New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-02-28
gbe Nemj21ors grib1trres
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY %, 1909.

The tragic 11lE u NJ CdItAiN
French poet who was killed on the railway the
a+,,o- day seems to have been mOrbidly antici-
mated by him. The Paris correspondent of the
Iondon Morning Leader" says that once at
fable he was asked how he would choose to
die ..Oh." he said, "if 1 had my choice it
would be at table" and he repeated some
verses greeting death as a comrade. The story
continues:
Then. suddenly growing grave, he said but
that is not how 1 shall die When L think OF
nv death l have before my eyes, as 1t We're d
vision of horror and 1 have the feeling that L
shall disappear in a catastrophe the burning
of a theatre or railway accident
Some time after that friend was reCaIIiLS
TO him another of his sonnets. and Mendes re-
marked. with a sigh: May die as nave ave
sung. but shall not have sucn luck, as Iog ~
will see. Instead of having flowers LshL us;
and wine, shall die d fearIul oed'H' 1A
alone in the night
Mendes was a well read accomplished man.
and full of ceyerness. An amusing story Is
told of his resource as Latinlst. once, LII
Spain he met a priest who could not tdlh
French. whereupon Mendes who had no Span
ish proceeded to talk with his fellow Traveller
in Latin A friend to whom he mentioned the
incident asked if there had not necessarily
been some difficult moments in the CONVERSE
tion and wondered how, for example, he coulu
have said to the priest, Il arrive at the raj
way station" Immediately Mendes produced
a Latin phrase for railway stahon'-but TINS
phrase has not survived along with the story
Let the poet that neglected genius, take
heart of grace. There has just been lncor-
narrated in England q society which ought
presently to succeed in making poetry as popu-
lar as fiction, bridge or the automobile. 1t is
called "Tha Poetry RecitaIs Society,"" and ac-
cording to its secretary, it takes its stand upon
"the neglected truism that poetry, like music
is written for sound, not sight and to be prop
erly understood and appreciated, should be
read aloud" What is the practical plan Of
this obviously precious organization? 1t
seeks to bring into fellowship all persons in
terested in poetry a means of culture and
expression, and to replace the general apathy
toward poetry with a healthy, intelligent ap-
probation of it by means of local centres,
public recitals Iectureshps, etc" All this
should prodigiously tickle the Muse. She may
now hope to come into her own. The magma
ton rests with peculiar comfort on the thought
of those local centres from which, no doubt,
there will radiate the most potent influences
making for culture and expression" especially
expression. Every one of these centres will
within Il short time be transformed into a nest
of singing birds. Unenviable, however, will
be the lot of the local laureate, told off 10 ar
range, with the aid OF a committee Of fellow
i}TISlS, LIe programmes lOI Ihe uIhtItAl To
citals. But viii there be more than one
cital in a given centre? Not all the local poets
could be read aloud in one evening and your
postponed poet is VIGOROUSLY an ufish person,
from whom almost any violence might be ex-
pected. Perhaps the choir will compromise on
the classics, but this seems unlikely. Since
every member is bound to have a poem up his
sleeve it would be preposterous to drag in
Milton We wonder If, in the large metropoli-
tan centres, this society viii give matinees for
the critics
Is it fair TO talk about the decadence of the
novel? Certainly not, If we are to believe an
anonymous contributor to 1.-THE Author" In