The Washington herald., 1910-11-14
IN THE WORLD OF BOOKS
THE Science of Poetry and the
Philosophy of Language

Science and poetry, usually thought OF
IN the sense OF polarities, are brought
into close affinity by a recent book from
the pen OF Hudson Maxim, sthe distin-
ghished inventor, and the press OF Funk
& Wagnans.
The Science OF Poetry and the Phil
osophy OF Language" is the title OF the
pretentious volume. wherein Mr. Hudson
Maxim gives evidence OF the application
Of an Omnipercipient mind 10 English
as she Is writ" Indeed. were a charge
OF the high explosive which has brought
| him worldwide fame fired beneath manv
/ OF the shrines at which the world has
come to worship the effect could ha M
less destructive than the authors clear
cut. impartial, and, withal irrefragible
analyses. In not a few instances he
makes the hero worshipers wonder what
after all, there is admirable In their
gods. And yet the work is lacking IN
any suggestion OF pedantry.
The main object OF this book" SAYS
Mr.. Maxim In the preface, SIS 10 nrovJIa
a practical method for literary criticism
| and analysis and standard OF uniform
| judgment for determining the relativa
merits OF literary productions, and. fur
ther. 10 supply more practical and
eHieient means than we have had here
toIore Tor the Standardization of poetry.
whereby any poem may be. assayed and
the amount Of its poetic gold determined
and separated from the Stag and dross
The more I have studied. the stronger
has grown my conviction that no other
subject OF equal interest and Importance
10 mankind has been so neglected nv
science, so abandoned 10 the chaos If
misunderstanding There Is. indeed no
general agreement as 10 what sconsti-
tutes poetry. There are as many opin-
ions as there are critics. Often the worst
poetry is pronounced the best. and often
the best the worst. by some who are
considered leading authorities"
After treating eXhaustively OF the evolu-
ton or analogical speech, OF what IS
and what is not poetry. the application
OF the fundamental principles OF com
position and rhetoric, potentry. tropoten-
try, tempOtentry trO-tempotentry. the
dynamics OF human speech and the philos-
ophy OF English verse, the author reaches
this conclusion:
Il do not pretend TO be a poet. but
a scientist. and all the examples IN the
book written by me have been designed
merely 10 illustrate the principles / am
expounding, and to show that any safe
and sane person OF education, possessed
of the requisite inventive Imagination,
can either write true poetry without hav-
ing had 10 be born for the especial pur-
pose. or else be able 10 produce such
good limitations OF the real thing as TO
render it difficult TO discriminate be-
tween the counterfeit and the counter
feited. We have for so long held the
grand old poets I'm the magnifying lime
light of the Imagination, that we have
given ourselves a great handicap, which
must be taken into consideration when
comparing the work Of any latter-day
writer with their glorified effusions"
ThTeupon Mr.. Maxim makes bold TO
cite some OF the best works OF the old
masters, and TO improve upon them
Thui he begins a paraphrase OF Ham,
let's sollloquy:
How fear doth poise Us on the brink Of death,
Between contending purposes;
When some outrageous fortune
Steels the lesden temper OF the mind,
To seek that last asylum from distress.
To die-to barter with oblivion
The heart-tire and the pain for dreamess sleep
Were gain indeed. if that were all.
Il seems almost sacrilege 10 say II.
but the fact is self-evident that Mr..
Maxim's version, while conveying the
same thought is much the better poetry.
II is noticeable throughout the work,
that Mr. Maxim is disciple OF simpli-
fed spelling. Sixteen exquisite illustra-
tions, including an autographed por-
trait of Mr.. Maxim. and pictures Of the