The San Francisco call., 1909-02-07
l4VOIumes of Poems Fresh From the Press


And the hills in golden chains,
The light OF leaping rivers
And the fash OF popped plans
II is unfortunate that some one was
not allowed TO collect these poems TOT
the author, for many Of them shouto
have been left out OF the collectlou'
particularly the various poems Ior oc-
casfons~ They may have been interest
ing at the time. but none OF them mas
much literary value. and some % titeth
are unite crflde The book however,
is a pleasant memory and has ene2Sh IN
il 10 recommend IL
The less said Of Destiny and Desire
by MARYLAND Watson (Caslno pupiisH-
ing company, New York; the better.
The author describes her Woth q
Poems Passionate and PerVerse ana
they are. They are so erotic that h-iia
Wheeler Wilcox will wonder why sue
called her own book Poems Of Pas
sion" but they have not the excuse OF
those to live. for they have no poetic
value. The author has been quoted as
saying that her poems are an express
sion Of normal and natural ideas OF
normal and natural woman expressed
with possibly a little more frankness
than usual The book is dedicated
To a Man I Know. II is 10 De nopeo
he is her husband.
J.
Other Poems" BIZ William Stanley
Braithwaite (John ". Luce g. Co, Bos-
toni. is inscribed in memory OF Fred
erick Lawson Knowles. The author has
= fine poetic fancy. but his sonnets are
not equal 10 his lyrics. They are often
imperfect and reminiscent of the work
Of older poets.
.JdyIls of Greece" by Howard V.
Sutherland (Sherman. French Co.
Boston. 81. are four in number. They
are written in the unrhymed iambic
pentameter verse and are rich In i'm
sgery and beautiful description. The
classics. "Prokris and Kephalos. Ne
las and Anaxe." -Acis and Galataes,'
and 'Oeme and Oeonus.
The Book Of Georgian Verse" chosen
and edited with notes by William Stan
ley Braithwaite tBrentano's. New
York; is a beautiful little book II
contains over 1900 pages. but the paper
is thin and the printing perfect and the
little book viii almost fit the pocket.
Like other snthologies ii. of course. re-
fleets the taste Of the compiler. but the
majority OF the selections in this are
excellent and carefully chosen. II
fault can be found IL is that perhaps
too much Scotch poetry is included
This hook is the second OF a series. the
first being The Book of EIizabethan
Verse, and the two which are 10 follow
viii be The Book OF Restoration
Verse and The Book Of Victorian
Verse" The book is most carefully in
deNed and contains copious notes and
a glossary.
The Parchment. and Other Poems.
by r A. s. Wade (Cochrane publishing
company. New York.. was written not
for publication. but to while away the
idle hours spent in caring for an in
valid companion The author dis
arms the critics BY saying that the
book is published largely for circu-
lation among personal friends" where
il Is TO be hoped Il will remain
Trail Dust by Daniel 3 Richardson
CA n. Robertson. San Franciscol. is
described as little Roundup OF
Western Verse All the verse is dis
tinctively Californian and some of it
has real merit.
Autumn Leaves by Ardella NJ Bar
ton Bruce Brough. San Frencisco). is
a volume OF poems whose chief claim TO
distinction lies in the fact that they
were destroyed in the great fire of
1895 and rewritten from memory be-
tween June. 1905. and September. 1908
The book is beautifully printed and
bound and contains a photograph OF the
author as frontispiece.
a Perfect Strength is the title OF
q dainty little booklet containing
sequence OF verses by various authors
forming an ideal love history. The
poems are arranged by Emily ". May
nader (John W. Luce & Co. Boston,.
and she has shown much taste in the
selection The only defect is that the
book lacks an index. Between 30 and
80 poems are used anc only in the case
Of Rossetti. Robert Browning, Landor.
James Thomson and Coventry Parmore
has the compiler gone to a poet more
than once. Those few names are hon
ored by two or three selections each
well chosen.
Love Songs and Lyrics" by J. A.
Middleton, is another little booklet
from the same publishing house. The
first poem in the book is called Fl
delity." and is graceful bit Of writing.
Last Night is another pretty little
one, but the book has the same defect
as the companion volume. lack Of index.
and IL is even more annoying in this
book than in the other one.
The Most Popular Hymns may well
be added TO the poetry column, though
the book contains only old favorites.
They have been selected and arranged
By Gilbert Clifford Noble. who has COM
piled all sorts Of song books before and
whose experience makes this selection
valuable The book is bound in paper
blinds. Noble & Eldredge: so cents1
Lack OF space makes more comment
upon the poetry of the day impossible.
but among all the different sorts offered
surely All tastes may be suited The
standard Of the public is higher. year
by year. and the output improves con-
stsntly 70 meet this demand. CaIffor-
MA may raise her head with the high
est. for none viii stand heffer than bar
own George Sterling.