brow / long to
feel
The FIRE of her red lips that thrilled
me through;
To see her warm, white bosom fall
and rise,
And all the passion of her soul reveal.
And look, o God. and look again into
The deep blue heaven of her lus-
trous eyesl"
After reading this charming collee-
tion of poems we can confidently say
with the writer of the Introduction that
more and greater work from this pen
can be expected in the-years to come.
Both Sides of the Veil" is, as its
title indicates, work on psychieaI re-
search It iS written by Anne Manning
Robbins and she relates her personal
experiences more freely than most
writers on the subject. She has
known the famous Mrs. Piper for many
years and tells of many experiences with
her. The geauine names of both living
and deceased persons are with permis-
sion used, which to rhe believing reader
will add much TO its value. The book
has little or no literary merit, but will
be sure 10 interest the readers who are
investigating this ever puzzling SUBJ
ieet (Sherman, French & Co. Boston,
sI25)