The Paducah evening sun., 1910-02-10
OATFN REEDS

O-A A@AN AeA-A-lNos
"Oaten Reeds" Is the title of the
latest volume of poetry. by the sweet
singer of the Purchase. Mr.. Rhfus
Childress. formerly OF Kevil II is
dedicated to Judge John Wheeler Nc
Gee, of Louisville. and consists of
12O pages, containing eighty-one
poems. So. counting the barren
reeds-may we so call the pages on
which Mr.. Cihldress' golden lines do
not appear?--it may be readily seen
that the poems are short, averaging
about one to page.
There is such a VARIETY of subjects
treated, and so delicately, that we
might be moved to gentle criticism of
the poet for his title. since the motley
bloom. the color and the varying
foum give one more the impression OF
an old fashioned flower garden. than
CT the undulaung eyenness of a ripe
harvest field.
In the dedication. the poet un-
bosCms himself to his friend, Judge
McGee. concerning how COUNTLESS
woes and ills beset the poet-pilgrim
I'm this ruthless world" To Robert
Herrick, "mouth immortal" he tells
how he, too. has loved and sor-
nowed" and then he approaches the
muse in three captivating short verses
in iambic trimeter, hkeniDg himself
to the ''hcney-bee that comes" each
idle hour, and not the butterfly.
which sips and fits away" This is
illustrated. Hope he Ikens TO a
scented flower and faith to a
steady spark" Then follows "the
Cat Bird and Woman; and, hav-
ing sung the glory of all these
having dedicated In verse. and ap-
pealed to hope and faith and appeased
the muse. the bird, and the woman
the poet launches INTO such a medley
of song as makes us wish to recall
our first objection to the title, and
reveals his voice to us as that of the
BObolink, swaying in the wind upon
an oaten reed, warblng his carol 90
the joyous summer day.
Sonnets from Shakespeare and son
nets of his own composition, for
which the poet does not fear COM
parison in such great company an
onOmatopoetic verse describing a fire
alarm, geographically arranged TO
resemble the boiler OF a fire engine.
and lines to Pauline. Elsie. Adele.
Lily, Annabel, Dotte and Anna, show
the infinite possibilities of the poets
range; while the inspiring lit of his
Blue Grass Girl. the noble meter of
his tribute to Carrie Nation" and |
the lightness of his fancy, exhibited
IN the thirteen quataains he devotes
In his "POet's Plea" to Elvira Sydnor |
Slaughter Mixer. of Louisville, mani |
fest perfection of technic, combined |
with a wonderful scope of poetic
imagination.
One stanza from the latter will |
serve to show how poetic imagery
may cloth even the most common
place happenings with the vestfture |
Of grace and elegance:
81 must plead guilty. but does It
matter?
What direr disaster could befall? |
- tPP'n anu Ntnl W NAu-
cimnati
ITO attend the Bachelors ball. >"
What suggestiyeness is herein con-
tained, called up by the words disas-
ter and befall. the latter so arranged
as to rhyme naturally with the alter
mating line. ending in bail; and how
oleverly, yet delicateln the poet has
slipped in that word "Cincinnati" 10
rhyme with matter-an insidious ne
buke to the unfortunate eolloqm,al
jefferson county habit of pronounc-
ing II "Cmcinnatter."
Local interest is attached to his
ode to Little Massac
Several stsnzas, betraIng the reli-
gious meditations of the poet. con-
clude this remarkable collection of
verses, many of which open an en-
trely new vein of original fancy The
book, neatly bound in red and gold.
with picture OF the poet is pub
lished by the Clinic Press. Chicago.